Paula Huidobro is the cinematographer behind the Best Picture-winning film, Coda. Huidobro was also a key voice in the acclaimed HBO series Barry, which she shot 16 episodes of. The cinematographer brings her clean eye for character and action to the new Netflix series, Man on Fire, based on novels written by A.J. Quinnell.
Creator and showrunner Kyle Killen’s series marks the third adaptation to date, following the 1987 Scott Glenn-led film and Tony Scott’s modern classic starring Denzel Washington. Now, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II takes over the role of haunted and scarred bodyguard, John Creasy.
Huidobro was the director of photography for episodes three, four, and seven of the new hit series. While in prep for the next season of White Lotus, the cinematographer took the time to speak with What’s On Netflix about the latest Man on Fire adaptation.
How was it returning to shoot in Mexico for Man on Fire?
I’m from Mexico, but I hadn’t been working there for a very, very long time. It was pretty awesome to get to see places in Mexico City that I hadn’t really been familiar with and working with a local crew. They’re very kind and hardworking.
What were some areas you hadn’t shot before?
I mean, we went to some slums that were a little bit intense and also some very fancy parts of Mexico City that looked like the US, but very Mexico City.
Did you get many days in Brazil as well?
We did get to go to Brazil. We shot in Rio as well. We also went to some favelas and shot some crazy vistas. I mean, in the favelas, they’re on the hills, but it’s super dense. There are so many houses on top of each other and a lot of color. The extras were incredible. They looked great.
What else did you appreciate about the crew in Mexico City?
My gaffer, he’s very experienced, so he also had a great eye and kept me in check when I was going to make it a little too pretty. He would be like, “No, no, no.”
What does too pretty for Man on Fire look like?
Well, just when you worry a little bit about too much contrast or seeing enough. I think he helped me create a little bit of a rougher, interesting look to the show. Also, Alejandro [Martínez] was great. He was a DP of the first episode, so he also established the look with the color timing.
What were some key influences for Man on Fire? Any photographers for you?
Miguel Rio Branco. The movie, Man on Fire, was a great inspiration.
No movie has been shot like that Tony Scott film. How’d it inspire you?
I thought that movie was quite intense. I remember when I saw it, just the pace and the stream of consciousness, and the altered state of Denzel. We tried to emulate a little bit of that. Also, the relationship between Creasy and the girl, that was a nice contrast to the action and the craziness, just a little bit of a softer side to him.
How did he want to emulate the stream of consciousness feeling?
When he’s having that crazy panic attack, when he starts having PTSD, just getting more inside his head. Time stops a little bit; it’s a little more surreal.
That movie can get so surreal with those 100-year-old hand-cranked cameras, shooting on film that doesn’t even exist anymore.
Yeah, he was going forward and then backwards and doing double exposure. It worked really well for that movie. Also, there’s the colors. We had a lot of colored lighting on Man on Fire. It’s kind of crunchy, a little more grainy.
It was embracing what was in the locations and then just adding a little extra. We shot some big sequences in the slums where it was like a lot of streets where characters are running through a lot of blocks and going inside houses and over walls. It was pretty fun to plan those sequences.
Where do you begin when planning an action scene for Man on Fire?
You start with the script and then you go to the locations and get inspired by what’s there. You adapt from the reality of the physical place. And then you start having creative conversations with the director as to how he or she sees the sequence and then you imagine it and you propose ideas. And then the actors come, they do the blocking, and sometimes things change. With the operators and the stunt coordinators – it’s a group effort and it just happens.
Can your vision for a scene drastically change after reading a script to when you reach a location for Man on Fire?
When you read something, you always think, “Oh, this reminds me of this or that, or it would be cool.” But then you start seeing it in a different way once you get there and once you have creative conversations with the production designer and the director, and then you start having a vision, a combined vision with everyone.
What really appealed to you about creating Creasy’s point-of-view? How did you want the camera to present how he sees his surroundings?
He was a great character. I love how there was so much action, but then there was also so much pain inside his head and all the guilt, but there’s also the warmth with the girl. So, I feel like there was a lot to hold onto and just trying to express that with camera and colors and blocking as well.
I think you want to just make it feel real and try to make the audience feel close to them and see those moments of true connection between the actors. I don’t know, I think it’s a little bit of a magical thing that sometimes happens and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s mainly all about the actors and also allowing them to do their thing.
You prepare thoroughly, but is a lot of your job reacting on the day?
Yeah. To me, I plan the lighting carefully with the gaffer and the key grip and just making sure you have the right equipment. But then I like also arriving on set and seeing the rehearsal and taking things from there. I mean, action sequences, you have to carefully plan and shot list and sometimes storyboard. Other scenes that are more intimate or unexpected, you kind of react more from what you see on set.
When you were shooting [HBO’s] Barry, it was more about witnessing the violence, whereas with Man on Fire, you’re putting the audience more in the middle of the fights, right?
This one was more handheld, maybe a little bit more traditional with what you expect from an action movie. There was a lot more movement and more editing, whereas Barry was a little more composed and a little stylized in the way that you’re not right in the middle. So it’s just different approaches.
MAN ON FIRE. (L to R) Billie Boullet as Poe Rayburn and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as John Creasy in Episode 105 of Man on Fire. Cr. Juan Rosas/Netflix © 2024
Even with different projects and approaches, no matter what, do you always have a singular goal for a project?
You’re always hoping to tell the story in a unique way and do your best work and try to make the story your own in the way you capture it and the way the camera sees things. It’s always a process, understanding the way directors like to work and making sure they’re happy, that you’re happy and collaborating with the whole set. It’s always about dealing with personalities, getting along, and achieving things on the time and the resources you have.
Barry, Coda, Lisa Frankenstein, and now Man on Fire, you have an eclectic career. Was that the kind of body of work you wanted when you started out?
Yeah. It’s really great to work with very different directors and very different stories. It keeps you inspired and fresh and trying to do new things and learn new ways of working with people and seeing things. It’s always kind of magical what the end result is. If you did the same type of stories, you would get bored. I try to make them unique.
