Andrew Wehde (‘The Bear’ cinematographer): ‘It’s the most freeing experience I’ve ever been a part of’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Andrew Wehde (pronounced “Wade”), the cinematographer for the FX on Hulu hit “The Bear,” recalls that during filming in the show’s first season, he would often turn to his friend and the show’s creator and showrunner Christopher Storer and marvel, “It’s weird that there’s no one telling us what to do or what not to do.” Even after finishing production on the show’s second season that streams on Hulu beginning June 22, he calls working on the series “the most freeing experience I’ve ever been a part of. We get to have the playground to ourselves.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
That “playground” was a set on location in Chicago where the first season of the series came together, starring Jeremy Allen White as Carmy, the professionally-trained chef in charge of an Italian beef sandwich shop defined by chaos, frenzy and claustrophobic quarters. Originally written by Storer as a movie nearly a decade ago, “The Bear” quickly became appointment viewing last summer. Wehde, a longtime friend of Storer’s, worked to make sure that the frenetic, seat-of-their-pants pacing that the audience feels was the opposite of the painstaking preparation and organization that went into the shoot.
More from GoldDerby
“We tried to slow things down on set even though we shot a lot of pages,” Wehde recalls. “We essentially treated it as two different camera departments – our A-camera and B-camera. The A was our storyteller and constantly moving through the space. It might travel through the kitchen or follow Carmy from the front to the back of the house. Our B was our big zoom lens. When Chris got to edit, he had a choice of shots and could choose how many micro, more relaxed moments he wanted to incorporate. It was really about giving a lot of creative freedom to two camera operators who were shooting the same show but looking at it from two different perspectives. And those perspectives came together really nicely.”
In fact, the entire “Bear” stage so an entire camera dolly could run without track, Wehde notes. “We wanted to go from the dining room to the front5 of the house to the kitchen and be able to do it all on a dolly. I personally think a dolly is more filmic. It feels more like the films Chris and I loved from the ’90s, like from (Martin) Scorsese and Michael Mann. We didn’t want it to be a Steadicam show. We needed every floor and transition to be smooth. It allowed us to go through the whole stage and get freedom of movement.”
SEE‘The Bear’ sets Season 2 return date: Here’s when all the new episodes will stream on Hulu
That free movement proved essential during the remarkable seventh episode of “The Bear’s” first season, entitled “Review.” It emerged from an idea Storer had to shoot the episode as a single continuous take with not a single cut. “He always pushed for this idea of capturing theatre,” Wehde stresses. Storer ultimately decided to rewrite the installment “and I told him I’d like to go for it, that I’d figure it out. The actors were all very nervous about it. I think we spent three days total to accomplish this one-er. The key was making sure we never moved the camera unless it was motivated by someone’s movement. We did our first take on Day 3, and I’m not sure how, but it was good enough for air. It was incredibly nerve wracking and such a relief when they called ‘Cut!’. A hundred people applauded as loudly as you can imagine.”
Wehde and the production ultimately ran through what was a single 18-minute shot five times “It’s an experience I wish everyone could be a part of one day. It was like putting on a stage play. I mean, it was just the most exciting thing imaginable for the actors.”
PREDICT the 2023 Emmy nominees through July 12
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
Best of GoldDerby
Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
