\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div> \n\tThe episode needed to stand out from the rest, so Sprenger shot on an Arri Alexa 265 to give the visuals a cinematic feeling. He also used 1.43:1, the Imax aspect ratio \u2014 which is notably square and much taller than the widescreen formats most TV audiences are used to. This gave the episode a heightened sense of claustrophobia.<\/p>\n \n\tSprenger also took a new approach to lighting since the episode is set in the 1700s. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe tried to use firelight, naturalism and candles as much as we could, and not artificial lighting,\u201d he says. \u201cThe theory was that we could change technical aspects of it that would shift the audience\u2019s perception a little bit, and you would subconsciously feel that there were things different about this.\u201d Director Ti West wanted to keep the camera close to Gilpin, Sprenger says, to create empathy for her character. The entire episode was shot using a handheld camera.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe camera is physically a lot closer to Betty, and we\u2019re on wider lenses, experiencing her perception of the world,\u201d he explains. \u201cWhen we\u2019re seeing Richard Warren, we\u2019re seeing him from over her shoulder or from what feels like her angle of perception, and the same thing with lighting.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \n\tWith Richard, the idea was to have him look increasingly more menacing and horrific, while Gilpin had favorable lighting. \u201cWe were always trying to put the audience as much as we could in Betty\u2019s shoes, and that was also another choice of why that episode is almost entirely handheld versus the rest of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tToward the end of the episode, Richard is being buried alive by the townspeople, who have decided he is in contact with the devil and is cursing their town with this plague. As the townsfolk bury him, he delivers a maniacal monologue about how they\u2019re making a huge mistake.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\u201cWe tried to be as realistic and practical as possible, so all of our actors are holding flaming torches, and we\u2019re putting him in a wooden coffin, lowering him down into a grave,\u201d Sprenger notes.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\u201cFrom the perspective of cinema, it felt like this raw and authentic scene. We tried our best to support that and embrace the natural feeling of how things looked, where people were very dramatically lit from the fire, or the fire was flickering. Instead of trying to sculpt it and fill that in with movie lights, we tried to let it be raw and real and hopefully support the performances.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \n\tSprenger felt that the show stood out from others since \u201cthere was not this overly prescriptive push about how it had to look in the funny moments or in the dramatic moments.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tInstead, Dippold and Murai empowered him and DP Cody Jacobs.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThey really trusted us that we understood what they were after,\u201d he says, crediting that trusted collaboration for the success of the show and its recognition by the Television Academy \u2014 the show garnered 19 nominations. \u201cTo make great cinema or make great television, or to get nominated for your work, it does take incredible collaboration from supertalented filmmakers all across the board, and trust from Katie and Hiro, and also from Apple to let us make this weird, wacky show.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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