Tommy Maddox-Upshaw, ASC, speaks about his cinematography on series "The Man Who Fell To Earth", by Alex Kurtzman

"The interstellar migrant", by François Reumont
Extending rather than recreating the cult film by Nicholas Roeg, The Man who Fell to Earth – in which David Bowie plays an alien on Earth looking for a way to save his own planet – the eponymous TV series is a readaptation of the original novel that introduces a good dose of modernity. The impeccable British actor of Nigerian origin Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dirty Pretty Things, 12 Years a Slave...) lends his features to the visitor from another galaxy, while Noémie Harris (the mother in the film Moonlight) plays the Earthling who will be forced to accompany him on his mission. The screenplay by Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet of course seizes the opportunity to show the social reality of present-day America, like an echo of the science-fiction short story that centers the theme of the foreigner.
Tommy Maddox-Upshaw ASC is the mind behind the images. He discusses with us the challenges involved in filming this series, a Spanish-British coproduction, which has been broadcast since April 2022 on Showtime. (FR)

How would you describe this series?

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw : I never considered this project to be a classic Science-Fiction story. For me, the key phrase of this series is really to film a drama in the context of a sci-fi film. That’s how we worked on the script, because anyway, that was exactly how it was written. We wanted the visual language to reinforce and echo the kind of quest our protagonist embarks on to find out what it is to be human. Specifically, also in this adaptation, what it means to be Black in the USA. It was above all a quest for emotions, based on the work of Jenny Lumet, the screenwriter (also African American), and Alex Kurtzman, the director. We sought out the emotions and the elements that trigger those emotions in the story. This approach, based on feelings rather than pure visuals, led us, for example, to ET, by Steven Spielberg, or to Nomadland, by Chloé Zao, two films quite different from one another but whose emotional contexts spoke to us. ET is perhaps the film where the sci-fi dimension is the most moving of any film. And Nomadland, for its very intimate take on all these characters who are a bit like foreigners in today’s America.

Olatunde Osunsanmi, Alex Kurtzman, Bill Nighy, Chewetiel Elijifor and Tommy Maddox-Upshaw on the shooting
Olatunde Osunsanmi, Alex Kurtzman, Bill Nighy, Chewetiel Elijifor and Tommy Maddox-Upshaw on the shooting


The opening is very mysterious as it leads into a flashback. The screen presence of Chiwetel Ejiofor is striking from the first images of the concert hall.

TMU : In this opening sequence, where we discover the protagonist on stage, in this very solemn place that is the Royal Albert Hall in London, I thought that it was necessary to place him in a very modern visual space, which would come across as precise and almost flawless on screen. Contrast and definition were paramount to me in order to exalt him and present him as a leading Black academic tech space Guru talking to a full house.

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For all these reasons, I opted for an anamorphic Panavision G series, whose rendering I really like. Alex and I also had in mind great sci-fi cinema classics, like Alien, shot in Scope and which I feel conveys an almost surgical vision of space, in anamorphic. However, I did not intend to keep the same set of lenses for all the scenes. In fact, I really like to play on the differences, especially between spherical and anamorphic shots, even within a sequence. That’s why we had discussions with Dan Sasaki at Panavision Woodland Hills to develop a whole range of renderings between an anamorphic space such as in the opening scene and spherical variations, in particular to film the antagonists, in particular Hatch’s family, who control many things and who appear in the subsequent episodes, or anything concerning the CIA... the idea being that Faraday (Chiwetel Ejiofor) gradually leaves his anamorphic space to evolve into a spherical image. All within the framework of a wide format shot (with the Venice in 6K).

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In the arrest by the cops in New Mexico, there is a very successful mix of humor and drama.

TMU : The scene where Faraday is arrested is a good example of the mix between anamorphic and spherical... There, I decided to change lenses in shot-reverse shot. Everything on the Faraday axis is spherical, while everything on the police side is anamorphic. It seemed relevant to me to associate a somewhat cold and very precise rendering with the quasi-industrial, codified actions of the American police officers... As a counterpoint, I played the softer card on the man trying to understand the situation. The light, with the cold counter-light and the smoke in the background, is, I feel, a sort of homage to Encounters of the Third Kind, but in an inverted version! The alien suddenly trying to understand the rules and customs of these threatening strangers who come off their ship with light and smoke...

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw with the viewfinder
Tommy Maddox-Upshaw with the viewfinder


Changing the lens, even on the scale of the shot, in my opinion, allows the viewer to respond emotionally, even if it’s unconscious, and better underlines the moment and the action.
This scene had to be shot during the day for scheduling reasons. It is probably also one of the reasons for its slightly different appearance from a classic night exterior. To shoot it, we built a huge tent above the backyard of an auto repair shop. A huge thing suspended by a public works crane, which allowed us both to create night lighting, and to leave enough range of movement, when Faraday arrives at the beginning of the scene and finds the hose sprayer.

The tent suspended by the public works crane
The tent suspended by the public works crane


Under the tent
Under the tent


His questioning by the somewhat snide policewoman... It’s almost taken directly from Jan de Bont’s Basic Instinct !

TMU : We are both big fans of the 1980s and 90s. That’s why we didn’t hesitate to add the extractor with its fan in the background, which creates movements against the backlight, and the blinds... A real tribute, while photographing it with modern lenses, which gives it variation. In this scene, one must, as a viewer, feel Faraday’s distress and confusion, as he continues to struggle to understand the situation. Hence the very high contrast, the very lateral or opposing directions of light, unlike the overhead flood lights more typical of a police station, there is a “Faraday” side against everything else that we kept. Look at the master in profile, with the two actors seated opposite each other, even if we’re in wide angle, it’s still very geometric. This is where I really appreciate Dan Sasaki’s work, as he can offer me in large format lenses that are sufficiently tolerant for faces, while maintaining an excellent image structure, without distortions or bizarre geometric aberrations. I also really liked using the Laowa 24mm Macro lens, which is shaped like a long periscope, and allows extremely close focus while still covering the full frame of the Venice.

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Was this scene shot in studio?

TMU : Yes, like all the interiors, in London. For all the exteriors of the first episode that were set in New Mexico, we shot them in Spain to imitate the USA. Inevitably, you must go a bit overboard in the image in order to convince the viewer that you are there. That’s why some scenes take place in a stereotypical set, such as the pawn shop or the diner, which comes a little later. It’s very important to maintain the viewer in this visual palette, and to build things up bit by bit, especially on a series with multiple characters, and so many locations to come. You know, when viewers start to feel lost within a series with so many elements, it’s not a good sign!

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Did you shoot all ten episodes?

TMU : No, I didn’t shoot the entire series. Only the first four episodes, plus half of the final episode. It was about sixty days of work for me.

Let’s go back to the New Mexico exteriors... We really feel we’re there even though they were shot in Spain.

TMU : We had to deal with the weather conditions. Scouting occurred in Andalusia when it was sunny and cloudless. But, for COVID organizational reasons, shooting took place much later. It was the beginning of winter with regular periods of rain and an often-cloudy sky. We had to completely revise our plans and accept that the scenes would appear less sunny, or just that we’d have to artificially color them. Anyway, the plans that had been made for the shots and for assembly were such that I couldn’t really consider artificially recreating the Sun. At the most, I could darken certain areas using large black frames, and bring back a bit of shininess using one or two light sources. You can’t fight that as a cinematographer anyway... And then one of the references I cited was Nomadland, whose exteriors are almost all shot in ambient light, with a very realistic and lively side that we had in mind. So that’s how we proceeded on these scenes...

Set-up in Andalousia
Set-up in Andalousia


And the tornado?

TMU : Oh yes! The tornado scene was something else. For this scene, I had to be a little more aggressive in terms of light control to maintain the feeling of a character sinking into darkness. There, huge butterfly frames and 18 kW HMIs were most welcome!

The final scene of episode 1 takes place in a forest, very distinct from the rest of the show... The image is also much spookier.

TMU : In this scene, the forest acts as a kind of space the character is mentally teleported into. We don’t really know where this scene takes place... Is it on Earth or on Faraday’s home planet? No one really knows at this point in the series. Anyway, it was important to make a very clear break with the rest, and to offer something spectacular. These scenes were shot in spherical with a LUT specially developed for when Thomas Newton’s character arrives, and we used it on him for the rest of the series. Of course, many people were waiting for this moment where Bill Nighy takes over the character David Bowie portrayed forty years ago. The scene had to be visually up to par, with a different tone from the rest. Personally, it’s a moment that immediately made me think of this scene from Contact, by Robert Zemeckis, when Jodie Foster finds herself teleported at the end of the film. That’s why I allowed myself a lot of freedom in terms of lighting on this set… I deliberately placed three suns and used a lot of backlighting… we’re not on Earth. At this point in the series, it’s not a real place. Even though later in the following episodes it will become real…

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(Interview conducted by François Reumont, and translated from French by A. Baron Raiffe, for the AFC.)