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OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A MULTI-CAMERA SERIES

Mike Berlin
Everybody Loves Raymond
"Robert's Rodeo"

Early in his career, Mike Berlin worked as an electrician on some episodes of I Love Lucy, the show that defined the sitcom genre and invented many of the multi-camera techniques still widely used today. In the early '70s, Berlin began shooting low-budget shows and regional commercials, while also serving as a gaffer for top cinematographers. In 1977, he photographed a sitcom called Park Place, followed by the pilot for Night Court.

Berlin has photographed every episode of Everybody Loves Raymond except the pilot. The show features comedian Ray Romano, Patricia Heating, Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts. In the nominated episode, a bull gores Ray's brother, Robert (Brad Garrett), a police officer, while he's on duty.

Everybody Loves Raymond is photographed with four dolly-mounted film cameras. The middle cameras are outfitted with 20-100mm 5:1 zoom lenses, and the outside cameras use 25-250mm 10:1 zooms. All of the cameras are loaded with Kodak Vision 320T 5277, and 18,000'-25,000' of the stock is used per episode.

"I try not to use any lights on stands unless they're way in the background," Berlin says. "I need to give the director the freedom to roll the dollies wherever he wants, and keep the stage clean. The actors are in and out of the sides of the set all the time. We hang almost everything from pipes. Across the front I bounce light, usually 2K Juniors, off of bead boards for a soft ambient fill.

"On this show, the producers aren't afraid of playing a scene pretty dark," Berlin notes. "They're not afraid of turning the lights out for a minute. They enjoy the different moods we can create. The important thing is the joke [but] of course, the joke must be properly set up visually for it to work. That's the key."

— D.H.