Apple TV FYC Booklet
LIGHTING THE WAY
Establishing the visual identity of an entire television series can be a daunting task. But for one of Margo's Got Money Troubles' directors of photography, Tari Segal, ASC, it can also be a rewarding one.
In working with director Dearbhla Walsh, lead cinematographer Carl Herse and the production design team, Segal found that content followed form in an organic, streamlined way that allowed her and her fellow creatives to ground the more imaginative and fantastical parts of Margo's journey with authenticity and realistic lighting schemes. The show's visuals also mirror Margo's various emotional states, as she goes from aspiring writer and college student to mother of a newborn who turns to OnlyFans to help make ends meet. For Segal, the opportunity to help tell Margo's story was gratifying on many levels, especially since it allowed her to depict visually what Margo and the other characters were feeling internally. Here, Segal explains how she worked with multiple departments to ensure a cinematic fidelity to the emotionally resonant material and the photographic benefits of building an apartment complex based on a real one.
How did you and the rest of the creative team collaborate to establish the show's realistic visual palette?
Tari Segal: We really wanted to bring this story to life with an approach that was very naturalistic—and without being too gritty or harsh. The camera work was designed to mirror Margo's vibes, basically, and where she was at during key points of her story. She's a young college student, and the camera framing feels like it conveys who she is and what she is feeling throughout the series.
So the color palette and shot choices are dictated by where Margo is at on her emotional journey?
To a degree, yes. We're striking between naturalism and realism in regard to available light. We wanted to take the distraction of "reality" away and just put you into the story and setting in a natural way. So, in the beginning of the series, the visuals are kind of happy-go-lucky. Everything is seemingly fine for this intelligent writer and college student. As things happen to her, we get more dramatic and more stylized with our visuals. You have scenes where people are bathed by her apartment complex's blue pool light, which is very dramatic and stylized.
The colors on screen were all purposely chosen. This is the second time I've worked with the production designer, Richard Bloom. He and his team bring so much detail to the show. Director Dearbhla Walsh was also a key part in mapping out the look of the series. She wonderfully championed having everything feel authentic to California.
Margo's apartment complex has a very lived-in texture and feel.
That's a set, too. It's modeled after real Southern California apartments, though. We built a replica of the apartment and the surrounding complex, certain key landmarks like the staircase leading to Margo's unit. There are scenes where you're walking up the stairs to Margo's apartment and people are out there on the second-floor level, while we are inside her place and looking outside. So, when you see a shot looking out Margo's door from the inside of the apartment as she greets her mom, and there's part of the complex behind Shyanne, production built that, too. They built the exterior to the scale of the actual apartment complex that we use in the show, and we lit it to feel like the same environment. There's a layer within windows, too, where we have TVs playing at night, and you can see them flickering through the windows.
How was your experience collaborating with the Margo team overall?
The producers and the collaborators on this show championed us to tell the story and not to worry about what we should show the audience to make them "get it." To be successful in telling this story was to let you feel what Margo is feeling. In those moments, it was a bit like almost shooting a music video. Music was so important to the storytelling, too. Not only was it written into the script, but the music was prepicked. It was always playing while we were shooting, so everyone had the vibe of it to help us all get on the same page.
I feel so lucky to have had this project and to work with the people on it. It's an authentic story of this authentically flawed family, and I really love how our environments are just as authentic.
When did you know you wanted to pursue a career in a creative field like cinematography?
I think I always felt that way. I come from Chicago, and my family owns a jazz club there—we've had it since 1947. So, I grew up around musicians and artists; all the greats would come through, and I am just sitting there, in the jazz club, chilling. [Laughs] My family showed me that you can do whatever you want if you have a passion for something.
Cinematography found me in high school—at Columbia College, where I was taking a special high school/college hybrid class. While there, I was like: "This is it. This is what I was meant to do."
"It's an authentic story of this authentically flawed family" - Tari Segal
