Go behind the scenes of Apple TV’s Severance, Season 2 with Director of Photography Jessica Lee Gagne. Gagne shares the rules for filming Severance, how they expanded the world, and her experience using the Sony VENICE 2 and FX3.
Gagné and director Ben Stiller aimed to expand on the foundations they meticulously set in season one. This expansion involved everything from lens selection and filming techniques to choosing the main camera, which plays a crucial role in shaping the show’s visual language. Using the Sony VENICE 2 and the FX3 cameras, they found tools that allowed them to explore their creativity more freely and dive deeper into the world of “Severance.”
Severance is a highly acclaimed TV series nominated for 14 Emmy awards in its debut season, including for cinematography. The series follows employees at the biotechnology corporation Lumon Industries that have undergone “severance”—a medical procedure that ensures they retain no memories of the outside world while at work and have no recollection of their job once they leave. This results in two distinct personalities for each employee: the “innie”, who exists solely within Lumon, and the “outie”, who lives their personal life outside of work.
