There’s no CGI at Lumon, or at least not for that eye-popping one shot that has audiences in a tizzy.
“Severance” cinematographer Jessica Lee Gagné, who made her directorial debut with Episode 7, confirmed to Esquire that there was no CGI used in a particular sequence that jumps from the office setting with Mark (Adam Scott) to the basement floor. The scene in question can be watched here.
Gagné explained that a custom cable was built for the one-shot movement.
“There’s a shot that goes from MDR to the control room downstairs. There’s no CGI in it. It’s all real,” Gagné said. “We actually shot through cables. It was the most laborious thing I have ever done as a DP. It was the biggest side project of this show and so many people participated on it.”
Gagné added, “You should see the rig for it: The camera goes through the internal part of the desk. There’s a pulley moving it.”
She has previously served as cinematographer on “Mrs. America” and also collaborated with “Severance” director and executive producer Ben Stiller for his true crime limited series “Escape at Dannemora.”
Stiller told IndieWire that Gagné is a true artist with the camera.
“[Jessica] is not thinking about it as a job,” Stiller said, “she’s thinking about it as her art and an expression of who she is and what she does. And that’s one and the same. She’s a tough audience and she needs to be sold on things. She’s picky about what she thinks is good. And once she does engage with something, she puts everything into it. That’s what I really love about working with her. She’s just so committed.”
This is just the latest occurrence of audiences assuming certain sequences utilize CGI, or even AI, technologies. “The Legend of Ochi,” which debuted at Sundance, first received criticisms about AI usage upon releasing its first trailer. Writer/director Isaiah Saxon, who made his directorial debut with the feature, took to X to refute assumptions that AI was involved. A source close to A24 also confirmed to IndieWire that the film was handmade.
“All close and medium shots of the Ochi are animatronics, puppetry, and suit performers,” Saxon wrote in a since-deleted post. “Wider stunt shots are 3D animation. Six years of handmade work: puppets, animatronics, matte paintings, and a bit of 3D animation. No AI. There’s the statement.”
