When it comes to shooting on location in the deserts of New Mexico, “Better Call Saul” cinematographer Marshall Adams believes “it’s hard to point the camera at something you don’t love.” The veteran DP shared his tricks of the trade while appearing at Gold Derby’s Meet the BTL Experts panel, conducted virtually by managing editor Chris Beachum. Watch our exclusive video interview with Adams above.
SEE Giancarlo Esposito Interview: ‘Better Call Saul’
Adams joined the acclaimed AMC series in its third season, and is submitting the fifth season episode “Bagman” for Emmy consideration. In this installment, directed by co-creator Vince Gilligan, shady lawyer Jimmy “Saul Goodman” McGill (Bob Odenkirk) gets lost in the desert with Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) after a money exchange turns deadly. “The amount of TLC that we got to put into it” really boosted the production value, Adams reveals.
They also lucked out with the timing of their shoot, which took place at the Tohajiilee Indian Reservation just two hours outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the show is primarily filmed. Production on the episode “happened to be right in the middle of the summer,” Adams recalls, “which is a fantastic time to get all the cloud formations and the thunderstorms forming on the horizon, which really does a lot for the skies. So it’s pretty tough to shoot something you don’t like” while on that location, provided you get there at just the right time.
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Adams is also known for his work on the “Breaking Bad” spinoff movie “El Camino,” “Shut Eye,” “Rush Hour,” “Grimm” and “CSI: New York.”
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