We're just a little over a day away from the season finale of Upload season three and following last Friday's sixth installment, we were able to catch up with director Alberto Belli (The House of Flowers; Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion) to get a detailed breakdown of his pivotal episode and what's to come next in the final two episodes.
He goes into the heavy detail on the intricate process behind incorporating the various different genres, what it's actually like incorporating VFX into the series, his experience working with the excellent cast, some of the fun tricks he used to shoot the two different Nathans, whether he was able to add a trademark camera technique into the episode, and a whole lot more!
Watch and/or read on for our full interview with director Alberto Belli below, and please remember to SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel for more exclusive content!
ROHAN: When you get the script for episode six, which bridges together all the plot threads from 1-5 and then also sets up the last two installments - how do you go about breaking it down?
ALBERTO: I think it’s the emotional beats, because at the end of the day, it's all about characters, even though obviously, the plot has driven the series but I think it is like, okay, so how do we conclude, kind of like you were saying, the emotional journey that these characters have had until now. I think by the time I directed my episode, I had read episode seven, but not eight, so I didn't really know what was the ultimate goal. So, it was really fun to see where it ended up going when I got the scripts, but it truly was about, hey, this episode is all about the characters and the emotions and the closure with the relationships, and then we go back a little bit to the bigger plot, or the biggest conspiracy that Upload is dealing with this season.
ROHAN: Since the show is so VFX-heavy and the scripts are extremely tight, is there much room for improvisation amongst the cast?
ALBERTO: I think it's a lot of improvisation, actually. I mean, most of what ends up being in an episode is actually what was written, but a lot of times, maybe at the end of the scene could be improvised mostly or something like that. The actors have such good chemistry, it's so fun to see them bounce ideas and see where they can go, so, there is a lot of room for improvisation.
ROHAN: Your episode features several characters - Nora, Nathan and Ingrid - playing heightened, inebriated versions of themselves. When you’re shooting scenes like that, what kinds of notes are you giving the cast? Do you ever tell them to scale it back or amp it up?
ALBERTO: Yeah, I think we did different variations, like you were saying, like drunk can someone be? Or how high should they be? Or, I think a lot of it is finding the right balance, because especially what I love about Greg Daniels and all his shows, and it's also in the writing, you know, like, how do you grant those absolute moments that could be very over the top, and I think that's a great thing about actors is that they're able to take a little bit of something, observe, ground it, and then, maybe scale it down, like maybe we can have that joke very high, or we can have that more grounded. I think there's room to play with actors, for sure, and I think, again, this episode challenged the actors in a way that we haven't seen before, with the relationships and the things that they're experiencing with, so it was also fun for them to have these emotions.
ROHAN: There are so many tonal shifts in this series where it can go from comedy to drama to romance to thriller and so on - how do you deal with nailing those big tonal shifts?
ALBERTO: Firstly, I think, it's in the writing and also working with actors, how can we make, kind of like you were saying a little bit of improvisation maybe, or even the staging, right? I think the staging of the actors sometimes does reach, you know, for example, when Ingrid has that emotional moment, it's like, well, I think maybe she needs more space, s o how about if we saw her sitting behind him, and then as she walks around, she has a moment of coming down from that emotional thing to I'm going back with Nathan, and then breach that like emotional thing, and that also helps the audience to going like, okay, so we just saw something emotionally and now it's fun again, and it just feels right. I think when you're working with actors, you try to find those little moments here and there that can help because, at the end of the day, like you said, it's a comedy, right, so they better be laughing even they were a little bit emotional before.
ROHAN: You use a slightly different trick than we’ve become accustomed to when shooting the two different Nathans. What went behind shooting the two different Robbies together and actually just pulling off shooting that duplicate shot?
ALBERTO: I think the good thing about Robbie, he's amazing with knowing his timing, and I think a lot of the times - earlier, I mentioned crane shots and stuff like that, but he always knew how to keep his mark, and how it works is that he has a double, who he plays the scene off with, and then we have to shoot sometimes three, sometimes four times, you know, for the over the shoulders, you shoot it, one with Robbie and Kevin, and then the other one is with the other actor, and then you switch, and then you reshoot it again, but with a green screen so that you're able to insert him there. So, we always kind of have to shoot it two or three times with green screen to be able to insert him in between, and usually, you know, some other similar shows for a shoulder shot would use a fake Nathan, or whatever, but in this one, it was always him. So, we have to shoot even when it's like just his shoulder, we have to reshoot the scene just to have the real shoulder.
ROHAN: How did you shoot the sequence where we see Nathan interacting with Choak in the lamp?
ALBERTO: We shoot one with the actors who he's supposed to interact with, and then we should the lamp clean, you know, so they are able to insert him and then, we get the actor who plays Choak to be just there standing and then, they put him in a little bit of like a green screen to cover his neck, and then they merge the three elements together like, oh, the actor is the lamp. Yeah, that's how it kind of like works.
ROHAN: How is the shooting schedule determined and how long does it typically take to complete an episode of Upload?
ALBERTO: It takes about seven days to shoot. I shot last November, so I guess it took them a year to finish the whole season, andd then the breakdown is really dependant on the sides really, like we don't usually break it down according to the emotional arcs or whatever, it's more about, like, hey, we're shooting everything in Lakeview from Day One to Two, and then, we're shooting the Gray Zone on Day Three, then so on, it’s more the about stacking the locations more than anything else, which was, I mean, when you're shooting something like this, it’s really great because Lakeview is such an amazing location to be, you know, like, oh my god, like it has roofs and everything. So, I felt like I was in a real Hotel, and it's really mostly about locations and actor availability more than the story but because the actors are so good, my job is really to help to remind them that, oh, this is where you just came from, this is where we're going, and then they bring their own thing.
ROHAN: What is it like having a cast like this one that just seems so ready to do whatever the script demands to make the best show possible?
ALBERTO: It's a joy. You really get to play with the best of the best, like you have the support from Prime, so you have the timing that you need and then, Owen, who plays AI Guy, is the writer of this episode too, so when he was playing that, we were able to take different versions of AI Guy, because he's been kind of learning, so maybe he's finally learned a little bit about how to be more human, where he would actually maybe not snap but like tell it as it is like we've never seen before, like you mentioned. So, that was a really fun thing to shoot, and then, he was just ready to do the best job he can do, like even in season three, he’s still excited to be playing this character, and I think that really comes through in the scene. The reason people, I think, really respond to these shows is because the characters don't feel like, oh, you know, season three, I want to do something else, like they are all always enjoying themselves.
ROHAN: When you’re shooting a scene like the one with Upload Nathan and Nora shifting through the memories on the computer, where I’m assuming they are looking at blank screens, what are you telling Robbie and Andy?
ALBERTO: I think they have really good imaginations, because there was nothing playing up there, and it was more about describing what would be on screen, and I think once we have something very concrete in your head, you don’t have to imagine, it’s more like visualizing and knowing what it it’s going to be like, you know, the Prime Video menu where you’re scrolling? Like, okay, I've done that before, I know how that's gonna look, so they were mostly playing it like that or trying to explore and stuff. The thing about those scenes was more about the more specific you can be with imagination, the less they have room to imagine, like, oh, you know, like, the screen is here, and they're looking the other way, right? You have to be very present, like here's gonna be the main video, here's gonna be the scrolling and then, it's up to them to imagine and I think if you give people limits, they're very good at imagining.
ROHAN: Your episode incorporates several different genres - comedy, romance, thriller, etc. - is there any particular genre that you find more difficult than the others to convey effectively? Or do they all provide their own challenges?
ALBERTO: I think, for this episode, what was really fun to me was how do you make that, I wouldn't necessarily say like spy thriller, but they were trying to find answers, and then we have that reveal with Nora, how do you make that reveal happen? And how do you make it - I think one of the things that I always told Greg that I loved about the show was that he blends genres, right? It's never one genre, it keeps changing, but what makes it Upload is the characters are in like a movie that it's like a thriller, or they're in a romantic movie, but they're the same characters, and then, I think a lot of it is more like camera movements. How do you make it feel more romantic? Or, the lighting, by making it warmer, or how do we use reflections. I use a lot of reflections in episode, because there are two Nathans, so whenever we could do something with the mirrors, I thought it was a fun way to keep reminding people of the two Nathans, so it was mostly about camera work, than really the characters because the characters are always themselves, they’re just put in situations by different genres.
ROHAN: We get to see the bedroom set from an entirely different perspective in this episode - what went behind the decision to expand that set and show the audience something they typically wouldn’t see?
ALBERTO: Yeah, that was it. I think there was some excitement, you know, with the writers and Greg himself, you know, like we thought it would be fun to show the fans how the actual set looks like, and that’s how the set looks like. Obviously, they enhance it to make it look like a humongous hangar with a jet and everything, but that's really how the room looks like. That's how everything usually is on set, so I think it was like how do you use something that is already built and make it part of a larger room and it was mostly, you know, expanding the surroundings more than the actual set.
ROHAN: Greg Daniels is obviously a comedy legend - what was it like working with him and being able to learn from him firsthand?
ALBERTO: He truly is amazing. I had no expectations. I mean, obviously I knew him and was a big fan. He's huge and a winner and so, maybe at the beginning, I was like, oh, how is this going to be? Maybe felt a little intimidated, but he's such a nice guy. He has a vision, but he's also willing to hear what you have to say, because I think he's very vocal about saying like, hey, it could have been anyone directing this episode, but it's you. So, how are you going to make this episode your own? Otherwise, I would’ve hired any other director, you know, so he really wants you to bring your own camera movements, like I did in this in this episode, or how do we bring your comedy, so he really wants to hear from you. And, at the same time, he knows how important the writing is, so you feel like you’re in really good hands. You feel protected, but at the same time, he's going to care and, also at the same time, if something isn't working, you will know, He’s not like, oh, you made a mistake, who cares? He really wants to help you do the best you can.
ROHAN: With Greg’s encouragement and considering how highly technical the show is, were you able to leave your own trademark on your episode?
ALBERTO: I'm a big fan of transitions, so I tried to do, which I think there's a couple or maybe three - and exploring cool transitions. I'm a very big fan of transitions, but also camera movements. I was able to do a lot of oners, I love oners a lot, and then, that was also really fun to the actor, so they can also keep it alive, and hopefully, people will see that. Or hopefully not, which means you know, they are way into the story, so nobody cares, you know, about the technical stuff, which is also good.
The first six episodes of Upload season three are now streaming on Prime Video!