Skip to main content
Newsletter October 15, 2026

Newsletter No. 006: Xavier Dolléans, AFC: Building Baghdad in Cairo for High Value Target

Newsletter No. 006: Xavier Dolléans, AFC: Building Baghdad in Cairo for High Value Target

Xavier Dolléans, AFC spent five to six months in Cairo photographing High Value Target: The Hunt for Saddam, the TNT limited series directed by Leslie Greif, with a local crew he met on arrival. He calls himself "a big anamorphic guy," but chose ARRI Signature Primes here. "We want almost the frame to be a window on the story," he tells host Jared Levy. Halation and grain came later, in the grade with colorist Karim El Katari.

Xavier Dolléans, AFC: Building Baghdad in Cairo for High Value Target

Xavier Dolléans, AFC: Building Baghdad in Cairo for High Value Target

Xavier Dolléans, AFC spent five to six months in Cairo photographing High Value Target: The Hunt for Saddam, the TNT limited series directed by Leslie Greif, with a local crew he met on arrival. He calls himself "a big anamorphic guy," but chose ARRI Signature Primes here. "We want almost the frame to be a window on the story," he tells host Jared Levy. Halation and grain came later, in the grade with colorist Karim El Katari.

For the night raid that ends in Saddam Hussein's capture, filmed in the desert near Saqqara, two soft boxes of about 10 by 6 meters hung from cranes over four to six cameras and a drone. "The fill light is becoming the key light," he says. The interrogations ran on three cameras, which pushed his lamps back from the actors. "When you do so, all your lightings are more realistic."

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple

David

A crowded Salon holiday party in a warehouse, lit blue and magenta

Keep it free for everyone.

No paywall, no membership, no login, on purpose. Learning to light a scene should not depend on what you can afford. Readers who chip in, from $5 a month, cover part of what it costs to keep it that way.

Support the Salon



Variable x Salon NYC, 2023

The work stays free. Someone still pays for it.

Every episode, every article, and both of the Resources tools are free to use. No paywall, no membership fee, no login. That is not a growth tactic, it is the whole point: learning to light a scene should not depend on what you can afford.

Sponsors cover part of it. The rest is people chipping in.

Monthly or yearly, from $5 a month, less than the price of a coffee. It costs real money to keep the podcast, the writing, and the tools running, and supporting is what covers it.