page_title: Fargo (season 2)
section_title: Filming
hierarchical_section_title: Fargo (season 2) / Production / Filming
caption_attribution_description: Calgary, Alberta Skyline from Crescent Road at Dusk. Photo by Chuck Szmurlo taken May 22, 2007 with a Nikon D200 and a Nikon 28-70 f2.8 lens
context_page_description: The second season of Fargo, an American anthology black comedy–crime drama television series created by Noah Hawley, premiered on October 12, 2015, on the basic cable network FX. Its principal cast consists of Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson, Jesse Plemons, Jean Smart, and Ted Danson. The season had ten episodes, and its initial airing concluded on December 14, 2015. As an anthology, each Fargo season possesses its own self-contained narrative, following a disparate set of characters in various settings.
  A prequel to the events in its first season, season two of Fargo takes place in the Upper Midwest in March 1979. It follows the lives of a young couple—Peggy and Ed Blumquist —as they attempt to cover up the hit and run and homicide of Rye Gerhardt, the son of Floyd Gerhardt, matriarch of the Gerhardt crime family. During this time, Minnesota state trooper Lou Solverson, and Rock County sheriff Hank Larsson, investigate three homicides linked to Rye.
  Cristin Milioti, Brad Garrett, Elizabeth Marvel, Jeffrey Donovan, Rachel Keller, Zahn McClarnon, Bokeem Woodbine, and Nick Offerman all make recurring appearances. Kieran Culkin guest stars.
context_section_description: Preliminary scouting was well underway by the time Fargo was renewed. Principal photography began in Calgary, Alberta on January 19, 2015, and took 85 days. The city's central business district and Kensington neighborhood doubled for Kansas City, Sioux Falls, and Luverne. Production crew constructed the Waffle Hut set on the CL Ranch in neighboring Springbank. Elsewhere in the area, shooting took place in Didsbury, High River, and Fort Macleod. Initially, the weather posed a challenge for the production because it was too warm for snow. To solve this problem, the production crew brought snow to the set from nearby mountains.
  Continuing his services from the prior season, Dana Gonzales oversaw production of the show's second season. The cinematographer took cues from William Eggleston to develop a retro visual palette. To achieve this quality, Gonzales relied on vintage practical lighting technology, and captured scenes with an Arri ALEXA camera, retrofitted with vintage Cooke lenses. In one section of Calgary where they were filming, production staff replaced each sodium-lamp street light with tungsten light bulbs, creating an ambience that "pulls the audience into the world when the story takes place". Also, once Hawley analyzed the 1968 thriller film The Boston Strangler, split screen effects were employed to help streamline the narrative during transitions. Gonzales said: "We felt that split-screen would be an incredible way to track all these characters and locations within the episode: Where's the Gerhardt family? Where are the guys from Kansas City? Where's Peggy? Where's Ed?"
caption: Downtown Calgary, pictured here in 2007. The city's central business district and Kensington neighborhood doubled for Kansas City, Luverne, and Sioux Falls.
exif: {}