CULPRITS PRODUCTION
T hings don’t always go according to plan, as anyone who has worked in production will attest to. From bad weather to scheduling conflicts, each moving part poses a unique problem – even for seasoned pros. Philipp Blaubach, DOP on Disney+ original series Culprits , can testify. Created by J Blakeson, Culprits follows a group of ex-criminals as they try to lead normal lives – that is, until some of their own are mysteriously murdered. “The series is told not only all over the world, but also in different lives,” explains Blaubach, who’s worked with Blakeson on Gunpowder and The Disappearance of Alice Creed . “You have the life that they live now – a tranquil family life – flash back to the heist, which is ‘then’, and also have this ‘before then’ timeline.” SWEATER WEATHER The series starts with ‘now’, introducing protagonist Joe Petrus (Nathan Stewart- Jarrett), a soon-to-be stepdad living in Washington state, a spot known for its cool, gloomy climate. “It was pouring down,” recounts Blaubach, who shot the early scenes on location. “Some of those school drop-offs were a nightmare – we had to reshoot because of the weather.” Other filming locations, such as Toronto and London, weren’t much nicer. “Sometimes, we had to abandon the schedule and go back and look at second units,” says Blaubach. “We were up against some bad luck there.”
Other times, the weather proved to be a blessing in disguise. “You can have these happy accidents,” explains Blaubach. The team shot a three-way car crash on their first day of filming – a scene which spurs a series of events that put Joe at risk of exposing his past. “It wasn’t raining, but there was a humid mist, and the streetlamps gave off that natural cone of light and mood. Then we looked at the monitor. We were like, ‘That's what we were talking about, right?’ Gregory Crewdson right there – that sort of cinematic street photography.” Blaubach and Blakeson also drew inspiration from nineties US cinema, citing Quentin Tarantino and David Fincher’s filmographies as visual influences. MONEY MOVES From the opening scene, Culprits is full steam ahead. The first two episodes alone feature several challenging stunts, from fence hopping and tree climbing to riding atop a rubbish truck, all taking place in one night. “A classic example of the magic of filmmaking and editing was the sequence of the so-called ‘money tree’,” explains Blaubach. Joe drives out to the woods, hops a fence, climbs a tree and retrieves a duffel bag full of British banknotes. “Once he goes into the forest, the wide shots are in a forest in Sussex, I believe. Two months later, we had built a set of a treetop against blue screens – and this is where he’s with a climbing
TUNNEL VISION Culprits is a glossy thriller, despite a less-than-glamorous shoot that fought conditions at every turn
IT WASN’T RAINING, BUT there was a humid mist . THE STREETLAMPS GAVE OFF a natural cone of mood ”
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