PRODUCTION GREAT EXPECTATIONS
GRADE EXPECTATIONS WORDS Nicola Foley Colourist Toby Tomkins talks about the process of creating distinct worlds and working in HDR for the first time for the BBC/Hulu adaptation of Great Expectations T he decaying decadence of Miss Havisham, one of literature’s most canonical characters, provided
rich inspiration for the production team behind the recent BBC/Hulu adaptation of Great Expectations . With Olivia Colman in the role of the jilted spinster and Fionn Whitehead playing orphaned Pip, the six- parter takes Dickens’ classic tale down a darker, grittier road – both visually and narratively – into a world of opium dens, sadism, sex and violence. Helping to bring the series’ noirish feel to life was colourist Toby Tomkins (CHEAT), who became involved during pre-production as the team was gearing up for the shoot. Working in tandem with the DOPs, CHEAT was asked to begin building up the look for the show using screen tests of the actors in costume on location, honing in on a strong aesthetic for the dailies. “I had never worked with [cinematographers] Dan Atherton or Kate Reid before, but it quickly became clear that we had similar sensibilities, and were going to work together well. Once we got into the DI, the magic really started – and we could drive the look forward from the early work in look dev and tailor it to both blocks and their individual subtleties.” When the team got together for finishing, it became apparent that the original LUT from the dailies would need adapting to portray the story in the way the execs envisaged. Working for the first time in HDR rather than SDR, a decision
BY CANDLELIGHT A typically down and dirty Steven Knight production required a delicate touch when it came to tones – Toby Tomkins and his collaborators passed with flying colours
was made to retain many of the film emulation elements from the original look, “keeping a nice filmic roll-off but adding some additional texture to the highlights with the extended range in HDR,” says Tomkins. “With the extra range in the highlights, we found we could go softer in the midtones while still having ‘bite’ in the image. So we altered the tone curve to get a slightly more painterly tone with a more muted palette throughout.” An essential element was creating distinct visual languages for each stage of Pip’s rags-to-riches story. “We all wanted unique worlds for Pip throughout his journey, making sure that his country home life felt different to the
opium-hazed bowels of Miss Havisham’s house, and the cold streets of London,” shares Tomkins. “Once we dialled in these different looks, it became about enhancing each scene and making sure we were being faithful and naturalistic, but pushing these differences further depending on the tone of the scene.” One of the biggest challenges was striking the right balance in Miss Havisham’s world: “The green, hazy tint and the texture of the look was hard to find without washing out the skin tones too much,” explains Tomkins. “When there was firelight or candles in the scene, we found this created an absolutely lovely balance with green tones mixing with
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