DEFINITION March 2020

DRAMA | DRACULA

DRACULA IS CURRENTLY STREAMING ON NETFLIX AND BBC IPLAYER at Dracula , delving further into the series’ spine-tingling visual effects, including individually crafted CGI flies, sex toys and tiny contortionists. up the pathway from the beach. The tricky part about shooting that scene was the lighting. You can’t have any light pollution on the screen, because it dilutes the image. We had to put large skirts on all our softboxes so that the light would always be directed downwards.” Also in episode 3, we enter Dracula’s nightmare after he drinks Zoe’s poisonous blood. In it, he and Zoe are standing in a river of blood against a painted backdrop of abbey ruins next to silhouetted trees with razor-sharp branches. Slater Ling explains how they created this scene: “Arwel built a huge trough that was filled with real blood [from a butcher, might we add] – about three inches of it, which was deep enough to achieve a reflection from off the trees and actors. The trees were lit with LEDs, so I could change the colours and levels in-camera, and I shot the whole scene on a Technocrane, which enabled me to get around the actors without having to stand in the blood.” He concludes: “ Dracula was all artwork; it was a collaboration from the art department, camera department and makeup department.” In our next issue, we continue to look

When Dracula comes ashore in episode 3 [directed by Paul McGuigan], 123 years after his voyage on the ill-fated Demeter, he is standing on a beach that was crafted by Jones, in front of an 80ft by 30ft projection screen that was provided by Dunton Projections. The projected images are of beaches, which were shot by Stephen Lang, and turned into moving plates by Wood at Space Digital. Slater Ling adds: “We had three plates, so every time we changed the camera angle, we changed the projection; one was out to sea, one was to the side and the other was

“almost too clean at times” and he liked a bit of flare. “The uncoated lenses have distinctive flares and create pastel colours that are a thing of beauty, but that can also feel like too much of one thing, so it’s nice to have options.” A lavish filter from Vantage called Glare Effect was used to intensify the flares. It’s a resin filter containing various types and sizes of crystals and prisms, and when the light hits it, it creates long, rounded flares that dart across the frame. This was used throughout the episode, but is especially noticeable in the nightclub scenes and on the headlights of cars. Vintage lenses were used for episode 1, which was set in 1897. The Canon K35s aren’t quite that old, but helped Slater Ling achieve a period look. He enthuses: “They’re from the seventies and have a lovely fall- off about them, which worked really well against all the practicals.” The Sony Venice was Slater Ling’s camera choice, which he shot at 6K for the first episode, but had to downsize to 4K for episode 3, since his favourite focal lengths on the Arri Master Primes didn’t cover the full 6K sensor size. The whole project was shot at 2500 ASA to achieve speed for the practical lighting elements. ANALOGUE “The directors, Paul McGuigan and Johnny Campbell, were keen to keep the visual effects in-camera as much as possible. They both love images and I loved that about working with them,” says Slater Ling.

RIGHT The beach from episode 3 was filmed in front of an 80ft by 30ft projection screen

The uncoated lenses have distinctive flares and create pastel colours that are a thing of beauty

18 DEF I N I T ION | MARCH 2020

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