DRAMA | THE CROWN
LEFT The Queen arrives for the state funeral of Winston Churchill, followed by the Sony F55 on a Steadicam
REALISTIC LIGHTING Goldman approached lighting the same way he had done since Series 1 of The Crown . He likes an empty set to give the director and talent plenty of room to play around with, and so chooses to light all of his scenes from the outside in. He explains: “If you come to my sets, they always look very simple. I rely a lot on windows and what is supposed to be a natural light source, like the sun or sky. I also like to use practicals, to enhance skin tone or make the actors’ eyes sparkle, so I work closely with Martin Childs and his department to determine which practicals would work best for the work I’m doing. It’s usually things like how thick the shades are or what’s the strongest bulb I can have on a certain practical. It’s a realistic approach. This show isn’t supposed to be super glossy or have a super-romantic look – it’s supposed to feel real.” Goldman also felt inclined to upgrade his lighting gear. He didn’t use any LED sources for the first two seasons, but Series 3 and 4 both employ Arri SkyPanels, This show isn’t supposed to be super glossy or have a super- romantic look – it’s supposed to feel real
COLOUR EVOLUTION
Once filming had started, Shoul and Goldman found a colour palette and contrast level they felt worked for most situations. But the darkness of the series came from discussions about characters’ isolation from the outside world and wanting them to feel as if the only light reaching them was from the distant windows. “We called this ‘putting them in the room’, which was a refreshing change from what has become the norm in many TV dramas, where you see unusually bright interiors,” explains Shoul. Although there are a number of rooms The Crown returned to across the three seasons, such as the royal audience chamber, where the Queen meets her prime ministers, Shoul and Goldman wanted subtle differences in the grade to keep the drama fresh, and to hint at the individual emotion of each scene. Shoul also notes that working on a Netflix production is a luxury because, “all ten episodes are live at the same time”, enabling him to explore different looks and return to an episode if he found something that worked better later on in the series.
Asa Shoul is one of the originals and has worked on The Crown since Series 1. He was invited to interview for the series following the work he did on The Queen , which was written by Peter Morgan. He was initially asked to do some test grades with Goldman, and they started by comparing three different cameras, and some exterior street scenes and interior locations. He says: “We also extensively tested makeup and in particular, Queen Elizabeth’s lipstick, which initially turned magenta when we applied a cool grade. The makeup team gave Adriano several shades to work with until we were happy with one that I wouldn’t have to isolate and change for every shot. Early on in the tests, we also looked at the possibility of the 2.35:1 aspect ratio and, although cinematic, it didn’t quite feel right. I suggested a 2:1 ratio, which made it more cinematic than a 16:9 full frame, but still gave the glorious palace interiors the feeling of height, which helped with making the young Queen feel small within those imposing spaces.”
16 DEF I N I T ION | NOVEMBER 20 1 9
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