DRAMA | DOWNTON ABBEY
IMAGES Exterior scenes were mostly shot using ambient light; castle interiors, on the other hand, needed more input
a gloominess from the light. I didn’t really have to do too much to it because of the paintwork, which is dark grey. There’s also a little bit of candlelight and gaslight, but not much because the house staff have taken to using electricity, like a lot of people at that time.” Upstairs was harder to light due to the design of the house, and although a lot of the interior day scenes appear to be lit by natural light coming in from its large and decadent windows, most of it is artificial. “The orientation of the house is a little odd – the front hardly ever gets any sunlight. It was a Victorian upper-class thing, they didn’t sit out in the sun, even when they were indoors – and there aren’t any scenes at the back of the house because that’s not where they used to frequent.” He continues, “This proved useful for all the big scenes that were shot outside the front of the house, such as Lady Edith’s arrival, I could always shoot them with ambient daylight; there wasn’t a requisite for additional lighting on the day exteriors.” The upstairs interiors are awash with stately red and yellow, but despite the bright
between how the people downstairs and upstairs lived. And that’s what made the film, especially the downstairs part of it, because when you’re watching it, you really feel as though you’re walking through a moment in time.” A NEW ERA OF DOWNTON If you’ve seen the trailer, or the movie for that matter, you will have seen Lady Edith, her husband, Herbert Pelham, and their daughter, Marigold, drive back to the old country home in time for the royal affair. “No maid, no valet, no nanny, even!” Robert Crawley exclaims as he greets his daughter on the carriage drive at the front of the house. “It’s 1927,” Pelham replies. “We’re modern folk.” Throughout the series, the differences between the downstairs in comparison to the upstairs residents are highlighted by their vernacular and costume, but also, of course, by the use of light in each setting. It’s much darker downstairs than it is upstairs. But with what seems ‘a new era’ approaching, are those differences waning? Smithard assures, “The upstairs residents haven’t suddenly installed bigger windows downstairs just to make their lives a little bit easier and a little bit brighter. It is still the same.” The servants’ quarter at Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey) has undergone a series of modernisations to help it withstand the test of time. It therefore retains no resemblance to how it would have looked in the early 20th century, and so, all of the downstairs scenes are shot on a stage in London, but this meant that it was easier for Smithard to light. He explains, “The stage is painted with a colour that reflects
Smithard’s camera choice had to be something cinematic; it needed to have a different look to the TV series
18 DEF I N I T ION | OCTOBER 20 1 9
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