PRODUC T I ON . BRIDGERTON
choreography, the exact mechanics of how it works need to be figured out. “The scenes are still very much driven by the director and DOP – and by what the actors feel comfortable doing on-set. But there’s a lot more prep involved. We now have intimacy coordinators, who are central to the rehearsal process. They help create more of a dialogue between cast and crew. This role didn’t exist a few years ago,” explains Blaubach. “Actors would express what they felt comfortable doing on the day, which – in the moment and under the pressure of the director’s vision – wasn’t always how they really felt. Actors need time to think.” He continues: “The sets are closed, and the monitors get flagged off. The dailies are also separated as sensitive material, meaning only certain heads of departments get to see them. And they’re censored, to avoid the potential for misuse.” Bridgerton ’s sex scenes were shot single camera and with minimal relighting between different angles – as Blaubach was conscious about the actors having to work for long periods. But, in instances where there was dialogue, they naturally
added, to create what the director Alex Pillai termed a ‘hot cam’ for the show’s raunchier sequences. Blaubach explains: “By tilting the focal plane with a tilt-shift lens, you can get an extreme close-up that focuses on the actors’ eyes and falls off around the mouth and eyebrows. It’s very magical, and has a dreamlike quality. We even added a flame bar under the lens for one scene, so you could literally see waves of heat ripple across the frame.” The sex scenes between Daphne and the Duke in Season 1 caused quite the splash – fans will be able to recall that infamous library sequence. It’s certainly a step up from the PG thrill of Mr Darcy emerging wet-shirted from a lake in the BBC’s 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice . Yet, there’s a delicacy in portraying 19th-century sex for modern viewers – from the modest clothing to the
are dealing with multiple cameras and a big cast. It was important that we created this intimacy for Bridgerton , though, because it’s quite steamy.” Alongside the Signature Primes, Blaubach also used Fujinon Premistas, which cut well with Arri’s glass. This season, tilt-shift lenses were also
Did you know? Blaubach had to use an elaborate rear projection effect on windows to create rain. This was because of a fresco painting on the wall of the period location. “It was an interesting technical challenge because the rain was integral to the story,” he says. “We had a specialist window film that is used on shop fronts, so you can still look through, but it catches the projected image. We then photographed rain in glass in pre-production, and prepared the footage – tiled and scaled to the correct dimension – for multiple window panes.”
ROMANTIC LOCATIONS The iconic scenes were filmed in a variety of stately homes, including Hampton Court Palace
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