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THE LASSO LOOK
Entering in the third block, DOP Vanessa Whyte explains how she honoured the glossy look of Ted Lasso – and seized hold of the visual reins for its spin-off episode
IN 2018, VANESSA WHYTE was named one of the Bafta Breakthrough Brits. She shot 2017’s Murdered for Being Different , a winner at the Baftas and Royal Television Society Awards, for director Paul Andrew Williams. The pair teamed up again to shoot the six-part ITV series A Confession , also Bafta-nominated, starring acting royalty Martin Freeman and Imelda Staunton. Whyte’s skill set has since caught the attention of overseas streamers; her most recent work can be seen with episodes 7, 8 and 9 in Season 2 of Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso . Jason Sudeikis plays the eponymous lead, an American football coach hired to manage a Premier League team, despite having no experience in the sport. But what he lacks
in expertise, he makes up for with radical optimism and determination. Entering the show in a later block meant Whyte had to do due diligence to earlier episodes shot by different DOPs – as well as pay respect to the style of the first season. “Although it’s set in Richmond, London, it’s still an American show, and there’s a visual language that ties in with that. It’s extremely glossy and everyone looks gorgeous. Think Notting Hill – a slightly heightened version of reality,” Whyte explains. “Our job was to make all the actors look fabulous on camera, and do justice to the amazing work of the costume and makeup department. That really wasn’t hard, actually, because they were all very beautiful to begin with.” Lighting was paramount to creating this rose-tinted view of London, and required a tremendous kit package. Fortunately, Whyte was able to work with gaffers John Attwood and Richard Harris, who lit both seasons of the show and had superb grounding in the approach. “They’re well-versed in the Ted Lasso world, so it was incredibly helpful to have their support on the visuals. All the sets, from the AFC Richmond training ground to the Crown and Anchor pub, are pre-lit, but we then supplement that with the requirements for each scene. Working with a big-budget streamer like Apple TV+ meant we had everything we could possibly need,” she explains. GO YOUR OWN WAY While Ted Lasso is billed as a comedy, it is a show which illustrates that humour sometimes stems from the dark moments in life. These scenes predominantly take place in Whyte’s episodes. “The focus
“Although Ted Lasso is set in London, it’s still an American show, and there’s a visual language that ties in with that. It’s extremely glossy”
SHINING STARS Vanessa Whyte was tasked with staying true to the polished style of the show – and that meant making sure the actors looked their best on screen
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