The saga of a criminal gang family in Birmingham, England,
between the two World Wars has moved into darker political territory in Season
5, but Peaky Blinders keeps its stylish assault on the senses unabated.
Continuity with a twist was the creative touchstone for
Cinematographer Si Bell, who picked up series photography from the template laid
down by George Steel and preserved by DPs Laurie Rose, Cathal Watters, and
Simon Dennis. “I’ve worked with (director) Anthony Byrne a number of times
before and we knew we wanted to do justice to the ‘Peaky look,’ such as using
shafts of light and darkness set by George (Steel) in Season 1,” Bell says.
“The big thing creatively that we wanted to do was a lot of developing shots
with minimal coverage to tell the story.
“The storyline for Season 5 takes place a number of years
later (than S4),” he elaborates. “The characters have lost money on the stock
exchange and there’s a new element in the rise of fascism. Since the story has
developed, we felt it right to develop the camera language.”
Music video stylistics contrasting with a noir backlit look
are some of the signature elements of the often very violent period drama and
have helped make the BBC series an international hit. [Episodes stream on
Netflix in the U.S.]
Bell and Byrne maintained this aesthetic but added in
anamorphic lenses and the large-format sensor of the RED Monstro 8K VV. “We
talked a lot about choreographing certain set pieces in one shot and also about
using zooms as a new part of the style throughout the series,” Bell says. “Then
Anthony wanted to shoot anamorphic. We felt that the energy of camera movement
and having the ability to move the camera 360 degrees, if necessary, would
elevate the story.”
Bell had concerns, though, about shooting in low light
conditions for that smoky “Peaky look” and whether an anamorphic lens was
appropriate for a full-frame sensor. All previous seasons were shot with ARRI
cameras. Bell sought the advice of Sam McCurdy, BSC, who shoots Lost in Space
on RED’s Monstro sensor, and was encouraged to test it out.
The cinematographer made side-by-side tests of the Monstro
with other digital cameras in low light conditions, including naked flame, to
ensure it was up to the 4K deliverable Netflix required. “I was blown away by
how good the Monstro looked,” says Bell. “It was really impressive how clean
the image was in low light, and by its quality of skin tones and color detail.
“It’s a big deal to
change spherical to anamorphic,” Bell adds. “I went through a crazy amount of
lens tests in prep. The look was important, but also we needed to know we could
deliver these developing shots.”
Tests with an array of different manufacturer’s glass
mounted on the RED DSMC2 confirmed that a Cooke 65mm macro would enable Bell to
capture both extreme close-ups and wide angles in a single moving shot. He
complemented this with a set of Cooke primes and Angénieux lenses for contra
zooms and slow-motion shots.
“I am amazed by how far I can push the ISO on the Monstro 8K
VV sensor and how well it holds up. It’s really impressive to me how clean the
image is in very low light conditions. The colour depth of skin tones are also
really mind blowing, the Monstro is the best sensor on the market.”
“We found that if we shot 4K at 1:1 aspect ratio, we could
use the maximum amount of the image circle of the lens. If we shot the full
height of the sensor this allowed us to get a square anamorphic picture from
the sensor (de-squeezed to 2:1 aspect ratio for delivery).” The developing
shots choreographed around the actors for this series are a fittingly bravura
flourish for a show abounding with style.
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