Night and the City: The Cinematography for “Criminal Record”

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Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo star as detectives drawn together by an anonymous phone call to right an old miscarriage of justice in Apple TV+’s Criminal Record.

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Written by BAFTA nominee Paul Rutman and directed by Jim Loach, the series touches on issues of race, institutional failure and the quest to find common ground in a polarized Britain.

“I loved the complexity of this narrative,” French DP Laurent Barès (Gangs of London) informed British Cinematographer. “It’s a real challenge to convey this to the audience without them feeling lost. Too many shows today are simplistic, obvious. Life isn’t like that. Criminal Record is a good reflection of the complexity of our lives.”

The Frenchman says he loves London and this helped him portray a different side to the city than tourist cliches.

“There’s a significant character in Criminal Record that irresistibly attracted me – London. A multicultural, immense city. I love London. I’ve been fortunate to spend several months there because of my profession.”

During research, Barès discovered the work of British photographer Ray Knox, whose color photos of London seemed close to the universe of Criminal Record.

“He captured a modest London, far from tourist spots. The light guides his graphic composition. I also [draw on] photos from each of our location scouts. It was important to choose locations that, in some way, offered a perspective on the city.”

For instance, a lengthy discussion between Hegarty (Capaldi) and DS Cardwell (Shaun Dooley), is set in a bar with large windows. “Behind them, you constantly feel the hustle and bustle of the street, adding an extra dimension to their conversation.“When DS Lenker (Jumbo) talks with a phone seller, Hasad (Sia Alipour), we moved his stand a meter onto the pavement. This way, for the two-shot, you can see the perspective of Kingsland Road.

A related challenge of Criminal Record was to realistically portray working-class neighborhoods.

“I dislike miserablism,” Barès says. “We strived to maintain a balance between reality and poetry. I drew inspiration from Don McCullin’s photos of Liverpool in the late 1960s — beautiful, realistic, moving, and respectful. The framing is slightly distanced enough to understand where we are but not so much as to ignore the drama of those who live there.”

He shot the show on the ARRI Alexa Mini LF equipped with Zeiss Supremes FF lenses, and, as any good DP will do, devised a visual grammar to fit the story.

“Filming an investigation is capturing a thought in motion,” he says. “In every investigation, there is progress, mistakes, setbacks, dead-ends, and successes — all of which evoke camera movements. The approach shouldn’t be illustrative but attentive.”

He says he didn’t want a didactic approach to camera such as opening a scene with a wide and a forward tracking shot, then shot/reverse-shot during dialogue, and a few inserts for editing convenience.

“When you do that, it feels like you’re not telling a story but shopping for the edit. It’s not creative; it’s purely technical. Paul Rutman’s text deserved much better. It alternates action and investigation scenes with their consequences on the characters’ daily lives. There was no way to film them the same way.”

There is camera movement in introspective scenes — such as slow tracking shots accompanying the characters’ contemplation. This helps create an intimacy between the viewer and the characters.

“Filming this show required a lot of sensitivity. There’s no replicable model. Each actor, each scene is different.”

Barès follows the French filmmaking tradition in declaring a hatred for aesthetics for the sake of aesthetics. “Framing, composition only exist if they tell the story,” he declares. “This doesn’t exclude elegance and beauty, but there must be an alignment. Each project dictates its own aesthetics.

“I keep an eye on the second units. I don’t want a Terry Gilliam shot in the middle of a Michael Mann film, or vice versa. Each in its own style. What matters is the coherence from the first to the last shot.”

This consistency of image across the story applies to his work in the grade too. In this case, the colorist is Anthony Daniel (All Quiet on the Western Front).

He talks about his work on this project and approach to colorist collaboration in general during the Frame & Reference podcast, hosted by Kenny McMillan.

“Memories from the shoot help me explain what I want,” he said. “Weather conditions, the sun’s position and so on. I always remind my colorist of the shooting conditions. I don’t understand why sometimes DoPs are asked to work on grading remotely via video from their homes. Physical presence seems indispensable [to create the best work]. Thanks to my producers for respecting that.”

In the podcast, Barès discusses his experience attending a prestigious film school in France, highlights the challenges of entering the industry, including the need to learn and expresses frustration with film students’ lack of attention to storytelling and photography.