American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 32

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Varied Visions

only snag was that the lights were wired into the house system, so I made some adapters that allowed us to interrupt the Lady Sybil feed and get control of them. I also Crawley (Jessica made tiny dimmers we christened Brown Findlay, ‘sneaky dimmers,’ because you could right) ventures downstairs for hide them in the tablecloth or behind a some cooking table leg, and they were all constructed tips from Mrs. with period-correct braided cable. No Patmore (Lesley Nicol, center) and matter how hard you try, someone’s Daisy (Sophie going to spot a cable, so it might as well McShera). be the right sort of cable!” In certain situations, the crew also made use of old lightbulbs to lend an authentic feel to these early days of domestic electricity. “The most interestatrium with a glass roof, we used a with added CTO and then ‘cooled’ the ing bulb changing we did was actually 2.4/2Kdaylight-tungsten combination interior, where there were some tungon the kitchen set at Ealing,” says unit, which enabled us to alter the color sten practicals turned on because it’s late Struthers. “Phil got hold of some period temperature when we started to lose afternoon. We had to play around quite bulbs that were beautiful, huge glass daylight.” a lot with CTO and CTB to achieve a things with thick filaments that As far as possible, the filmmakers good balance. The sequence ends produced a really warm light. They tried to light interior scenes from outside, so we brought in a 50K SoftSun made me think that early electricity outside the windows. “The house is gelled with CTO to get a low-sunlight must have looked pretty warm, so I built on quite a nice sun path,” notes effect on the actors’ faces and under made anything that was lit by the new Struthers. “We would control the sun their hats. We actually had to shoot that electric lights [look] a lot warmer than with silks and frames, and then push 6K scene on quite a bright day, and we were the electric fixtures we saw in series or 18K HMIs in through the windows really fighting the daylight, but keeping one.” and add a small amount of soft light the camera angles tight and using the Brookes says he remembered the inside, a diffused Kino or poly wedge, to SoftSun made it believable and a good period bulbs from a previous shoot, and give us a little bit of modeling. Onother match for inside.” dug them out of the “specials” box at occasions, we’d add a well-chopped Many of the existing lighting Panalux. “The filament is huge and is harder light from outside, a 2.5K with a fixtures at Highclere fit the story’s strung back and forth all the way little spot or a 4K Mole beam, to give us period and proved extremely useful as around the glass envelope,” he says. some interest on the dark wood panelpracticals, with bulbs swapped out when “Nowadays they use a coil construction, ing or bookcases in the background.” necessary. “The library, the main hall so filaments are a lot smaller; you can On the eve of Downton’s transand the dining room all had lovely, tell a modern bulb because it’s a very formation into a hospital, a sequence of ornate table lamps with six or eight little point source to your eye. These period sunset scenes required a slightly differlights branching off with individual bulbs are perhaps only 60-100 watts, ent approach. “I wanted to create the light shades,” says Struthers. “They were but as the filament is so long, they don’t feeling that the sun was setting on the of the period, so we used them. For burn out as much on camera. I only had house,” says Struthers. “The interiors other rooms, our production designer, a few, so we couldn’t use them everyneeded to change with the changing Donal Woods, brought in other fixtures where, but the kitchen was a good place light outside, so as the sun sets, the he’d sourced, and Phil would wire them because the bottom of the bulbs would ambient light in the rooms becomes in before we arrived.” protrude below some of the glass shades slightly cooler while the highlights get Using the existing fittings was and into shot. They looked really good. warmer.” complicated by the protectiveness of the Most people don’t notice such things, “That was quite interesting Highclere staff. Brookes recalls, “Their but Gavin and I liked it.” because those scenes were spread over rule was that if we wanted to change a For the time during which several weeks of the schedule, so we had bulb or move anything, they had to do Downton Abbey serves as a hospital, to develop a plan that we could refer it. They’d come in with their white Struthers wanted a cooler, more austere back to each time,” adds Brookes. “To gloves on and take 20 minutes to change look. “The house is a character in the get a warm feeling, we changed the two bulbs, so it quickly became obvious show, so it had to have a character arc,” outside lights to 24K tungsten units that using dimmers would be easier. The he says. “We wanted the house to
32 March 2012 American Cinematographer

American Cinematographer - March 2012

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