American Cinematographer - June 2020 - 62

Regal Drama

Claire Foy plays Elizabeth II in the show's first two seasons, and Goldman adjusted his approach when
Colman inherited the role. "There's a consistency if you connect the lens selection to each season's
cast," he says. "The first two seasons with Claire Foy were shot with Cooke Panchros, and for Seasons
3 and 4 with Olivia Colman we used Zeiss Super Speeds. The Super Speeds are still vintage, but a bit
more modern and a little sharper than the Panchros."

cinematography - doesn't save a bad
show. We're here having this conversation mainly because of [screenwriter] Peter Morgan and Claire Foy. I
think the incredible new thing people
felt they were experiencing when they
saw The Crown is basically due to how
sophisticated Peter's dialogue is, and
the incredible performance Claire
gives - especially in Season 1.
Crudo: Each episode feels like a
June 2020

movie that stands on its own.
Goldman: There was a clear
change in Season 3, because we had a
new cast - including Olivia Colman.
She is [so good] - she is not of this
world, honestly. [She makes my job]
easy, because she's always ready and
always professional.
But before we actually began
shooting Season 3, I [wondered] -
how is this going to look? Do I still
American Cinematographer - 100 Years

feel motivated to deliver something
new and fresh? I think in the end, we
all managed to do that. For instance, I
think Episode 3 from Season 4 - it's
not finished yet, but I've seen a cut -
is very likely the best thing I've ever
done. And this is the fourth season,
when you can start to think, 'Oh my
God, am I getting tired of this?' But
then you know you're not, because
the other good thing about The Crown
is that now - in Seasons 3 and 4, for
instance - we can finally embrace
modern architecture, furniture and
design. Our two worlds are now very
separate - we have the royal-family
side of the story, and then the political
side. [And we also] have the U.K. in
the 1960s and '70s, and that culture -
you know, the Beatles, et cetera. And
in Season 4, we introduce Margaret
Thatcher and young Diana. So now
we have two amazing characters
[who add] to all of those layers.
Crudo: I always feel that with
period pieces there needs to be some
sort of distancing device that will
separate the period from the real life
of the moment. Do you have any
thoughts on that, or is there a particular approach you take on The Crown?
It's never so simple as just dropping
in a filter; it has to be part of a more
sophisticated overall plan.
Goldman: Absolutely. We
never wanted to shoot a film that
looked like something that was shot
in the 1950s or '60s. We never wanted
to go that far on the period look, but
we all agreed that 'desaturation' -
muted colors on the sets' and locations' walls, curtains, furniture,
picture cars, et cetera - was something we wanted in the mix.
Then, after testing cameras and
lenses, I came up with the idea of
using vintage lenses. We had Cooke
Panchros, rehoused by TLS U.K., plus
[Tiffen] Glimmerglass filters, on the
first two seasons. Those filters are not
for diffusion, like Tiffen's Pro-Mists, or
fog filters; we use them just to add a
little more glow in the highlights. And
then there's the haze. I always felt that

American Cinematographer - June 2020

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