American Cinematographer - June 2020 - 63

u A scene from the Season 3 episode
"Moondust" demonstrates Goldman's approach
to source lighting for a key interior scene in
which Prince Philip meets with a group of
priests. uq Goldman provided a more festive
atmosphere for this scene from "Olding," the
first episode of Season 3.

adding some atmosphere helped - or
still helps - to make the look less
naturalistic, a tiny bit more romantic
and period-like, but not too much.
So the overall looks result from
a combination of things we do on the
camera side, along with the costumes,
makeup and sets - it's a huge team
effort.
For example, in Seasons 3 and 4
there's a bit more color in the
costumes. After using the Cooke
Panchros on Seasons 1 and 2, I then
jumped to Zeiss Super Speeds for
Seasons 3 and 4; the Super Speeds are
still vintage, but a bit more modern
and a little sharper than the Panchros.
I think Season 4 is a bit more observational, in a sense. We're basically
watching characters from afar.
Crudo: Do you have freedom to
light as you see fit? Does anyone have
any special requests, or do you generally come in to block things out with
the director, who then leaves it to you
to light the sets according to your
taste?
Goldman: I feel very much free
to do what I want. Of course, there's a
long prep phase, and the director and
I discuss every single scene when we
read the script. So I more or less know
how to approach things, or how to
start a scene even before the director
arrives.
That said, there's an overall
lighting strategy I've been using from
the beginning, which is my 'realistic'
approach: lights come from outside
in. I rely very much on practicals,
because [interiors] should feel real,
but I also need to believe that the
[exterior] light is coming from
outside. So I've been using that strategy, both onstage and on location. The
good thing about a big show like this
is that we can afford very serious

kinds of logistical challenges, like
blocking roads in London just so I can
position my lights outside a set.
[Our sets] are usually on the
second or third floor [of a location], so
you need big machines. From my
crew's perspective, there's always
something to be done before the day
starts. It's often two cherry pickers
outside supporting a SoftSun or
HMIs. When the director, the 1st AD
and the actors arrive on set for the
very first rehearsal, I'm usually ready
to shoot a wide shot or a master.
There's something already in place, so
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there are no lights on the core of the
set itself - no stands or flags or
anything else. Everything is coming
from outside, so they can rehearse
[more freely]. We usually start with a
master of some sort, and then we
move closer. At that point, I'll bring
something in close, like a Hudson
Spider or a Source Four to add some
sparkle in an actor's eyes. The
Hudson Spider is a super-soft LED
source. [It folds out to an]
umbrella/octagon shape, [like a]
beautiful LED 'spider.' [Regarding the
Source Four] I usually have an oldJune 2020

63
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American Cinematographer - June 2020

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