American Cinematographer - September 2017 - 76

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Mean Streets

Left: Adrien Brody joins the cast for Season 4. Right: Watters (with camera) prepares to shoot an exterior with Anderson.

though practicalities intervened. "I love
Super Speeds and the softness they give,
and we tested them and I showed them
to David. I didn't want to be the one to
not give him what he wanted, but he saw
it himself. We both said, 'Let's go with
Super Speeds.'" The core set of Super
Speed Mark IIs and IIIs included
18mm, 25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 65mm
and 85mm lenses. These were
augmented with an Angenieux Optimo
24-290mm (T2.8) zoom, as well as a
14mm, 100mm and 135mm Zeiss
Standard Speed.
"I do a lot of top shots," says
Watters, in reference to the 14mm. The
zoom, on the other hand, is a choice
targeting speed and efficiency. "When
it's time to 'hoover up,' you put on the
Optimo," he submits.
Watters' preferred combination of
lenses and filtration is perhaps counterintuitive. "I don't like putting filtration in
front of the Optimo, but I do on the
Super Speeds, which is bizarre because
the Super Speeds are so soft anyway," he
says. The reason for this, he explains, is
that "I only use the Optimo from
150mm upwards, as I prefer to use the
primes up to 135mm to keep the look
consistent. To my mind, the softening
filters are too strong on the Optimo
from 150mm upwards; the image is too
condensed."
Thus, between 18mm and
76

September 2017

50mm, Watters prefers the 1⁄2
Schneider Hollywood Black Magic
filter, with the 1⁄4 Black Magic above
that focal length. In scenes depicting
light sources such as candles, various
grades of Tiffen Black Satin filter are
used to similar effect, minimizing
blooming.
Watters takes personal control of
iris pulls on Steadicam, with A-camera
using the Arri WCU-4 for remote focus,
and B-camera relying on Preston equipment. "The director has two 9-inch
monitors, and Phil [Brookes] and myself
have a 17-inch TVLogic," he says, "and
I have a histogram [to assist in] pulling
the iris on Steadicam. Every day that the
camera is on Steadicam, I'm handed the
iris control.
"I operated the A camera, while
Chris Hutchinson was on B camera and
also Steadicam," Watters adds. "He's
excellent on Steadicam."
While Peaky Blinders doesn't
extensively shoot handheld, flexibility
was key. "Cillian won't do anything
unless it's true to his character," Watters
notes. "Cillian would not go somewhere
for the sake of light if he felt his character, Tommy Shelby, wouldn't stand there.
I would have to work around that, and in
the end we would end up with something much truer to the story rather than
something manufactured. That clicked
with me - never force that."
American Cinematographer

He continues, "In some instances,
where I wanted the camerawork to have
a very organic feel, I would use the
camera handheld without [blocking] the
action that much. I was happy to react to
the actor, and in so [doing], the feel of
the movement is very reactionary. It's
difficult to plan or manufacture that feel.
This is when I would say, 'Let's do a
dance here!' I think years of documentary work enable me to react to what is
happening in front of me. I also think an
actor responds to a camera being so close
to them. One of my favorite scenes is
where Cillian is drunk and we did a
'dance' that we are both very proud of.
Most of the handheld is on a 35mm lens
- allowing close focus, but also a good
aesthetic, up close. I don't want to know
what the actor's going to do - so let's do
a dance here. Audiences are so savvy that
you can do whatever you like. I mix up
Steadicam with handheld and jib
moves."
Grip Dan Inman has supervised
the use of a Grip Factory GF-9 crane -
which was used for the wide-angle overheads - along with sliders from both
Grip Factory and Ronford-Baker. A
Ronford-Baker Fluid 7 head is particularly valued for its ability to undersling
the camera.
A period setting makes production design even more crucial, and
Watters is quick to credit the work of

American Cinematographer - September 2017

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