Adriano Goldman is a master of the art of cinematography. He has won several awards throughout his career and has worked in film, TV, music videos, commercials, has also directed television in his native Brazil. His credits include Fernando Meirelles’ 360, Robert Redford’s The Company You Keep and his stunning Sundance Award Winning work on Cary Joji Fukunaga’s Sin Nombre.
Since 2016, he is probably best known for his transcendent work on 28 Episodes of the celebrated series The Crown. His unique setups, sparing use of lighting, and perfectly centered close-ups marked a return to a classic style of cinematography not seen much lately in television or movies. Goldman recently spoke to Immersive via Zoom.
[This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.]
What was it like being on this journey? What was your first involvement, and first impression of The Crown, and what was it like being there at the beginning and in the end?
I met Stephen Daldry in Rio. We shot a movie together called Trash. And then in 2014, he came back to Rio for the Premiere, and I was asking him about the future because I had read something about him and Peter Morgan developing something for Netflix. I said, “I had a great time working with you. I’m a big fan. I hope this is not the last,” and he said, “Well, come over”.
We started The Crown, which was set in the early 1950s in Great Britain. That was just an entirely new universe for me. But I think also the fact that I came with a fresh approach to this new reality and a very kind of realistic, almost like touchable sort of way of seeing that reality. Also, the fact that Steven always asked us to be anti-glossy in a way. So this is not a Cinderella sort of approach that we want. We want to be very realistic, and very approachable. We want to be very close to the characters and feel the breathing, feel the dust in the air, and feel the anxiety of this young queen and how impressed I was by Claire Foy’s performance in season one.
How did you come up with the look of The Crown? It has a very distinct shooting style that you established with your initial work.
The goal was to be invisible, the camera is not a character. The camera is watching something is witnessing something very intimate humane moments. We had to capture this young girl realizing she was going to be The Queen, and we were lucky that we had a very realistic deep performance from Claire. I had to establish some sort of a style before we started shooting.
The interiors would be lit by the windows and practicals, the sets were always kind of free, rarely lamps on the set. There were lamps outside for a bit of haze, so you could feel the dust in the air. The style is marked by the use of close-ups with characters centered in the frame. Close-ups are very important to me and I made them very specific for The Crown. The sparkle in their eyes, the soft sources, and the way the light wraps their faces. There was a lot of care in terms of how to achieve something that gives the director and the actors freedom and free space to work.
A few things that you just said that made me think of Stanley Kubrick’s centering, Barry Lyndon, which was famously shot without lights by John Alcott. Was that a focal point?
We consciously wanted to deliver something more theatrical, classical with less camera movement, more deliberate. We had a lot of conversations for season one about pacing and cuts and how we wanted to do less than others were doing. Let’s watch the performances, let’s learn a little bit of history from our characters.
I spoke to others who worked on the show and they referred to the episodes and seasons as films. They are very cinematic-looking. You could watch these in a theater and just soak them up as if they were cinema.
The structure of every season, we never had to tell a 10-hour story throughout 10 episodes. Every episode is a story separate from the other one. Of course, they’re linked somehow because of the characters and the period, but they exist as short stories. That’s a privilege as well. There’s going to be an end.
I remember every time that we had to welcome new directors and new cinematographers, we said to watch the episodes and somehow be faithful, avoid wide angle lenses for closeups. We don’t do abstract angles without a specific reason, but there’s also a lot of freedom because you are telling your story. So you can always add a little bit of your flavor, your style to it.
Let’s fast forward to season six for which you’re nominated and the show is nominated for many awards. The scene at the end of the last episode is particularly powerful. How did you set that up?
It was great working with Stephen Daldry again. I was super excited. I love working with him. There was a lot of preparation, especially when we got Olivia Colman and Claire Foy confirmed for the episode with Imelda Staunton. We always knew about the last scene, having three queens altogether would be iconic. We shot at York Minster Cathedral for the first time. There was a lot of planning in terms of not only blocking and storyboarding and photo boarding, but also there was this particular desire to finish by shooting the very last shot. We arranged our schedule so that was the last thing we filmed and that was literally the last shot we did for the entire saga for all six seasons.
It was very emotional because we had Claire and Olivia watching Imelda, the crossing, and the name Stephen was super emotional. We had the producers, we had the entire crew. Everybody wanted to be there and be able to witness all three Queens together. It was really emotional, the best ending for my journey on The Crown and Stephen’s journey for Imelda – she was in tears. The feeling of achieving something so grand, that last shot is so beautiful. It’s such an iconic shot for all of us and that’s going to remain in my memory for literally, honestly the rest of my life. Yeah, it was unforgettable.
What kind of lenses, lights, and cameras do you use? Is there anything specific that you’re partial to that you’d like to mention?
I came up with a plan of visual progression for each season, knowing the cast would change every two years. I thought I should change the lenses every time the cast changes then I had another idea to switch every time the show entered a new time period. I remember right away, this is probably the middle of season one, I said, well, if that’s the case, maybe this is something I should think about is perhaps I should change the lenses every time the cast changes, maybe I should change my lenses. So the lenses also kind of update in terms of whatever technically.
I did the first two seasons on the very old Cooke Panchro Classic. They’re probably now a hundred years old. Then seasons three and four on Zeiss Super Speeds. These are lenses from the late sixties and the seventies. So still vintage but much more modern. We did Seasons Five and Six on Cooke S4s, so they’re even more contemporary lenses from the eighties and nineties.
I remember on season one and two, seasons one and two, 20% of my lighting kit was LED. And then when we finished season six, maybe 80% of the kit was LED. So there was this massive technical evolution.
We had the Sony F55 for three seasons and we changed to the Sony Venice for the incredibly more modern sensors. There were a lot of technical upgrades and updates throughout six seasons. I don’t think that’s perceptible. It is maybe for someone that is more technically savvy, I think in a way the lighting style and again the closeups. I think they have consistency throughout six seasons. I mean there are probably, seasons five and six that are a little sharper.
There’s a specific episode on season six, the third episode, the last days we embraced long lenses, usually done throughout six seasons. But there was a reason for that. The kind of a paparazzi voyeuristic look that suited the storyline. Then for the end we go back and re-embrace The Crown’s classic style, cameras only move when necessary.
I think it hits on a subconscious level. I knew there was something there but didn’t quite know what it was and you’ve articulated it. What’s it like being on the other end of this?
It did change the way I see myself as a cinematographer and as a collaborator. The collaboration with Peter Morgan as the keeper of the flame. The privilege of being able to work with so many different directors. I worked with seven different directors throughout six seasons, and they came with an individual personality approach and methodology, and how much I learned with everyone.
My job as a cinematographer is to be a strong collaborator, make the story stronger, and help the actors to shine. I hope that we succeeded in The Crown. I think we did. I’m super proud of all these accolades and recognition. I mean, this is my sixth nomination in six seasons, so that was something I could never even dream about. It’s amazing.
The Crown Seasons 1-6 are all available to stream on Netflix.
