How we shot: my first period-drama - Poor Tom

It was a real pleasure getting to shoot my first proper period film a couple of years back. Set in Victorian England, the film is based on a fable about a disabled orphan boy who discovers the bible and inspires the town with messages of hope.

The story follows a bed bound boy who is visited by guests throughout the story, and we very rarely leave his space, other than towards the end of the film.

So we had the challenge of filming in the same space for a long run time. To keep it interesting we tried to pull out different looks for each scene. Reflecting different times of day, and seasons which could also portray the mood in the story. We managed this with subtle lighting changes that were accentuated in the grade.

CTO was added to the lights and a warmer white balance used on set.

Another trick was replicating daylight from artificial sources and controlling the sun itself. Thankfully we had big wooden blinds that could black out the room fully, but I also wanted to show the window in the wides too.

So we shut one fully and the other by half, keeping the far corner open throughout, which also helped with general ambience. This was a risk because you don't know how the sun will behave on the day. But it was winter and the south facing window was partially covered by there rest of the building we were in, plus with the cloud cover we got lucky. But I had to assess this throughout and be careful!

To supplement this light I then had an 8x8 ultra bounce frame in the room with an Aputure 600d shining into it. I had it raised into the ceiling to get the light over and throughout the room for a natural soft spill.

Ultra Bounces in action for a CU

Result of the above set up

To accentuate harder daylight I then had a Aputure 300x through a spotlight mount creating a window like square spot on the back wall behind the actor. On the closer shots I then had Lightbridge reflector in the far corner to help me get an edge / back light on the actor so he didn't blend into the wall to much.

The Lightbridge couldn't live in the wides but was brought in for MIDs/CU's

I then left the other end of the room to naturally neg his face from the brown of the walls, occasionally bringing in a 4x4 floppy.

I pushed for a rare night scene to break up the rhythm and show passage of time.

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I'm really happy with the results and truth be told, it was my first time using the ultra bounces like this. But I had gaffer'd on a short and seen it done first hand, so I knew it was exactly what I needed for this job. I'm thrilled with the results of this film as I wanted it to feel natural but still have a stylised approach.

More stills from the film below... Private link on request.

Camera: Alexa mini w/ Zeiss Ultra Primes!

Directed and Produced by Rob Speranza 

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Jordan Carroll is a freelance filmmaker & cinematographer working on drama, documentary and promotional content in Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds, London & Amsterdam