Peaky Blinders

Cinematographer Si Bell Pushes the Gangster Series into Darker Territory

The saga of a criminal gang family in Birmingham, England, between the two World Wars has moved into darker political territory in Season 5, but Peaky Blinders keeps its stylish assault on the senses unabated.

Continuity with a twist was the creative touchstone for Cinematographer Si Bell, who picked up series photography from the template laid down by George Steel and preserved by DPs Laurie Rose, Cathal Watters, and Simon Dennis. “I’ve worked with (director) Anthony Byrne a number of times before and we knew we wanted to do justice to the ‘Peaky look,’ such as using shafts of light and darkness set by George (Steel) in Season 1,” Bell says. “The big thing creatively that we wanted to do was a lot of developing shots with minimal coverage to tell the story.

“The storyline for Season 5 takes place a number of years later (than S4),” he elaborates. “The characters have lost money on the stock exchange and there’s a new element in the rise of fascism. Since the story has developed, we felt it right to develop the camera language.”

“The story has moved on, so we needed to reflect that,” says Bell

Music video stylistics contrasting with a noir backlit look are some of the signature elements of the often very violent period drama and have helped make the BBC series an international hit. [Episodes stream on Netflix in the U.S.]

Bell and Byrne maintained this aesthetic but added in anamorphic lenses and the large-format sensor of the RED MONSTRO 8K VV. “We talked a lot about choreographing certain set pieces in one shot and also about using zooms as a new part of the style throughout the series,” Bell says. “Then Anthony wanted to shoot anamorphic. We felt that the energy of camera movement and having the ability to move the camera 360 degrees, if necessary, would elevate the story.”

Bell had concerns, though, about shooting in low light conditions for that smoky “Peaky look” and whether an anamorphic lens was appropriate for a full-frame sensor. All previous seasons were shot with ARRI cameras. Bell sought the advice of Sam McCurdy, BSC, who shoots Lost in Space on RED’s MONSTRO sensor, and was encouraged to test it out.

The cinematographer made side-by-side tests of the MONSTRO with other digital cameras in low light conditions, including naked flame, to ensure it was up to the 4K deliverable Netflix required. “I was blown away by how good the MONSTRO looked,” says Bell. “It was really impressive how clean the image was in low light, and by its quality of skin tones and color detail.

“I was blown away by how good the MONSTRO looked”

“It’s a big deal to change spherical to anamorphic,” Bell adds. “I went through a crazy amount of lens tests in prep. The look was important, but also we needed to know we could deliver these developing shots.”

Tests with an array of different manufacturer’s glass mounted on the RED DSMC2 confirmed that a Cooke 65mm macro would enable Bell to capture both extreme close-ups and wide angles in a single moving shot. He complemented this with a set of Cooke primes and Angénieux lenses for contra zooms and slow-motion shots.

“I am amazed by how far I can push the ISO on the MONSTRO 8K VV sensor and how well it holds up. It’s really impressive to me how clean the image is in very low light conditions. The colour depth of skin tones are also really mind blowing, the MONSTRO is the best sensor on the market.” - Si Bell, Cinematographer for Peaky Blinders

“We found that if we shot 4K at 1:1 aspect ratio, we could use the maximum amount of the image circle of the lens. If we shot the full height of the sensor this allowed us to get a square anamorphic picture from the sensor (de-squeezed to 2:1 aspect ratio for delivery).” The developing shots choreographed around the actors for this series are a fittingly bravura flourish for a show abounding with style.

MONSTRO gives cinematographers clean and natural imagery with exceptional depth of field control. Featuring an incredible 17+ stops of dynamic range, it delivers increased highlight retention and color contrast. And when it comes to low-light performance it outshines the competition with lower noise and fine shadow detail. All of which, unlock unrivaled creative options and the flexibility that every creator dreams of.

The MONSTRO 8K VV sensor is available in both the modular DSMC2 and all-in-one RANGER camera systems.