The Technical Aspects of the Corriedale Shoot that Impacted Why it Looked (and Felt) Different than a Typical Episode: an Analysis
If you know me, you know I'm a bit of a film nerd (by educated choice) and a sucker for talking about the technical components of a shoot. @zanite8 expressed some interest in more of this sort of thing on this post by @cake-emu, so I thought I might supply a little bit of info on the elements that I noticed which upped the production value of this special episode.
1. They shot with different cameras.
For a traditional episode of Coronation Street, the camera department works with a line of cameras from Sony called the HDC-3500. (ITV bought 21 of them in 2019, with the intention of preparing Coronation Street for adaptability to ever-changing production needs and technological advancements.)
These (broadcast) cameras meet the day-to-day needs of a production like Coronation Street - with the ability to shoot higher-resolution picture quality than is currently required, plenty of output options, a range of frame rate capabilities, low-key saturation (for vibrant colours in low light), etc, etc. Sony boasts that this line of cameras "anticipate tomorrow's production needs while maintaining full compatibility with today's workflows and system hardware."
Knowing that Coronation Street is sometimes (often?) shot as a multi-cam production, it makes sense why ITV opted for cameras of this variety for this specific show.
For Corriedale, they went a different route.
Meet the Sony FX6: one of the most popular compact, full-frame cinema cameras currently available. They pack a hell of a punch in a tiny, cost-effective body.
(When Sony visited my cinematography class during my time at film school [to demo the latest of their equipment for us], this was one of the cameras that met all the criteria of incredible quality on a reasonable budget. I won't lie to you and say the film bros were thirsting over it, because there was a Sony Venice in the room, but I believe the school ended up buying at least one of these and couple FX3s after I graduated. I'm obviously jealous.)
In comparison to what the camera teams for Coronation Street (and Emmerdale) are used to, the Sony FX6 would feel like stepping into the big leagues. From my own experience working with a few (they seem to be becoming an industry favourite for smaller budget production), I can say they're a dream come true for having control over and versatility in creating your final image.
Personally, I am so, so happy that the production team selected this camera for shooting Corriedale. I know it was a fantastic option for (not blowing the budget and) achieving the cinematic quality that made this special episode so enthralling.
2. They used prime lenses.
To put it very simply, a prime lens is a type of camera lens with a fixed focal length - meaning, you can't zoom it in or out. The advantages of working with a lens like this is they create sharper images and have a faster maximum aperture rate (I'll explain this in a second). When you've got a cinema camera for your shoot, like the Sony FX6, prime lenses are what you want (need, must) to be working with.
(I was able to verify that they were, in fact, using prime lenses thanks to a few shots of the monitors on set. The numbers around the edges of the image are all important information for the crew, about the camera settings. On the bottom left, next to FCL [which stands for Focal Length], is where you can see the lens being used. 25mm, 35mm, and 75mm are all prime lenses often found in 6- or 7-lens kits. At the top middle of the monitor, you can also see the Iris numbers. T1.4 is an example of a fast aperture rate.)
In a typical episode of Coronation Street, the standard shot has a very wide depth-of-field (or, a large area of focus). This means that viewers can see the entirety of the characters' faces clearly and the space around them, and that multiple characters can be visible in the same frame. This makes the crew's life easier on a normal day, when each of the 3-4 shooting teams are going through 30 pages in 12 hours (a fucking marathon of a shooting schedule). It allows them to get a lot of scene coverage (and details for the audience!) in a shorter amount of time and with fewer shots or setups.
However, with a faster aperture on a prime lens, crews are able to shoot with a much shorter depth-of-field (or, a smaller area of focus): narrowing in on just one character's face or minute details of their expression. We're used to seeing this style more on big budget TV shows and films, when production has more time for a lot of setups.
(Personally, a shallow depth-of-field is one of my favourite methods for shooting anything. In photography, it allows for really juicy macro shots with fine detail in the tiniest of spaces. In cinematography, it means you can create grand, captivating shots with rack-focusing and panning and dolly moves. It has its time and place, of course, but the results are gorgeous. [And you surely know that all of us film nerds have been lusting after the incredible rack-focus shots used in Corriedale. An example of one is below.])
The use of prime lenses for this shoot is the reason every shot looks so picturesque: soft edges around faces, bokeh effect on lights behind characters, the smoke creating an ethereal haze around the scene, etc.
When Jonny McPherson said in the behind-the-scenes that the cameras were making their faces look incredible, he was not lying.
3. They used Steadicam operators.
That sentence sounds misleading, as Coronation Street does employ Steadicam operators for shooting typical episodes. However, for the purpose of Corriedale, director Duncan Foster used Steadicam in a different way than we normally see it.
Steadicam is a method of camera stabilization that helps to achieve smooth, dynamic camera movements that usually aren't possible with a dolly, a crane, or on a tripod (which I've always heard lovingly referred to as 'sticks' or 'legs'). Images shot this way are much, much smoother than anything that could be captured by a handheld camera.
This method of image stabilization typically requires a piece of equipment worn on the body of the camera operator, which helps to manage some of the weight of the camera and allow the operator to move around more freely with it.
These harnesses can also include a multi-axis Gymbal attachment (like the Ronin, seen above), which utilize motors to help stabilize the camera even further.
It's the use of Steadicam that made it possible to have shots where the camera moved through space with the characters. Every time a shot followed actors between vehicles, across the dance floor, through a room, along the road... that feeling of immersion within the episode (and in the lead-up episodes) was thanks to this technology.
4. They used an LED Volume.
(Big thanks to @cake-emu for adjusting my terminology on this one. Here in Toronto, spaces with this equipment all seem to be called Immersion Rooms, so I've always called these immersion screens.)
This probably makes the minimum amount of difference to anyone, but I think it's worth mentioning from a technical standpoint. Firstly, because it made it easier for the crew to shoot within all the vehicles that were part of the crash. And secondly, because it allowed the production team to keep the lighting and out-of-car visuals standard for every shot, every angle, every bit of coverage that was captured of characters in the cars and mini-bus.
(Maybe it's just my nerd brain, but that is huge.)
An LED Volume is a collection of screens with no edges, which can be used to create virtual sets for production. (Katie Hill talks about it in a behind-the-scenes video here, but she calls the screen "a big projector".) You can see it in use in the image above behind the side windows of the mini bus: a cloudy, sun-setting sky.
(Coronation Street has used them [at least] once before [from what @cake-emu was able to help me find], when shooting the rooftop scenes in 2022. They were actually the first continuing drama to use these virtual production capabilities!)
With this technology, a production can create a completely imagined space for their actors to perform in or they can gather footage from the real world and recreate a space that already exists - without the fuss of changing daylight, weather, or the unpredictability of interruptions from being on-location. As an added bonus (which blue or green screen doesn't offer), the actors are able to see exactly what they're performing with, which creates more authentic portrayals. And better lighting!
5. They used colour grading.
If you've ever made a gif of Coronation Street, you've probably griped a time or two about the colour correction on the show. We've all had our grievances with too much magenta or greens in certain shots, fiddling around in Photoshop to make it look just a little bit better for Tumblr.
Colour correction is not the same as colour grading, though.
Where colour correction is used to adjust the camera's captured colours to make them look true-to-life, colour grading is used after colour correction to create a specific mood in storytelling. Its intention is to evoke feelings in the viewer.
For Corriedale, Duncan Foster chose a palette that washed everything in dark, tonally muted shades - a grading that emphasized the blue and red tones of various lights, injuries, wardrobe choices, etc. This choice allowed for even more of a visual punch from the lighting design.
( @oneacreplot mentioned that these contrasting reds and blues in the lighting design were also used for pivotal moments of several couples. Several times, one half of a pairing would be getting hit with blue lighting, while the other was washed in red. Some examples...
At points, these colours would meet and create a soft, almost purple, hue - like when Betsy joined the shot with Carla and Lisa.
Stylistically, I'm a big old nerd and I'm glad I have friends who are, too.)
The importance of red and blue light was a theme across the episode and choosing to colour grade was an important part of what made this lighting design so impactful.
This colour grading was used across the board - in the pre-episodes of both soaps, as well as the entirety of the Corriedale episode - which resulted in everything feeling cohesive.
...
To sum it all up... those are just five technology-based things I noticed that I think played an important part in turning Corriedale into the cinematically engaging piece of media that it is.
(There is so much more that could be said on this topic [like the change in aspect ratio, eh @cake-emu?], but only 30 images are allowed in a post and I've reached the limit with this one.)
Seeing the final product and the behind-the-scenes footage they've shared with us thus far (please give me more), I can completely understand why the cast have said it felt like shooting a film. My little nerd heart hopes they get to employ more of these techniques in the future because I love the episode they were able to create with them. Plus, it's fucking fun for the cast and crew!
If you'd like to know more about how the production of Coronation Street occurs, from the mouth of the people who make it, please check out this really great article from MetroUK that outlines just some of what occurs between the formulation of these stories to the episodes airing on screen.
xo Janelle (your local film and television production bro)
