Shot on VENICE - Bridgerton Season 2 - New Teaser and Comments by DP Jeffrey Jur, ASC

Jeff Berlin:

How did you settle on the VENICE for this project?

Jeffrey Jur, ASC:

I've been an Arriflex guy, or Alexa for digital, but the requirement from Netflix is that you shoot in 4K, which the standard Alexa does not do. The larger format Alexas, like the Mini LF, were not yet available when we started, so I had to find another option.

 

I had heard about the VENICE and started looking into it. My friend Jon Joffin has been working with it so I asked him how he liked it. He said, "You're going to love it and I think you'll be really happy," saying the camera exactly addressed my concerns. He said he was happy with it and encouraged me to try it.

 

When I started testing it, it all made sense. Seeing the 2,500 ISO as a base was exciting for me. The built-in NDs were really key. It’s great to not have to put another piece of glass in front of the lens. The speed at which you can change ND when you're outside and the weather's changing, and to easily and quickly be able to use ND as a tool for depth of field, which is a key part of photography for me, I also liked.

 

For example, I'd look at a shot at a T5.6, but then open it up two stops, maybe to T2.8 or even T2, look at the background and say, "Okay, let's put an ND6 in," or whatever was needed to get to that stop to get that specific depth-of-field look. So the internal ND system was a key part of the toolkit for the design of the photography.

JB:

What were your impressions about how much latitude and flexibility you had with the files once you got into the grade?

JJ:

Oh, incredible. We had some day exteriors that were shot over the course of a couple of days where the weather changed wildly, but we were able to pull all of that information any direction we needed. It was incredible, the range that we had to work with. I was very happy with the color files that we had in post.

JB

How do you feel about the skin tones that the VENICE captures.

JJ:

I was thrilled with how the VENICE reacted to all skin tones. They were beautiful right out of the box with very little correction. We had everything on this show. Dark, light, Black, White, Asian, a mix. The casting was very diverse, so the tones that we had to work with were varied and beautiful, and the camera handled them expertly.

JB

Did you find that the sensor size and lens coverage helped you tell a more intimate story?

 

JJ:

Absolutely, it's exactly the thing I love most about shooting large format, the control of focus and de-focus of the background. Candles looked amazing, for example, especially on longer lenses when they're out of focus. The environment sort of enveloped these characters in a lush and beautiful way that if everything was sharp on wider lenses, it would not look as dreamy.

The story is a bit of a fantasy and a fable, so when you can shoot on a longer lens and still feel the room around the characters, but still soften it a certain amount, it was beautiful. You're able to be in close yet be on a longer lens and still pull in this beautiful background, even in wide shots.

 

 

To read the full interview with Jeffrey Jur, ASC about his work with the VENICE camera on Bridgerton, follow these links.

 

“Bridgerton” – Shot on VENICE – A Conversation with DP Jeffrey Jur, ASC – Part 1

 

“Bridgerton” – Shot on VENICE – A Conversation with DP Jeffrey Jur, ASC – Part 2