Behind the shot: Joan
Posted on Feb 21, 2025 by Admin
DOP Pedro Cardillo on Joan’s opening scene
In the opening shot of the Sophie Turner-starring crime drama Joan, we see a flash-forward to the feisty protagonist at the top of her game as a diamond thief. “This shot establishes the look and tone of the whole show,” explains DOP Pedro Cardillo. Surrounded by cash and diamond rings, the scene shows Joan’s criminal lifestyle, but also hints at her traumatic background: “The character is in a glamorous environment – but she doesn’t belong there.”
With the Pretenders’ Brass in Pocket playing, we’re planted in a hotel suite. “To engage the audience and present all the information in this scene, the director and I imagined a long track that starts wide, with the actor’s back to the camera. We could see all the glamour of this five-star room, but then the camera moves slowly toward her back until we can see several scars. This shot presents contrasting information that puzzles the audience and triggers curiosity.”
The scene cuts to a reverse angle via a mirror, showing Joan applying makeup and donning a wig, before tracking back to reveal her outfit and heighten the mystery. “The room had to look glamorous, and large windows were a must so we could enjoy classical directional light. It also needed to be big enough to fit a crane to perform the camera movement,” says Cardillo. This required three locations: a mansion for the suite’s interior, Walsall Town Hall for the reception, and a Birmingham hotel for the exterior. The show’s camera package was an ARRI ALEXA Mini LF, paired with Moviecam primes and Tiffen Black Glimmerglass filters, and the team also deployed a Scorpio 23 with a stabilisation system for this scene. To avoid appearances from the kit and crew in the mirror, they shot clean plates to paint out any unwanted reflections.
The scene was complex to shoot, but collaboration made it a success, claims Cardillo. “The director Richard Laxton is so talented and, fortunately, he shared the same feelings about Joan’s journey as me. The inputs and technical knowledge from the key grip, Neil Blakesley, and the camera operator, Andrei Austin, were also fundamental to achieving this ambitious shot – choosing the right tools, rehearsing until we found the right speed, height and angle.
“Also, the collaboration between cinematography and the art department can’t be overstated,” Cardillo reflects. “We established the key visuals for the glamorous aspects of the character’s lives, but it was technically challenging to have space for the crane, lights and camera traps behind the mirror. Trust and generosity are key for a creative environment where every department can reach its true potential and create a visually impactful drama.”
This story appears in the February 2025 issue of Definition
