Season 2 of A Discovery of Witches found cinematographer Adam Etherington, BSC partnering with director Farren Blackburn to continue the adventures of historian and witch Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer) and her unlikely ally, the vampire Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode). Both Etherington and Blackburn were new additions to the series, and together they set out to build upon the visual language that had been established in Season 1 while embracing the opportunities afforded by a new twist in the narrative, which sends Diana and Matthew back in time to the Elizabethan era.Etherington turned to Panavision for his camera and lens package, and gaffer Andrew Tala Taylor sourced lighting equipment through Panalux. Tala handled the interaction with Panalux, as is generally the way with this scale of production, Etherington shares. Both he and I have great relationships with Panalux, and they were very supportive of what we were trying to achieve with the show. It was fantastic to have them in our corner.
Panavision recently connected with Etherington for a firsthand account of the cinematographer's creative approach to balancing the show's period and contemporary settings, and of the process that led him to frame the story with Panavision's PVintage optics.
Panavision: How did you come to be involved in Season 2?
Adam Etherington, BSC: The meeting came about through a competitive interview process, as is so often the way. I'm a huge believer in the value of preparation, and I dedicate a large amount of time to understanding a project and developing ideas before I enter a pitch. I studied the first season of A Discovery of Witches as well as other relevant material that might be useful in light of the move to an Elizabethan setting. I then did quite an in-depth breakdown of the script, looking into characters, potential arcs in relation to the first season, motivations, key themes and motifs, and of course possibilities for the visual realization of those ideas. The script is the foundation of the choices we make, and understanding the philosophies of the storytelling is such a crucial element in creating a world for the audience.
I also studied Farren's most recent work and read interviews where he'd talked about other projects, and I looked at interviews with other key creatives from the series and wider material about the show itself. Then it was a case of developing a base of visual ideas and a tranche of reference material that I could offer up, if appropriate, during the meeting.
From left: 1st AD Seth Adams, director Farren Blackburn, and cinematographer Adam Etherington, BSC.
Had you known Farren previously?
Etherington: This was a new opportunity for me to meet and work with Farren. His usual collaborators were unavailable, which opened the opportunity for others to pitch on the show. I'd been aware of his work for a very long time and knew his reputation for delivering some of the most exciting shows out there in innovative and progressive ways he was already directing massive shows when I was still a camera assistant. This was a great opportunity for me to get the chance to collaborate with him.
Coming into Season 2, where did you and your collaborators see opportunities to evolve or expand upon the series' visual language?
Etherington: From the very start, Farren had a wonderful clarity of vision for the ethos and ideology of the series' visual language, including an assured perspective that the camera's movement should be wholly motivated by the narrative. He wanted a precision-based approach with a refined set of rules as to when and why the camera should move. This was something that he and I discussed at length. Rather than simply falling into coverage, we knew we wanted elegant shots that developed and evolved to tell the story. We wanted the photography to emphasise and enhance the power play within the narrative arc, with lensing that was appropriate to each character's emotional positioning within the narrative.
We also wanted to build a strategy of graphic compositions to convey the grandeur and beauty of the incredible locations and sets. The world deserved big, bold, beautiful wides that could combine with close, intimate frames that would draw the audience close-in to a character's experience for moments of confidence, suspicion or tenderness, enabling the audience to experience those beats with the characters.
There were things to avoid, too. We actively made a call to avoid using handheld or any superfluous, unmotivated camera movement, as both of these things felt as though they might take away from the precision-based ideology of the visual language as a whole.
Beyond the first season, did you and Farren share any specific visual references?
Etherington: The first season was obviously something that we studied and considered carefully in order to ensure that the choices we were making were respectful to the origins of the show as well as its audience and fan-base. That said, the Elizabethan landscape was a new world to explore, and Farren had a clear strategy as to the way he wanted to invite the audience into that world.
Although I had brought a base of references and visual ideas to the initial meeting, I quickly learned that Farren's preference is to avoid homing in on any one defined cinematic reference. This meant that although I did use a number of other films in my lighting reference and mood boards, these were individual images that carried an overarching representation of tone and mood.
Farren prefers the use of stills photography rather than cinema when it comes to reference work, so our lighting mood boards consisted more so of artists' renderings as well as beauty, still life and landscape photography. It gave us a wonderful freedom from any sense that we were at risk of attemp
