Chloë Thomson (BSC) shoots Channel 4 Adult Material

Fran: What is your background? Did you go to film school? When did you realize that you had a passion for cinematography?

Chloë : My dad is a film editor, so there was always cinema in the family. When I was about 11, I went to the Children's Film Unit, which was a charity that taught kids how to make films, and that got me really passionate about filmmaking. So I did that from ages 11 to 16, and I really learned a lot. They had Steenbecks, we shot on 16mm, we made films for Channel 4. It was really, really inspiring. Then when I was 16, I was given a 35 mm stills camera, and started shooting stills and seeing the world in shots. I really loved that side of things. Then I went a slightly more wayward route to films. I did an academic degree in social psychology and worked in a number of different areas, before circling back to documentaries. Then I worked as a camera trainee and clapper loader for about 3 years before I went to the NFTS to do an MA in Cinematography. DoP Vanessa Whyte inspired me to apply. When I was a trainee, I loaded for her on a short film, which was a 35 mm short, and I just thought, hang on a second, what am I doing? I'm an assistant when I want to be shooting. So then I went to NFTS, and I graduated in 2012.

Fran: Nice. So is that the moment when you realize that you wanted to become a cinematographer?

Chloë : I'd decided to become a camera assistant, because I'd already decided I wanted to become a cinematographer. So I was working in documentaries, but more as a shooting researcher. During those experiences, I realized what I really enjoyed was setting up beautiful shots. These weren't high-end docs where they had a DOP, they mostly had self-shooting directors and then I would be second camera. I realised I needed to go back to what I always wanted to do, which was shoot. So I think I knew from age 11 I wanted to be a DOP, and then just got sidetracked basically with other interests. Then when I realised that's what I wanted, I thought OK, the best way of doing this would be to go and be a camera assistant. I assumed that it would be good to work my way up in the camera department, particularly as a woman.

Fran: What do you think about working your way up? It seems now a lot of people jump right into higher roles. Do you think there should be more of a structure?

Chloë : I think do whatever works for you. Financially going to film school is really tough. I was very lucky, I got a scholarship for NFTS, which covered my second year. I had saved enough money from working in the camera department for three and half years to put myself through the first year, but the programme is so intensive, you can't work at the same time. Not everybody has the opportunity to save that amount of money or handle the financial necessities. And grants and scholarships are few and far between. But for me working in the industry first was really good, because I got to learn how a big set works, I got to understand everybody's job really well. So when I was at the NFTS, I already understood what I was asking my crew to do, because I had already been part of those crews. At NFTS we all assisted each other on projects, so you gaffer for each other, you load for each other, you grip for each other, you pull focus for each other, so you also learn there. I think it's helpful to have some experience in the industry for sure, but I don't think you need to be there for 20 years before you become a DOP.

Fran: I want to talk about Adult Materia (Channel 4 Drama Series 2020, Directed by Dawn Shadforth). How was it working with such an inspirational female-led team?

Chloë : It was fantastic. Lucy's scripts are so good, her writing is nuanced, dark, political and honest. It really has something to say and I'm hoping that it's really going to make audiences question things and look at the world in a different way. The scripts were also dialogue heavy, so it was important for me to have a shooting style that allowed those brilliant performances to play out. The director Dawn and I wanted to have a slightly heightened but naturalistic yet cinematic look, but something that would also not get in the way of the performances. And we had we had a lot of women on set. We didn't have any women in the lighting department, although I tried, but I had a really wonderful team and the whole crew was really lovely. We also had a really fantastic intimacy coordinator called Yaret who really helped with all of that. Everyone was very, very respectful of the actors and how vulnerable they have to be.

Fran: I think that's so important. It just elevates everything in such a positive way. Everyone feeling a lot safer, more comfortable, and then undoubtedly, you will get more honest performances. Which sort of ties into next question: Adult Material really does challenge what we view as reality, specifically in the adult entertainment genre. How did you achieve and reflect that on screen?

Chloë : We didn't want to be explicit at all. Porn is very much taken from the male gaze, for the most part. Of course, now there's a wide variety of porn, but the type of porn our protagonist is mostly working in initially, is shown from the male perspective. And we wanted to show the female gaze. We wanted to show the internal subjectivity of the female performance and how things are working for them. We also didn't want to show anything that we didn't need to, because you've already got that in porn. We wanted to highlight the difference between stereotypical online imagery, which is usually very heightened, curated, seemingly very glamorous, with actual truth. And reality is sometimes really banal, sometimes boring, sometimes grim, sometimes exploitive. But mostly it's just very regular and every day.

We looked at photographer Larry Sultan, who took some photos in the 90s of porn sets in people's houses in California. His photos are really interested in what they exclude rather than what they include. Usually, the porn shoots are happening in the background and his images would have people's bodies covered up by a potted plant in the foreground, or something like that. So, we really wanted to try to shoot a bit like that. So, in the porn studio, most setups were from Jolene's perspective. We tried to show the surroundings and how it's not remotely glamorous, and it's actually quite dull. A lot of the time, she's thinking about all the things she has to do at home.

There's definitely still the reminder of the element of glamour. Jolene, for the most part, feels like she has power and autonomy. She earns good money; she gets these wads of cash and spends it on designer clothes and shoes and a fancy car. But at the pool party in episode one, it looks glamorous on the surface, and then you scratch away a very thin layer and it gets really grotty really quickly.

Fran: When it comes to the cinematography in the series, I think it's really beautiful. I don't want to use a cliche word, but it is so natural and I think actually that's sometimes the most difficult look to achieve on screen. How did you achieve that look?

Chloë: For me cinematography always needs to be driven by the narrative. I really didn't want it to be glossy, I just wanted it to be naturalistic and slightly textured. If I could have shot on film, I would have, but I used a lot of available light and that's partly because of my taste. I really enjoy harnessing natural light and shaping it and letting things fall off where they fall off. If that's not possible, I like using big single sources where necessary. Our filming schedule was bonkers. We had a lot of unit moves and it was all location based, so it was tricky to pre-light. We tried to arrange things as much as we could around good time of day, which was very difficult to achieve. A lot of the interiors are almost entirely available light, and then I would add practicals. In terms of camera, we used the Alexa Mini. We just shot 2K, partly because Channel 4's requirements don't suggest anything more, and also because we didn't want to make more trouble for data wrangling. Initially we really fought to have 2.39 aspect ratio and Channel 4 just absolutely refused. I think it's partly because their future sales weren't set yet. It's now going to HBO Max and Netflix. For lenses, I went with Cooke anamorphic/i because I knew them and I had shot on them before. I didn't have time to test, prep was very, very truncated. They're fast and they're clean, but they're warm and they have lovely, beautiful soft drop off.

Fran: What made you choose the Alexa Mini?

Chloë : I just love the Alexa. The mini LF would be my go-to camera now, because I think it's just exquisite. I think the Alexa has really beautiful skin tones. It's got great latitude. It's incredibly easy to work with. It's really stable. And I know it really well, so it's nice to work with equipment you're used to. I'm not the most technically-minded person - I know enough to do my job - but to me, the technical stuff isn't the thing that's paramount. The story is more important, framing is more important, lighting is more important.

Fran: So looking to the future, any exciting projects coming up?

Chloë : Well, I'm due with my first baby in about 2 weeks.

Fran: Oh wow, congratulations!

Chloë : Thank you. It’s wonderful, but it's also frustrating timing, because there are so many interesting projects coming up now. But we're waiting to see how I feel, how my partner feels, and what we can do.

Fran: Yes, make sure to enjoy that time. I mean the whole thing is just amazing, but I think if you can, do take your time to enjoy those first weeks with your little one.

Chloë : This year seems busy though, and there seems like there's a lot on. The industry seems like it's getting back on its feet. There's a lot of TV around, and I'd love to work on more feature films. We'll see.

Fran: And how do you think the industry is addressing and responding to diversity and inclusivity?

Chloë : I think it is starting to wake up and I think things are starting to change. I think visibility is improving and that's a really important first step, but I think we've got a long way to go to achieve 50:50 in terms of gender balance, let alone in terms of racial equality. I feel like it's going to be a long road. I do think that if you can see it, you can be it, so visibility is really important. Skillset is doing really good work at the moment. Illuminatrix is also fantastic. And certain productions and production companies are making big efforts to enact that change. For example, on Top Boy, particularly because of the content and the cast, they tried really hard to get at least 50:50 BAME crew. I don't think it's changing as fast as anyone would like it to, but I think it is changing. Things have shifted even in the last couple of years, since #Metoo, with the atmosphere on set and what people used to be able to get away with without being called out. I think that's changing already, but yes, there's still a long way to go.

Fran: If you could give one piece of advice to yourself when you were starting, what would it be?

Chloë : Don't be impatient. And keep going. One of our tutors at NFTS said very wisely, lighting is the easy part, politics is the hard part. And don't compare yourself to other people too much, because it just makes you feel miserable. I think social media can be really fun, but it can also be incredibly damaging. Build your support networks. The friends I made at NFTS are an amazing support network. Illuminatrix is also incredible. We have a WhatsApp group and not only are we asking each other for advice on equipment and crew, but it's also an emotional support network. Therefore, if people are feeling a bit rubbish about something or they had a hard time on a job, it's a place to vent and to be supported. I think emotionally it's really important to have people around to have your back, and you have their back. Because it's a hard industry. The industry doesn't care about individuals, but there are individuals who care about other individuals, and it's important to find them.

The series is available to watch on demand on All 4.

This is a sponsored feature article by ARRI Rental as part of our ongoing support of female talent in the camera department.