By Randi Altman
Paramount+’s The Serial Killer’s Wife, four-episode series, follows Beth, whose husband is arrested on suspicion of murder. Beth (Annabel Scholey) is certain it’s all a huge mistake — Tom (Jack Farthing) is the village doctor and a beloved member of the community. But as Beth and her husband’s best friend start looking into the accusations, they start questioning everything.
L-R: Director Laura Way, DP Evan Barry (on phone) and colorist Marco Valerio Caminiti
The series, which is soon to be released in the US after premiering in the UK and Ireland, was directed by Laura Way, shot by director of photography Evan Barry and color graded by Marco Valerio Caminiti.
How early did you get involved in the series?
Marco Valerio Caminiti: I got involved soon before the shooting started through several online meetings. The DI team at Frame by Frame and I set up the dailies workflow together with director of photography Evan Barry and DIT Gianluca Sansevrino.
Did you create on-set LUTs? How did that translate to the final color?
Caminiti: At first, I developed a custom technical conversion LUT (ARRI Log-C to Rec. 709) for the first days of shooting. Later, when I started receiving the actual rushes, I made a custom LUT that helped bring us toward the desired look of the show. This LUT was derived from an LMT [Look Modification Transform], which I then used as a grading starting point in ACES.
Evan Barry: Working with Marco and Gianluca to create these LUTs gave me great peace of mind that the intended look of the show would be implemented right from the outset.
What did the director and DP say they wanted it to look and feel like? Did they provide a look-book?
Caminiti: Director Laura Way, Evan and I wanted to achieve a “crime/drama” look that would drive the audience through the mood of the show. At the same time, we did not want the grade to feel too stylized. Our goal was to have a nice level of contrast and color separation to avoid a bland, monochromatic result.
Generally, all the scenes in exteriors tend to go toward cold tones, but we kept a nice golden and soft tint for specific interior situations. I had received a lookbook to develop the LUT before shooting started, but Evan then brought some more references on the first day of our in-person grading sessions.
Barry: It was important that the show’s look have a very grounded and naturalistic feel while still retaining a cinematic quality to complement our story. Through conversations with Marco and some shared references, both in preproduction and throughout the shoot, Marco did an incredible job responding to the rushes that were being sent through. And although our time in the grade was limited, I had great confidence in Marco. We’d had enough conversations that he knew instinctively what direction to go with each scene.
What was it shot on, and why was this camera package chosen?
Barry: We decided to shoot on the ARRI Alexa Mini LF paired with a set of Zeiss supreme lenses. We felt that this combination would give us the cinematic naturalistic look we wanted.
What were some of the biggest challenges of the shoot?
Caminiti: The biggest challenge was probably logistic in nature, considering that the editorial department (Element) were set up in Dublin, the ADR was done at Molinare in London, the VFX team from Alps Studios were in Turin, the DI and sound department from Frame by Frame were in Rome, and both Laura Way and Evan were based in Ireland.
Even with everyone spread out, it all went quite smoothly. The collaboration between all these countries generated a unique combination of Italian influences (coming from the art, costumes and production design) mixed with British environments and landscapes.
Barry: I think these kinds of international co-productions are fantastic, as they broaden the scope of talent we can work with and bring different cultural influences together, which I think helps to raise the quality of the end result.
Was Evan Barry in the suite with you? The director? How did that help?
Caminiti: I had the pleasure to sit in the grading suite for a week with Evan to find the right direction for the show. A few days later, Laura also came to Rome to attend the grading sessions and review all four episodes. Even though we all got used to working remotely after the pandemic, I much prefer to have clients attend the grade, both for social and practical reasons.
Unfortunately, it was too complicated to have a session with Evan and Laura at the same time, but we managed to keep a good level of communication using review links to share the progress.
What system and color workflow did you use? Did you do any cleanups as well, or just color?
Caminiti: I graded the series using ACES in Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve, and I also had to deal with a couple of very minor cleanups. Since the TV series is a Paramount+ UK original production, we started to grade it in HDR (Rec.2020 PQ – P3 D65 limited), and later obtained the Rec.709 version using Dolby Vision analysis and trim passes.
What was your favorite part of the collaboration and look?
Caminiti: I feel lucky to have worked on this project. I studied in the UK at the NFTS (MA Digital Effects: Color) and worked at Warner Bros. De Lane Lea, so my favorite part of this collaboration is that I managed to bring my experience back to Rome with me, working on an international production from my own city and using skills from my two different backgrounds to achieve the look.
I know I can’t mention everyone, but I would like to thank post production manager Alessandro Pozzi, post producer Matteo Lepore, conformer Giorgia Petrazzini, finishing artist Paolo Viel, sound designer Sandro Rossi and producer Francesco Paglioli, who followed the whole Italy/UK/Ireland process.
Randi Altman is the founder and editor-in-chief of postPerspective. She has been covering production and post production for more than 25 years.