Shōgun is about the collision of cultures when an English navigator, John Blackthorne, is shipwrecked in feudal Japan in 1600.
Shōgun was shot on a variety of Hawk anamorphic lenses, including Hawk class-X and Hawk V-Lite anamorphics, as well as Vantage One T1 spherical lenses.
Hawk Class X and Vantage 1 anamorphic lenses were used in Shōgun. Hawk and Vantage are worldwide companies. These lenses squeeze the image during capture, which is then stretched out in post-production to achieve a wide-screen cinematic look. They are known for their oval bokeh that stretches vertically as focus changes, produce distinct lens flares, and can have focus consistency issues with the centre being more in focus than the edges. Historically, they often had significant barrel distortion. The lenses used for Shōgun are new, designed to work with full-frame sensors. Advances in sensor technology have also improved how anamorphic flares are captured, preventing them from breaking the image. The filmmakers intentionally chose anamorphic lenses that exhibit a lot of the characteristic anamorphic charm, such as intense flares and barrel distortion, pushing the look to an extreme.
They specifically used a combination of Hawk and Vantage glass, with the Hawk Class X anamorphics being favoured for their softness and the fall-off towards the edges of the frame, which served Blackthorne’s first-person narrative well.
Jonathan van Tulleken and Christopher Ross used anamorphic lenses for the opening to create subjectivity and disorientation, and wider aspect ratios to emphasize the world around the characters. Christopher Ross also conducted extensive lens testing with various spherical and anamorphic lenses to find images that resonated emotionally with the team.
Since there was no blueprint for shooting something 400 years ago, experimentation was key. They used techniques like swirls or spirals, barrel distortion, fisheye and blurry effects to serve the story, particularly to convey Blackthorne’s confusion, alienation, and the new language he encounters.
Blackthorne’s scenes were often shot with 35mm to 45mm lenses to coincide with the filmmakers’ objectives of creating a visual voice that expressed his disorientation and subjectivity. This choice in focal length, combined with the use of anamorphic lenses, helped to achieve effects like barrel distortion and a fisheye look, which served to visually represent Blackthorne’s confusion and sense of alienation upon arriving in a strange land. They made customised Petzval lenses for shooting dream-like scenes. The audience can view the cinema from the protagonist’s point of view, making it more visceral and first-person. In the words of cinematographer Sam McCurdy,
“Wider lenses were used for close-up shots to maintain scale and intimacy, while longer lenses were used to depict scenes from Mariko’s perspective, making other characters appear as onlookers.“
The camera used in Shōgun was the Sony Venice. Sam McCurdy, the Director of Photography, discovered a unique texture while shooting the series. This technique created a desirable texture in the shadows that worked well in the final color grading. His camera work isn’t just about cranking the ISO or opening the lens wide, but finding a balance of sensor texture and playing with the stop to bring back shadow information. He was able to develop a pleasing texture in Shōgun.