The Crown on Netflix
 

Anyone watching 'The Crown' on Netflix?
lots of very good period detail, including shots of working TVs and cameras (especially the 1953 Coronation mock up) which look to me for the most part quite authentic, in that they do look like genuine TV pics not the overlaid type often used these days such as in 'Gogglebox'.
However, I'm 100% sure if the video is 405 or 625, as I thought i could see some fake overlaid lines on one or two of the shots, (watching with my Wife so constant rewind and pausing to study further wasn't an option...) just wondering if anyone had insider knowledge or opinions.

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

I haven't watched this, not having a Netflix subscription.

I do know it has a large budget though, closer to movie levels than normal TV production. The period TVs are likely to have come from specialist prop companies who fit old TVs with 625 colour tubes and electronics. Apparently the colour hue of genuine 405 mono tubes looks wrong without a lot of tweaking in post production, quite apart from reliability issues and the difficulty of driving them.

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

Yes:being old enough to have watched the actual coronation on our Marconi 12" telly at the venerable age of 6, what was missing for me was the instantly recognisable voice of Richard Dimbleby.

P.P.

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

A few pics of TVs and cameras from the episode featuring the televising of the coronation, one set is being watched by the Duke of Windsor and guests in France, also shots of a TV camera and gallery - comments on authenticity or otherwise please!

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

A few more screenshots. the viewfinder does look active and the picture does correlate with the scene, easier to see in moving shot. Also some shutter bars are visible now and again, although I failed to 'screenshot' the exact frame!

Anyone care to ID the camera and set?

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

I got the impression that some of the footage was genuine newsreel material of the time, cleverly edited to represent TV coverage to account for the difference in technical quality from the modern material. As such, I suspect that the full-screen shots at least were treated to resemble 405-line pictures.

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

It's perfectly possible that the images have been overlaid in post. This is can be very difficult to spot if enough money has been spent on it - the production values here are in a different league to Gogglebox.

The difficulty of creating a minimally functional OB gallery using genuine period 405 equipment is obvious. I don't know though, and it could be done.

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

Yes, it was our broadcast cameras and monitors (and my Project Vivat OB truck posing as a film newsreel vehicle) in this production.

I was ready to do the gallery monitors 'live' as they're all operational on 625 as part of 'Project Vivat', but they weren't sure about the pictures needed and they didn't have anything ready. Thus, it was done in post and it's very good. I like to think that I can claim some credit for that as the SFX specialist was on set and we had a great chat about what it needed to look like - especially no sudden fading towards the picture edges. I think he must have taken the advice on board! It was all shot in Ely Cathedral and it was a great production to work on. A lot of our efforts fell by the wayside, including a Marconi MkII zoom camera rig as per the reference pictures from the actual event. It was a beast and a half . . .

Best regards,

Paul M
www.golden-agetv.co.uk

'Project Vivat' website is having a makeover and will be 'live' later this week. The project is coming on nicely now but still several thousand pounds and many hundreds of hours to go.

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

I look forward to watching it in full at some stage Paul. Andy's stills are certainly impressive.

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

I've been watching The Crown and overall most impressed with it. It's certainly very lavish with extremely high production values. But I did spot one blunder, a valve radio was switched on and the sound came out instantly.

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

I'd like to see this. It looks to be of a very high standard.
Will it be available on disc?

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

Andy's screen shots look very convincing to me.

Peter

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

I agree. They have captured that 'slightly dirty goldfish bowl' effect very well without overdoing it.

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

I'm not sure, but we now subscribe to Netflix and find it very worthwhile, and far cheaper than buying DVDs that you are only likely to watch a couple of times, or than subscribing to a DVD rental by post outfit. We pay £5.99/month and I believe there is no minimum term, as well as a free trial month available: https://www.netflix.com/gb/

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

I think it's very well done too, both generally and in terms of period accuracy. Loads of radios feature, and to me, all looked correct for the period.

With my pedantic hat on, the phones seem to ring wrongly, the cadence and timbre sounding rather American, but it's hardly a deal breaker.

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

Paul, were all the pictures shown on TV's (which feature in virtually every episode) added in post or were any genuine off screen shots?
As others have said, the production values are very high, (not to mention interesting perspective on historical events and characters such as Churchill). Worth a trial sub as I'd say it would appeal to many on this forum with a passion for 'old stuff'!

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

Andy, the pictures in the camera viewfinders were live and genuine, albeit 625 and coming from 'simulated practical' camera/monitor inserts. All the monitors were SFX and so far as I know, also the TVs (which we didn't supply). This is about the fourth or fifth time we've 'done' the Coronation. Ten years ago (perhaps more) we supplied 9 fully operational period monitors being fed from a bank of VHS machines carrying the original footage. The timing of all those pictures to match something like a plausible sequence was really tough, but it worked. Then there was the BBC programme 'The People's Coronation' - that was also done 'hot' with real monitors - and it was indeed hot with David Dimbleby in a tiny office with 6 valve monitors steaming away! Most fun (and coldest) was done in a miniscule unheated garage in north London for Sky Atlantic with four operational monitors called 'The British' in the dead of winter - I'm actually in that one! I wonder when the next Coronation repro will be (and where)?

Cheers,

Paul M

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

My guess would be that all the 50s TV pictures would have been done in post, once the SFX team had geared up to do it during the coronation OB sequence.

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

What I like about the Crown is it doesn't view the royal family through rose tinted glasses and shows what events were going on at the time, It's extremely watchable and a feast for anyone liking period detail.
Incidentally filming has started for the the second series and I've been approached with the possibility of using my period house, it would be nice if some of my old radios make it on screen too.

Re: The Crown on Netflix
 

Beautifully done, though. Note the slight reflection of highlights from the tube mask, for example.