NETFLIX鈥檚 award-winning series The Crown launched its second season on Dec. 8, continuing the series鈥 exquisite narration of Britain鈥檚 history through the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Crown Season 2 shows the queen鈥檚 younger years as the monarch and her family live through the 1950s and the swinging 鈥60s.
鈥淪eason 2 picks up from 1956 and continues with the Suez crisis and it then goes from 1956 to 1963,鈥 Andy Stebbing, the series鈥 co-producer, said in an interview at the series鈥 main filming location, Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, England.
As in the first season, the show鈥檚 producers wanted to depict Britain鈥檚 major political events in painstaking detail but were quick to point out that the series is 鈥渘ot a documentary鈥 but a 鈥渃haracter-driven drama鈥 written by Peter Morgan, the show鈥檚 creator.
鈥淭he detail is probably what makes it so good and so watchable. We鈥檙e trying to show our audience what it鈥檚 like being part of the royal family, so the detail is incredibly important, especially to get the [historical] events right. We spend a lot of time trying to get the detail right, from the costumes to the actors, even down to the extras — from the footman to the number of horses there were in the real event. But then sometimes it is good to deviate from that as well,鈥 Stebbing said.
To show how much work goes into making The Crown, Stebbing, along with the show鈥檚 supervising art director Mark Ragget, costume designer Jane Petrie, costume coordinator Jo Bradley, and textile artist Louisa Sorrentino, gave a group of visiting journalists a tour of the show鈥檚 production sets at Elstree Studios.
Mark Ragget, The Crown鈥檚 supervising art director, said the show employs scenic artists whose job is to 鈥渁ge鈥 set pieces. The Crown Season 2, he explained, depicts a post-war Britain, which means interiors of royal residences were not looked after and 鈥渨ere a bit of run-down.鈥 Scenic artists would then come to the set to do marbling and graining, create water stains on furniture and add crackle to paintings to make them look worn. Above photo shows Claire Foy shooting a scene in Lancaster Mansion, one of the show鈥檚 film locations. 鈥 Photo: Robert Viglasky / NetflixAn actor playing the famed photographer Cecil Beaton captures Philip’s (Matt Smith) first official portrait as a Prince. Shot in Lancaster Mansion, one of the show鈥檚 film locations.鈥淵ou probably heard people refer to it as Queen’s crown and the King’s crown. Well that’s erroneous. There’s no such thing,鈥 said Major David Rankin-Hut, the show’s royal advisor. 鈥淭here’s only the Royal Crown. But the difference is, when a new queen or king ascends the throne, he or she can change it slightly. Photo shows Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy) formally making Philip (Matt Smith) a British Prince 鈥 Photo: Robert Viglasky / NetflixSome scenes require computer-generated imagery (CGI) to illustrate the scale of a major event. The show hired a visual effects studio that does crowd replication, photo real digital set extensions, and other visual effects.聽Scenes that show聽cars entering and exiting the gates of the Buckingham Palace, politicians gathering at Downing Street, and the queen boarding the plane at the London airport are filmed at Elstree Studios’s back lot and are then edited to add CGI. 鈥 Photo: Stuart Hendry / NetflixWhile the show has a room filled with vintage pieces worn by characters and extras, it also has its own dye shop where Jane Petrie, the show鈥檚 costume designer, works with textile artist Louisa Sorrentino to design special outfits for certain scenes. Costume coordinator Jo Bradley said that oftentimes, Petrie would find a picture, which she鈥檒l take down to the dye workshop and have Sorrentino screen-print it into a fabric and have it tailored by a dressmaker. 鈥淭he costumes that we make for the main cast are not necessarily the exact replica of what the Royal family wore. There is a certain degree of artistic license between Jane and the directors. It gives us an idea of shape and feel. But sometimes there is a change of color or change of shape,鈥 she said. 鈥淛ane has got color palettes for each location. So it might be teal and green on one location, or it might be sort of ambers and browns. She does this so the actors kind of pop out a little bit but also as a crowd that they look kind of united,鈥 she said. 鈥 Photo: Alex Bailey / NetflixFinal preparations for the Queen Mother, played by Victoria Hamilton 鈥 Photo: Robert Viglasky / NetflixRacks of vintage pieces worn by the shows’s characters 鈥斅燩hoto: DESWILLIE / NetflixThe Queen (Claire Foy) and Jackie Kennedy (Jodi Balfour) share a moment. 鈥 Photo: Alex Bailey / Netflix
