Emmy Nominee: Cinematography Christopher Ross Equates ‘Shōgun’ to ‘The Godfather’ Set in Medieval Japan

Awards Daily talks to cinematographer Christopher Ross about his Emmy-nominated work for Episode 1’s “Anjin” on FX’s Shōgun. 

“If you’re trying to shoot The Godfather in medieval Japan, you want the idea of a Gordon Willis low-exposure top light.”

For his Emmy-nominated work on Shōgun, cinematographer Christopher Ross says he leaned into the landscape on set in Canada to create the green hue that hovers over the series.

“We tried to ensure the grayest days possible, the smokiest environments possible, and that produces the slate gray, slate green of the sky,” says Ross. “When the sun shines on the trees in the luscious West Coast of British Columbia and Vancouver, the trees tend to look lime. That’s a tropical color we were trying to avoid, so it was leaning into the natural colors of the landscape and going for the smoky gray. It was intentional from the start.”

As cinematographer on the first two episodes, including the Emmy-nominated “Anjin,” Ross says there was some discussion about how to introduce their hero, Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada). At first, they wanted him to appear out of the mist mysteriously, but the Vancouver Island weather didn’t cooperate.

“That first scene on horseback where he’s hunting, that was the second day of shooting on Vancouver Island. If you’re ever been to Vancouver Island, you get one of two situations: It’s either blazing hot sunshine and the most amazing surf weather you can imagine or it’s gray clouds. So we had preplanned it as an homage to MacBeth, very foglit. We had a naval fogger on standby to make it an eerie, mysterious opener. But as we approached the day, it became clear from the forecast that it was going to be very very sunny with very little cloud cover. In the end, we reverse-engineered. We knew that Toranaga wanted to be this silhouetted figure but instead of making him mysterious within this foggy environment, we amplified the sunlight and used a lens flare and looked at his back. We were very lucky that the conditions were right in the end. It also acts as a balance to the ship coming out of the fog [in the first scene with Blackthorne].”

Toranaga isn’t the only one we meet from the back. Mariko (Anna Sawai) is also introduced this way when she’s called in to assuage the situation with Lady Fuji (Moeka Hoshi), whose husband and child are going to be executed. Was this also done on purpose?

“Despite the fact that in Episode 2 Mariko’s a translator for Blackthorne, we wanted to sell her immediately as Toranaga’s conciliary [in Episode 1]. Another Godfather reference. Mariko is essentially stepson Tom, the Robert Duvall character from The Godfather. Very wise, sage, and doesn’t say very much. Her introduction from behind is less about the mystery of the character and more about the fact you’re going to come to know Mariko through the gestural technique of Japanese cinema, the fact she walks in a particular way and sits in society in a very unique place. She’s very 20th-century capitalist character in a way. She is the interpreter, you know she has that language and that skill as a translator. It was all about trying to elevate her character to the audience so you knew immediately to pay attention. In the first episode, Fuji has a larger role! For us, it was about making a statement with this character.”

“Anjin” culminates with Toranaga and Mariko meeting, and in contrast to the green hues throughout the episode, this scene features warm, golden light. Ross says this color comes from two places: Toranaga’s high status and the forging of trust between him and Mariko.

“We were very lucky to use the practical light and to have the fire in the background from SFX team. We wanted to have an expansive set for the characters to inhabit. Something hopefully as a viewer you don’t realize, in Western cinema, we place characters behind things. The powerful character sits behind the desk, and we’re able to utilize the graphic nature of a mantlepiece to compositionally create status. In Japanese architecture and living design, all the elements are pushed to the end of the room. The foreground elements that are used to create three-dimensionality don’t exist. That’s why we have this more visceral, first-person, camera-up-close-to-the-performers idea. When you have two characters in a scene as intense as Toranaga and Mariko’s, you start by separating them and keeping them out of each other’s frames. Then you start to introduce their shoulders and bring them closer and closer. By the end of the scene, you realize they’re in alliance. It’s a pivotal scene.”

All episodes of Shōgun are streaming on FX on Hulu.