ITV’s glamorous game show of betrayal and high stakes

Rob Fisher, Director The Fortune Hotel S1

Produced by Tuesday’s Child, The Fortune Hotel is ITV’s primetime strategic reality games series hosted by Stephen Mangan, where 20 contestants compete in a series of challenges in order to win a prize of £250,000. Series 2 is due for release later this year.

Watch series 1 here: https://www.itv.com/watch/the-fortune-hotel/10a5106

Shooting Process

Director of Photography Olly Wiggins was approached by Director Rob Fisher to help define a look and feel for the show that reflected the ‘opulence and glamour of White Lotus, with the skullduggery of Glass Onion’. Olly talks us through the concept, prep and filming for this overseas large-scale TV series.

Multiple setups, multiple camera solutions. "Due to the nature of the format and the gameplay we wanted the show to have distinct styles for the different sections of the show. We knew that we wanted the hotel scenes to feel glossy to fit its five-star credentials, but wanted to slowly mix in a darker side as the show’s mechanics started to appear and our guests vacated the hotel. We used White Lotus as a visual style reference and had regular meetings with the camera team where we reviewed footage. The location challenges were shot with energy and dynamism to contrast with the more composed slider and TRINITY shots around the hotel.

On challenge VT days we used multiple camera formats to help cover the action. Most of the cameras were handheld, we used GoPros and the GoPro MAX for rigging boats and would often fly two drones over challenges that took place over large distances. The Ronin 4D provided beautiful stabilised shots of the ensuing action both on land and sea. The TRINITY was vital to the hotel shots as its vertical range allowed us to jib from the iconic Fortune Hotel briefcases to the guest’s faces as they walked around the hotel and entered the ‘Lady Luck Bar’ for their nightcaps.

Caribbean challenges. In Grenada the weather in October and November can be quite varied - rainstorms can appear out of nowhere, but the clouds made for some stunning sunsets. The equatorial sun path can also be a challenge, going from usable daylight to night in about 45 minutes, so scheduling was vital.

Any pack-to-fly shoot has to be really well organised. From recces to lighting lists to consumables, everything has to be rigorously planned. You’ve got sand, sea, rain and darkness that appears the minute you’ve finished filming so it was important that the camera crews worked as a team to avoid any mishaps. On a small Caribbean island there isn’t a lot of options for getting equipment at short notice, so having a really organised AC team who maintain and service the equipment daily really helped to avoid any problems that would have impacted the shooting schedule.

A typical day on The Fortune Hotel set. For the camera team the daily commute to work started with a barefoot 10-minute walk along Grenada’s famous Grand Anse beach, then an espresso in the camera kitroom. The ACs would have already prepped the cameras for the section we would be filming that morning. Around the hotel we would split up into multiple teams to film editorial content, which would be wirelessly sent back to a central production office so story producers could feed back to the director and PDs. On challenge days we would depart the hotel in a fleet of vehicles and set up on location ready for the cast and talent to arrive, film the challenge for the rest of the daylight hours, and then return back to base for the episode’s night sequences. The cameras would be reset into an “as live” studio record, which meant rigging cameras in hides and hooking up to our mobile gallery so we could set lighting for the Lady Luck Bar sequence. The team was very streamlined and we had really clear communication system so everyone knew what they were doing both on location and around the hotel. This allowed us to stay on schedule even if the weather threw us the odd curveball."

Kit Package for The Fortune Hotel

Cameras: Sony FX9 & FX6, DJI Ronin 4D, GoPro 360, GoPro MAX

Lenses: Canon CN7 / CN10, Angeniéux Optimo DP 16-42mm, Zeiss 70-200mm, Tokina Vista Primes, Laowa 100mm Macro, Fujinon MK 18-55mm, Sony 14mm, 50mm, 16-35mm, 24-105mm, 70-200mm, Sigma 35mm DG Art, GoPro Max Lens Mod

Wireless Monitoring: Vaxis STORM 3000

Monitors: SmallHD Monitors

Grip: ARRI TRINITY, Sachtlers, Easyrig Vario 5s, Cinesaddles, Prosup Tango Roller, GoPro Head Mount, Car Mount and GoPro Grip Box