Peaky Blinders’ Opening Is the Most Expensive Scene in the Whole Series
Good thing they managed to pull the rest of the series off.
Summary:
- Peaky Blinders is a British period crime drama that was broadcast on BBC Two and BBC One channels.
- The show had a very small budget compared to other titles of similar popularity.
- However, the production team wasn't afraid to splurge on the most important scenes, including the show's epic opening.
Although the whole world is praising Cillian Murphy for his performance as
J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan 's historical drama, which hit theaters in July 2023 and has been dominating award shows ever since, longtime fans know the actor for another great performance.
Back in 2013, the actor first appeared on BBC Two as Tommy Shelby, the leader of the Peaky Blinders gang that terrorized the streets of Birmingham after World War I. Since then, the British period crime show has only grown in popularity with each passing season.
Despite working on a much smaller budget than other popular shows of the time, such as HBO's Game of Thrones, Peaky Blinders has managed to produce just as many memorable moments and visually stunning scenes. They all came at a price, of course.
Peaky Blinders’ Opening Scene Shooting
The scene that took a huge chunk out of the show's budget and left the creators scrambling to find tricks and workarounds for the rest of the season was the very first one.
The show's cinematographer, George Steel, described the problem the Peaky Blinders team faced early on in an interview for Esquire's Oral History feature.
“We spent all our special equipment budget was spent on that first shot, with the horse and the Russian arm [a crane camera mounted on a car]. Otto was adamant that we shoot it all as one shot and the only way that we could really do it was on a Russian arm, which is £10,000 a day,” he explained.
Even though it cost a lot of money, the end result was worth it. The first scene of the show also marked the first appearance of Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby. While no one doubts the actor's ability to charm an audience in any setting, these particular shots definitely did him justice.
After all, first impressions really do count, and Tommy made the best one possible.
No matter how many years have passed since the TV finale of Peaky Blinders, there is still hope that the show will return with a feature film sequel. Until that happens, you can always re-watch the original show on Netflix.
Source: Esquire