Toronto-based cinematographer Gerald Packer finds himself in court these days, not as a plaintiff, but rather lensing the dramatic series This Is Wonderland, coproduced by Toronto’s Indian Grove Productions and Montreal’s Muse Entertainment for CBC.

Packer, a recent Gemini Award winner for Carry Me Home: The Story &s Music of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, which he codirected with Liam Romalis, says he was pleased when Wonderland executive producer Bernard Zukerman approached him with the script. The DOP had previously worked with Zukerman on Chasing Cain and The Many Trials of One Jane Doe.

This Is Wonderland, created by playwrights George F. Walker and Dani Romain, is a legal drama that centers on a young compassionate lawyer, Alice De Raey, played by Cara Pifko (The In-Laws, Salem Witch Trials), thrown into the unpredictable world of criminal law. Other cast regulars include Michael Riley (The Interrogation of Michael Crowe), Michael Healey (Robocop) and Tom Rooney (Gilda Radner: It’s Always Something).

Packer is quick to point out that the style of Wonderland doesn’t resemble U.S. shows such as Law & Order or The West Wing. ‘Wonderland is slick in a real British television sense, and similarly, not done on as big a budget. If it is attractive to Americans it is because it’s well written and entertaining,’ notes the DOP. ‘It’s not about fantasy but real-life stories.’

Packer started work on the first three episodes of Wonderland in September, with director Bruce McDonald. The two had previously joined forces when Packer lensed Colin Brunton’s 1989 short The Mysterious Moon Men of Canada (which McDonald produced) and did second unit work on McDonald’s Highway 61. ‘I’ve known Bruce for years. We went to Ryerson Film School together. It’s really great working with him again.’

Set in Toronto, most of the action takes place at Old City Hall, which is as much a character as any of the actors, according to Packer. ‘It’s a beautiful building, a landmark in Toronto and really great to shoot at.’

But lighting the interior of the historic courthouse proved challenging for the DOP. ‘The weak fluorescent lights in the ceilings of the building are as flat as the prairies,’ explains Packer. ‘So I use a lot of bounce lighting, and because production is fast-paced, I figured out a system where there’s a lot of instant bounce lighting through the use of a dimmer board.’

The approach to lighting is dramatic, yet realistic. ‘The mood changes with each episode, so the lighting is as rich as I can get away with in an institutional environment,’ says the DOP. ‘You want soft light to make people look good when they need to, so while the lighting is gritty to a certain extent, it still looks pretty.’

The drama in Wonderland is captured with one, sometimes two Arriflex 16 SR3 cameras on dollies, shooting on Super 16. ‘Super 16 is a great format on which to shoot dramas, because you get 10 minutes of continuous filming, and I like that the cameras are small and manoeuvrable,’ says Packer.

The production team decided to eschew handheld shooting or Steadicams for Wonderland, and with good reason, Packer says. ‘Having a live camera all the time does add life to a story. But in a courtroom it’s about words and truth, and about people telling their side of the story,’ he explains. ‘The style of Wonderland allows the actors to live in the frame and the audience to listen to the words and not watch something that’s moving around.’

Packer says they contemplated having a crane inside Old City Hall but found that the pillars were too close together.

Constantly battling time

The DOP uses a preferred and familiar film stock in Kodak Vision 200T 7274. ‘I shot Jane Doe, Chasing Cain and Twist with Kodak 7274. I like the speed of it. It’s not too fast,’ he explains. ‘You can use the contrast of the stock and the fact that the light falls off quicker, especially when you’re lighting on location. You can augment the light and use it without having to negative fill and cut light out as much.’

The crew is constantly battling time while shooting on location, says Packer, because the days are shorter with less sunshine and they can only use the court building on weekends.

Furthermore, filming exterior shots proved to be tricky given the location of the building. ‘We were shooting a scene where Cara is walking toward Old City Hall while watching some street entertainment in the front of the building before she enters the courthouse,’ recalls Packer. ‘In addition to Old City Hall being badly placed for the sun, there are buildings in the way and sometimes it’s sunny, sometimes cloudy. Thus you’re fighting the buildings and the clouds all at the same time, trying to capture the shots from both the left and right side.’

Packer managed by taking the sun off the actors through the use of silks when it was sunny, and removing the silks when the sky turned cloudy.

During the week, the crew films most of Wonderland at the 940 Lansdowne Studio. In order to recreate the feel of high ceilings such as those in Old City Hall, Packer says he and key grip Mitch Holmes relied on light. ‘Instead of hanging tons of lights on the grid, we hung bounce boards so that there exists this feeling of bounce lighting off the ceiling.’

Each of the 13 one-hour episodes takes approximately six days to shoot. ‘It’s really challenging to film at series pace and be able to get everything done in the day. If the actors weren’t so excellent it would be impossible to get through the pages,’ says Packer. ‘They’re the best Toronto has to offer.’

The DOP is currently collaborating with director Keith Behrman (Flower & Garnet) on the next set of episodes, before Anne Wheeler (Better Than Chocolate) takes over directing duties. Scott Smith (Falling Angels) will direct the last episodes of the season.

Packer says even though there are different directors, the scripts are written and action set up so that there are only a few ways to shoot in a courtroom. ‘I keep the same look for each episode, so basically the only thing the directors affect is the performances, through the angles and types of shots,’ he says.

Post-production on Wonderland is done at CBC, where Packer is involved in tape-to-tape transfers and color correction.

The DOP expresses interest in returning if Wonderland continues production for a second season. ‘It’s harder doing series work, but so rewarding working with such high-quality scripts and actors,’ he says.

After attending Ryerson, Packer began his career lensing dramas in the 1980s. His first major feature, H, directed by Darrell Wasyk, won best Canadian feature film at the 1990 Toronto International Film Festival.

The first season of This Is Wonderland debuts on CBC on Jan. 12, 2004 at 9 p.m. Production continues until Feb. 14.

-www.cbc.ca