'We Are Lady Parts' - from pilot to perfection

In a landscape where television can struggle to maintain continuity and quality across seasons, ‘We Are Lady Parts’ stands out, thanks in large part to its talented cinematographer, Diana Olifirova. With the second series of this heartfelt and powerful comedy now garnering attention, Olifirova spoke with Cooke and shared her journey from the short film pilot to the latest episodes, highlighting the creative and technical aspects that shaped the visual narrative of this groundbreaking show which was shot on Cooke’s Anamorphic/i S35 lenses.

Nida Manzoor created, writes and directs the show which began as a 14 minute short for Channel 4’s ‘Blaps’ initiative. The short aired in 2018 and is still available to watch on YouTube. The broad strokes of the tone and visual language that supports the comedy are immediately apparent in this ‘teaser’. It went on to be one of Blaps most successful projects and a full series was subsequently commissioned by Channel 4 in co-production with Peacock.

The show follows a British punk rock band named Lady Parts which consists entirely of Muslim women. Friendships, relationships and cultural differences are navigated as the band seeks musical success. The first series sees microbiology PhD student Amina join the band as their new lead guitar player – reluctantly at first due to her extreme stage fright – but together they go on to conquer more than just her fears of performing. Rounding out the ensemble is the band’s leader Saira, drummer Ayesha, bassist Bisma and manager Momtaz all of whom juggle work and other commitments whilst trying to drive the band forwards.

Series one was about to shoot at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic which led the production taking a big break in which the core creative team developed their plans. Olifirova recollects “Over the summer, we used the time to really finesse our prep and go through all the creative ideas up to the point where I was like, ‘I just want to shoot now because I can’t think anymore'” – emphasising the importance of momentum in the creative process. By September 2020, the team was ready to begin shooting which was to be Olifirova’s first long form television job as it was for director Manzoor.

The series was incredibly well received and the cinematographer attributes much of this success to the core team’s collaborative spirit, led by director Manzoor. “Nida has a good skill of bringing the best out of people and also having a big influence on everyone while giving them a lot of freedom.” Key to building this world along with Manzoor and Olifirova were Production Designer Simon Walker and Costume Designer PC Williams. The team reunited for series two with Amy Maguire taking over production design responsibilities, prior commitments meant Walker couldn’t return, and together continued to build upon the expanding world of the show. The band’s rehearsal space was a set build and remained consistent across the two series – a useful bridging place between Walker and Maguire’s handover. There were a few rooms which were enlarged at Olifirova’s suggestion such as Amina’s bedroom.

Olifirova’s approach to visual storytelling is deeply cinematic, treating the series as a continuous film rather than segmented episodes. “I always treat everything I do as a film because I want to think of it as ‘beginning to the end’ and the transitions and the arc of the visual development,” she says. This philosophy was crucial in maintaining a cohesive visual narrative across the six 25-minute episodes, creating a seamless viewing experience akin to a feature film. This was supported by Manzoor writing and directing all episodes instead of following the US “showrunner” style of production.

The cinematographer emphasises the importance of being bold from the onset of the prep process, where she really digs down into the essence and emotion of each scene and isn’t afraid to question elements that might be foggy – better that they get addressed before reaching an audience. Olifirova credits Manzoor for taking this feedback in her stride and together they struck a good balance of serving the script rather than individual egos or agendas.

Series one focused mainly on Amina and Saira with different styles of camera movement for each. “Amina was very classic, some dolly moves and statics with a little bit of Steadicam following her around and Saira was always handheld – much rougher, much more documentary style, even with lighting I was trying to make it more natural whereas with Amina it was more beauty light and glowing.” There was also a development in makeup and costume over the first season for Amina as she embraces her punk side – which was supported by lighting.

Series two re-joins Amina already in her “villain era” but expands the lives of the other characters, becoming more of an ensemble piece and as such shooting styles blended and overlapped more. Other guiding principals were beginning each scene in a visually engaging way – whether this was a wide that would develop into a two shot along with creating layers through blocking and production design, some of which was discovered on the day to build the energy and engagement.

The show includes fantasy moments – mainly portrayed via characters’ internal monologues but these also become playful, particularly in series two, as fantasy and reality become a little mixed. For example, in the first episode of series two the band are discussing famous record producer Mahmood and looks from a variety of series are depicted which then link back into the present day with the amusing method of elements crossing over such as a the smoke of a cigar or handing a banana! For these more stylised sections Olifirova initially pushed for shooting on 16mm but knowing when to choose her battles later realised that for ten seconds of screen time it wouldn’t be worth the added cost and workflow complexity.

Initial references which the director and cinematographer discussed included ‘Green Room’ and the work of Wes Anderson along with ‘American Honey’, ‘Buffalo ‘66’ and Domino’ – all films with a distinctive sense of style and not just trying to be a naturalistic window on a world. With each episode including at least one complex musical number, Olifirova contributed references from music videos and short form – something Manzoor was less experienced in. Not only were the pair developing a visual throughline for the narrative parts, they were also having to build set pieces for the band’s tracks – something the cinematographer had great fun in doing. For example for ‘Glass Ceiling Feeling’ the cinematographer imparted her love of mirrors and pulled references from Michael Jackson’s ‘Scream’ video. A tricky sequence to shoot and light on a very limited TV schedule but incredibly effective in depicting the band’s struggle in a visually arresting way.

Originally scheduled for fourty days the schedule was expanded with the help of 1^st AD Clare Awdry and together the team made the case for more shooting days which was accepted by the execs and additional days were added. Shooting for the second series then ran forty-four days scheduled for 10+1 hours – Olifirova was grateful to have time to fit in some lunch-time meditation and check ins with the team to feel revitalised and inspired for the afternoon’s work.

Olifirova is a massive fan of colour in lighting – particularly via the usage of gels – and is very playful in this regard, both in prep and on set. In prep she enjoys building a list based on gel names that sound fun and bold – Damp Squib, Liberty Green and Bram Brown being favourites. She likens the approach on set to cooking – looking first at the tone of the set and then augmenting or contrasting with gels, painting in broad strokes first and refining as needed. This is achieved with physical gels for the most part (for consistency across sources) but is also sometimes dialled in digitally for certain LED sources. In addition, she enjoys mixing gels across a sequence such as in the beach house scene in episode two for the “Malala Made Me Do It” number – changing from a sunny day time into a dark pink and orange look before going to completely fantasy colours for the musical number. Gels are even overlapped or cut out at points on the frames in front of the sources for added uniqueness. Old school painted tungsten bulbs were also favoured by the cinematographer and implemented within cloud props behind Malala as well as within various practicals within the community centre in episode six.

“I’m kind of like layering in like I’m painting. Like a busker – or buskette! And then slowly it starts making sense and then sometimes I put filters on the camera as well and find the right lens. I find the right foreground and then I find the right move and then start turning on the practicals, maybe change the bulb in the practical – look at the lights in the background and then line it up. So you need to take time, be brave and don’t give up. And sometimes it doesn’t work out no matter how much you try. I always encourage the team to be honest with feedback, so if the director, production designer or gaffer say ‘I’m not sure’ then it’s thank you for saying – because I was not sure myself and sometimes you need a couple of people to confirm it and move on to find a different solution.”

Between the first and second series the band have toured their show across a variety of venues – this is portrayed in the opening of series two, episode one as a montage of performances. The team had to portray five different venues and feels of gig but all had to be shot in just the one location, ‘The Garage’ club venue. Solid production design and planning made it possible – setting up four different sets at 90º angles to each other and pre-lighting as much as was possible with the limited package by sharing units across the spaces and being smart with lamp choices led by gaffer Gordon Goodwin. Embracing that some venues the band would be playing would be more limited in terms of lighting and scope justified a couple of the setups feeling more DIY and minimal in scale, as the priority was to make the Transient Fest sequence the most exciting of all.

At the end of episode one, the conclusion of Transient Fest sees Lady Parts watching in horror from the back of the venue as cover band, Second Wife, perform their songs. Although Manzoor was initially reluctant to shoot the hero band with the location’s cage structure in the foreground, when Olifirova saw the option to create shadows from the structure she immediately saw the opportunity for the metaphor of feeling trapped. Together they worked it out and Manzoor was won over – this faith in each other’s dedication to the story is clearly fundamental to the success of the series.

Following the mantra of being bold and wanting to make a splash for her first long form series, Olifirova was immediately drawn to anamorphic lenses. Band two, Comedy, Channel 4 and anamorphic aren’t the most common of bedfellows, but Manzoor quickly came onboard for a wider format. Initial response from the higher ups wasn’t resoundingly positive but the duo fought for the look by singing the praises of a wider frame for an ensemble piece and being able to show all the band together in a single frame along with making the show feel sleek and fresh. Arri Rental worked with Olifirova to put the package together and Cooke Anamorphic/i S35 lenses were quickly decided upon for series one. This was continued for series two with Olifirova finding them to be the perfect balance of characterful and reliable.