Cinematography

Shooting for the (Very) Small Screen

Wed, 04/15/2020 - 10:27 -- Nick Dager

Short-form streaming-video platform Quibi provides premium content specifically designed for consumption on a mobile device. This presented the production of its first scripted show, Dummy, with a unique set of creative and workflow issues. In addition to the standard 16:9 aspect ratio, director of photography Catherine Goldschmidt had to create visuals for a vertically oriented 9:16 presentation.

Lindsey Optics Unveils Large Format Optical Viewfinder

Thu, 04/02/2020 - 10:31 -- Nick Dager

Lindsey Optics has introduced the Large Format Viewfinder to provide optical through the lens viewing. With a sleek, modular design, it supports an unprecedented range of formats from Super 35 to Alexa 65. Company CEO Dwight Lindsey says, “We created our LF Viewfinder for filmmakers who prefer to test a ‘look’ by viewing directly through the actual lens instead of electronic means like monitors or digital tools. Our Large Format Viewfinder solves the viewing issue, while also meeting the need for format diversity.”

Bloodshot: The Illusion of Choice

Mon, 03/23/2020 - 11:29 -- Nick Dager

In a cinematic universe expanding with superheroes, the creative challenge for filmmakers is to set newcomers apart from the crowd. The task was doubly important for Bloodshot, the first installment of a new franchise that Sony Pictures plans for characters of comic-book publisher Valiant Entertainment. The studio assigned responsibility to Dave Wilson, an established video game cinematic and trailer director for Blur Studio but first-time feature director, who in turn worked alongside cinematographer Jacques Jouffret, whose credits as a camera operator include Deepwater Horizon and Transformers: The Last Knight, and as a DP include The Purge and Mile 22.

Bringing a Classic to the Big Screen

Wed, 03/04/2020 - 10:14 -- Nick Dager

DP Nicolaj Bruel and director Matteo Garrone, who first worked together on the award-winning 2018 feature film Dogman, recently repeated their collaboration on the live action Italian language feature film Pinocchio, starring Oscar winner Roberto Benigni. A live action adaptation of the classic fairy tale about a wooden puppet that is brought to life, the production had to be right on many levels.

Making it GLOW

Mon, 02/17/2020 - 10:42 -- Nick Dager

The Netflix series GLOW, which launched its 10-episode third season in August 2019, brings the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling to Las Vegas and the fictitious Fan-Tan Hotel and Casino. The production captures the personal and professional lives of a group of women who perform for a wrestling organization that started in Los Angeles but now find themselves in glitzy Las Vegas during the 1980s. Cinematographer Chris Teague met with show creators, executive producers and episode writers Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch to pitch his ideas for the new look of GLOW for its new Las Vegas setting, which is where they realized that everyone was on the same page.

Star Trek Gets a New Look

Tue, 01/28/2020 - 17:10 -- Nick Dager

Star Trek: Picard, the highly anticipated streaming series from CBS All Access, relied on two complete sets of Cooke Optics Anamorphic/I Special Flair lenses to tell the story. The follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation, and centers on Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) in the next chapter of his life. Director of photography Philip Lanyon’s goal was to give this new series a big movie adventure epic saga feel — while keeping fans in a familiar visual world.

ASC Names Outstanding Achievement Award Winners

Mon, 01/27/2020 - 11:39 -- Nick Dager

The American Society of Cinematographers presented their 34th annual Outstanding Achievement Awards Saturday night at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The Theatrical Award for best cinematography in a motion picture went to Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC for 1917. Jarin Blaschke took the Spotlight Award for The Lighthouse, and Fejmi Daut and Samir Ljuma won the inaugural Documentary Award for Honeyland.

Radiant Images Introduces Meridian VR Camera System

Thu, 01/23/2020 - 12:26 -- Nick Dager

Radiant Images, a subsidiary of Hawkeye Systems, has introduced Meridian, an innovative light field capture system that aims to push the next evolution of immersive content creation and filmmaking. The company says the Meridian represents the Holy Grail for content: photographic 6DoF or six degrees of freedom.

Pages

Subscribe to Cinematography