The National Film and Television School (NFTS), one of the world’s leading training grounds for film, television and games launch its first-ever course focused on the transformative and growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the screen industries. Developed in partnership with Deep Fusion Films, producers of Virtually Parkinson and Hammer: Heroes, Legends and Monsters, and pioneers in … Read more
Cassius Rayner is one of the hardest working people in mobile filmmaking today. He’s been quietly making films for more than 20 years, working as a director and camera operator for many years working on a variety of productions in the UK and around Europe for such icons as Sky, ABC, PBS, FilmFour and Channel … Read more
Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis has once again teamed up with Tom Hanks and Robin Wright for his latest movie, Here – based on the graphic novel by Richard McGuire. The movie uses an AI-assisted aging and de-aging process to convey the lifetime of a married couple, played by Hanks and Wright. The film, which … Read more
A FINE VINTAGE By the late noughties, older lenses were considered by many to be too soft and generally obsolete. Then came digital cinema cameras, and suddenly so-called “vintage” lenses with their distinctive analogue characteristics were back in fashion. “We all go through the same journey and that journey takes place through glass,” believes Jake … Read more
STRENGTH IN COLLABORATION Co-directors Ren and Samuel Perry-Falvey continue their stellar collaboration which already produced the Camerimage-selected music video for “Hi Ren” at last year’s festival. Having lensed the music video for “Hi Ren” in 2022, Samuel Perry-Falvey returns to work with the idiosyncratic musician Ren. This time, to shoot the visual accompaniment to the … Read more
KEEPING THE STORY MOVING From sliders to SnorriCams, Steadicams and stabilisers, grip is so much more than just a support for the camera; it’s a way to make the lens dance in step with the story. Cinematographers today have a huge range of camera supports to choose from, depending on the mood, blocking and logistics … Read more
WOMEN OF THE HOUR Taylor Swift’s ‘Anti Hero’ video, written and directed by the multi-hyphenate singer, was a big hit with MTV Video Music Awards voters. Best Cinematography winner Rina Yang BSC reflects on her work on the fun shoot. “Watch my nightmare scenarios and intrusive thoughts play out in real time,” is how Taylor … Read more
SHOTS THAT SOAR The movie business is a demanding beast, expecting blockbuster films to offer visuals that are bigger, faster, and more spectacular than both the competition and what went before. Which is where aerial sequences come in. The technology is certainly there to create standout aerial sequences. The camera mounts, gimbals, and stabilisation systems … Read more
From stadium to screen Adopting a cinematic approach when lensing Coldplay’s concert film, director Paul Dugdale and cinematographer Brett Turnbull captured the band’s vibrant performance and production, alongside the atmosphere in the stadium and connection between artists and audience. One of the first concert films cinematographer Brett Turnbull and director Paul Dugdale collaborated on was … Read more
REACHING NEW HEIGHTS From a Korean beach to a Miami swimming pool, an English theatre to an American concert hall, cranes offer DPs a cinematic way to explore space and character. Florian Hoffmeister BSC tackled tides and translators to accomplish a beautiful crane shot in the opening episode of Pachinko, an epic Apple TV+ series. … Read more
Putting the spotlight on Salford University’s film production courses, which offer the increasingly rare opportunity for undergraduate students to get to grips with analogue capture. It’s a rainy midweek morning at Salford Quays, and I’m going back to school. To quote the late, great Conrad Hall ASC, “You are always a student, never a master,” … Read more
ECHOES OF EKTACHROME Arctic Monkeys’ staying power at the forefront of British music culture has been primarily due to the band’s constantly evolving sound. Never afraid to experiment with new instruments or lyrical stylings, the quartet have pushed boundaries ever since they exploded onto the scene in the early noughties. For their latest album, The … Read more
Timeline of Emotions Racking up almost 46 million YouTube views in less than a month, Adele’s “Oh My God” music video – lensed by Roman Vasyanov ASC RGC and directed by Sam Brown – captivated audiences with its distinctive and stylish approach. As the camera makes a seamless journey through a seemingly infinite sound stage, … Read more
CAMERAS AT SPEED From superhero stunts in a circling single take to bloody revenge on a wildly spinning waltzer, the challenges of filming in moving vehicles are no barrier to a DP’s creativity. When Stephen Murphy BSC started the upcoming BBC police drama Blue Lights, he was faced with scripts containing many long dialogue scenes … Read more
The opening scene of The Godfather is a zoom that lasts almost three minutes. Some feel that this is the most important scene in the most important movie. This was shot with a computer-controlled zoom lens built over fifty years ago. Despite the enormous technical advances since then, this scene could not be captured using … Read more
FILTERED IMAGES DPs past and present discuss their favourite filters and consider the place of physical filtration in a digital world. “It’s still a question I ask myself every time I put [a filter] in front of the camera: is this something best done in post or is it best done now?” Alex Metcalfe has … Read more
TELLING A STORY Rina Yang filled us in on what it was like to work with one of the most recognisable songwriters on the planet: Taylor Swift. The short film accompanies a previously unreleased 10 minute version of ‘All Too Well’ which first appeared on the 2012 album Red. Taylor Swift is currently in the … Read more
SKY RISERS Drones, helicopters, and fixed-wing aircraft are helping filmmakers create creative and spectacular shots that soar. We examine the developments in the ever-evolving world of aerial cinematography. Aerial cinematography is long-established in cinema history. From bi-plane dogfights in the 1927 WWI drama Wings to the first helicopter shot in 1945’s The Bandit of Sherwood, … Read more
Lead image: Zoe Boyle and Kerry Howard lit by China lanterns and covered wagons for Witless shot by Benedict Spence DYNAMIC ILLUMINATION We are lucky enough to live in a time when lighting technology runs the gamut from the simplest tungsten globe to banks of programmable LED panels controlled by an app. Six DPs share … Read more
Lead image: Kevin Brari and 1st AC Lukas Fahnert shooting Lost in Time. (Photo: Steffen Schmitz) LENSES WITH CHARACTER Unusual bokeh, interesting flares, aberrations at the edges of frame – these are some of the artefacts which lens manufacturers once strove to suppress, but which are now prized by filmmakers seeking a unique look. Five … Read more