Lenses for every look

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Whatever the creative and technical requirements of a shoot, Pixipixel’s extensive range of lenses is a filmmaking treasure trove.

Since being founded in 2003, equipment rental company Pixipixel has built up its portfolio from stills photography to lighting for both still and motion picture shoots to cinematography cameras. This led naturally to lenses for filmmaking, an area the company has expanded further into by not only stocking the latest models from leading brands but also re-housed and custom optics, some of which are produced by its specialist lens team.

Dale Elena McCready BSC NZCS created two distinct looks for *The Rising*

New additions to Pixipixel’s inventory include the first sets of re-housed Olympus OM Zuiko lenses available in the UK, the in-house Optix Extreme range, TLS Mamyia 645s and the GL Optics Canon FD 50-300mm zoom. The re-housing of the Olympus OM Zuikos in particular has, according to Pixipixel’s technical director Renos Louka, been a major project. “They were difficult to acquire and so it took about four years,” he says. “We also had to find a company that could re-house them and went with Whitepoint Optics in Finland. We now have the first three lenses in the series, which will eventually run to 17.”

Louka explains that Pixipixel itself has the capability for certain types of re-housing along with customisation of standard lenses. This last service came into play during the making of the Netflix drama mini-series h. Cinematographer Balasz Bolygo BSC HSC shot all six episodes and needed a very specific in-camera look for one of the opening scenes. “It’s a dreamy effect with a sharp centre to the image,” explains Louka. “Balasz came to me during production, and we tried out different lenses before settling on the 40mm Cooke S4/i Mini. We adjusted it in-house to give the desired look while keeping the Cooke characteristics. I later heard that he used it on all the flashbacks in the series.”

Pixipixel’s lenses were used to great effect on *Anatomy of a Scandal*

Other major streaming platform dramas Pixipixel has supplied lenses for over the past two years include Fifteen-Love and The Rising. As the name implies, Amazon Prime’s Fifteen-Love is set in the world of professional tennis but centres around dramatic personal revelations. The first block of episodes in the six-part series were directed by Eva Riley, with the show’s visual style established by cinematographer Steven Ferguson.

“Eva and I didn’t want it to be too downbeat and one of the main elements we responded to was the kinetic energy of the main character played by Ella Lily Hyland,” he says. “She is always on the move physically and emotionally and we wanted to capture that with the visual grammar.” Ferguson comments that lens choices were made in conjunction with David Pimm, who shot the second block of episodes. “Our lens decisions started with zooms,” Ferguson explains. “We used the Angéniuex 24-290mm with a 1.4 x expander, which introduced some interesting artefacts to the edge of coverage. This matched the ‘cat’s eye’ bokeh of the TLS K35s, which became our primes set. For the flashbacks we used Atlas Anamorphics with the ARRI Mini LF on 2x squeeze setting.”

Pixipixel’s in-house Optix Extreme 17mm wide angle lens

More distinct looks were called for on the Sky Original supernatural murder mystery The Rising. Set in the Lake District, this called for cinematographer Dale Elena McCready BSC NZCS to devise different visual styles for the domain now inhabited by the murdered Neve Kelly (played by Clara Rygaard) and the living world of her friends and family. McCready selected a RED 8K Monstro and Zeiss Supreme Radiance lenses to create two distinct looks.

“For when we’re with Neve I shot in full frame 8K with a wide field of view but narrower depth of field,” she says. “For the living people, there was more handheld work with the sensor cropped down to Super 35. I was able to get two different looks out of one set of lenses with the camera doing all the work. That got the most out of the lenses, with some flare effects, because I didn’t want it to be too painterly.”

With more episodic television drama being shot today, there is ever more demand for distinctive visuals to differentiate each production and Pixipixel clearly has the glass to do that.