Cinematographer Diana Olifirova chose Cooke Anamorphics to film We are Lady Parts, Nida Manzoor’s anarchic and irreverent music comedy about a Muslim female punk band – called Lady Parts – who are on a mission to find a lead guitarist and maybe, just maybe, get a proper gig. It was the first time Diana and Nida … Read more
Writer-director John Michael McDonagh and cinematographer Larry Smith ASC BSC faced a race against time in the face of a threatening global pandemic to capture the vibrant colours and contrasting scenes of the Moroccan landscape for the feature film The Forgiven. The film, starring Jessica Chastain, Ralph Fiennes and Matt Smith, was shot on Cooke Anamorphic/i … Read more
Following the worldwide success of its 2019 debut, the second season of HIERRO recently premiered on Movistar + in Spain, once again featuring the photography of cinematographer Jose Luis Bernal AEC who this time relied on Cooke Anamorphic/i SF (Special Flair) lenses to create a new look for the series. Created by brothers Pepe and … Read more
DP Toby Oliver, ACS (Australian Cinematographers Society) and director Josh Greenbaum selected Cooke Optics Anamorphic/i Standard and Special Flair (SF) prime and zoom lenses to tell the story of best friends Barb and Star who leave their small Midwestern town for the first time to go on vacation in Vista Del Mar, Florida, where they … Read more
“Anamorphic was a must to give us that blockbuster look,” said Rowling who tested a number of lenses based on what would be available from Patriot Rental in the Ukraine for location shooting before choosing Cooke Anamorphic/i zooms. “I knew what the Cooke lenses were capable of [since] I used them on my first anamorphic … Read more
OPTICAL ESCAPE Denson Baker ACS NZCS /The Luminaries OPTICAL ESCAPE Denson Baker ACS NZCS /The Luminaries BY: Ron Prince “So many different kinds of artistry and expertise go into making a TV series, and every frame of the finished product shows the talent and efforts of hundreds of people,” says author Eleanor Catton, about The … Read more
David Makes Man is the first TV series written by Tarell Alvin McCraney, who won an Academy Award for co-writing the 2017 Best Picture winner Moonlight based on his play, “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue”. McCraney, serving as the series executive producer along with Michael B. Jordan and Oprah Winfrey, tells a semi-autobiographical story … Read more
Over the 50 years chronicled in Adam McKay’s Vice, cinematographer Greig Fraser ACS ASC had the challenges of photographing actors playing characters twice their age – with intense prosthetics, make-up and hair – whilst also making a potentially dull series of office-based scenes into a visually interesting story for audiences. To accomplish this feat, Fraser … Read more
Cooke Optics will add further depth and character to its acclaimed Cooke Anamorphic/i lens family at IBC 2018, when it presents the 50mm focal length of the new Anamorphic/i Full Frame Plus range. This addition to the Anamorphic/i range has been designed to meet the growing appetite for large format production, while applying the popular … Read more
Regardless of budget, every director and DP wants their film to look its best. That was no different with Blood Runs Thick, a low-budget, indie horror feature from director Romane Simon, lensed by LA-based Nik Shaw, with Cooke Anamorphic/i lenses selected for the production. “Cookes are my favourite Anamorphic lenses,” said Shaw. “I especially like … Read more
Grumpy customer Göran Hallberg FSF / A Man Called Ove Grumpy customer Göran Hallberg FSF / A Man Called Ove BY: Kevin Hilton An impression of a country can be heavily influenced by film portrayals. Which is why outsiders might justifiably believe the USA is populated by superheroes and mutants, while the UK is full of either … Read more
The third and final series of ITV’s acclaimed TV crime drama Broadchurch, produced by Kudos, Imaginary Friends and Sister Pictures, was shot using Cooke Anamorphic/i lenses by cinematographer Carlos Catalan. The unusual decision to shoot a TV drama Anamorphically was taken to make the most of the wide vistas of the coastal setting, and to … Read more
The Replacement, BBC1’s three-part prime time drama, was shot with Cooke S4/i lenses by Nick Dance BSC. Written and directed by Joe Ahearne and starring Morven Christie and Vicky McLure, the unsettling story follows a woman who falls pregnant just as she lands a big contract at work. Her maternity replacement, Paula, seems ideal at … Read more
Continuing last season’s drive to enhance and expand its hire stock, digital-imaging company Filmscape has added a pair of Alexa Minis, complete with WCU-4 wireless units, to its camera fleet. Complementing a range of Anamorphics from Cooke, ARRI, Kowa and Lomo that were brought into the Filmscape inventory at the close of 2016, the addition … Read more
Specialist independent camera, lens and grip rental house, Movietech is continuing its investment in the latest technology and the addition of new product lines to augment its equipment catalogue. The company has recently introduced a variety of high-end products, such as the TLS re-housed Canon K35 lenses, Cooke’s 35-140mm Anamorphic/i Zoom and the 8K Red … Read more
Cooke Optics has released details of how the forthcoming film Jungle, based on Yossi Ghinsberg’s memoir, “Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Survival”, was shot using its Anamorphic/i lenses. The film recounts Ghinsberg’s 1982 journey through the Amazon where he ended up alone for three weeks, before being found and rescued. Jungle stars Daniel Radcliffe … Read more
Independent camera, lens and grip specialist Movietech has announced the arrival of Europe’s first new Cooke 35-140mm Anamorphic/i Zoom lenses. Featuring an award-winning cam-style mechanism for smooth focus adjustments, these true, front anamorphic zooms shoot from ultra-wide angle to telephoto with a 4x zoom ratio. With a linear iris and oval bokeh throughout zoom and … Read more
When director of photography Julián Apezteguia, ADF (Argentinian Society of Cinematographers) got the chance to work with director Pablo Trapero for the second time, on the director’s latest film El Clan – a dark story set in the 1980’s about a family of kidnappers and murderers – he used a full range of Cooke Anamorphic/i … Read more