Lenses

Star Trek: Discovery Shot Full Frame

Wed, 11/17/2021 - 08:46 -- Nick Dager

Season 4 of Star Trek: Discovery will bring viewers further into the story than previous seasons, as lead director of photography Philip Lanyon added shooting in full frame to his creative look. Lanyon was the driving force behind using full frame for Discovery, although the decision to introduce full frame was also somewhat technically driven. “Discovery used virtual production environments in Season 4 and the large format can effectively give you softer backgrounds, which was important to control moiré and other artifacts you can get on a LED wall,” he said, “but shooting in full frame is what I wanted for the look and feel of Season 4.”

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Cooke anamorphic/i full frame plus super flare lenses

Zeiss Cinema Lens Team Values Collaboration

Mon, 11/15/2021 - 09:27 -- Nick Dager

In an industry that relies heavily on collaboration to combine technical excellence with inspiring creativity, the last two years have been a unique challenge. The Zeiss cinema lens team, meanwhile, has worked hard to not only continue communications, but to also expand and improve its capabilities across the Americas. Whether it’s from behind masks or monitors they have been actively engaging with the filmmaking community, unveiling new technology, maintaining channels, sponsoring online events and film festivals, and producing their Studies in Cinematography series with the likes of Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS, Matthew Libatique, ASC and Alice Brooks, ASC.

Getting the Band Together

Mon, 10/18/2021 - 11:08 -- Nick Dager

The film We Are Lady Parts is 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 she and cinematographer Diana Olifirova had worked together, but Olifirova described all the people on board for the series as a dream team.

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Cooke anamorphic lenses

Traveling Light

Mon, 10/18/2021 - 10:58 -- Nick Dager

A cinematographer, executive producer, and whiskey aficionado, Johnny Derango was corresponding with the owner of The Bottle Haus, an online liquor retailer, who it turned out was looking for someone to create a series of commercials to promote their business on social media. “The directive given to me was to do a commercial that gives the bottles personality, as well as be funny,” said Derango. “It was very open ended, so I had to conceptualize that.”

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Panasonic Lumix GH5 II

Making Mayday

Mon, 10/11/2021 - 11:24 -- Nick Dager

“When you’re preparing a film you can indulge in dreamy conversations –– it’s an essential part of the process that gets infused into the work,” says cinematographer Sam Levy. “But once you’re on set, and the clock is ticking, you find yourself a passenger on a moving train. Sometimes it’s a slow-moving train, but that train is moving. This was very much the case when we shot Karen Cinorre’s new film Mayday.”

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Arri Alexa Mini
Cooke Anamorphic/i SF prime lenses

Cooke Optics Appoints Flynn as a Non-Executive Director

Tue, 10/05/2021 - 11:07 -- Nick Dager

Cooke Optics has announced the appointment of media industry veteran Roger Flynn as a new non-executive director to its board of directors. Flynn is an investor and non-executive director in media, technology, and travel businesses following a successful executive career in several international organizations, including CEO of BBC Ventures, commercial director of Virgin’s Media division, and president international of SDI Media Group.

Making Birds of Paradise

Wed, 09/22/2021 - 08:42 -- Nick Dager

Produced for Amazon Studios, the feature film Birds of Paradise tells the story of two girls at an elite Parisian ballet academy that have their bond and bodies tested as they compete for a contract to join the company of the Opéra National de Paris. The film was directed by Sarah Adina Smith, who not only adapted the A.K. Small novel for the screenplay, but also happens to be director of photography Shaheen Seth’s wife.

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Arri Alexa LF camera
Cooke S7/i Full Frame lenses

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