LENSING A LEGEND Combining painterly techniques, subtly shifting aspect ratios and celluloid capture, Pat Scola ASC and director Michael Sarnoski continued their successful production partnership to explore the last chapter of Robin Hood’s life. Having shot all of Michael Sarnoski’s…
TRUE FICTION Inspired by real events, Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day follows alien arrival in the US, with Janusz Kamiński shaping its grounded, conspiracy-driven visual approach. One would be hard-pressed to find a filmmaker who has done more to shape how…
A HANDMADE TALE Natasha Braier ASC ADF employs expressive imagery, bold colour and inventive cinematography to construct a tactile visual language capable of containing anarchic, genre-bending storytelling. Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters is not a film that sits quietly within convention. A…
ADVENTURES IN ANIMATION Toy Story 5 cinematographer Matt Aspbury discusses how he and the talented team at Pixar continue to create cinematic magic, captivating audiences with new escapades featuring the beloved and iconic toy characters. Matt Aspbury’s journey to becoming…
PUSHING TO THE MAX While Eben Bolter ASC BSC has previously embraced restraint on stunning shows such as The Last of Us, he took the opposite approach with his work on Cape Fear – which embraced maximalism when retelling the…
PUNCHING ABOVE THEIR WEIGHT While boxing films seem ever-present in cinema, Heavyweight – now available on all VOD platforms in the UK following its theatrical run – brings something completely different to the scene. Boxing has a storied history in…
BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL Almost four decades after Dolph Lundgren donned the Sword of Power, He-Man is back in live action with Masters of the Universe – which proved a dream come true for DP Fabian Wagner ASC BSC.…
TIME AND TIDE Process is as important as narrative to Mark Jenkin, a filmmaker adopting a liberating analogue approach, shooting on 16mm using his trusty Bolex and embracing imperfections along the way. He reflects on the tactile nature of celluloid…
COURT ON CAMERA Cinematographer Lotta Kilian crafts a restrained, unsettling visual language for Prosecution, using precise framing and naturalistic lighting to explore justice, control and rising extremism in Germany. At the 2026 Berlin Film Festival, during German Films’ annual ‘Face…
REALITY CHECK When shooting coming-of-age tale Mad Bills to Pay instinct and a documentary-inspired method helped cinematographer Rufai Ajala depict a naturalistic portrait of life in the Bronx as a summer of teenage kicks ends and reality sets in. What…
STAYING GROUNDED Surviving Earth DP Olan Collardy explains why he prioritised observational visuals for this touching true-life feature, which follows an Eastern European migrant in Bristol. My journey to shooting Surviving Earth didn’t start with a script. It was one…
STILL PROCESSING Past and present collide as social worker Sasha tries to make sense of what happened 20 years ago to her troubled stepbrother Jeremy in Blue Heron. After a series of short films, Sophy Romvari makes her feature…
CREATING CHAOS DP James Butler took a swing on a new approach to filmmaking when shooting frantic action film Bedlam, ensuring the audience could feel every hit as hard as its main character. Some titles sum up the character of…
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT Stuart Bentley BSC captures Hamlet using the night and darkness to heighten the tension of this classic tale, with fast-moving, raw visuals that echo the protagonist’s emotional unravelling in London. William Shakespeare’s name never goes out of fashion. Fresh…
THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS Cinematographer Hillary Fyfe Spera explains how Daredevil: Born Again uses location, lighting and anamorphic lenses to execute the gritty feel of the Marvel show. As we speak to Hillary Fyfe Spera, cinematographer on Marvel series…
A WHOLE NEW WORLD A pioneer of stop-motion filmmaking, there are few challenges Dave Alex Riddett BSC hasn’t overcome in the medium – but Boop, which drops a plasticine alien into a Lego world, offered something completely fresh for the…
EXPANDING THE VISION As hit HBO series Euphoria moves beyond the heightened intensity of high school and into the uncertainty of early adulthood in its third and final season, Marcell Rév ASC HCA expands the portrait of youth through wider…
FORCE OF NATURE Jamie D. Ramsay BSC SASC mixed documentary-inspired footage with archive imagery to convey tension when retelling the incredible true story of the 72 hours before D-Day when the unpredictability of weather and one meteorologist’s forecast could have…
THE LOST BOYS Monsoon season, working with minors and a cinematographer on his knees: Mark Wolf BSC reveals the technical thinking behind the first Lord of the Flies series. Sir William Golding’s first novel, Lord of the Flies, has haunted…
A LOVE LETTER TO MANCHESTER With ambitions of crafting a fresh take on the British romantic comedy, cinematographer Rachel Clark BSC and director Alicia MacDonald framed Finding Emily’s unique love story while capturing the vibrant energy of student life in…
THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATERS Telling a powerful tale based on Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir of the same name, The Chronology of Water’s visuals offer a boldness worthy of its singular story – here, Corey C. Waters explains how he put those…
OUT OF TIME An international breakout this awards season, The Secret Agent is a time-capsule throwback that frequently defies expectations. Cinematographer Evgenia Alexandrova AFC talks about digging up old memories and shedding new light on the past. Brazil’s Best International…
LA STORY Crime 101 relies on practical lighting, real streets, compact Sony Venice rigs and remote vehicle cameras to capture high-speed, in-camera thrills safely. Director Bart Layton and cinematographer Erik A Wilson BSC return to the muscular grammar of 1970s American crime…
OFF THE RAILS As Hijack continues to captivate audiences, the action switches from the skies to Berlin’s underground in series two, with Ed Moore BSC and director Jim Field Smith adopting a darker, more subjective visual language mirroring the characters’…
BY ORDER OF THE PEAKY BLINDERS More than a decade after first shooting the Peaky Blinders series, cinematographer George Steel BSC helps craft a cinematic send-off, combining celluloid shooting, digital capture and a vast location shoot to bring the epic…
WHEN NEEDS MUST Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, shot by Woo-Hyung Kim, uses genre and visual precision to reveal morality eroded by relentless economic pressure. South Korean cinema is often celebrated for blending gripping storytelling with sharp social commentary, using…
OUT OF THE DARKNESS Frederick Elmes ASC recalls bringing David Lynch’s disturbing debut to the screen, revealing how Eraserhead emerged from the darkness as a singular cinematic vision. Few debuts have been more disturbing than Eraserhead, the surreal body horror…
LAIRY BIKER Nick Morris brings a restrained, emotionally precise visual style to Harry Lighton’s Pillion, balancing kink, tenderness and British grit through vintage lenses and composed camerawork. When Nick Morris was first contacted by writer-director Harry Lighton about shooting British comedy-drama Pillion, there was…
THE ROAD TO RUIN Peter Deming ASC recounts working on David Lynch’s surreal LA noir Mulholland Drive. Peter Deming ASC was an established DP (Evil Dead II, My Cousin Vinny) before beginning his collaboration with David Lynch first on HBO…
GOING OFF THE GRID Bringing Light Cycles from the Grid to the real world in Tron: Ares was no small feat. Jeff Cronenweth ASC explains how he shot a sci-fi spectacular that’s the latest in a series with a storied visual legacy. …
NOWHERE TO HIDE Edgar Wright’s 2025 The Running Man remakes the Schwarzenegger classic, embracing Stephen King’s darker vision with DP Chung-hoon Chung ASC’s rich cinematography, digital innovation and high-stakes dystopian action. In late 2025, The Running Man raced back to screens, reimagining Stephen King’s 1982 novel, written under…
FRAMED FOR ADVENTURE Cinematographer Caroline Bridges reimagines The Famous Five with nostalgic tungsten glow, cinematic depth and modern LED finesse, blending 1940s Hollywood craft with fresh BBC adventure. Four brave friends — and one loyal dog — set off on adventures that stirred imaginations.…
DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH Amy Vincent ASC captures Song Sung Blue, a love story of two musicians inspired by a legendary American singer-songwriter, blending heartfelt performances, infectious musicand the joy of a truly collaborative set. “The film isn’t a Neil Diamond biopic…
LETTING GO By stripping back gear and embracing an organic visual language, Łukasz Żal PSC immerses audiences in the raw, spiritual story of Hamnet, a production crafted by intuition, the natural world and the emotional impact of love and loss. Bringing Hamnet to the screen…
A MOVIE’S METAMORPHOSIS Led by powerhouse performances from leads Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn – with the pair scooping Best Joint Performance at the Tribeca Film Festival – Dragonfly explores an unusual friendship between two vastly different neighbours. Behind the camera, Girls on Film Awards nominee…
BURNING BRIGHT With Avatar: Fire and Ash, the Pandora saga continues, as cinematographer Russell Carpenter ASC details his work on the film, stereoscopic cinematography and a decades-long collaboration with James Cameron. With the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash – the third in the multi-billion dollar grossing sci-fi saga by director James Cameron, all set on the…
TORTURED SOUL Ben Fordesman BSC reveled in collaboration and creative problem-solving with a kindred spirit when lensing Ronan Day-Lewis’ directorial debut and Daniel Day-Lewis’ welcome return to the screen. Ben Fordesman BSC was urged to “stop everything” when he was sent the script for Anemone by agent Grant Illes…
POCKET CINEMA Cinematographers Ko-Chin Chen and Tzu-Hao Kao capture Taipei’s raw intimacy on iPhone, using stealth, natural light and minimal crews to deliver immediacy and emotional authenticity. Stripped back and raw, Left-Handed Girl (2025) marks Shih-Ching Tsou’s first solo feature after years…
ONE BATTLE, ONE VISION To craft Paul Thomas Anderson’s road movie with a difference, Michael Bauman set off on a multi-city shoot to capture the director’s wild and wonderful story of epic proportions almost entirely on VistaVision, taking the format…
TAKING THE PLUNGE Cinematographer Steven Breckon reflects on lensing Charlie Polinger’s debut feature The Plague; part body horror, part coming-of-age psychological thriller. From the raw realities of adolescence through to powerful underwater scenes, the team captured a unique tale of…
A TERRIFYING TENANT The Man in My Basement sees down-on-his-luck Charles become even more unlucky when a strange man takes residence in his cellar. Using lights and, more importantly, the absence of them, Ula Pontikos BSC worked with director Nadia…
MEMORY IN MOTION From shooting in Nigeria to walking the red carpet at the Cannes premiere, Jermaine Edwards’ cinematographic journey with My Father’s Shadow—his first feature—saw him explore capturing the feeling of childhood memory on 16mm celluloid. A child’s-eye view…
CAPTIVE CURIOSITY Robbie Ryan BSC ISC reveals how he created tension—largely within the confines of a basement setting—and the VistaVision adventure he enjoyed, working with rare cameras to craft one of Yorgos Lanthimos’ most technically ambitious films. Spanning The Favourite,…
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing ignites late-’90s Big Apple grit, with Austin Butler leading and cinematography from Matthew Libatique ASC LPS fuelling the chaos in this fast-paced crime thriller. Charlie Huston’s cult noir novel Caught Stealing gets the big screen…
RETURNING TO OZ Last year’s Wicked defied not only gravity but expectations, nominated for 10 Academy Awards and banking $750 million at the global box office, becoming the most successful Broadway film adaptation of all time. Alice Brooks ASC explains…
PORTRAIT OF A FRACTURED MIND Reuniting with Lynne Ramsay, Seamus McGarvey ASC BSC ISC pushed visual boundaries when framing a tortured soul; finding the heartbreaking beauty along the way as the mental state of Die My Love’s central character gradually…
BRINGING A CLASSIC TO LIFE Very few stories are as well-known as Mary Shelley’s Gothic horror Frankenstein, but if any filmmaker can add a fresh twist to the tale, it’s Guillermo del Toro. Longtime collaborator Dan Laustsen ASC DFF explains…
PULLING UP TREES Following a logger in 1900s Washington, US, Train Dreams uses a grand canvas to tell a personal story – Adolpho Veloso ABC AIP explains how he and writer-director Clint Bentley crafted a period piece that feels relatable…
FEELING A MOMENT Timely tale A House of Dynamite is lensed in an authentic, intimate and honest way by Barry Ackroyd BSC, capturing the increasing threat and tension as the story is revealed from multiple perspectives. Viewing filmmaking as an…
TAKING A PUNT Fresh off basketball drama Rez Ball, Kira Kelly ASC instantly turned her attention to another sport in Him. Yet, blending American football with surrealist horror, this shoot proved a very different experience for the filmmaker… “Unless a…
HIGH STAKES Making Ballad of a Small Player meant striking a careful balance between atmosphere and restraint. Cinematographer James Friend ASC BSC reflects on the contrasting challenges of filming in Macau’s tightly controlled casinos and on the open waters of Lamma Bay. …
LIGHTS, CAMERA, KRYPTON! That thing you saw in the sky this past summer may not have been a bird or a plane, but more likely Warner Bros’ newly lifted hopes for a rebooted DC film universe, thanks to the critical…
SIGNS OF THE TIMES Ollie Downey BSC relied on Astera tubes with diffusion socks and HMIs outside windows to light Reunion, managing a tight schedule and high page count with a traditional yet effective lighting setup. The BBC drama miniseries Reunion is widely…
A REVOLUTIONARY ART Nouvelle Vague recounts the production of Jean-Luc Godard’s seminal debut Breathless in fascinating detail, marking a triumphant pairing between Richard Linklater and rising French cinematographer David Chambille. Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) spirits audiences to that…
MISFITS COME OF AGE Selecting tools and techniques to reflect the energy or intimacy of a scene were essential for Si Bell BSC, Kate Reid BSC and Neus Ollé BSC AEC when lensing the screen adaptation of the witty and…
SPACE ACE Jess Hall ASC BSC reinvents Marvel’s retro-future aesthetic in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, blending 1960s inspiration with cutting-edge IMAX technology for a unique visual journey. The story of Marvel Comics began in 1939 with the founding of Timely Publications, which…
A LENS ON LIFE From spontaneous dance routines through to the end of the world, The Life of Chuck’s unique narrative commanded an equally distinctive filmmaking approach to translate Stephen King’s short story celebration of what it means to be…
CREATIVE DRIVE The need for speed and authenticity was the driving force behind one of this year’s most highly anticipated cinematic events— F1: The Movie. Claudio Miranda ASC ACC details the method he and director Joseph Kosinski implemented when lensing…
CULINARY CONSISTENCY Lauded as one of this generation’s most beloved shows, Andrew Wehde fills us in on how he has cultivated The Bear’s distinct visual style over four seasons. As the FX juggernaut airs its fourth instalment, Andrew Wehde has…
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