Features

Hidden Truths

Cinematographer Trevor Forrest discusses combining the Millennium DXL camera with Primo 70 optics for the series Tell Me Your Secrets.

The 10-episode series Tell Me Your Secrets interweaves the stories of three characters whose troubled pasts have set their moral compasses adrift and their destinies on a collision course. Following a stint in prison that stemmed from her relationship with a serial killer, Karen (Lily Rabe) has been placed in witness protection and given the name Emma. Meanwhile, in a no-holds-barred push to find her long-missing and likely deceased daughter, Mary (Amy Brenneman) sets John (Hamish Linklater) on a mission to unearth Karen’s whereabouts — an assignment that forces him to navigate between his equal desires to atone for his sordid past and give in to his baser criminal instincts.

Adam Etherington, BSC partners with Panavision and Panalux to visualize a centuries-spanning storyline for A Discovery of Witches Season 2.

Season 2 of A Discovery of Witches found cinematographer Adam Etherington, BSC partnering with director Farren Blackburn to continue the adventures of historian and witch Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer) and her unlikely ally, the vampire Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode). Both Etherington and Blackburn were new additions to the series, and together they set out to build upon the visual language that had been established in Season 1 while embracing the opportunities afforded by a new twist in the narrative, which sends Diana and Matthew back in time to the Elizabethan era.

Cinematographer Joe “Jody” Williams and director Craig Brewer partner with Panavision and Light Iron to take audiences back to Zamunda in the sequel Coming 2 America.

Arriving in movie theaters in the summer of 1988, Coming to America starred Eddie Murphy as Prince Akeem Joffer from the fictional African nation of Zamunda. Upon learning that his parents, King Jaffe (James Earl Jones) and Queen Aoleon (Madge Sinclair), had arranged for him to be married, Akeem and his aide Semmi (Arsenio Hall) embarked on a journey to find the prince a bride with whom he could connect both emotionally and intellectually. Naturally, Akeem’s quest for the future queen of his nation took him to Queens, New York, and it was there that he met and fell in love with Lisa McDowell (Shari Headley).

The cinematographer discusses three recent spots shot in large format with DXL2.

Cinematographer Alexis Zabé, ASC, AMC‘s interest in image making began to develop at an early age, while he was growing up in Mexico City. “I remember going into the darkroom with my dad,” he shares. “It was really entertaining for me, the darkness, the smells, seeing the photos appear and the rhythm of that very concentrated work.”

Writer-director Ekwa Msangi and cinematographer Bruce Francis Cole detail the visual language of Farewell Amor.

Writer-director Ekwa Msangi’s debut feature Farewell Amor premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2020 and was released in December by IFC Films. Msangi describes the intervening months as “a roller coaster,” marked as they were by a global pandemic, social unrest and political turmoil.

Director Robert Connolly and cinematographer Stefan Duscio discuss crafting the Australian box-office sensation The Dry with DXL2.

Based on the novel by Jane Harper, the feature The Dry stars Eric Bana as Aaron Falk, an Australian Federal Police agent who returns to his rural hometown following an apparent murder-suicide involving an erstwhile friend. As he’s pulled into the investigation, connections emerge to another mystery from Falk’s and the town’s past, and old wounds open anew.

Cinematographer Justin Derry embraces 35mm film and Ultra Speed optics for the short film Bruiser.

Directed and co-written by Miles Warren, the short film Bruiser offers a portrait of the young Darious (Noble B. Whitted), who begins to test the limitations of his own physical strength after witnessing his father (J.D. Williams) get into a fight. Behind the scenes, Warren teamed with cinematographer Justin Derry, who also served as an executive producer on the project. The filmmakers shot on 35mm negative with a Panaflex XL and Panavision Ultra Speed lenses.

The artists behind a number of this year’s Sundance Film Festival titles offer a look behind the scenes at their creative processes.

Each January, the Sundance Film Festival brings throngs of filmmakers and cineastes from far and wide to the wintry climes of Park City, Utah, for packed screenings and round-the-clock events. But not this year. With the Covid-19 pandemic ongoing, the festival’s 2021 edition offered a decidedly different seven-day experience tailored to the times, with predominantly online viewing complemented by satellite screens peppered across the U.S.

COVID-19 UPDATE

COVID-19 UPDATE

Features

Hidden Truths

Cinematographer Trevor Forrest discusses combining the Millennium DXL camera with Primo 70 optics for the series Tell Me Your Secrets.

Back in Time

Adam Etherington, BSC partners with Panavision and Panalux to visualize a centuries-spanning storyline for A Discovery of Witches Season 2.

Royal Trimmings

Cinematographer Joe “Jody” Williams and director Craig Brewer partner with Panavision and Light Iron to take audiences back to Zamunda in the sequel Coming 2 America.

Commercial Spotlight: Alexis Zabé, ASC, AMC

The cinematographer discusses three recent spots shot in large format with DXL2.

Far From Home

Writer-director Ekwa Msangi and cinematographer Bruce Francis Cole detail the visual language of Farewell Amor.

The Big Picture

Director Robert Connolly and cinematographer Stefan Duscio discuss crafting the Australian box-office sensation The Dry with DXL2.

A Question of Strength

Cinematographer Justin Derry embraces 35mm film and Ultra Speed optics for the short film Bruiser.

Sundance 2021

The artists behind a number of this year’s Sundance Film Festival titles offer a look behind the scenes at their creative processes.

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