Definition Feb/Mar 2026 - Newsletter

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YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BSC EXPO 2026 RESCUING & REHOUSING VINTAGE LENSES OLD CRAFT MEETS NEW TECH AT UK’S FILM LABS

Cinematographers of Nouvelle Vague, Nebraska, Frances Ha & more on getting black & white right

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WELCOME

EDITORIAL Editor in chief Nicola Foley nicolafoley@bright.uk.com Senior staff writer Katie Kasperson Features writer Oliver Webb Chief sub editor Matthew Winney Junior sub editors Tabitha John & Kezia Kurtz Contributor Verity Butler ADVERTISING Sales director Sam Scott-Smith samscott-smith@bright.uk.com 01223 499457 | +447875711967 Sales manager Emma Stevens emmastevens@bright.uk.com 01223 499462 | +447376665779 DESIGN Design director Andy Jennings Magazine design manager Lucy Woolcomb Senior designer Carl Golsby Junior designer and ad production Holly May

D o you remember that hot summer of 2016, when the nation collectively drew its curtains and became obsessed with a quirky, eighties-set sci-fi series? In the decade since, Stranger Things has entered the streaming stratosphere, becoming a cultural phenomenon that put Netflix firmly on the map, drawing in millions of subscribers and creating $1 billion in revenue. As it reached its conclusion over Christmas with an ambitious, feature-length finale, the nation once again came together for appointment viewing of the highest order. It was our great pleasure to sit down with DOP Caleb Heymann to explore the show’s rich visual language – and how they upped the ante for the final adventure (page 6). Another huge franchise, that by contrast shows absolutely no signs of winding down, is James Cameron’s Avatar series. With its third instalment out now, we catch up with cinematographer Russell Carpenter, who first worked with Cameron on True Lies and won an Oscar for another of their collaborations – a little film called Titanic that you might have heard of – back in ’98. Turn to page 18 for his fascinating insights into the films’ unique production process. We also speak with Phedon Papamichael, Edu Grau, David Chambille and Sam Levy: a group of cinematographers responsible for some of the most stunning black & white films of recent years. They offer up their best tips for working in monochrome over on page 12. Elsewhere in the issue, I go down a vintage-lens rabbit hole with DOP Markus Förderer; we chat to cinematographer Jules O’Loughlin and executive producer Dan Shotz to learn about their (frankly adorable) creative partnership; and explore some of the UK’s top film labs, discovering how they’re blending traditional processing craft with modern workflows.

PUBLISHING Managing director Andy Brogden

There’s loads more too, from a BSC Expo roundup to reviews of new cameras, plus interviews with the DOPs on Sentimental Value and Bridgerton . See you next time – enjoy!

Bright Publishing LTD Bright House, 82 High Street, Sawston, Cambridgeshire, CB22 3HJ, UK prices, without tax, where available or converted using the exchange rate on the day the magazine went to press. Definition is published monthly by Bright Publishing Ltd, Bright House, 82 High Street, Sawston, Cambridge, CB22 3HJ. No part of this magazine can be used without prior written permission of Bright Publishing Ltd. Definition is a registered trademark of Bright Publishing Ltd. The advertisements published in Definition that have been written, designed or produced by employees of Bright Publishing Ltd remain the copyright of Bright Publishing Ltd and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. Prices quoted in sterling, euros and US dollars are street

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CONTENTS

PRODUCTIONS 6/ STRANGER THINGS As the dust settles on the gang’s last adventure, DOP Caleb Heymann shares how he kept the sci-fi spectacle grounded in reality 18/ AVATAR: FIRE & ASH Russell Carpenter, ASC, talks virtual scouting, performance capture and lighting Pandora in the latest instalment Alicia Robbins lifts the curtain on the visual rules and camera craft behind the show’s new chapter 42/ SENTIMENTAL VALUE Kasper Tuxen reunites with director Joachim Trier for this awards season darling, favouring practical lighting and handheld intimacy TECH & TECHNIQUE 12/ MASTERING MONOCHROME DOPs Phedon Papamichael, Edu Grau, David Chambille and Sam Levy talk of the Avatar series 32/ BRIDGERTON

black & white cinematography 50/ LONG LIVE CELLULOID

With shot-on-film movies dominating awards season again, we meet the UK labs combining traditional processing with modern digital workflows

Editor Nicola surrenders to the icy beauty of this sinister fairytale DEF RECOMMENDS: THE ICE TOWER (2025)

I caught this film at Cambridge Film Festival, and it’s definitely one that lingered long after the lights came up. Hypnotic and hallucinatory, it follows runaway teen Jeanne and her mutually obsessive relationship with movie star Cristina van der Berg. Directed by Lucile Hadžihalilović, the film unfolds as a film-within-the-film: a production of The Snow Queen , on which Jeanne inveigles herself into a key role. The boundaries between the film world and

the real world are slippery, with subtle visual cues (a change of lenses, a touch more grain) signalling the switch. Jonathan Ricquebourg’s cinematography leans into languorous long takes, piercing light and menacing shadows; at one point shooting through a crystal lifted from the Snow Queen’s costume to create a kaleidoscopic image. The film sparkles with dreamlike, glacial beauty but be warned, this fairytale has a sinister underbelly...

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CONTENTS

36/ DOCUMENTARIES IN FOCUS Three documentary filmmakers discuss their storytelling approach, exposing the truth and choosing the right kit for the job 75/ TALKING COLOUR Paul Harrison, founder of Residence Pictures, on the art of the grade GEAR 22/ GLASS FROM THE PAST A deep dive into the world of vintage lenses, featuring advice and insights from TLS, TK Lenses and optics enthusiast Markus Förderer 62/ TEST SPACE Our testers get hands-on with the RED V-RAPTOR XE and Fujifilm GFX Eterna 55 cameras, as well as sharing their experiences of Mnemonica – a review, collaboration and archiving platform REGULARS 46/ DYNAMIC DUOS Cinematographer Jules O’Loughlin and executive producer Dan Shotz have been collaborating for nearly 13 years. We find out what makes their partnership work 56/ ROUND TABLE Specialists from CineAero and Marzano Films offer insights into the high-flying world of aerial cinematography The UK’s leading cinematography expo is back in Battersea: we round up the sessions to seek out and the booths to make a beeline for! 84/ FIRESIDE CHAT Katie Bailiff – CEO of Women in Film & Television UK – gives her view on the state of the sector and addressing inequality 86/ THE VIEW FROM... Is ‘Hollywood’ taking on a new shape? We discover how new filmmaking hubs are on the way to outpacing Tinseltown 88/ INDUSTRY BRIEFINGS News from Camden Film Quarter, Marlow Studios, BAFTA albert and more INDUSTRY 78/ BSC EXPO

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PRODUCTION STRANGER THINGS

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STRANGER THINGS PRODUCTION

“It’s a balance of the epic and the intimate”

Stranger Things turned the world upside down. As the sci-fi saga comes to a close, we sit down with DOP Caleb Heymann, who explains how he kept the supernatural, increasingly grandiose story grounded in reality

WORDS KATIE KASPERSON IMAGES NETFLIX

F ew shows achieve international phenomenon status, but Stranger Things is certainly one of them. Premiering on Netflix in 2016 to critical acclaim, the series ran through five seasons, 42 ‘chapters’ (episodes) and a collective runtime of nearly 48 hours, giving audiences an ensemble cast of lovable characters, a hefty dose of eighties nostalgia and a sci-fi story that pays homage to both the classics and hidden gems of its genre. Following a group of kids – by the end, they’re well into their teens and twenties – from the fictional suburb of Hawkins, Indiana, Stranger Things begins on a small scale. There’s a missing boy named Will, a telekinetic girl named Eleven and an alternate dimension (or so they think) called the Upside Down. By Season 4, the world of Stranger Things has expanded into California and the Soviet Union (it’s 1986 at that point),

and in Season 5 it travels, Back to the Future -style, 30 years into the past while present-day (1987) Hawkins is under government-sanctioned quarantine. Joining the show on Season 3 as a second-unit DOP, Caleb Heymann returned for Seasons 4 and 5 as lead cinematographer. “They were, by far, the biggest two seasons of the show,” he states – the runtimes and budgets alone can back up this claim. “They took extra time to film because in Season 4 we had the pandemic and in Season 5 we had the strikes. I don’t necessarily wish there was a Season 6,” he admits. “It feels like that chapter came to its proper close. We’ve done Stranger Things to the fullest.” IT’S VECNA’S WORLD (AND WE’RE JUST LIVING IN IT) There’s an evil in Hawkins and, each season, it goes by a different Dungeons

& Dragons -inspired name. First, it’s the Demogorgon, then the Shadow Monster (aka the Mind Flayer) and, finally, Vecna. Also known as Henry Creel, Vecna was the first of a series of lab rats (Eleven being – you guessed it – the eleventh) to undergo telekinetic training. Season 5 transports us into his past, back to the Creel house introduced in Season 4 and inside his very own mindscape. “We wanted Henry’s world to feel inviting,” begins Heymann. “It’s an amalgamation of his memories, and we were leaning into a saturated, almost Technicolor look. We didn’t want the Creel house to look like it did in Season 4, where it’s dark, the lights are out and the windows are boarded up. We wanted it to feel different from the rest.” The mood in Hawkins, meanwhile, is grim. “Hawkins has been taken over by the military,” Heymann explains. “The season opens with this melancholic

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PRODUCTION STRANGER THINGS

sense of everybody being sick and tired of this lockdown.” Eleven is hiding; Dustin, Steve and Jonathan are fighting; Karen Wheeler is drinking; Robin is hosting a radio show on WSQK, dubbed The Squawk . “Most of what we shot this season were new locations. There’s the MAC-Z, which is the militarised downtown Hawkins, and then The Squawk . There’s always so much new stuff that we don’t have to be overly beholden to what we did last season. There’s a constant evolution to it.” AN ODE TO THE EIGHTIES Stranger Things comes with both obvious and subtle references; Jonathan has a Jaws poster, while Mike has one for John Carpenter’s The Thing . Vecna resembles Freddy Kreuger, while Nancy Wheeler’s name was lifted directly from A Nightmare on Elm Street . “This season was less reference-heavy than Season 4,” Heymann says. “There were touchstone references for that season and how we wanted the horror to play out visually. This time around, Alien and Aliens served as inspiration for their boldness of lighting.” In episode 4, called The Sorceror , Vecna and the Demogorgons attack the MAC-Z while Eleven attempts to infiltrate headquarters in the Upside Down. Throughout the series, “there are a lot of flashing lights caused by the presence of evil,” Heymann explains. “When we get into all the mayhem in episode 4, I referenced Aliens when the emergency lights go off.” Whenever possible, Heymann and his crew prioritised achieving effects

SWITCHED UP Holly’s abduction (above) required intensive collaboration between departments; while in contrast to Season 4, Henry Creel’s world (below) has an almost Technicolor aesthetic

PRACTICAL MAGIC The Sorceror concludes Season 5, Volume 1 and features the series’ largest action sequence – as well as a major reveal – which takes place within the MAC-Z. “There were close to 100 stunt performers and an incredible amount of choreography and planning,” explains Heymann. “Every time you see a body flying through the air, that’s a stunt performer; and we’re timing that with a Demogorgon that’s going to get added in visual effects. “There’s an impressive commitment from all departments to pushing the boundaries of what we can do in camera,” he continues, “as long as we can do it safely. Everybody agrees it’s going to look better.” This includes the red lightning effect in the Upside Down,

in camera. “We have a lot of practical lights,” he shares. “The sources in the frame motivate everything else, whether those be lamps or rotating alarm lights. We do the same thing with special effects,” he adds. “I like to mix the two. We’re using real fire, and we supplement that with our lighting. We always try to have a base of the real thing. “It’s such a gratifying show to work on as a cinematographer because light is almost its own character,” he continues; whenever there’s a surge of energy in the Upside Down, the lights flicker in the ‘rightside up’. “When you have a story where so much of it takes place in the supernatural realm, it’s important that the physics feel real and the lighting feels grounded in the environment – not like some cheesy visual effect.”

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PRODUCTION STRANGER THINGS

the ‘de-aging’ of actors (they hired younger versions of Will, Jonathan and Joyce Byers) and the bathtub scene in episode 2, The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler . Henry abducts Holly Wheeler – Mike and Nancy’s little sister – into his world, but not before their mother, Karen, puts up a mean fight. “Of the entire season, that was the first thing we shot, to figure out how to do that transition from the Demogorgon to underwater in the bathtub, where Karen and Holly are hiding,” recalls Heymann. “We needed to shoot them on a separate set where we could have one side of the bathtub clear so that we could shoot through it, but then shoot the top half in the actual Wheeler bathroom.” The whole scene is stunt-heavy. Holly is pulled through her ceiling, Ted Wheeler is ‘blasted through the wall’ and Karen stabs the Demogorgon with a broken wine bottle. “As a DOP,” begins Heymann, “it’s wonderful because you’re working with all the different departments at the same time and having conversations with VFX, stunts, special effects and, of course, the Duffer Brothers. I was really happy with how it all came together.”

TRICKS AND TREATS Season 5 also marks a slight departure from its predecessors, introducing new visual tricks and camera techniques. For instance, Will, who’s connected to the villainous hive mind, has visions, able to see through the Demogorgons’ (and later, Vecna’s) eyes. To communicate the change in POV, Heymann used filters – called centre spot dioptres – coupled

with a physical shake of the camera whenever Will entered an altered state. To capture the POV footage itself, Heymann selected the DJI Ronin 4D, which could “simulate the galloping of the Demogorgon and do the tight turns and thread the needle between trees,” he says. Meanwhile, he used the ARRI ALEXA 35 – fitted with Cooke S4 lenses – as his main camera, occasionally

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STRANGER THINGS PRODUCTION

WE HAVE DONE STRANGER THINGS to the fullest ”

swapping in the Sony FX6 or the RED KOMODO. He also leant on Motion Impossible’s AGITO for tracking at high speeds, Scorpio cranes for bird’s-eye shots and bespoke flashlights, as much of Stranger Things 5 occurs overnight. There’s also a flashback, intercut into episode 4’s massive action scene, featuring a Super 8 film of young Will, Mike, Jonathan and Joyce. “It was a combination of real 8mm footage and a KOMODO for shots that might need some VFX work,” says Heymann. “We wanted it to have this raw authenticity and a different look from everything else that was happening in the MAC-Z. It was

one of those moments where you read it in the script and you’re like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t wait.’” SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL Stranger Things ’ universality comes in part from its ensemble cast; there’s a favourite character for everyone, no matter their age or identity. But working with that large a group – particularly of young people – presents some logistical headaches. “We tried to shoot in story order, but there were a lot of factors that forced us to shoot five or six episodes in the same week,” Heymann shares, including continuity considerations and cast availability. “If there are 13 people in a scene and one of them is sick, you’re thrown a curveball.” While Heymann felt an added pressure to deliver (“you know that over 100 million people are going to be watching,” he says), this also drove him to do his best work on the show. “It helps you get out of bed every morning. Knowing that so many people out there, including every person who works on the show, loves it and is anticipating it – it’s definitely extremely motivating. The Duffers set the tone by being passionate and caring so much about the details, not only of the world but also of the characters. It’s a balance of the epic and the intimate. “We’re fortunate to have an incredible cast that brings these characters to life,” he continues, “and it’s such a joy to photograph them. I love the rare occasion when we have a relatively simple domestic scene – it’s a nice treat.” For Heymann, Season 5 “was about finding balance. People will remember the characters and relationships and friendships. Worldbuilding aside, that’s the most important thing.” Watch the final season of Stranger Things on Netflix

LIKE HELL Boundaries were pushed in camera, like the red lighting effect in the Upside Down

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TECHNIQUE BLACK & WHITE

S hortly after the release of Nebraska , the legendary Nest, In the Heat of the Night ) phoned the film’s DOP, Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC, GCA, much to his surprise. “Haskell called and said: ‘Hey Phedon, what film stock did you use on that Nebraska thing?’” Papamichael recalls. “I felt bad telling him it was shot on an ALEXA, but it really shows how far film emulation has come.” In 1967, Haskell Wexler received the Academy Award for best black & white cinematography for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – the last film that was honoured before the black & white and colour categories merged. Since then, only 18 of the best cinematography nominees have been black & white films, with just three snapping up the award: Schindler’s List (excluding the red coat), Roma and Mank . cinematographer Haskell Wexler, ASC ( One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s © JEAN LOUIS FERNANDEZ

TECHNIQUE

MASTERING DOPs Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC, GCA, Edu Grau, ASC, AEC, David Chambille, AFC and Sam Levy share insights into the technical challenges behind black & white cinematography MONOCHROME

WORDS OLIVER WEBB

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BLACK & WHITE TECHNIQUE

AN ODE TO THE FRENCH NEW WAVE In Nouvelle Vague, Linklater and Chambille wanted to recreate the look of Godard’s Breathless

In recent years, however, there has been renewed interest in the style, with several Oscar nominated B&W films released in the last decade. Opting to shoot in monochrome usually comes down to several factors, and brings with it a set of unique technical challenges. CONTRAST CONTROL Colour filters transmit certain colours while absorbing others, and are an effective tool for controlling contrast in black & white images. As most scenes contain a range of colours, DOPs can use filters to enhance tonal separation and shape the visual impact of a shot. Black & white was always at the core of Nouvelle Vague , the latest project by David Chambille, AFC. While the majority of the film was created using digital camera technology, Chambille also shot on film using Ilford HP5, Kodak 5222 stock and the ARRI 2C camera. (This was mostly during the test period, and

during the shoot it was used for grade references rather than actual footage.) “Richard Linklater’s main concern was to make a movie that could have been shot during that period,” says Chambille. “We really wanted to embrace the kind of stock and lenses they had at the time and the texture of that moment.” Chambille was pleased when the director asked him how well he knew that era and what his ideas were to achieve the look of the film. “I was happy because shooting in black & white would allow me to dispense with the gels and simplify the process, but also because I personally love that era and know a great deal about its context – the lives of those directors, the economic and technical constraints and the style and aesthetics of the time. I was eager to share my passion for the cinematography of that period with Richard, and I had a lot of ideas about how to help him achieve that look.”

Chambille used colours on-set and in wardrobe to control tonalities. “We tried to mimic exact scenes from Breathless ,” he says. “It wasn’t easy to find the same stuff, so we had to use colours to easily adjust in black & white and get the exact right tonality. We had a blue skirt, green curtains and a red desk. We adjusted the tonality using colour choices and filters. Sometimes, we used a red filter to increase overall contrast. For exteriors, a green filter brightened the scene.” SCULPTING WITH LIGHT Papamichael argues that maintaining consistency is easier when shooting in monochrome because the colour temperature changes throughout the day. On Nebraska , he worked with a LUT. “I was operating off my monitor and the lighting was set to the black & white contrast level I intended for the final print,” he says. “I found it helpful working without the colour separation and

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TECHNIQUE BLACK & WHITE

just dealing with the black & white. I’m considering doing that even when I work in colour.” Papamichael prefers a natural lighting approach to his work. “If there is a lamp, a practical or a window source, I always augment that,” he says. “I am always true to the direction of light and I do not like backlights too much.” When Papamichael captured night exteriors for Nebraska , he utilised blue gels on his lights that were illuminating the sky or the streets. “I knew I could grab that colour and intensify or reduce its luminance completely, so I actually had control of adjusting light intensity. That was really effective.” Edu Grau, ASC, AEC identifies some other potential complications when shooting in black & white. “Without colour separation, a subject’s hair can blend in with the background, making a scene feel flat,” he says. “You need to be careful how you compose light and dark within the frame, but that is also the case with colour. Everything is more elevated in this format and people tend to love your work more, as they think the result is more beautiful.” Grau found that, during tests for Passing , shooting in colour was helpful for the post-production process. “For example, we hated the colour of one wall in the house, but it was too expensive to paint,” says Grau. “When you get the raw material in colour, you can choose a colour and make it completely different.

Everything that’s red can be altered to be very dark, which was very practical for us. Obviously, we couldn’t have done that if we had shot in black & white. So, we relied on a colour camera to help us compose the image we wanted. Although we never saw a colour image on-set; everything was monitored in black & white.” Sam Levy shares a similar perspective for his work on Frances Ha , despite filming in colour. “With my history of watching black & white films as a teenager and studying how to shoot black & white reversal films in college, I already knew a few helpful techniques. In a certain way, it’s easier. You’re really just dealing with tonalities of grey, rather than the full complexity of colour. It both matters and doesn’t matter what the capture format is, as long as you know that the film will ultimately be seen in black & white.” GRADING IN GREYSCALE Chambille seriously considered shooting monochrome for Nouvelle Vague , but his colourist talked him out of it. “I never had a problem in colour grading because it was so easy to interact with the image,” he says. “We did not have the usual problems regarding skin tones or if the colour of the daylight is right, depending on the time of day.” On the contrary, Chambille had more tools and acknowledges it was easier to adjust the background and foreground.

UNFADING LOVE Passing (pictured here), Frances Ha (bottom right) and Nebraska (bottom left) spearhead the revival in black & white films

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BLACK & WHITE TECHNIQUE

“I didn’t really see the point of shooting monochrome, since shooting in colour allows you to achieve the same look but with more flexibility,” he admits. While Papamichael shot Nebraska in colour, he admits that this wasn’t his say. “It took Paramount a while to finally agree to black & white, and they said we would also need a colour version. That ultimately meant we couldn’t shoot black & white film stock. ”I settled on ALEXA and tested various colourists before deciding to partner with Skip Kimball. I scanned the black & white that we did on the test and set the contrast and look to the film stock in the DI at Technicolor. I then told Skip to match the ALEXA to look as close as possible to the film.” Kimball told Papamichael that the more saturated your image is, the more those colours can be used. “I have more control if the elements in the frame are primary colours,” says Papamichael. “I didn’t really have very much time to do DI work, so during production we decided to work that way. There’s a white garage in the movie and I said to our production designer, ‘If you paint that red, I can make it any shade of grey we want.’ I also said to the wardrobe team, ‘If you give me red checkered shirts you can still have your patterns, but if it is either rich blue or red I can really control those for each scene.’ They didn’t really do it though because it didn’t look good in colour.” ELEVATING PERFORMANCE Skin tones are one of the most difficult elements to capture in black & white cinematography. DOPs need to rely on IT SENDS the imagination TO A WHOLE other level than colour ”

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TECHNIQUE BLACK & WHITE

lighting, contrast and texture to convey the depth and subtleties of skin, which requires a precise balance. Too much contrast, for example, can make skin appear harsh or unnatural, while too little can flatten the image. Nevertheless, it can be highly flattering and enhance an actor’s performance. Levy stresses that black & white is kind to faces. “Even though we had such wonderful actors on Frances Ha – including Greta Gerwig, Adam Driver and Mickey Sumner – it’s a very aesthetically forgiving medium,” he tells us. “Now that’s not why we chose it, but it’s another technical aspect of working in black & white.” But Levy warns that you have to be careful when shooting in black & white because it is instantly very pretty. “You can’t trust pretty, it’s not enough,” he

camera assistant, he gained experience working alongside renowned DOPs such as Harris Savides, ASC and Darius Khondji, AFC, ASC. “I studied Ansel Adams’ camera books and the zone system he designed,” he says. “It’s a great way to learn the craft and consider how to look at the world scientifically in black & white.” He adds how unusual it is for feature films, especially in the mainstream, to be shot in black & white. “It immediately sets a film apart aesthetically and makes people more likely to talk about its photography. I felt lucky at the time to shoot Frances Ha – it’s very rare that you get an opportunity to do it and I haven’t gotten to since. Hopefully I’ll get to do another one.” For Grau, it’s the most forgiving style of cinematography. “The difference between film and digital narrows when there is no colour, so digital is closer than ever to film in black & white,” he says. “It makes sense that a lot of filmmakers fell in love with black & white. Some of the movies we love the most are shot that way. It sends the imagination to a whole other level than colour.” Papamichael, who started his career shooting black & white shorts, would love to return to the medium. “I come from stills originally. Prior to shooting my first shorts, I always had two Nikon F2 cameras on me. One always had a black & white film, and one always had Ektachrome loaded,” he concludes. “I would love it if someone told me I will only shoot black & white movies for the rest of my career. I’d be very happy.”

says. “There are a lot of mediocre movies that are pretty, and a lot of incredible films I love and admire that are not. I tend to be more drawn to things that are not conventionally pretty, as long as the film itself is good. I want to approach the work thoughtfully, without overthinking it.” Papamichael agrees that there is something about lighting faces in black & white and letting things fall off in the background. “It puts more focus on the performances and emotions,” he says. “It’s often said that black & white is an actor’s best friend. There is something about letting the audience focus on the subtleties of the performance without

the distraction of colours.” MONOCHROME MAGIC

Levy recalls studying black & white photography early in his career. As a

SECRET TRICKS Passing (top) and Nebraska (bottom) were originally shot in colour

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astera

PRODUCTION AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH

F ire and Ash (2025) is the third the conflict on Pandora escalates as Jake and Neytiri’s family encounter a new, aggressive Na’vi tribe (the Mangkwan clan) led by Varang. Russell Carpenter, ASC first worked with Cameron on the 1994 film True Lies . “After that, I shot the test for Titanic,” he begins. “Someone else was going to do it, then it turned around and landed in my lap again which was very fortunate.” It wasn’t until The Way of Water that the two would collaborate again. They shot it and Fire and Ash simultaneously. instalment in James Cameron’s Avatar franchise. Following the events of The Way of Water (2022), Filming for both began as early as 2017 and wrapped in 2020, with extra pick-up dates required for Fire and Ash . “It is such an outlier to almost everything else done recently,” Carpenter says. “It is its own ecosystem doing these films.”

THE BIG GUNS Avatar: The Way of Water is one of many projects Russell Carpenter and James Cameron have teamed up on

Carpenter describes how the initial steps of the Avatar films centre around the script. Production designers then start workshopping ideas, which they present to the director. “Jim [Cameron] then does virtual location scouting with his virtual camera,” adds Carpenter. “The whole planet of Pandora is built in

computers. When Jim walks out on the stage it is obviously quite a bland and empty space, but he will start pointing the virtual camera in different directions and suddenly you will see these big monitors all over the place and there will be all of these amazing waterfalls and so on.”

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AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH PRODUCTION

DOP Russell Carpenter, ASC talks virtual scouting, performance capture and lighting Pandora in the latest Avatar instalment “It is its own ecosystem doing these films”

WORDS OLIVER WEBB IMAGES DISNEY

After the layout is where Cameron wants it to be, people are brought in to block out the scenes before the actors come onboard and the performances begin to take shape. “The actors wear performance capture suits, and it is very important to make sure that there are no distractions so Jim can really hone in on their performance. I finally come onto the project at this point, like the alien from the world of living creatures, rather than CGI creatures.” Carpenter compares this process to a layer cake. “On other films you are going from A to B to C and your destination basically,” he says. “Here, you have got a cosmos where all of this information is flowing around all the time, constantly being updated. It is a hive of different minds and departments. As a DOP, I am not getting all the information I need in one coherent package because it is still being worked on as we go. People had

been working on this film for six years before I even came onboard. It’s how these films are made.” Carpenter spent a year lighting CGI scenes before he could see it all embedded together. “It’s my one job to seamlessly fuse the human characters, especially Spider, into a world that is

completely CGI,” he says. “You want to take the viewer on an immersive journey and not do anything with the technology that bumps the viewer out of that.” Cameron creates virtual shots that are displayed on the on-stage monitors. It is then down to Carpenter and his crew to convert the footage. “We can see

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PRODUCTION AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH

exactly where his camera went, how high it was, how fast it was moving etc and be able to replicate that with our live action camera,” he explains. “We must also make sure we have enough room on the stage to do what Jim just did. While he’s in his virtual world, we need to make sure we don’t go off the stage.” Shooting the two instalments at the same time proved to be a vital decision due to actors aging out of their roles. “When I first met Jack Champion (Spider), he was a little kid,” says Carpenter. “I called him tadpole. By the time we shot the film the pressure was on because he’s getting older and you can see his facial structures subtly changing. There was a ticking clock on how long he would still look like the age he was supposed to be.” In the middle of production, the crew returned to the water stages in Manhattan Beach to shoot additional scenes before Covid-19 derailed further plans. “Many months were lost. Filming was unable to resume in Wellington. It took a lot of doing to be the first film that would re-enter New Zealand to shoot,” acknowledges Carpenter. “It changed the pace of how we shot and was essential to some of the challenges we faced making these films happen.” Carpenter observes how the aesthetic of The Way of Water and Fire and Ash are very similar, as they were initially meant to be just one film. He points to the setting of Bridgehead City as one of the key distinctions between them. A colossal base established by the Resources Development Administration

YOU WANT TO take the viewer ON AN immersive journey ”

near the Pandoran oceans, Bridgehead was introduced in The Way of Water but featured heavily in Fire and Ash . For the Bridgehead sequences, Carpenter opted for unpleasant, more caustic light that was influenced by Kmart parking lots in the seventies and eighties. “We wanted something really aesthetically different to the Na’vi’s environments, who live in this sort of groovy hippie world. Bridgehead consists of harsh lighting, very straight lines and nothing sinuous and alive as in the world of Pandora.” In terms of his lighting approach for the Pandora forest sequences, Carpenter explains that they could be very fluid in what they were doing. “We wanted to keep the lighting high up off the ground and out of the way,” he says. “Jim said he wanted the forest exteriors to have three distinct colours – warm sunlight, cool tones and light bouncing up from the plants. This always-shifting light then helped shape the Na’vi in an interesting and dynamic way.” Carpenter compares the nature in the film to the Hudson River School, as well as the works of J M W Turner. “It’s this

idea that man has a place in nature,” he tells us. “You would often see these amazing landscapes and the way that the sunlight was hitting them – or how the colours were pulled apart. There may be a human being somewhere in the corner to give everything the immensity of scale. This idea played out in the visual design of Avatar . We tried to place the Na’vi in a natural surrounding and feel that light.” Carpenter relied on the Sony CineAlta VENICE Rialto 3D paired with FUJINON MK and Cabrio lenses to capture the film. “Jim’s dictum was that he wanted the camera system to weigh less than the one used for the first instalment,” concludes Carpenter. “He was working with Sony for years to come up with a camera that fit the bill technically but also could be taken apart, so you could have the lenses and the sensor inside your 3D rig. A month or so before we were set to film, Sony came up with the actual technology. Jim’s theory was that we don’t have the technology now, but we’re going to have it by the time we shoot. That’s a daring game to play, but it worked out.”

PIXEL PERFECT DOP Russell Carpenter’s main job was to expertly blend the human characters into the almost entirely CGI world of Avatar

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C elebrating its 25th anniversary this March, TLS is a company that needs little introduction within the industry. Over the past two and a half decades it has become known as the go-to UK destination for lens rehousing, servicing and repairs, all carried out by a talented team of experts with an exceptional talent for breathing new life into vintage optics and restoring cherished glass to optimal condition. In 2026, TLS enters an exciting new chapter, moving from preserving cinema history into shaping its future with the creation of its very own range of cine lenses. Combining the precision and modern mechanics that the company is known for with optics inspired by the vintage look that DOPs love, the Vega65 offers a character-driven format designed for the demands of production. The roots of the Vega65 date back to 2017 – and TLS’ original Vega lens – which was born out of years of rehousing experience and countless conversations with filmmakers. The big idea was to achieve modern sensor performance with character, consistency and mechanical precision. The Vega65 only grows on that earlier philosophy. Fully designed, conceived, engineered and built in-house by the TLS team, the Vega65 is a complete lens system that comprises nine focal lengths from 24mm

to 165mm. Built around a large format optical design, light moves efficiently and cleanly through the lens, delivering true 65mm sensor coverage for the latest generation of large format cameras, such as the Fujifilm ETERNA and ALEXA 265. Every focal length is engineered to maintain consistent image characteristics, giving you visual continuity across the full set. The result is controlled depth and separation, with smooth fall-off and a cinematic sense of scale that remains consistent from lens to lens. Fast apertures give cinematographers confidence in low-light environments, while preserving precise contrast and controlled depth across the frame. The Vega65 also boasts exceptional close-focus performance that transforms proximity into a creative tool, allowing filmmakers to work closer to the subject without sacrificing optical integrity or character. From wide establishing shots to intimate details, the Vega65 offers

A STAR LENS Vega65 blends modern, dependable performance with a carefully curated lens system to deliver a beautiful image with a timeless, cinematic aesthetic

reliable performance and matched character, frame after frame. The lens is designed to remain compact and well balanced for a 65- format lens system, with an emphasis on practical handling and agility on set, while its mechanical design prioritises practicality and reliability across a wide range of shooting configurations. It’s also been designed as a long-term investment for filmmakers: existing Vega FF sets can be upgraded to a Vega65 using a dedicated upgrade kit, while Vega65 lenses can also be converted back to full-frame. This modular approach allows filmmakers and rental houses to invest with confidence – supporting current production needs while remaining future- ready as larger format cameras become more widely available. Built to TLS’s exacting standards, every Vega65 is marked by the brand’s star, its signature of design integrity, engineering excellence and, crucially, confidence in performance when it matters most. To find out more, visit truelens.co.uk

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GEAR VINTAGE LENSES

GLASS FROM THE PAST A deep dive into the world of vintage lenses – why we love them, how to find them and what it takes to bring them back to life – with TLS, TK Lenses and CINEFLARES founder Markus Förderer

WORDS NICOLA FOLEY

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VINTAGE LENSES GEAR

W ith cinema cameras pushing ever higher resolutions and lenses engineered to the point of technical perfection, image capture has never been cleaner, more consistent or more precise. So why do so many cinematographers find themselves hankering after vintage lenses; dusting down decades-old chunks of glass and cajoling them – often via much expense and faff – into use on demanding modern-day productions? The answer, of course, lies in the character and flair (and flare) that these lenses can bring. In an era of ultra-clean images and optically perfect glass, vintage lenses – each with their own unique quirks and idiosyncratic response to light – promise a pleasing unpredictability. Chromatic aberrations, off-beat bokeh, blooms and flares, a softness of texture; all of it combines to bring an instant sense of personality that’s enticing in today’s polished digital age – and difficult to replicate in post. “Many of these optics were calculated and manufactured by hand, long before computers existed,” points out Thanavorakit Kounthawatphinyo, founder and managing director at TK Lenses. “They’re not ‘perfect’ in terms of precision or manufacturing quality, but those very imperfections and production techniques create a unique harmony when paired with modern digital sensors.” He likens the appeal to that of classic cars: “Many of us grew up watching movies shot on film with older lenses, so we naturally try to replicate that look. Ultimately, it remains a niche group of people with a love for the classics, much like classic car collectors who are willing to pay the price for a specific feel.”

The interest in vintage glass is an enduring trend rather than a new craze, but there are microtrends at play too. The Petzval, created by mathematician Joseph Petzval in the 1840s and known for its swirly bokeh and sharp centre, is enjoying a resurgence thanks, in particular, to Robbie Ryan’s cinematography on Poor Things , but also seen in films including Everything Everywhere All At Once , Blonde and The Northman . “It’s very much like a fashionable industry, and sometimes it only needs one big DOP to shoot a certain look or a certain lens, and people will tag on to that for probably two, three years until the next trend comes around,” asserts Stephen Lowe, director of operations at TLS (the company responsible for rehousing Ryan’s glass on that movie). “But there’s always been a steady increase in the amount of interest in vintage lenses overall. So while there have been peaks and troughs of certain

ranges, generally the vintage, more characterful look is in – and has been on the up over the last ten years.” TESTING, TESTING For cinematographer Markus Förderer, the fascination began on the shoot for Hell – a 2011 film set in a post-apocalyptic world where the sun burns so fiercely that daylight has become deadly. “We really overexposed and wanted to create this sensation of a hot, dangerous sun – while shooting in Germany in winter,” he describes. “This opened my eyes to the fact that when you shine a light into a lens to create flare, the light reveals its characteristics.” This sparked an obsession with lenses and their behaviour for Förderer, who went on to create CINEFLARES, a platform allowing users to compare the visual signatures and response to light of a vast range of vintage and modern lenses. “You can search for all kinds of characteristics – say, lenses with an amber flare for a period look, and it’ll give you a list, or you can search by movie name – you could say, ‘show me the lenses that were used to shoot Dune ,’ for example, and then you can select your focal length and T-stop. All of the tests are shot with motion control, and you’re given a side-by-side time- code synced player so you can see just how the lenses react to light when shot under the same conditions.” With 115 lens sets now profiled on the site, CINEFLARES is an amazing resource with the potential to save you hours in prep. By testing lenses under identical

A FLARE FOR THE DRAMATIC Markus Förderer (above) is the founder of CINEFLARES, a platform allowing users to test lens characteristics (far left); TLS specialises in rehousing (left)

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VINTAGE LENSES GEAR

conditions, it helps demystify some of the nuances and unpredictability, showing how flare, contrast, bokeh and aberrations behave, and how those traits can shift depending on context like day and night. “Yes, you could say I became quite passionate about lenses…” laughs Förderer. “It’s easy to become immersed. But in the end,” he reminds us, “it’s really all about finding the lens that works with the story you want to tell.”

you’d expect – or like the image you had in your mind – especially as they were often used in conjunction with film. It can make sense to take a broader look and go for a modern lens set that has characteristics that suit what you want. Or you might have to go even older, more vintage, to hit that sweet spot.” Förderer scouts out trade shows for new releases and often pops into his favourite rental houses to try out lenses. For something rarer (like the Zoomars), “I often go down the eBay rabbit hole”, he chuckles. “There are so many cinema lenses out there – but there are also some really interesting lenses that were made for stills that are so unique. Often I will think – this lens for 50 bucks on eBay looks more interesting to me than a $50,000 lens that was manufactured today. “I find myself asking – why is this?” he continues. “Has this push for perfection in optical design led to something that becomes big, heavy and expensive to make? Sometimes simplicity is the right thing to go for.” For Gavin Whitehurst of TLS, while the mechanics of cine lenses have undeniably got better and better (a necessity due to the equipment they’re being used with), in the world of stills lenses frequently rehoused for cinema, ‘some of the housing actually

got slightly worse’. He adds: ”They used to be more serviceable, like the old FD housing, and then they went to quite a plastic housing, which wasn’t quite as serviceable. “The glass has generally carried on getting better – as close to perfection as it can be. Which is great if ‘perfection’ is what you want,” he continues. “If you want something different artistically; maybe the fall-off towards the edges, something different with the coatings – well, they’ve lost variety. It’s very hard now to tell the difference between a lot of modern glass.” If you fancy going down an eBay rabbit hole of your own in search of something a little funkier: “You have to buy several copies of that same lens, especially if you plan to rehouse,” advises Förderer. “There are so many differences that they can have – it might just be a different serial number or letter in the name, and it might have a different coating or optical formula. Get two or three copies, test them and maybe sell the others so you find a consistent set and the look that you’re after, as just the lens name doesn’t tell the whole story.” MAKING VINTAGE VIABLE When it comes to making a vintage lens usable in a modern production setting, with standardised mechanics, mounts

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE (AND THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS)

Unsurprisingly, Förderer is as obsessive about hunting down vintage glass as he is about testing it. For September 5 – which takes viewers inside the newsroom that broadcast the Munich Olympics terrorist attacks from inside the Olympic Village – he managed to track down the very zoom lenses (by Zoomar) used to capture that year’s Games; collectors’ items from the sixties that the team had retrofitted for their modern cameras. He warns, though, that this pursuit of authenticity through period-accurate lenses doesn’t always give the desired result. “Often I find that the lenses from a certain period don’t quite look as

OFF THE PRESS For September 5 (below), Förderer found era-appropriate Zoomars

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GEAR VINTAGE LENSES

and controls that work with today’s cameras and focus systems, you’ll often need to look at rehousing. It is possible to attempt this yourself if you’re brave – Förderer has tried it, but concedes: “I think you really need to know that if you’re taking a lens apart or modifying something, you need a specialist. “There are amazing companies now like TLS in the UK, Zero Optik in LA and TK Lenses in Thailand. Rehousing is expensive but it’s an investment that hopefully gives them a long life. Cameras come and go, but the lenses can last generations, especially if you have lenses that cover full-frame sensors.” Kounthawatphinyo has an inside view of the process. His company operates from a small workshop in Bangkok, specialising in lens rehousing and custom mechanical work for cinema use. His main customers are small-to-medium rental houses, due to the expense involved in the rehousing process. “Assembling a complete set is not just about finding the complete focal lengths; you also have to consider the condition of the glass and whether the colours match. Even lenses produced around the same year can have different colour rendering, so finding a colour- matched set takes a long time. In many cases, the rehousing process costs more than the donor lens itself. This limits the market, meaning over 80% of our clients are rental houses.” Their motivation is drawing business from cinematographers who love the vintage look but can’t justify a rehousing project themselves. Occasionally, TK Lenses gets a commission from an individual owner brandishing an off-beat

lens they just love the look of and want for long-term use – a Meyer Optik or Carl Zeiss Biotar, perhaps – but mostly the rental firms are their bread and butter. For Leicestershire-based TLS, which is one of the world’s top specialists in the field of converting, servicing and repairing lenses for film and TV, around 90% of business used to come from rental houses when they first started offering the service, “but it’s evening out more now,” says Gavin Whitehurst, MD. “We’re seeing a lot more DOPs wanting their own sets, as well as putting them on consignment – again with the rental houses – but that mix is really changing at the moment.” INSIDE THE WORKSHOP The rehousing process can throw up many challenges – which the teams at both TLS and TK Lenses are intimately familiar with. One issue is that the people commissioning the projects have, to put it plainly, unrealistic ideas of what can be achieved. “You have three options: fast, good, and cheap – the project management triangle – and you can only pick two!” quips Kounthawatphinyo. “You simply can’t have all three simultaneously, and many people struggle to understand this. They truly believe that regardless of the price, the quality should be identical. They believe an inexpensive rehousing service should offer the same quality as a high-end one, which is just physically impossible. The design involves complex technical hurdles, and even engineers often disagree on solutions.” “Filmmakers don’t realise the amount of work that goes into the assembly of

NO STONE UNTURNED CINEFLARES founder Markus Förderer testing a lens (pictured here); a TK Lenses specialist at work (below)

these lenses,” agrees TLS’s Stephen Lowe. “Whenever we host an open house, or we show DOPs around, they are blown away with the level of detail and personal time that goes into the build of each one of our lenses. When they see every little detail of the job that goes into it, they then understand why it costs that much to have the work done.” The first thing you need is suitable donor glass – deep scratches, haze or fungus can make your project a non- starter. Coating damage can also be an issue, because while “you can polish and recoat if it’s not too bad,” says Whitehurst, “the problem is that you’re taking off that vintage coating which is exactly what people love and, unless you can replicate that, you’re going to be altering the lens in some way, leading to a different result.” Beyond optical condition, there are also fundamental design limitations that

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