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Out of this world Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS on bringing blockbusting space epic Project Hail Mary to the big screen

VISTAVISION IS BACK! EXPLORING THE REVIVAL OF THE VINTAGE FORMAT

MASTERING THE ONER WITH DOPs MATT LEWIS & SEAMUS McGARVEY

VERTICAL DRAMAS THE 9:16 MICRO SHOWS REWRITING THE RULES

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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 Contributors Adrian Pennington & Neal Romanek 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 Graphic designer Hedzlynn Kamaruzzaman Junior designer and ad production Holly May

W e live in interesting times as far as production technology goes. At the cutting edge, virtual production is making once-impossible scenes feel routine, while AI is reinventing the workflow wheel at breakneck speed. And yet, at the very same time, filmmakers are looking backwards. Take VistaVision. Just when everything seems to be racing ahead, back comes Paramount’s antique format from the fifties, revived for a new generation and deployed on some of the most acclaimed movies of recent times, including The Brutalist and One Battle After Another . We explore the industry’s renewed love affair with VistaVision, and how it fits into modern-day workflows, with two of its key proponents – DOP Robbie Ryan and Charlotte Barker, director of film restoration and preservation at Paramount Pictures – on page 12. The current interplay between old and new, analogue and digital, is perfectly captured in Fallout , which blends film capture with VP to create a retro-futuristic world. As DOP Bruce McCleery and VP supervisor Dan Smiczek explain, the series leans heavily on previs, film testing and tightly integrated virtual and practical workflows to ensure everything lines up in camera. Read all about it on page 58. Fallout is a prime example of another industry trend we dig into inside this issue – the growing wave of gaming IP making its way to screen. As producers look to tap into the gaming world’s huge audience, studios are increasingly collaborating with developers to preserve the visual language and intent of the original material. We find out more on page 80. Elsewhere, we unpack the rapid rise of vertical drama, speak to Matt Lewis and Seamus McGarvey about the art of the oner and preview upcoming shows including NAB,

PUBLISHING Managing director Andy Brogden

MPTS and Euro Cine Expo. Plus, don’t miss the third edition of our VP supplement The Virtual Frontier – from page 47. Enjoy the issue and see you next time!

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/ PROJECT HAIL MARY

We venture into deep space with Greig Fraser to discuss the smash-hit movie adaptation of the beloved sci-fi novel 70/ BEDLAM The project’s DOP and DIT talk tackling medium format anamorphic filmmaking on a small, indie budget TECH & TECHNIQUE 12/ V IS FOR VISTAVISION Used on a string of acclaimed recent films, this vintage format is 100% back. We dive into its past, present and future 18/ MASTERING THE ONER Capturing a oner effectively is no mean feat. DOPs Seamus McGarvey and Matt Lewis offer some words of wisdom 24/ VERTICAL DRAMAS These 9:16 movies are making waves. Learn about the trend and explore how they come together behind the scenes 30/ PREVENTING THE NEXT WORKFLOW BREAK-IN How well protected are your production assets? Neal Romanek digs into content security’s threats and solutions 36/ PREVIS WIZ Our round-up of the top budget-friendly previsualisation tools currently available to professional filmmakers

Senior staff writer Katie Kasperson basks in Elvis Presley’s incomparable stage presence DEFINITION RECOMMENDS: EPIC

I t seems Baz Luhrmann couldn’t help falling in love with Elvis, and it’s no wonder, as his talent and charm rip right through the screen in EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert . While researching Elvis , his 2022 biopic starring Austin Butler, Luhrmann unearthed hours of previously unseen footage, matched it to the corresponding audio files and restored the film clips to their former glory. Stitched together by Jonathan Redmond – who won an Academy Award for his editing on Elvis – EPiC propels us through Presley’s early life

and leads us into his Las Vegas residency, where it becomes more of a concert film and less a documentary. EPiC confirms that the King is best seen in colour. Some clips are monochrome, but most are hyper-saturated thanks to colourist Brett Manson, who brought Elvis back in full, vibrant force. Flashy costumes and day clothes feel equally dazzling. Whether you’re Elvis’ biggest fan or a casual listener, EPiC is a sensory treat that connects you to the man behind the music.

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CONTENTS

GEAR 38/ COLOUR, CONTROL & THE FUTURE OF FILM LIGHTING A panel of experts from Aputure, Creamsource, Universal Production Services and LCA discuss lighting challenges and innovations 74/ TEST SPACE Tim Cragg, cinematographer behind a whole host of slick documentaries, gives Aputure’s NOVA II a spin on a new true- crime show shoot THE VIRTUAL FRONTIER 52/ AI ON THE VIRTUAL STAGE Adrian Pennington looks at the increasing interplay between AI and VP 58/ FALLOUT Worlds collide as we delve into the production of Fallout Season 2, shot on film at Amazon’s dedicated virtual stage 64/ EMBRACING THE IMPOSSIBLE Brands are turning to VP to save time, money and maintain full creative control on commercial projects INDUSTRY 80/ LET THE GAMES BEGIN As gaming IP proves itself to be box office gold dust, we explore the blurring lines News on The Green Line, a wide-reaching mental health initiative from The Film and TV Charity and more 86/ M&E INNOVATION IN THE SPOTLIGHT As MPTS celebrates its tenth birthday, we find out what’s in store at Olympia in May 89/ HUNGARY FOR MORE With a new location and a busy line-up of events, Euro Cine Expo is gearing up for its biggest and best edition yet 91/ VIVA LAS VEGAS While this show is traditionally aimed at the broadcast sector, NAB Las Vegas has plenty to tempt on the cine side too. Read on to find out more between forms of visual media 82/ INDUSTRY BRIEFINGS

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PRODUCTION PROJECT HAIL MARY

From animatronic aliens to circadian lighting systems, DOP Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS breaks down the creative and technical innovations behind the grounded sci-fi world of Project Hail Mary

WORDS OLIVER WEBB

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PROJECT HAIL MARY PRODUCTION

B ased on Andy Weir’s 2021 novel of the same name, Project Hail Mary follows middle-school science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), who wakes up alone light years from Earth with no recollection of how he got there. As his memory slowly returns, he remembers his mission to stop a mysterious substance from drying out the Sun. Along with an unexpected friend, he must fight to save Earth. After watching The Lego Movie , DOP Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS became a fan of directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. “I was so impressed by that film because my brain just doesn’t work that way,” he begins. “I was hellbent on meeting them to deep dive into their psyche and learn something from how they make films.” When Project Hail Mary came along, it proved perfect timing for all involved. But working on a film of this scale involved significant preparation. “There’s all of the science-related complications and so we had certain limitations we had to follow, such as obeying the laws of gravity,” says Fraser. “The way our ship travels is non-conventional. It doesn’t move like the Millennium Falcon or a Star Destroyer; it travels in a vertical manner and when it slows down it goes horizontal. It’s been designed with reality and real physics in mind, not sci-fi.” Fraser says the film’s core premise is simple. “When you strip it back, it’s about a guy in space, but Phil and Chris didn’t lead with that. Their idea was that it’s a buddy film. It was great because the science and space came second.” Although it’s a buddy film at heart, the claustrophobia and vastness of space is integral to the story. “The idea of going to space freaks me out,” laughs Fraser. “We wanted to make something that doesn’t look too of the future, or of the past, so it was about finding that happy medium. It was a very fine balance.” TWO OF US On his journey, Grace meets a five- limbed, spider-shaped sentient rock he names Rocky, and the two form a close bond. Rocky is from the planet Erid and is also stranded alone on his ship. When he first meets Grace, he communicates via musical tones, echoing the same tones from Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).

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PROJECT HAIL MARY PRODUCTION

IT’S BEEN DESIGNED WITH REALITY & real physics IN MIND”

JONATHAN OLLEY © AMAZON MGM STUDIOS

DON’T LET THE SUN GO DOWN A big task was figuring out how light would look in space

Rocky was built and designed by artist Neal Scanlan and performed by actor and puppeteer James Ortiz. “Rocky is an amalgamation of about five or six different techniques used to bring a puppet to life,” says Fraser. “He consists of animatronics powered by servos and motors, as well as some more old-school rod puppeteering.” For close-ups, a model was fitted with servo motors to give his fingers more natural movement. That mix of practical techniques gave a strong foundation for any CG additions. “It also helped us, as filmmakers, understand how to light him effectively,” says Fraser. One of the biggest challenges was how to make Rocky loveable. “Rocky is emotionless in the sense that he doesn’t have a face like we know,” Fraser says. “Creating warmth in a character that isn’t human or of this world isn’t easy. In the past, filmmakers have solved this in numerous ways. In ET , for example, while the character is a bit slimy and sticky, he’s goofy looking and the audience grow to love him. Then you have characters such as Grogu from The Mandalorian who is also loved by audiences.” When it came to creating the look for Rocky, Fraser explains how they took a different approach. “There was never any talk of making him cuter or giving him something resembling eyes or a facial expression,” he says. “We didn’t want to cheat by creating a face. So I had to light him in a way that didn’t feel menacing, except for when we first meet him. The audience need to grow to love Rocky.

I didn’t want to flat light him and then remove all texture. It was a challenge from a lighting perspective.” LIGHTING THE VOID Fraser explains he’s a stickler for getting the look right while he’s shooting to make it easier in post. “I don’t do many tweaks with my DIT on-set, but I always try to get the LUT looking super correct. We found the look of the film throughout the shoot. David at FotoKem LA did the final grade.” Fraser relied on practical lighting for interiors. Exteriors, however, proved more tricky to light, especially when Grace enters the centrifuge. “One challenge we faced was simulating moving sunlight inside a spinning spacecraft,” says Fraser. “Traditionally, it’s quite simple. You would use a crane light that is moving up and down past a window, but our set had multiple windows at different angles, so a single moving light wouldn’t work. There is no way to get a light on a crane to go over all three windows and be in sync.” To solve this, a lighting rig was constructed using Creamsource Vortex fixtures that essentially formed three concentric semicircles. “We wanted the effect to feel natural and be something the audience will not consciously notice.” Fraser focused on creating a realistic ‘circadian rhythm’ lighting system inside the ship as well. “Unlike many space films that use cold, mechanical white lighting (such as on the ISS), we wanted lighting that supported the crew’s mental and physical wellbeing,” he says. “If you keep people in white light 24/7 they go insane.’

The film starts with blinds opening to herald in the morning, and the lighting changes throughout the day. “We begin with cooler blue tones for the morning, move towards warmer light for the evening and then dimmer tungsten tones at night, with subtle UV lighting during sleep hours,” Fraser describes. “We had to come up with that language, which was quite hard in a spaceship with no day or night. This created a natural sense of time passing. The intention was for the audience to feel these changes subconsciously rather than actively notice them.” GROUNDED IN REALITY The majority of the film was shot at the new stages at Shepperton Studio, with additional location shoots at Southsea, Durdle Door and second-unit shoots on an aircraft carrier in Los Angeles. Fraser selected an ARRI ALEXA 65 to shoot the film. “For the space sequences, we collaborated with ARRI to build custom 2.2 anamorphic lenses, which were vertically de-squeezed,” he adds. “After de-squeezing, we cropped the image for IMAX. For all Earth-based sequences, we used Atlas Mercury lenses.” Fraser wanted to keep the camera handheld where possible to keep it lively, so it feels more human. “We worked hard at grounding the camera and putting it in places it really could be,” he says. “For

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PRODUCTION PROJECT HAIL MARY

example, we wouldn’t place it outside the ship’s window 25m away. That was really important for me because it helped to ground the film in some form of reality, even though it’s fantasy.” Fraser points to the Astrophage sequence as an example of when he let the fantasy element take over. “I love the sequence when Grace is flying through all of the beautiful Astrophage. That was one of the only times we felt like we had earned the right to become fantasy for a minute. It meant we could cut loose and allow the audience a breath of the fantastical.” There was a significant amount of preparation involved, particularly for the ship’s cockpit scenes. Grace first encounters it in one configuration. Later, he operates it in a horizontal rotation. And finally, when flying above Adrian, it shifts to an angled orientation with a different configuration altogether. “With so many buttons and light sources inside the cockpit, I had to be very careful, as it was such a beautifully designed space,” says Fraser. “Charles Wood, the production designer, did an incredible job creating it. When all of the lights were activated, the cockpit became very colourful and visually dense, so it was always about striking the right balance for each scene. Even subtle adjustments to the colour palette helped signal that we were entering a new scene or journey, despite being in the same environment. Our fear was that returning to the same space repeatedly, with the same visual language, might become tiring for the audience. So we needed to refresh it each time to give it new energy.” ACROSS THE UNIVERSE Paul Lambert served as VFX supervisor on the film, having previously collaborated with Fraser on the Dune franchise. “While working on Dune , we bonded over our disdain for green and blue screens,” says Fraser. “We’ve both been burnt by them in the past. With green screen, lighting is impacted and – visually speaking – you end up compromising significantly. “We decided not to use it on this film, which was fantastic. We were completely aligned on that approach, and I know the directors were also very happy not to have it on-set.”

MAKING SPACE COUNT A lot of the film’s runtime takes place in the spaceship so DOP Fraser, along with directors Lord and Miller (top), had to work hard to keep its look varied

Fraser utilised blackouts for the film’s space environments and a grey screen for the planet Adrian sequence. “Adrian was the only environment with a greenish tinge to it. We introduced a green-blue aqua colour that we bounced into the space to create the desired reflective effect. For the ‘don’t go crazy’ room, we also incorporated LED screens.” Fraser worked alongside Framestore and ILM to capture the spaceship work. In one scene, Rocky’s ship pulls up beside Grace’s, who tries to escape, gets away and then stops before Rocky’s ship pulls up again. “That may sound simple, but it’s actually very difficult to pull off,” explains Fraser. “It was a relatively inconsequential chase and felt very much like a cartoon sequence – very Tom and Jerry like. We spent a great deal of time in Unreal designing the sequences.” Then, when Grace ejects the four Beetle probes, there is a shot of them coming up in shadow. “The last one

comes up, takes off and then you see the four shadows. That was a shot I found through manoeuvring in 3D, seeing the animation and looking at the shadows. “Traditionally, I would do my prep, pre-light the sets, shoot the film and then wave goodbye to everybody at the end of the shoot,” says Fraser. “I’d come back to grade the film and then Paul and the directors would be left to design all of the computer graphics for the spaceship sequences. I was a lot more involved in post for this project and I’m looking forward to doing more of that in the future. I hope more filmmakers lean on their cinematographers to be more involved in the visuals in post.” Making Project Hail Mary required solving a range of technical complexities. “There were all these beautiful problems,” concludes Fraser. “Charles Wood coined the term a ‘solution opportunity’, and I thought that was a fantastic way of explaining it.’

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TECH VISTAVISION

IS FOR VISTAVISION

VistaVision, Paramount’s once-forgotten widescreen format, is enjoying an unlikely revival. We speak with DOP Robbie Ryan, BSC, ISC and Paramount’s Charlotte Barker to find out more

WORDS OLIVER WEBB V istaVision is experiencing an of filmmakers and DOPs fall in love with the format, drawn in by its distinctive style and classic film texture, it is time to dive into what exactly VistaVision is, who’s using it... and why? Before the fifties, most Hollywood films were shot in the 4:3 frame known as the Academy ratio. That changed in 1953 when 20th Century Fox introduced CinemaScope, bringing widescreen images to theatres across the US. Other studios soon followed, developing their own widescreen processes in an effort to compete with the growing popularity of television. unexpected renaissance and is once again at the forefront of filmmaking. As a new generation

One such studio was Paramount Pictures, which introduced VistaVision in 1954. Rather than relying on anamorphic lenses to capture a wider field of view, the system uses horizontally running 35mm film to create a larger negative area. By exposing eight perforations per frame instead of the standard four, VistaVision captures significantly more image information while remaining in the familiar ecosystem of 35mm production. Although VistaVision negatives are shot horizontally, most theatrical prints would end up being reduced to the standard vertical 35mm format before projection. However, the larger negative still allows for finer grain and improved image clarity, even after that optical reduction process.

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VISTAVISION TECH

HALL OF FAME Bugonia (above) joins Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 film To Catch a Thief (left) in the exclusive VistaVision movie club

VistaVision retains the unique, organic qualities of film – the texture, grain structure, highlight behaviour and colour response. “For filmmakers who want a large format look but still value the character of film, VistaVision sits in a very appealing space,” states Thom Trigger, marketing manager at Cinelab. “Many cinematographers today are rediscovering classic film technologies and adapting them to contemporary production. We are seeing a new generation revisit VistaVision with modern lenses, colour science and digital post workflows.” BACK IN VOGUE Released in 2024, The Brutalist was the first English-language feature film shot

in the VistaVision format since Marlon Brando’s One-Eyed Jacks (1961). Both films are widely renowned for their visuals and were nominated for best cinematography at the Academy Awards. The Brutalist won. Although VistaVision had not been employed in English-language features for decades, several international films continued to use the format, including In the Realm of the Senses (1976) and Vengeance Is Mine (1979). VistaVision also saw a partial revival in Hollywood during the seventies, when movies

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TECH VISTAVISION

such as Star Wars turned to it to create visual-effects shots. Since The Brutalist , the format has began to make a comeback. Both of the teams behind One Battle After Another (2025) and Wuthering Heights (2026) decided to shoot in VistaVision, while the upcoming productions Digger and Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew have also opted to use the format. One of the most recent notable examples is Yorgos Lanthimos’ 2025 film Bugonia . Cinematographer Robbie Ryan, BSC, ISC had previously experimented with the format for a sequence in a different Lanthimos film. “Yorgos wanted to shoot on VistaVision for Poor Things (2023),” Ryan says. “However, because of the noise of the VistaVision Beaumont camera (Beaucam) and his dislike for ADR (automated dialogue replacement), we decided to keep it to the reanimation scene, which had no dialogue.” “For this, we used the VistaVision Beaucam and Ektachrome reversal stock – which was a first, I believe. The results were impressive, so it gave us a taste for attempting to shoot a full feature film on the format.” When Bugonia came along, Lanthimos felt it was the right project on which to pursue the VistaVision route. “I had done some research and found the more silent Wilcam W11,” adds Ryan. “This was a more sync-friendly version of the very noisy VistaVision Beaucam. Scotty Smith helped us out because he and technician Marty Mueller had updated many of the features on the Wilcam W11 to make it more production ready.”

CAMERA GALORE While a Mitchell VistaVision camera (far right) shot White Christmas, a Beaumont filmed The Brutalist (right) and a Wilcam W11 captured Bugonia (above)

According to Ryan, VistaVision is aptly named because it’s designed to shoot a big image such as a vista or similar view. “It is twice the size of normal 35mm film stock,” he says. “In effect, it provides the same negative space as a 35mm stills camera – and achieves this by flipping the transport mechanism in the camera from vertical to horizontal. Transporting film through the camera gate like this requires more torque and power, hence the noisier cameras. Twice the neg size is quite a jump in image quality and is very pleasing to the eye whether it’s a landscape or a portrait. We really leant into shooting portraits on Bugonia so the faces would become a landscape.” The only significant drawback for Ryan is that the camera design for the VistaVision system never truly evolved. “I like to compare it to VHS and Betacam - CinemaScope is more like VHS, while VistaVision is more like Betacam,” he says. “It never got a chance to evolve, so shooting on these cameras has quite a few quirks. You need a bit more patience with reload times. Some models have an inherent flicker issue that is possibly belt- drive related. It’s like a vintage car with a dodgy fanbelt. People’s imagination makes VistaVision sound like some high-

I’VE BEEN obsessed with FOR A VERY LONG TIME” VistaVision

spec fantasy camera. It’s not, but the results are still fantastic.” PARAMOUNT PRESERVATION Charlotte Barker is director of film restoration and preservation at Paramount Pictures, where she has worked for 21 years. She has always been a fan of VistaVision. “When I got into the archives, no one was prioritising this division,” she

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VISTAVISION TECH

SUPPORTING THE FORMAT

B ugonia was processed and scanned at Cinelab, who handled the original VistaVision negatives. “From the laboratory perspective, VistaVision fits very comfortably into an existing 35mm workflow,” says Thom Trigger, marketing manager at Cinelab. “The negative is processed using the same motion-picture film chemistry and lab systems as standard 35mm. Our role is then to scan that larger image area at a high resolution so that all of the detail captured on the negative is preserved as the material moves into editorial and colour finishing.”

In practical terms, the photochemical stage is identical to standard 35mm. “The negative is processed in exactly the same way as standard 35mm colour negative film,” explains Trigger. “That familiarity makes the format relatively straightforward to adopt.” While, as Trigger says, ‘processing remains identical to 35mm’, the main difference arises in scanning. “Because VistaVision exposes eight perforations per frame rather than four, the scanned image area is effectively doubled,” says Trigger. “This results in larger image files and slightly different handling in the

scanning stage. The scanned image needs to be rotated by 90° because the film runs horizontally through the camera.” Beyond that, it seamlessly integrates into established scanning workflows. “Once scanned, material moves through editorial, VFX and colour pipelines in much the same way as any other film-originated project,” he adds. Overall, VistaVision manages to offer a large format aesthetic without radically changing the workflow. “The files are bigger, of course, but once scanned it moves just like any other project.”

begins. Barker began questioning why the format got left behind. “I thought we should be prioritising Paramount’s premier format. I was initially told it’s too expensive to work on – which is true – but I was also told the movies weren’t really any good. Well, that is not at all true of course. “As soon as I took over the restoration team, I made it my priority to focus on the VistaVision films,” Barker states. At

the time, only three of them had been restored. Across the last seven years, the team have worked to restore 42, and there are around 20 more to go. Films currently being restored include Strategic Air Command (1955), War and Peace (1956) and a new HDR transfer of Funny Face (1957). The restoration process involves looking for what elements of the film exist and hoping to find the original

negative. Barker explains what happens after it is found. “Firstly, we inspect it to make sure there are no tears or damage. We also look for sections that have been replaced. Sometimes, if there was damage, they would cut out the negative and replace it with a dupe section, so we will look for and identify those. After that, we can try to find a more original piece than whatever dupe was cut in. Then we will scan it at 6K resolution.”

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TECH VISTAVISION

Everything is done digitally afterwards. As soon as it’s scanned, there is the clean up, colour work and stabilisation. “There’s a lot of flicker in this division,” says Barker. “You can see it in Wuthering Heights . It’s just something inherent to the cameras sometimes. We try to look for a vintage print and, if we can, a Technicolor IB print, to have a good colour reference that can give us an idea of what it looked like when it was originally projected. A few of the first films were also released with a Perspecta audio track, so we’ll restore that as well.” VistaVision was Paramount’s answer to CinemaScope, and White Christmas (1954) marked the studio’s first release shot in the format. The engineers at Paramount didn’t like how grainy the widescreen image was in CinemaScope. “They also didn’t like how anamorphic lenses were stretching people,” Barker explains. “They were interested in quality and having a widescreen process but making it better. The only way to do that was to shoot with a larger negative; 65 and 55mm were too cost prohibitive, so they opted for regular 35mm film. It was based on old patents, and they found a 25-year-old camera that would work shooting horizontally.” Alfred Hitchcock was impressed enough to use it for To Catch a Thief

NO FILM LEFT BEHIND One of the films Paramount’s restoration team (bottom left) has restored is the studio’s very first VistaVision feature from 1954, White Christmas (right)

(1955), The Trouble with Harry (1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Vertigo (1958) and North by Northwest (1959), and has become one of the filmmakers most associated with it. The format didn’t last long, however. “Ultimately because of cost,” says Barker. “You see all these memos going back and forth about how much money they would have saved without VistaVision. For two years, Paramount was a total VistaVision studio. Everything they shot and released was in the format.” Another factor in its demise was technological competition with studios such as Panavision. “The intention was always to have a negative format. Panavision could do that cheaper and get similar results theatrically with the newer anamorphic lenses. They could also shoot with only half the amount of

film because a VistaVision system uses twice the amount.” THE FUTURE OF THE FORMAT Ryan puts the current VistaVision trend down to numerous different factors. “I think people are really enjoying shooting on celluloid again for a start. It is a larger format for 35mm that is still cheaper than 65mm or IMAX, and the jump in image quality is considerable.” For Trigger, VistaVision will probably remain a more specialist format, but its resurgence shows how DOPs are now rediscovering classic film technologies and applying them in modern ways. “It offers a distinctive visual quality while still fitting neatly into contemporary production pipelines,” he concludes. “What’s remarkable is that many of the VistaVision cameras in use today are several decades old, yet continue to perform beautifully. That’s largely thanks to the care of specialist technicians and film enthusiasts who have maintained them. These are very well-engineered mechanical systems and it’s a reminder that film technology was built to last.” Barker says To Catch a Thief (1955) is her favourite VistaVision film. “It shows the best of the format,” she argues. “I was lucky enough to be able to work on the restoration a few years ago. When you go through something frame by frame, you develop even more of an appreciation for it. It was shot by Robert Burks, ASC and it’s just gorgeous. It may be fluffy and a lot of people disregard it as not one of Hitchcock’s best, but I think it’s a lot of fun and Grace Kelly never looked better. “I’ve been obsessed with VistaVision for a long time,” says Barker. “I started writing a book about it because there are none that really highlight it. It’s exciting people are talking about it now.”

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TECHNIQUE ONER

C hances are you have seen a oner. TV shows have frequently been turning to them in recent years. The Bear , True Detective , Mr Robot and Daredevil have all employed the technique for certain scenes or episodes, while Netflix’s Adolescence went further, capturing all four of its episodes as single takes. Seth Rogen’s loving send-up of the film business, The Studio , even pokes fun at the trick (while also deploying it across several episodes). So, what’s behind this recent rise in oners, and is the trend here to stay? ORIGINS OF THE ONER Oners are long, uninterrupted camera shots that capture a scene – or in some cases a whole episode or film – in its entirety. Some are static long takes that simply let the action unfold, as in Steve McQueen’s 2008 movie Hunger, which features a 17-minute uninterrupted shot. Others are far more complex, such as the famous four-minute opening shot of Orson Welles’ 1958 film Touch of Evil , one of the technique’s most notable uses. © NETFLIX

TECHNIQUE

MASTERING THE ONER

From Atonement to Adolescence, the oner has become one of film and TV’s most discussed techniques. Powerful storytelling tool or overhyped gimmick? Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC, ISC and Matt Lewis discuss…

WORDS OLIVER WEBB

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ONER TECHNIQUE

NOT CUTTING AWAY BUILDS unrelenting tension as the viewer waits ”

A crane shot of an unidentified figure placing a bomb in a car opens the film. The camera then gradually cranes out to reveal a Mexican-US border town, and follows the vehicle through the streets for roughly three-and-a-half minutes before the inevitable explosion. Not cutting away builds unrelenting tension as the viewer waits for the bomb to go off, and makes the first cut arrive like its very own blast. The technique dates back to early- Hollywood cinema, although there’s fierce debate over which was the very first film to use it. One contender is the 1927 silent film Wings , which features an early example of a long tracking shot. To capture it, cinematographer Harry Perry used an inverted rig on an overhead rail to move through a bustling café. The continuous take required meticulous planning and choreography, and it still looks impressive to this day. Meanwhile, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1948 Rope is widely regarded as the first whole feature-length film designed to appear as a single take. However, due to the

technical limitations of the time, filming was restricted to roughly ten-minute segments – to the length of a film reel. DOPs Joseph A Valentine, ASC and William V Skall, ASC cleverly concealed the cuts to make it look seamless. In his 1962 interviews with François Truffaut, Hitchcock later dismissed Rope as a ‘stunt’, describing the experiment as ‘quite nonsensical’ because it broke with his belief in the importance of editing for cinematic storytelling. The technique has, however, continued to flourish in contemporary cinema, with films such as Birdman and 1917 . Both appear as a continuous take, despite the presence of invisible cuts. SHOW-OFF DEVICES While the oner has a long history, cinematographers and filmmakers remain divided on whether the technique is a powerful storytelling tool or simply a filmmaking exercise. Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC, ISC believes filmmakers sometimes want to make something ‘symphonic’ for

NO ONE-HIT WONDER Between 1948 and 2025, imaginative oners have appeared in Rope (top right), Touch of Evil (top middle), The Studio (bottom) and Adolescence (left)

the sake of it. “I love telling stories with a camera,” he begins. “The two oners I’m known for – Life and Atonement – I do think serve the story in a way that combining separate shots wouldn’t.” Regarding the oner in Atonement , McGarvey recalls how director Joe Wright persuaded him to get on board with the idea. “I initially thought it was just calling attention to the structural side of cinematography when cinematography should only be in service of the story and narrative,” he says. Wright explained to McGarvey the psychology behind the shot. “It’s like a near-death experience or an almost about-to-die experience. It should feel sort of celestial and carnivalesque. “Robbie, the protagonist, expires at the end of the scene,” he continues. “The shots that follow show that, as he dies,

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was such an expensive shot to set up!” he laughs. In Life , a science-fiction horror film about discovering extraterrestrial life on Mars, the opening shot had to reveal both the spaceship and the labyrinthine layout of the station. “We were shooting in a very restricted environment, and director Daniel Espinosa wanted to give the audience a picture of the place they are about to see the drama unfold,” McGarvey explains. “There wasn’t going to be much opportunity for movement within subsequent shots.” Despite being known for two famous examples, McGarvey remains sceptical of the oner. “I hate oners, even though I got nominated for an Oscar for one,” he chuckles. “There have been a few films when a oner was suggested and I’ve talked the director down from it. “I’m suspicious of the motivation for a lot of one-shot scenarios. I love when cinematography has an energy and a tautness to it. I don’t like being dragged around like a wet blanket, photographically speaking…” McGarvey believes some filmmakers simply see oners as an opportunity to show off cinematic agility. He compares them to “cinematographic Pilates. But it’s

just an exercise. You have to really argue me down to convince me that one shots are effective filmmaking. I think they’re just show-off devices.” For McGarvey, a rare instance of when a oner works is in Goodfellas . “It’s a prime example because it’s all about paranoia and the effect of drugs, things that define how I usually feel watching oners. It’s so discomforting, which is why it works so well in that film. You feel like you’re being dragged through somebody’s unhinged imaginings, which is exactly what it is.” EXECUTING THE ONE SHOT DOP Matt Lewis, who had previously worked with director Philip Barantini on Boiling Point , a feature film shot entirely in one take, was instrumental in one of the most high-profile oners of recent times: Adolescence . He knew the project would be shot as a oner a few years before filming started. “After Boiling Point , there was a conversation about putting together a TV series with the same format in mind and shooting it with the same character- focused and grounded methodology,” he says. “I think it’s better to write something as a oner than to write something and then try to convert it.”

UP TO THE CHALLENGE DOP Matt Lewis has tackled the technical difficulties of oners on both Boiling Point and Adolescence (below)

a flame literally goes out. Joe called it the last slingshot towards heaven or hell. I liked the notion of that and it really guided the kinetic aspect of the shot and the circular movement within it.” Lasting around five-and-a-half minutes, they shot the scene four times and used the third take. “We planned it out very carefully with designer Sarah Greenwood,” says McGarvey. “We built an 8x8ft maquette of the beach, including the vehicles, boats, carousel and Ferris wheel. We literally went round with a little lipstick camera and said where the camera should go.” McGarvey knew how many extras were needed for the scene. “When the camera panned off the extras, they would all hurtle around and become extras somewhere else to make it look like we had thousands of people,” he says. “A few elements were painted out, but it was all done in camera.” He argues the hero of the shot was operator Peter Robertson. “I even get nervous watching it now because it

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TECHNIQUE ONER

Camera-wise, Lewis needed something that could achieve an under- the-radar visual language. “Ultimately, doing a oner TV series, we had to be able to move the camera in interesting ways,” he says. “Achieving this was no easy feat and came down to card space, battery life, video transmission, a gimbal that wouldn’t drift or struggle over a long period of time, mobility and, of course, operator fatigue.” He turned to DJI’s Ronin 4D, a camera he claims blew everything else out of the water. “It doesn’t take very long to understand and set up the system,” he explains. “It’s all built in very cleanly, and it comes with a really strong video transmission. It gave us enough storage- card space, but we had to run the 6K head, which had slightly more rolling shutter issues.” Lewis admits there were lens-choice limitations because of how lightweight the system was. “We had to find lenses that worked while also figuring out how to manage exposure when moving between interiors and exteriors – often a range of around ten stops,” he says. “We had to come up with a way of navigating exposure changes, which resulted in us choosing a Tilta Mirage variable ND filter. It was the lightest thing we could find on the market and is a fairly consumer- friendly option.”

NO EASY FEAT Single-shot takes on Adolescence (below) and The Studio (right) demanded strict choreographing ahead of time

During the shoot, the crew also had to hide lights where possible. “We had a lighting desk for a bunch of the episodes,” says Lewis. “We changed the level through scenes, so it was about getting all the timing right. Without knowing your technical foundations, it is impossible to start choreographing because you don‘t know what your limitations are.” Ultimately, Lewis wanted the camera moves to feel inevitable and omnipotent without audiences ever thinking about the decision-making behind them. “The choreography and technical challenges were so intertwined,” he recalls. “We had to walk with the actors and test systems constantly to make sure everything was going to work and limit the thousands of things that could have gone wrong. “My spinal column really appreciated being able to share the camera between multiple operators. With most other systems we were tied into being the sole operator. Here, it was easy for camera

operator Lee David Brown and I to pass the camera back and forth.” According to Lewis, the secret behind a strong oner is to always think about the motivation behind the movement. “It is about making sure every decision the camera makes feels like a result of the action in the scene and not of a layer above that, like a conscious decision- maker choosing to do something,” he explains. “I became very fastidious about making sure everything had a reason to happen. I think it paid off because people forget it’s a oner and that’s the aim.” There was one element of the shoot Lewis found slightly distracting, however. “For me, the most distracting moment is the drone shot,” he admits. “That was in part because of the wind. Annoyingly, I just see the gusts of wind pushing the camera left and right as it descends. Most people probably wouldn’t even notice it anyway, except someone who knows images.” Lewis was initially hesitant about oners before undertaking both projects. “I’m hoping people watch Adolescence and think oners are valid as a filmmaking technique and are not just a gimmick,” he says. “I wanted to try to approach it slightly differently. I wanted it to be the least flamboyant oner possible. I think anything that gets people stoked about filmmaking and excited by the behind the scenes is really cool as well.” It remains to be seen whether anyone else will attempt a oner as ambitious as Adolescence . Choosing to capture a film, show or even single sequence in one take is always a risk. There is a distinct possibility the result will feel like a show- off device. As McGarvey and Hitchcock suggest, perhaps oners are more of a technical exercise for filmmakers than truly effective filmmaking. Crafting the one shot nonetheless takes meticulous planning, skill and, as is the case with Adolescence , can work exceptionally well with the right story.

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TECHNIQUE VERTICAL DRAMA

Over the last five years, these short-form, mobile-first films have become a multi-billion-dollar industry. Nicola Foley takes a look at the production process and considers whether these addictive mini soap operas are a passing fad or the next big thing

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VERTICAL DRAMA TECHNIQUE

NEVER A DULL MOMENT Vertical productions from the likes of Crew Studio (above) are short, snappy and full of dramatic plot twists that keep viewers watching

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TECHNIQUE VERTICAL DRAMA

A billionaire poses as a homeless man to test the love of his friends and family. A bullied girl discovers she’s the heir to a mega-rich royal dynasty. A scorned spouse transforms themselves with plastic surgery and returns to wreak havoc on those who wronged them. A girl discovers her boss is actually (stay with me) the alpha of a secret werewolf pack. Welcome to the wacky world of vertical dramas: high-octane, fast- paced, packed with outrageous plot twists – and extremely profitable. According to Omdia, global vertical drama revenues reached $11bn in 2025 and are expected to climb to $14bn by the end of 2026. And the growth shows no sign of slowing down, with Variety suggesting the global market is on track to be worth $26bn in annual revenues by 2030. Naturally, Hollywood is standing to attention, as are major UK broadcasters, which are now investing in the space in the hope of riding the vertical wave. WHAT EXACTLY ARE THEY? In a nutshell, vertical dramas are feature-length stories serialised into short episodes, filmed in a 9:16 aspect ratio designed for smartphone viewing. Accessed via dedicated apps, often with a subscription model, they lean heavily into melodramatic, soapy tropes such as revenge, jilted lovers and secret love children, as well as fantasy elements.

One vital ingredient is the cliffhanger – a hook to make you hungry for the next instalment. “The format is designed to keep you watching for as long as possible, and this ties into how brands monetise on social media by trying to get as much screen time out of you as possible,” muses Nathan Caselton, founder of Crew Studio, which supports vertical drama production from development to final delivery. Another powerful component is audience analytics. The medium is data- driven to the nth degree, with producers keeping a laser focus on what audiences respond to and which plotlines are most addictive. In the case of ReelShort, that extends to careful cultural localisation of its narratives. A sports-themed romance, for example, features a hockey player in the American version, while the protagonist is a soccer player for Latin American audiences and a baseball player in the Japanese iteration – driven by the fact that they know exactly what audiences in different locations will prefer and watch more of. AN ANTIDOTE TO DOOMSCROLLING? So what’s the appeal of these soap- operatic snippets, and why are people lapping them up so much? Bethany Thomson, creative lead at Sea Star Productions, another UK-based vertical drama studio, thinks it’s a way to meet audiences where they are and give them something more satisfying than endless

disconnected TikToks and Reels. “In my mind, verticals are a way for people to gain value through 9:16 content that isn’t social media led,” she begins. “So instead of doomscrolling, they feel like they are doing something more productive and rewarding. They’re watching a real story unfold, and they’re getting more from their entertainment. “We shoot around once or twice a month, and we did 18 verticals last year,” she continues. “There’s constant work around for us and the other production companies in the UK who make them. There are over 250 platforms and they all need original content throughout the year. There’s so much opportunity.” BIG IN CHINA This is not the first attempt to make smartphone-friendly micro-dramas happen. Back in 2020 (with a rumoured $1.75bn in funding and a talent roster of big names that included Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro), short- form streaming-video service Quibi launched with a promise to revolutionise Hollywood. Its content – serialised, cinematic ‘quick bites’ of movies, reality shows and docs – were available for a fee on the company’s app, about ten minutes in length and viewable in landscape and portrait. Despite early buzz, Quibi shuttered just six months after its official launch. At around the same time in China, however, a similar concept was gaining

THERE ARE OVER 250 PLATFORMS and they all need original content ”

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VERTICAL DRAMA TECHNIQUE

MOVE FAST AND MAKE THINGS Crew Studio (bottom left) works rapidly, while Sea Star (right) speaks to the format’s opportunities

traction. Duanju, with roots in the country’s highly active fan-fiction scene, began to take off with a distinctive brand of ultra short-form (typically one- to two-minute), campy mini dramas. The format as we know it today was born and people loved it. In 2026, the Duanju market is estimated to be worth $9bn, outpacing the national Box Office revenue for the first time in 2024. One of the major players in the market is the aforementioned ReelShort – owned by Crazy Maple Studio – which describes itself as a ‘tech entertainment company’ and has a similar model to Netflix, in that it both produces its own content and licenses content from other creators for its platform. The ReelShort app utilises a virtual currency system in which users purchase ‘coins’ to unlock episodes of their shows. The output of ReelShort/Crazy Maple Studio would blow the mind of anyone used to working on traditional film and TV production: in 2025, the company churned out 400 series, and the target for 2026 is 600. This rapid turnover means the company is extremely agile, mimicking the micro-trends and ever- changing mores of its social media- obsessed audience. Another benefit of this speed is that it has been able to create an efficient feedback loop, testing content on the market and responding to what does and doesn’t resonate, ultimately giving people more of what they are engaging with. Its 65 million active monthly users suggest that the approach is working. In China, the format is booming, but it’s taking off around the rest of the world too. ReelShort reports that around 50% of its users are based in the US, with 10% – and growing – in Europe. There’s a preconception that this is very much a Gen Z phenomenon, but a ReelShort team member tells me it actually skews slightly older than you might think, with the core demographic sitting between 25 and 35. A key player in the UK scene is Crew Studio. Founder Nathan Caselton embraced the trend around six months

ago when he saw the potential for it to go mainstream here. “You’ve got to look at Channel 4, ITV and BBC, who are all quite explicitly saying that they are commissioning social-first content,” he says. “They’ve not yet fully jumped in, but I reckon in about five years’ time – with Channel 4 probably being one of the first – they will be making their own vertical drama content.” Caselton says that, right now, vertical dramas being produced in the UK can be somewhat ‘chaotic’, with platforms often hiring companies from a corporate video background to produce content, with varying levels of success. “Film and television production and corporate production are two entirely different beasts – casting, location, narrative structure, getting the best performances out of actors – it’s an entirely different world,” he stresses.

Caselton thinks that teams who have come from a continuous drama background – the likes of Casualty , Holby City , etc – are particularly well placed to thrive in vertical drama, since they are used to getting through a high volume of pages each day, making content quickly and making sure it’s up to a broadcast standard. “We’ve tapped into those teams and sought to link them up to these projects because they have the experience to do it at pace,” he shares. INSIDE A VERTICAL DRAMA PRODUCTION That pace is the starkest difference between a vertical drama shoot and a traditional production. At Sea Star Productions, Thomson tells me they might typically get two to three weeks for pre-production and shoot for six days, covering about 15 pages of script

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