{"id":266408,"date":"2026-01-31T02:21:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T02:21:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/266408\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T02:21:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T02:21:19","slug":"8-cinematographers-share-shooting-strategies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/266408\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Cinematographers Share Shooting Strategies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether a longtime veteran or a relative newcomer, each cinematographer AC tracked down at this year’s Sundance Film Festival expressed a strong sense of nostalgia as this year’s edition marked the last in Park City, Utah. <\/p>\n

Lol Crawley, ASC, BSC (Wicker) notes that he still secures jobs in America based on the work showcased in the 2008 drama Ballast \u2014 his first feature to premiere at Sundance, which earned him the festival’s Best Cinematography award. Sam Levy (The Only Living Pickpocket in New York) has served as director of photography for five features that premiered at Sundance and once as camera operator on another, and was also a Sundance cinematography fellow \u201ca long time ago,\u201d he notes. <\/p>\n

Others are just getting started. For Stefan Weinberger, who met his wife while attending the festival only as a moviegoer in 2019, Union County is the first film on which he served as cinematographer. Lidia Nikonova\u2019s would-be Sundance debut was disrupted by the festival’s pivot to an online-only edition in 2021; she was thrilled to have another shot at a proper premiere this year, this time with two films \u2014 the psychosexual-thriller feature Night Nurse and the short film Birdie. <\/p>\n

The filmmakers behind the seven narrative features highlighted here also shared at least one artistic aim: to approach their films’ visual language as a means of transporting the viewer inside their lead character’s head. Chasing Summer \u2014 shot by Eric Branco, ASC \u2014 moved between sticks and handheld moves, depending on its protagonist’s internal state, while The Huntress \u2014 shot by Maria Sarasvati Herrera \u2014 sought to keep the viewer immersed in its main character’s mental deterioration, even during a complex sequence that unfolded on an active bus that moved throughout Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez, Mexico.<\/p>\n

Read on to discover the inspiration, experiences and equipment that fueled eight cinematographers with films at Sundance 2026.<\/p>\n

\nEric Branco, ASC \u2014 Chasing Summer <\/p>\n

The Approach<\/p>\n

“In prep, director Josephine Decker told me, ‘I really want to try something different. I want to be less handheld. I want to be more controlled.’ The movie is about a woman named Jamie (played by Iliza Shlesinger) returning home and not feeling comfortable in her own skin and in her place in the world, so we had to find a way to visually mirror that. The first half of the film is entirely studio mode: sticks, dolly, locked-off compositions. The film opens with a big Steadicam oner, and then in the next scene, Jamie’s partner breaks up with her and things are thrown off balance; we turn into a more stilted world. So, the film starts with a kind of fluidity, and eventually becomes more locked off, with more ‘awkward’ framing \u2014 either center or very off-center, to depict Jamie as smaller within a larger world, or to emphasize moments marked by her character’s indecision or discomfort. Later, there’s a moment in which she meets a new love interest, and from that scene on, the movie becomes entirely handheld right up until the end, when we shift to a combination of handheld and studio mode.”<\/p>\n

\nEric Branco, ASC.<\/p>\n

My Biggest Challenge<\/p>\n

“Until Chasing Summer, I had certainly never tried to get this level of studio camera movement on a budget of this size. Our most challenging shots were our long-take oners. We did 15 takes of the Steadicam oner that opens the film in 110-degree summer heat in St. Louis. That part of the shoot was all about making sure we were hydrated and level-headed enough to make clear decisions in the heat.”<\/p>\n

\nIliza Schlesinger as Jamie in ‘Chasing Summer.’<\/p>\n

Tech Specs<\/p>\n

Camera: Arri Alexa Mini LF<\/p>\n

Lenses: Cooke Anamorphic\/i FF<\/p>\n

\nLol Crawley, ASC, BSC \u2014 Wicker<\/p>\n

The Approach<\/p>\n

“We were world-building and we wanted as wide of a field of view as possible. Clip-on impression filters, which fit on the back of the lens, created a swirling-bokeh quality that was quite magical, and out of time, for this film. Working with M\u00e1t\u00e9 Ternyik, our colorist on The Brutalist, we did quite a lot of film-emulation work, adding grain and other elements to take the modernity out of the digital aspect of the image. For intimate scenes set in the fisherwoman’s (Olivia Colman) hut, we used a Canon K35mm lens, which has this interesting fall-off in focus, so it feels like the world of the film just falls away.”<\/p>\n

\nLol Crawley, ASC, BSC.<\/p>\n

My Favorite Scene<\/p>\n

“One of my favorite scenes is one in which the fisherwoman confronts the wicker husband (Alexander Skarsg\u00e5rd) because she suspects that he’s been unfaithful. It’s when their relationship starts to unravel \u2014 the rot starts to set in. It’s a simple scene, but I like the way that we covered it, in terms of our use of the volume, pushing in and wrapping around Olivia. They\u2019re both terrific in that scene; Olivia is heartbreaking, and it gets me every time I see it. Again, it’s simple, but we realized it delicately.”<\/p>\n

\nOlivia Colman as The Fisherwoman in ‘Wicker.’<\/p>\n

Tech Specs<\/p>\n

Camera: Arri Alexa Mini LF<\/p>\n

Lenses: Arri Signature Primes; Canon K35<\/p>\n

\nMaria Sarasvati Herrera \u2014 The Huntress (La Cazadora)<\/p>\n

The Approach<\/p>\n

“The movie is about a woman, Luz (Adriana Paz), who is passing through a trauma, so we wanted to be close to our main actor to translate what she is feeling to the viewer. We wanted lenses that would open up as much as possible, in terms of iris. We found the Lomo Illumina Mark II, which have a look that\u2019s sharp, but also rounded in the background, with some aberrations. We were working with communities on location in Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez, Mexico \u2014 so, we couldn’t light the whole street or change the color of our street lighting. We had to light with what was there. I was also operating, so I was connected with Adriana and the rest of our cast, reacting to what they were feeling and portraying.”<\/p>\n

\nMaria Sarasvati Herrera on location for ‘The Huntress (La Cazadora).’<\/p>\n

My Biggest Challenge<\/p>\n

“Everything shot on the bus was challenging. As the bus was in motion, we were just trying to hold onto one another so we didn’t fall, and we also had to stay connected to Adriana during these intense, emotional moments. While on the bus, her character starts seeing ghosts, and in order to build this in VFX, we needed flares and real sunlight. We had to chase the sun so that it was always on the same side, as the bus pushed through the streets of Ju\u00e1rez \u2014 and we only had one afternoon to make it work.”<\/p>\n

\nThe Huntress (La Cazadora), shot by Maria Sarasvati Herrera.<\/p>\n

Tech Specs<\/p>\n

Camera: Arri Alexa Mini LF<\/p>\n

Lenses: Lomo Illumina Mark II<\/p>\n

\nSam Levy \u2014 The Only Living Pickpocket in New York<\/p>\n

The Approach<\/p>\n

“I was inspired by Robert Bresson\u2019s final film, L’Argent. I\u2019ve tested these Super Baltar prime lenses from the 1960s \u2014 which are what Gordon Willis, ASC shot The Godfather with \u2014 many times. They have a big, distinctive look, and I never liked them before… but they were perfect for this noir crime thriller.”<\/p>\n

\nSam Levy (at camera) shoots John Turturro (also pictured below, as Harry) on location for ‘The Only Living Pickpocket in New York.’<\/p>\n

My Favorite Scene<\/p>\n

“A lot takes place in a pawn shop in which Steve Buscemi’s character works. In one scene there, John Turturro’s character discovers \u2014 I\u2019ll just say \u2014 that something’s gone wrong, and there\u2019s this long, designed shot, where we used a lot of silhouettes. That shot is my favorite.”<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Tech Specs<\/p>\n

Camera: Arri Alexa 35<\/p>\n

Lenses: Bausch & Lomb Super Baltar primes<\/p>\n

\nBenjamin Loeb, FNF (Cinematographer) and Sheldon Chau (Additional Cinematography) \u2014 zi<\/p>\n

The Approach<\/p>\n

Loeb: “Shooting on the streets in Hong Kong, we were going into a territory without control over any situation or location, so we wanted the smallest, most nimble camera package, with one single lens that could let us just document and be present in the moment. We created this v\u00e9rit\u00e9 language, photographing long moments of the film in single takes, and letting coverage exist within that. That became the ethos.”<\/p>\n

Chau: “On the morning of day one, [director] Kogonada asked me, \u201cCan you get a sense of Asian melancholy?\u201d Right away, I knew what that meant. He pushed me to dig deep and channel that, because zi is about longing and loss, and about not knowing where home is. Ben doesn’t like B-roll, so he encouraged me to find images, or even a succession of images, that tell a story: ‘If I’m capturing a guy pushing a cart, is there a way I can find several images that stitch together to convey a sense of feeling, instead of just a random shot of a guy?'”<\/p>\n

\nFrom left: Benjamin Loeb, FNF and Sheldon Chau.<\/p>\n

My Favorite Scene<\/p>\n

Loeb: “There’s a fireworks sequence that’s the crescendo of the film, and it wakes up the audience. It wakes me up when I watch the film. It was shot on the first day of production, and we were getting to know each other and learning to navigate Hong Kong and the people of the city. It was National Day, and we were all eyeing what the cops would do: ‘How much can we get away with when filming this way?’ We realized immediately: Nobody cared! Nobody looked at us, nobody looked into the camera.”<\/p>\n

\nMichelle Mao as the eponymous violinist in ‘zi.’<\/p>\n

Tech Specs<\/p>\n

Camera: Red Komodo; 16mm Bolex; Sony FX3 (additional cinematography)<\/p>\n

Lenses: Super Takumar 35mm; Zeiss Super Speeds (additional cinematography)<\/p>\n

\nLidia Nikonova \u2014 Night Nurse<\/p>\n

The Approach<\/p>\n

“We wanted to lean into the genre tropes that erotic thrillers afford, to create an underlying sense of sexual tension and suspense that hovers in every scene, but is not fully perceived, and works on a more subconscious level. In the film, there is an unusual relationship between the night nurse, Eleni (Cemre Paksoy), and her patient, Douglas (Bruce McKenzie), that evolves into a romantic relationship, and it was important for that relationship to feel authentic and believable. Longer lenses helped create more intimacy between the two characters, and we aimed for camera placement that would offer the viewer greater access to our characters, rather than obscure them. The film has such an unusual premise \u2014 an erotic thriller set in a retirement community \u2014 so we treated the cinematography as a world-building device. We needed the world of the film to feel both alluring and hypnotic, as well as eerie and dangerous.”<\/p>\n

\nLidia Nikonova prepares to shoot a scene for ‘Night Nurse.’ (Photo by Eddie Ceniceros.)<\/p>\n

My Biggest Challenge<\/p>\n

“The opening sequence is a four-minute oner that we shot on a gobo arm with a 24mm probe lens. It was shot during pickups, and by this point, we already had most of the film, but we wanted to create a tableau that contains the themes of the film without revealing what the film is. So, we designed this intricate shot for which the camera, paired with our probe lens, travels with the cord of a phone as it’s wrapped around Cemre’s body. My previous work experience with gobo arms was only in shooting inanimate objects \u2014 but for this scene, Cemre had to lie down in one pose, practically motionless, as we programmed the cues and key frames for the gobo arm. It took about six hours to program this move.”<\/p>\n

\nCemre Paksoy as Eleni in ‘Night Nurse.’<\/p>\n

Tech Specs<\/p>\n

Camera: Arri Alexa Mini<\/p>\n

Lenses: Panavision Ultra Speed primes; Cooke Varotal 25-250mm, 20-100mm zooms (rehoused by Panavision)<\/p>\n

\nStefan Weinberger \u2014 Union County<\/p>\n

The Approach
“Having worked together for more than a decade, director Adam Meeks and I were extremely aligned on what we called the ‘simple language of our movie.’ We wanted to imbue the camerawork with honesty and empathy, and avoid sensationalizing the material or passing judgement on our characters, many of whom were real members of the recovery community who played themselves in the film. We opted for a hybrid documentary-narrative approach; those two elements needed to blend seamlessly for the film to feel cohesive. This meant we needed a lot of flexibility in our camerawork. Sometimes we didn’t have a lot of control over lighting, so the latitude afforded by the Alexa 35 was helpful.”<\/p>\n

\nStefan Weinberger on location for ‘Union County.’<\/p>\n

My Biggest Challenge<\/p>\n

“One challenge was in shooting a narrative film in a documentary setting in a seamless way. We shot Will Poulter\u2019s character\u2019s monologue during a real Narcotics Anonymous meeting, with the real members of that community who are there every week, doing what they always do: coming in, telling their stories and sharing their struggles and ups and downs. We planted Poulter in that situation, and he delivered this incredible, scripted monologue about an hour-and-a-half into the meeting. We had to be ready for that, because after he finished, the meeting kept going \u2014 it passed to the next person. So, we were shooting a documentary and a narrative film \u2014 not only in the same film, but in the same scene, as well. <\/p>\n

\nWill Poulter as Cody Parsons in ‘Union County.’<\/p>\n

Tech Specs<\/p>\n

Camera: Arri Alexa 35<\/p>\n

Lenses: Cooke S4 primes; Ang\u00e9nieux Optimo 24-290mm, 28-76mm; Canon 17-120mm<\/p>\n

Unit stills courtesy of Sundance Film Festival and the filmmakers, unless otherwise noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whether a longtime veteran or a relative newcomer, each cinematographer AC tracked down at this year’s Sundance Film…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[14739,28977,98142,10699,488,146,51480,878,85,46,4350,20834,42569,21044,32860,19830,920,102720],"class_list":["post-266408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-alexa","tag-approach","tag-arri","tag-camera","tag-county","tag-entertainment","tag-favorite","tag-film","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-lenses","tag-mini","tag-scene","tag-shot","tag-specs","tag-sundance","tag-tech","tag-wanted"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}