Creative Inspiration
American Pastoral: Kelly Reichardt’s “First Cow”
“It’s not capturing grand landscapes, but people who have very small lives.”
News and Features
Video
And You Make Ask Yourself… Does Color Science Matter?
“Color is one of the most important tools you have.”
Creative Inspiration
“You Should Have Left:” Using Light, Space and Time to Tell an Uneasy Story
“I think the idea of being trapped in a house that won’t let you leave is an experience that every single human being on...
Creative Inspiration
Meet Your Heroes: Making “John Lewis: Good Trouble”
“He’s kind of a living embodiment of the idea that our future will be better, and I think people need that right now.”
How To
Filming on the Front Lines: “Inside Italy’s Covid War”
“What I wanted to do was tell the story, from the beginning, of the psychological impact this was having on the healthcare workers and...
Creative Inspiration
“Relic:” How This Kind of Horror Hits Different
Director Natalie Erika James explains she wanted to use “a multigenerational story to create a character driven, emotionally resonant horror.”
How To
Managing the Amazing, Affecting Material for “Da 5 Bloods”
Colorist Stephen Nakamura details how he worked with Spike Lee and cinematographer Tom Sigel across multiple formats, aspect ratios and visual elements.
How To
Tight (Very Tight) Shots: Cameras in the Cockpit for “7500”
“The most important thing for me, was to give the actors the confidence that they can move freely in the cockpit without being disturbed...
How To
Into the Dark (But Not Completely): Cinematography on Season 3 of “Ozark”
“You know those joyful scenes in a thriller or horror movie, right before the hammer comes down, that trick the audience? Well, ‘Ozark’ is...
Creative Inspiration
“Hamilton:” Getting It From the Stage to the Screen to the Stream
“ knew exactly what to do,” says “Hamilton” director Thomas Kail. “My job was to not get in the way of that.”
Production
Virtual Production Can Be Real for Everybody. Here’s How.
The production line from development to post can be costly in part because of the timescales and in part because of the inability to...
Creative Inspiration
“Tales from the Loop:” Making These Fantasies a Reality
“We didn’t know at the end of all of this whether or not there would be a place that would embrace the kind of...
Creative Inspiration
How “Little America” Captures the Immigrant Experience One Story at a Time
Inspired by true stories, Apple TV+ anthology series uses stylized, dramatized vignettes to go beyond the headlines.
Creative Inspiration
Making the Gorgeous Creep-Out That is “Shirley”
“When you’re in a Shirley Jackson story you sort of descend from a reality into a dream and you sort of don’t know when...
News and Features
Take a (Virtual) Museum Tour (or 50)
“From interactive, 360-degree videos and full 'walk-around' tours with voiceover descriptions to slideshows with zoomable photos”
Video
Let Movies Show You How to Social Distance
For the first and last time we can say, “Follow the outstanding example set by Charles Foster Kane”
How To
Making “Mythic Quest: Quarantine” — 40 iPhones and Infinite Possibilities
“The quarantine episode of ‘Mythic Quest’ is a seamless continuation for fans... and a pitch-perfect encapsulation of what it’s like to live through this...
How To
Understanding the Four Aspect Ratios for “Da Five Bloods”
The film uses different aspect ratios and film formats to depict different times and places: 2.39:1 digital for the present-day city scenes, 1.33:1 16mm...
How To
What You Need to Know About Reopening and Restarting Production
How do we safely resume operations, and how on earth do you make a movie without congregating?
Ebooks
Remote Production: The Future of Live TV?
We examine the latest trends and best practices in the evolving world of home and remote production workflows.
Creative Inspiration
How “Devs” Creator Alex Garland Fuses Tech, Tension and Apprehension Like Nobody Else
“It’s very clearly the case that technology and technological advances are happening at a rate that we are not able to keep up with.”
Creative Inspiration
“Da 5 Bloods:” How to Mix Materials and Deliver a Message That’s More Relevant Than Ever
“Only Spike will jump up and celebrate like the Knicks have scored when it’s a great edit.”
Product News and Reviews
Sigma fp and Cinema DNG: Production, Post and This Pocket-Sized Camera
“The images had great dynamic range, and colors appeared exactly how I like them.”
Watch: First Impressions of the SIGMA fp
"It has great low-light performance, very, very low noise in the blacks especially."
Expertise
High Dynamic Range (HDR): Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask
De-mystifying this ubiquitous term
Creative Inspiration
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening:” When Your Film is Part Documentary, Part Poem
"The film closes the distance between people by inviting close looking, and in turn close feeling, and allows the audience the feeling of witnessing...
How To
How Jeff Hutchens Used the Canon C300 Mark II for Docuseries “Murder in the Bayou”
Five-part docuseries investigating the unsolved murders of eight women is now available to watch online.
News
Watch: The Camera’s Role in Documenting Critical Social Movements
For PBS NewsHour, Jeffrey Brown looks at the power of the camera to shape and shift public perceptions—now and in the past.
Product Reviews
Has Remote Production Changed Production… Forever?
“It’s taken a pandemic to open the eyes of those not convinced about remote working. Our collective experience will change way we work forever.”
Creative Inspiration
Making “The Vast of Night,” a Micro-Budget Sci-Fi Miracle
“I wanted to signal that we are telling a familiar story. One you’ve probably seen before. But we’re going to be as inventive and...
Creative Inspiration
Boots Riley’s Bonkers/Brilliant Style on “Sorry to Bother You”
The revolution will be not be telemarketed.
How To
How HBO’s “Watchmen” Is a Masterclass in Nonlinear Storytelling
Alongside films like "Memento" and "Pulp Fiction," Damon Lindelof’s graphic novel adaptation breaks new ground.
Video
Watch: Integrating the Visual Effects Into “Chernobyl”
“ was to be completely story-driven where VFX would provide support for the drama in every shot.”
Creative Inspiration
“Random Acts of Flyness:” Terence Nance Defines a New Visual Language
The HBO series "incorporates and commingles animation, documentary, confession, satire, music video, and magic-realist fantasia."
Augmented and Virtual Reality
How VR Could (or Can) (or Will) Help Us Through This Quarantine
Learning to leverage virtual reality in our lives is a natural transition.
Product Reviews
Why the Panasonic Lumix S1H May Be One of the Best 4K Cameras for Filmmakers
"The Lumix S1 is a stills camera that’s pretty good at video; the S1H is most definitely a video camera that also happens to...
Product News and Reviews
What’s the Deal With… Apple’s 16-Inch MacBook Pro?
This is the perfect laptop for creatives who want a Mac and need mobility coupled with horsepower.
Government Video
Haivision Launches Makito X4 Video Decoder
A companion unit for the company’s Makito X4 encoder.
Product Reviews
Canon’s C300 Mark III: Super 35mm, Dual Gain Output Sensor, Seriously Customizable
With a dual gain output (DGO) sensor, Canon's new/next camera features a modular design and an interchangeable lens mount optional accessory
Expertise
“Full Frame” Sensors: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask
What do people mean when they refer to “full-frame” when speaking about an image sensor for cinematography?
News
Philip Bloom Tests the Panasonic S1H at 180fps, Lollipop Tests a Treat Dispenser, Everybody Has a Great Day
“A little bit of fun with the superb Panasonic S1H and a homage to ‘Fantasia’ of course.”