Crazy Rich Asians is a romantic comedy-drama film, based on the best-selling novel by Kevin Kwan, and tells the story of an Asian American woman who meets her boyfriend's family, only to find out they are one of the richest clans in Singapore. The Warner Bros film was directed by Jon M. Chu (Now You See Me 2, G.I. Joe: Retaliation) and features an all Asian cast, including Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Ken Jeong, Michelle Yeoh, and many others. It is the first Hollywood studio film to feature Asians in leading roles since director Wayne Wang’s 1993 film, The Joy Luck Club.

The film was shot by cinematographer Vanja Černjul, ASC, HFC (The Perfection, The Deuce, Marco Polo) with VariCam Pure cinema cameras. “I loved (director) Jon Chu’s approach to the story,” explains Černjul. “He wanted Crazy Rich Asians to be the most beautiful film he ever made. He is a visual director and I was excited by the challenge.

Černjul was very pleased with the way Crazy Rich Asians turned out. “Besides being an important milestone on the road towards more equal representation in Hollywood, the film was received overwhelmingly positive by both audience and critics so far,” he says. “I am happy I had a chance to be a part of what is being described as not only a film, but a movement.”

Read more about the Crazy Rich Asians shoot.

Written during the McCarthy era and published in 1953, Ray Bradbury’s classic dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451, is set in a society where books are outlawed and firemen are charged with burning them. In 2018, Ramin Bahrani co-wrote and directed the film adaptation for HBO, starring Michael B. Jordan, who also served as executive producer.

The stylized film was shot by cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau, ASC (Game of Thrones, Thor: The Dark World, Terminator Genisys). For Morgenthau, Fahrenheit 451 brought him back to his early roots as a filmmaker and awakened his artistic sensibilities, as well as his passion for film.

“Literature and art are a valuable part of our culture that we sometimes take for granted,” he explains. “There are things that should be cherished and protected. Also, Ramin is a passionate filmmaker and has made a lot of amazing independent films like Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, and 99 Homes – they’re all strong films that are purely about story and character, not spectacle. When reading the script, Fahrenheit 451 seemed to me like one of those films.” 

Go behind the scenes of Fahrenheit 451.

Alex Strangelove is a high school romance film that was directed by Craig Johnson (Wilson, The Skeleton Twins) and shot by cinematographer Hillary Spera with VariCam Pure cinema cameras. The Netflix feature film tells the story of Alex Truelove (Daniel Doheny), a well-rounded high school student who plans to lose his virginity to his girlfriend Clare (Madeline Weinstein) during his senior year. Complications occur when he meets Elliot (Antonio Marziale), who makes him question his sexual identity.

“I had been a fan of Craig’s work and this was a truly unique and awesome script,” says Spera. “It was incredibly funny, had so much heart, and I loved how real the characters felt, in addition to the use of magical realism to show Alex’s rich and complex inner world, and his relationship to the outside world as he discovers himself.

One of the challenges that Craig and I talked about was trying to maintain naturalism while showing the surreal moments when Alex is realizing who he is. How bizarre and wonderful high school first love can be. The excitement, the heartbreak, the mistakes – all of it. We set out to show that in a way that unique but not over the top and specific to him and his view of the world, while maintaining a story that felt tangible, relatable, and grounded."

Learn more about the making of Alex Strangelove.

While trying to keep her boyfriend’s surprise birthday party on track, Katie’s day takes a drastic detour after picking up her brother, Seth, and his daughter. Realizing Seth has relapsed in his heroin addiction, Katie drives him around town trying to find a detox center that will admit him. 6 Balloons was written and directed by Marja-Lewis Ryan and shot by cinematographer Polly Morgan, BSC (Spinning Man, The Intervention) with VariCam 35 cameras. The Netflix feature film, which stars Abbi Jacobsen and Dave Franco, had its premiere at this year’s South by Southwest film festival in March and began streaming on Netflix in April.

Morgan got involved with 6 Balloons after her agent sent her the script, as well as a look book that Ryan had created. Morgan was impressed by both. “We met for coffee and after talking, we realized we were on the same page,” explains Morgan. “We agreed that the film had to be really raw and real. It couldn’t be glossy.”

“We didn't want the audience to be aware of the cinematography,” Morgan explains. “We wanted the viewer to feel like they were on the journey with the two protagonists – a bystander forced to witness the events that unfold. We didn't want the film to look perfect, but to make it feel immediate so people could emotionally respond to the story and feel the sense of drama and panic unfolding.”  

Read more about the shooting of 6 Balloons.

Premiering at the 2017 Austin Film Festival where it won Best Narrative Short, Demon tells the story of a desperate man emerging from the night where he encounters a solitary shack in the middle of the desert. It is in this night setting where he discovers a dark secret that the property owner possesses on his property. The supernatural drama/thriller, directed by Caleb Slain, was shot by cinematographer Drew Dawson with the VariCam 35 camera just outside Joshua Tree National Park.

The Demon script had the setting as a desert landscape with a full moon. According to Dawson, the goal was to capture the entire film with moonlight, practicals, and minimal film lights.

A big influence for the look came from Pablo Picasso’s Blue Period. In the color grade, colorist Chad Terpstra added some green to the moonlight which was captured at 4250K in camera. According to Dawson, shifting the moonlight to be a little greener gave them the feel as if there was a kind of sickness out there in the desert.

See how Demon was shot.

For Ozark, Kutchins became involved because he had previously shot a film together with actor Jason Bateman, who has directed several episodes of the series. “He’s an incredibly intelligent filmmaker,” reveals Kutchins. “His ability to have a relationship with the camera was something that I haven’t seen from a whole lot of actors. When Ozark came up, we jumped at the opportunity to work together again.”

Ozark is shot in Atlanta, GA. In developing the look of the series, Kutchins worked with Bateman and cinematographer Pepe Avila del Pino, who shot the first two episodes of season one. “Traditionally, a DP will come in and shoot the pilot and then someone else will come in and replicate that look for the series,” says Kutchins. “This was a unique situation in that I was invited to be a part of the process of developing the look. It was me, Jason, and Pepe talking about the show’s look and testing out different cameras and lenses.”

The team used a lot of visual references for different elements for the look and feel of Ozark, including the 2010 Australian feature, Animal Kingdom, which they were influenced by the film’s camera movement, blocking, and use of minimal coverage. They also watched films by director David Fincher as reference for tonal qualities. “One of the things we were most interested in early on was how little coverage we could get away on a TV show without getting fired,” says Kutchins. “It was all about pushing the cinematic boundaries for television.”

With Netflix’s 4K mandate, the production tested out the latest RED and Sony cameras, but according to Kutchins, the VariCam 35 had the filmic qualities they were looking for, as well as the ability to capture in low light. “We almost went with the VariCam Pure for the second season, but we ended up just doing what we did before,” reveals Kutchins. “We were really happy with the look that we achieved in season one.”

Kutchins captured 4K DCI (4096x2160) 12-bit 4:4:4 AVC Intra files in V-Log at 23.98-fps. For exhibition, they went with a 2:1 extraction. For season one, Kutchins and Avila del Pino worked with a D.I.T. to develop a viewing LUT, which Kutchins developed further throughout the season. “The LUT lifted the blacks a bit, added contrast in the mids, brought down the highlights, created deep cyan in the shadows, and a little warmth in the highlights,” reveals Kutchins. “What I was trying to do was mimic an old Fuji film stock that I used to use back when I was shooting stills. Working at Lucasfilm, I inherited a huge box of expired film and it was one of the discontinued films in that box.”

For lensing, Kutchins shot mainly with a set of Cooke S4 prime lenses, as well as older Zeiss Super Speeds. “The Cookes perform really well close to wide open, which I preferred for the look. I like the idea of not knowing what’s happening in the background focus-wise, even on a wide lens because it adds to the danger and mystery of the show. I also like that the S4s are simultaneously sharp yet have enough flaws and character to bring another element. I’m mixing and matching the S4s with the Super Speeds for the extra grittiness that they bring and lack of depth of field. Sometimes I’m looking to get something a little dirtier than I can get with the S4s.”

Kutchins used the VariCam’s native ISO 5000 sparingly but was impressed with the results when he did use it. “I’m a bit of an old school cinematographer and I find things that I like, and I continue doing that,” he says. “I don’t really feel the need to shoot things at 5000 just because it’s there. A couple of times, I used it for a surveillance look. I was hoping it would be grainy but there was no grain at all, so I had to add a ton of grain in post. There were a few times that I had a crazy setup on a crane and didn’t have quite enough light, or enough time, to add a bunch of light. We basically switched the native ISO to 5000 and I was really impressed with the results. When I went into the DI to finish it, I would be hard pressed to figure out which shots were done at 800 or 5000.”

In lighting Ozark, Kutchins believes each scene has its own heartbeat. “As a lighting strategy, I tend to use a single soft source, whether it’s sun, or a practical base like a single lamp in a room,” explains Kutchins. “I’m using small LEDs to augment, generally soft light to wraparound and get a little glint in the eye, or to give that little suggestion of a silhouette. It’s the idea of using big, broad strokes and then small touches to accent where I want you to look in the frame. Jason and I don’t mind if the actors fall off in the shadows. We like to leave just enough information out there to let the audience wonder what’s happening.”

Kutchins takes that idea even further in post and according to Kutchins, this is one of the VariCam 35’s biggest strengths. “There’s been a few times where I wanted to bring up a shadow,” says Kutchins, “and I tend to underexpose ¾ of a stop to 2 stops as a baseline. With the VariCam, if I want to bring up a shadow in post, it’s been very rare that I’ve been limited on how much I could bring it up before the image got noisy."

The color grade is performed at Company 3 by colorist Tim Stipan, who graded both season one and two. “It’s his first TV show and I think he brought a really cinematic look to it,” says Kutchins. “For the grade, I don’t think we’re changing the look, but I think we’re taking it 10 steps further in post than we’re able to on set. On a TV schedule, you don’t have time to do all the tweaks you want to do and I’m taking all those ideas into the DI. Fortunately, Tim is a great collaborator and a great artist. Things can be as dark as you want them to be as long as there is somewhere for you to look and the audience feels comfortable looking at the frame.”

For more information on the VariCam 35, click through here.