Of any film that has attempted to shoot using day for night tactics, none pulled it off better than NOPE. But director Jordan Peele and DP Hoyte van Hoytema had to use some incredibly innovative techniques to get there. If you’re not familiar with day for night, it’s simply the practice of shooting scenes in the daytime and color correcting them to appear as if shot at night. This can be hugely beneficial to productions of all types, saving loads of time and money by avoiding overnight shoots and limiting lighting gear. Day for night techniques have been used in cinema for many decades. You ca ..read more

In the last year… 17,000+ films were submitted to Sundance. 100,000+ new films were produced or released. 1,000,000+ filmmakers actively worked on original material. And in the next few years these numbers will only grow exponentially. Most filmmakers ignore the realities of how saturated the market has become. They put everything into a single film, submit it to a festival, and convince themselves it will break through. That may have been a plausible strategy 20 years ago. But it certainly is not today. It’s never been more important to stand out.  Some understand ..read more

In recent years, Hollywood has become more open minded to unconventional creative choices – whether in regards to aspect ratios, coverage style, or glass. As part of this trend, we’ve seen many older / obscure lenses (including vintage Petzval portrait lenses), make their way onto major motion pictures. I previously wrote an article all about the lenses used on Poor Things, which you can read here. In short, I loved their eclectic lens choices – ranging from fisheye to zoom – which were juxtaposed in the edit for striking cuts. Of all the lenses used on that film, my favorites were the 58mm an ..read more

There are countless reasons why filmmakers quit. But perhaps the most common culprit is rejection. All filmmakers face pushback when trying to build a career. Whether it’s a well meaning parent suggesting a more “stable” job, or an envious friend discouraging their creativity. Early on, most filmmakers are able to shut out the noise and keep going, at least for a period of time. But inevitably, at some point they start to face real rejection from the industry. And when that happens, it calls back and validates all the negative feedback they’ve received. Earlier this week I share ..read more

Poor Things is an amazing feature film that achieves beautiful visuals through unconventional lens choices. In this article, we will explore four of the lenses used to create this signature look. Before we unpack each lens, it’s worth noting that the film benefitted from an array of glass – not just the four lenses we will highlight today. For instance, Bella’s reanimation sequence was shot on a vintage camera (Beaumont Vista Vision), which required very specific glass. Namely adapted Leica APO Summicron-R and Telyt-R lenses that ranged in focal length from 19mm – 135mm. The Vista Vision ..read more

Last week I got a chance to shoot on the new Kodak Super 8 camera on a new short film. Below, I share a quick behind the scenes look into this project and my experience with the camera. In the next few weeks, I will be sharing a more detailed review of the new Kodak Super 8 Camera, along with test footage and stills. But for now, here’s how this short film came together – The Challenge: A Single Roll Of 50D Recently I made a goal of shooting a short film every month in 2024. Both as a means to experiment with my craft, and share the results & process here with all of you. Having just come ..read more

Using a non-standard aspect ratio is one of the most effective ways to subtly shift the tone of your film. In this post, I’ve highlighted some contemporary movies that benefitted from non-standard (often vintage) aspect ratio choices. I’ve written a lot about alternative aspect ratios, including in this article about picking the right aspect for your movie. But for those looking for even more inspiration, check out the list of films below. Each of which broke away from a conventional 1.85:1 / 2.39:1 format. 1:1 – Mommy Very few films have ever been shot using a fully square aspect ratio. But ..read more

I just finished directing & DPing my latest feature film, and wanted to share some thoughts on the process. Hopefully this post can help some of you who are looking to juggle both roles on projects of your own. Before we get into some of the tactics I used on set, we should talk about determining whether this path is right for you. As there are a lot of benefits (but also drawbacks) associated with doing so. Like any other choice, it’s always about what is best for your project as a whole. DPing Your Own Movie: Pros & Cons There are two primary benefits of DPing your own film: You can ..read more

Last week we officially wrapped production on our new feature film Teacher’s Pet, which has been in the works for well over a year. This production was among the best I’ve ever been a part of, and truly exceeded my expectations in every way. To say that I am grateful for our team who made it all possible would be a massive understatement. I also learned more on this film than any other, as it was larger in scale, scope, and complexity than anything I had ever worked on. But it was still very much an indie production that benefitted from some of my usual DIY tactics. Whenever I wrap up a produc ..read more

This week we did a pre-shoot for our upcoming feature – a one day production that took place a month ahead of the main schedule. I’ve never done this before, but it was hugely beneficial from a creative perspective… Originally I was simply planning to do some camera tests. But after some discussion with the actors and team, we decided to maximize the day by shooting footage we could actually use. For those of you with short or feature films on the horizon, I highly recommend setting up a pre-shoot of your own. Having now gone through the process, I’ve se ..read more