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IndieWire’s camera surveys are finally messing with Texas. We reached out to the cinematographers behind the feature films premiering at SXSW and asked which cameras, lenses, and formats they used and why they chose them to create the looks and meet the production demands of their films. Fish Eye Lens
In addition to a great many films shot on industry workhorses like the ALEXA Mini and the Sony Venice, some new challenges are in the mix in Austin. Several DPs in search of versatility and lower footprint on set gravitated to the Ronin 4D or even cell phone footage to shoot quickly. And while budget constraints tend to push films towards digital, at least a couple of films were able to find dramatic reasons to mix formats slightly, with a touch of 16mm for flavor.
The 2024 SXSW narrative features took on every kind of filmmaking challenge imaginable, from shooting in extremely remote locations to shooting extremely tight locations (and fitting an ALEXA Mini into a pizza oven) to shooting extremely quickly to shooting in extremely low light. What unites all of the responses is a concern with how the cinematography brings audiences closer to each film’s characters: how they feel, how they see the world, or how the story informs the way we understand our own. Here are the responses from filmmakers who brought scripted narrative features to the festival.
Films appear in alphabetical order by title.
Dir: Roshan Sethi DP: Amy Vincent Category: Narrative Spotlight Format: 4K 16×9 mode Camera: ALEXA 35 Lenses: Leica Summilux primes and Fujinon Premista Zooms
The Look: The ALEXA 35 paired with the Leica Summilux Primes was the perfect combination for the vibrant color world of “A Nice Indian Boy.” With an enhanced contrast LUT, we were able to capture the swirling saturation of the Indian weddings, as well as the rich warmth of the Gavaskar family home and costumes. The mixture of skin tones in our amazing cast was rendered beautifully — setting the stage for a dramatic, engaging story about love and acceptance. The compact ALEXA 35 camera body and Leica prime lenses let the camera movement be agile and athletic. Our confidence in the lenses and sensor allowed us to move quickly, without any on-set color correction, allowing the director, Roshan Sethi, to move with great efficiency and speed on set and concentrate on the performances.
Dir: Benjamin Brewer DP: Frank Mobilio Category: Narrative Spotlight Format: Sony X-OCN XT @ 6k 3:2 for 2.35:1 extraction Camera: Sony Venice Lenses: Cooke Panchro/i Classic FF, Richard Gale Optics Clavius, Angenieux Optimo
The Look: Director Benjamin Brewer and I wanted to approach this film like we were making a documentary. That meant giving the actors a lot of space to work in and being prepared to shoot up to 360 degrees with a handheld camera for the duration of the production. We often ran with no tech rehearsals to keep everything feeling discovered and almost never approached a scene the same way for the second take.
“Arcadian” takes place in a world with no electricity, so I really felt that every light source should be justified. We kept everything outside the sets on day interiors and used a lot of practical fire, candle, and lantern light for night scenes. The high sensitivity of the Venice enabled us to shoot such scenes with very little film lighting and at a modest aperture since we wanted to avoid a razor-thin depth of field. The Cooke lenses had enough clarity to facilitate the complex (and incredible) visual effects work led by VFX supervisor Zak Stoltz but still had a natural fall off on the edges, and I loved the way that they rendered faces and backgrounds and the way that they handled all of the practical firelight we had in frame.
Dir: Natalie Bailey, DP: Simon Ozolins Category: Narrative Feature Competition Format: ARRI Pro Res Camera: ALEXA 35 Lenses: Cooke X2 Anamorphic Lenses
The Look: During the production of “Audrey,” the timing couldn’t have been more perfect with the release of the ALEXA 35. Its cutting-edge high ISO capabilities were a saving grace, particularly for capturing low-light scenes within our limited budget constraints. This technological advancement allowed us to push the boundaries of low-light cinematography while maintaining visual clarity and quality. Another exciting feature of the ALEXA 35 was its new texture settings, which we eagerly incorporated into our workflow. These settings provided the film with a subtle but distinct push in the direction of an analog aesthetic.
In selecting the perfect lenses for the project, I turned to the Cooke x2 anamorphic lenses for their ability to render skin tones with a soft, natural quality. In essence, the combination of the ALEXA 35 with its high ISO capabilities, the innovative texture settings, and the Cooke x2 anamorphic lenses formed the backbone of our cinematographic approach for “Audrey.”
Dir: Pamela Adlon DP: Jeffrey Kim Category: Headliners Format: 3.4K ARRIRAW Camera: ALEXA Mini Lenses: Tribe7 Blackwings7 S-Tuned
The Look: The ALEXA has been my preferred camera for digital acquisition since its introduction to the industry over a decade ago. My familiarity with the way it renders colors and its wide dynamic range has provided me with a sense of comfort regardless of the photographic situation in which I have found myself over the years. The ALEXA’s stellar performance in high contrast scenarios as well as low light situations made it the logical choice for this film, given that we had an ambitious shooting schedule and limited resources in terms of lighting equipment and crew.
The Blackwings7 are modern spherical lenses that utilize vintage 35mm still photography donor glass. One thing that kept coming up in conversations with the director during prep was the idea of making the photography feel “timeless.” The Blackwings7 are relatively low-contrast lenses that have a soft, warm, painterly quality to them. They imbued the imagery with a more filmic look (as opposed to modern, overly sharp, clinical lenses) which to me more accurately conveyed the world that these characters inhabit. Inherent softness, aberration, organic imperfections — this sums up who the characters in the film are. Their lives are messy — full of happiness, sadness, laughter, and love.
Additionally, the Blackwings7 are very flattering on faces. The two protagonists are females and one of my primary responsibilities as the cinematographer of the film was to ensure that our leading ladies looked great at all times.
Dir: Shaun Seneviratne DP: Molly Scotti Category: Narrative Feature Competition Format: 4K UHD ProRes, Kodak Vision3 250D 7207, Kodak Vision3 500T 7219 Camera: ALEXA Mini, Bolex H16 with PL Mount Lenses: ARRI Ultra Primes, Angenieux 25-250 (HR)
The Look: Ben and Suzanne’s story is meant to feel naturalistic and textured, and while shooting entirely on 16mm film initially felt like the correct format, budgetary restrictions as well as conversations about form and intention lead us to lean instead primarily on the ARRI digital grain and film emulation for a similar feel, and save only a few key moments to shoot on film. We decided to use 16mm as a tool for mirroring the characters’ experience as tourists, and to isolate these moments from the rest of the footage. These sequences are meant to create a feeling of nostalgia akin to a home movie or found footage documentary, but without an isolated point of view. The Bolex forced us to not only emulate a run-and-gun home movie experience but to live it, only allowing us 28 seconds per crank to capture any given moment.
Handheld Industrial Borescopes The Mini’s 14+ dynamic range gave us the flexibility to shoot the digital portion of the film with a more bare bones lighting package, prioritizing pushing practicals and natural light over a more stylized look to create an intimate and relatable depiction of the couple’s journey across the country. The 4:3 aspect ratio is also intended to bring the couple closer together, creating a sometimes forced closeness as they explore lost intimacy and attempt to rediscover what they once shared.