Released this past January, the music video for Ariana Grande's yes, and? brings a modern approach to vintage allure. The video was directed by Christian Breslauer, who worked for the first time with cinematographer Gaul Porat. Together, the filmmakers found inspiration in well-chosen references and showcased the dynamic choreography with intentional framing and subtle, deliberate camera moves.
Working with Panavision New York, Breslauer and Porat chose to work primarily with H Series spherical primes for the production, which came together quickly in December 2023. Panavision recently caught up with both filmmakers for insights on their inspirations and collaboration.
Panavision: How would you describe the look you wanted to create for yes, and?'
Gaul Porat: Our look was definitely inspired by classic music videos from the mid-'80s to '90s, which were also inspired by the classic Vogue black-and-white photography of Richard Avedon and Herb Ritts. The most direct homage is Paula Abdul's Cold Hearted' music video, with its bold angles and compositions paired with soft yet strong directional window lighting.
How did you decide to frame for the 1.33:1 aspect ratio?
Christian Breslauer: Well, the song has a very late '80s, early '90s dance sound, and when you watch videos in that time period, they were often shot in the 4-by-3 format. So it felt right when we got into our set and saw the choreography. It just made it very flattering.
What drew you to H Series lenses for this music video?
Breslauer: I've used the H Series on a few projects and have always loved the vintage portrait characteristics they give, with the softness and roll-off on the edges. We wanted the video to have a nostalgic feel as well as look beautiful while softening skin tones and blooming highlights.
Porat: We wanted a set that could have a strong and classic look but without sacrificing optical quality, and the H Series are exactly that. Those were our main primes used for wides and our portraits of Ari during specific beats of the song.
What brought you to Panavision for this project?
Porat: This project came up super last minute, and I knew I needed a camera vendor I could count on for having what we needed to achieve the look we wanted. So naturally Panavision was the place we wanted to go through that would have the expertise and quality of lenses that was right for us.
Christian, you've previously worked out of Panavision Hollywood, but for yes, and?' you prepped out of Panavision New York. How have your experiences been in both facilities?
Breslauer: Fantastic! Its great to know Panavision has my back no matter where I'm shooting, and the quality of service transcends each facility. I started working with Panavision a few years ago, eager to get my hands on their world-famous glass, and once I started shooting on it, I havent been able to stay away!
How did the two of you communicate with each other over the course of the project to ensure you had a shared vision for the look?
Porat: Christian is very collaborative yet, at the same time, very clear with what he wants. This was super-helpful, as it was our first time working together and we were on a very expedited timeline, so we quickly had to develop a shorthand for understanding each other. We didn't have the luxury of time to send a lot of references back and forth aside from what was in Christian's treatment from the get-go, so we just jumped headfirst into planning it all by getting into the location and seeing what it gave us and what we still had to augment and improve with lighting, set design, etc. It's not always ideal to have such a short timeline, but in a way it let us be very focused because 100 percent of our time for those few days was just spent on creating the look.
How do you approach camera movement when it comes to shooting a music video?
Breslauer: It varies from project to project, but on this one in particular, I was very intentional with our camera blocking in that we really hero the choreo and performance. When you see the choreo, its very elegant and like a hybrid ballet vogue. I didn't want to overly move the camera I love the idea of setting a clean frame and moving subtly to enhance a beat.
Any final thoughts?
Porat: The yes, and?' music video was such a great experience as a last job of the year before the holiday break because of who I got to work with, from Christian, the production team and Ariana, to my amazing crew. They all brought their A game, and I loved seeing everyone flow so well together. Our crane operators brought lots of great ideas to play with the camera angles, the AC team was super-focused yet also didn't take things too seriously, and our grip-and-electric team worked through torrential rains and not the easiest location. I want to recognize all their hard work and passion for their craft, which helps feed-back into my love and excitement for it, too.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
06/07/2026
Long-developed relationships and informal access, three production models, and c...
06/07/2026
The deal follows Lumine's recent acquisition of Synamedia's video-networ...
06/07/2026
This former SportsCenter producer is shaping local-team studio coverage to surro...
06/07/2026
IMS Productions and FOX Sports deployed more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds,...
06/07/2026
Lumine Group Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Video Network Business from Synamedia. The business will operate as a standalone compan...
06/07/2026
NASCAR has announced a content and commercial partnership with Motorsport Network, a motorsports and automotive media platform, to distribute NASCAR original co...
06/07/2026
Versant Media Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Full Swing, a sports technology company, from Bruin Capital and a group of minority investor...
06/07/2026
DAZN has announced global broadcast rights to 3ICE, a professional hockey format featuring three skaters and a goalkeeper per side, with no power plays or offsi...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
06/07/2026
Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...
06/07/2026
Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development
Brie Clayton July 6, 2026
0 Comments
The strategic new appointment supports...
06/07/2026
Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve
Michael Cioni July 6, 2026
0 Comments
This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...
06/07/2026
Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro
Colin Smith July 6, 2026
0 Comments
Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...
06/07/2026
Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...
06/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...
06/07/2026
Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...
06/07/2026
Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy
intellisphereinsyght2026
6 July Written By Suzanne Costello
Sydney, Australia - 06 July 2026 T...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...
06/07/2026
Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work.
This year's ...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture' - Zac Fields, SVP, Graphic Technology and Integration, FOX Sports...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
Released this past January, the music video for Ariana Grande's yes, and? brings a modern approach to vintage allure. The video was directed by Christian Breslauer, who worked for the first time with cinematographer Gaul Porat. Together, the filmmakers found inspiration in well-chosen references and showcased the dynamic choreography with intentional framing and subtle, deliberate camera moves.
