Tales From the Loop, a new eight-episode series now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, explores the goings-on in a small Ohio town situated atop a mysterious machine that has made the stuff of imagination into an everyday reality for the local residents. Based on the paintings of Swedish artist Simon St lenhag, the series was written by showrunner Nathaniel Halpern, and the pilot episode reteamed director Mark Romanek with longtime collaborator Jeff Cronenweth, ASC.
Mark's not one to be shy of using references that he's fond of, says Cronenweth, who was still working as a camera operator when he first partnered with the director in the mid-1990s. After stepping up to cinematographer, Cronenweth would continue to shoot music videos and commercials for Romanek, as well as the feature One Hour Photo. As they began to prep the pilot for Tales From the Loop, the cinematographer notes, Directors like Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky and Krzysztof Kieslowski were all inspirational to us. We reeducated ourselves in their films, their choices of light, and in particular their pacing and camera movement. Tales From the Loop very much has a kind of Scandinavian, methodical storytelling technique.
The production also reunited Cronenweth with Light Iron supervising colorist Ian Vertovec, with whom he had previously collaborated on a range of projects, including features such as The Social Network, Hitchcock and A Million Little Pieces. I spoke with Ian right when I got the gig, as soon as the choice was made to go with Light Iron, the cinematographer says. I started talking about our approach, how we were going to film, what I thought it would look like, and I gave him some of the same references that Mark and Nathaniel and I had looked at. We talked about the pace and tone and color.
We also talked a lot about skin tone, and time of day, and trying to get a sense of period, adds Vertovec, one of Light Iron's co-founders. We didn't want to hit you over the head with this old-fashioned look, but we really wanted to emphasize nostalgia and timelessness; we wanted the audience to be thinking about their childhood. We were trying to trigger on that emotion, a kind of melancholy nostalgia, and to find the colors that would support that.
One of the things I noticed in Simon's paintings was the natural color palette, Vertovec continues. It definitely was not a traditional science-fiction color palette; it was much more natural light, end of day, almost a perpetual magic hour. Nothing was too colorful, nothing was too poppy, nothing was too contrasty. It was all very beautiful, and it tied in with what Jeff and Mark were saying. They didn't really want a look' applied so much as they wanted the natural vibes to come through, the natural palette.
The filmmakers also decided early on that they would employ a large-format sensor for Tales From the Loop. We went with large-format with the idea of giving the show a scale and a scope that's larger than traditional approaches to television, and also for the lack of depth of field, Cronenweth explains. I'm adamant about depth-of-field being one of our storytelling tools, so the audience will be present where we want them to be. Also, there's a little girl in the show who's lost in this world, and a shallow depth of field was a great way of keeping her isolated and making the world more confusing and abstract.
Partnering with Panavision, Cronenweth chose to employ the Millennium DXL2 camera with large-format Panaspeed and Primo 70 primes. I had used the DXL2 on different jobs in the past, and I was a fan of it already it's my go-to camera when I want to utilize Panavision's world-renowned lens inventory, the cinematographer explains. Referencing the camera's 8K imager and native 1600 ISO, he adds, I liked the idea of the extra resolution and the speed, especially in the case of day exteriors turning into night and some of the sets we were working in. We shot 16:9, which was required by the studio, and for certain visual-effects shots we might have gone to 8K, but for all intents and purposes it was a 6K show.
When we went through our lens testing and discovered the Panaspeeds, their optical properties just fit our palette perfectly, he continues. They're very sophisticated pieces of glass, but they lend themselves to not being perfect.' They're more natural in a way because of their aberrations. It wasn't a complete set at the time, so we supplemented with the Primo 70s, which fit beautifully. They're a little cleaner than the Panaspeeds, so we used a little bit of diffusion when we needed it. I felt like if we could shoot our masters and two-shots with the Panaspeeds, it would be easier to match that to a close-up with the Primo 70s.
For his show LUT, Cronenweth opted to employ the DXL2's built-in Light Iron Color 2 Film look-up table. Vertovec had been instrumental in developing the DXL system's original Light Iron Color and subsequent Light Iron Color 2 LUTs. Jeff took a look at this [Light Iron Color 2 Film] LUT, Vertovec relates, and I think he didn't know that I had been building it off of a lot of the work that he and I had done.
Once Cronenweth learned of the LUT's inspiration, the cinematographer says, It made perfect sense why I would be attracted to it it's my own aesthetics wrapped up in a LUT. I like the way the colors roll off, the black levels, the shadow details I just love the color science in general. The way it interprets color is in line with everything I used to shoot on film.
Among the LUT's characteristics, Vertovec explains, it pulls blues toward more of a cyan, and it pulls greens a little toward yellow, which can make front-lit grass and trees feel more natural, a bit more like film, and not so el
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
02/12/2025
Faculty Notes: Fall/Winter 2025 Recent accomplishments, releases, and events by Berklee faculty.
December 1, 2025
By
Editorial Staff
The cast of Kind of M...
01/12/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
01/12/2025
Artemis II is NASA's first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The crew, from left: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Vic...
01/12/2025
IRVINE, Calif. Wooden Camera has introduced its new Accessory Collection for the Canon EOS C50. The new lineup includes a low-profile, gimbal-ready cage, expand...
01/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for its Dec. 18 Open Commission Meeting that will include a vote on a report an...
01/12/2025
In most years, a graph of annual local TV ad spending is about as predictable as an electrocardiogram of a reasonably healthy patient in a doctor's office. ...
01/12/2025
Many industries have seen big-ticket hardware turn into software. Switchers, though, demand a combination of real-time performance and sheer bandwidth that has ...
01/12/2025
GENEVA Shanghai will host the next quadrennial Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-27) and World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27), Oct. 11-Nov. 12, 2027. This...
01/12/2025
NEW YORK Just in time for Giving Tuesday tomorrow (Dec. 2), the Broadcasters Foundation of America is seeking out donations to help television and radio industr...
01/12/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Net Insight CEO Crister Fritzson has informed the company's board that he will retire from the video transport and media cloud technology ...
01/12/2025
01 Dec 2025
Kyivstar and Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation Select Go...
01/12/2025
The prequel to the global hit Sky Original mob crime saga, Gomorrah' is a s...
01/12/2025
Featuring Florence Welch, Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Flea, designer Bella Freud...
01/12/2025
Back to All News
A Down to Earth, All Too Relatable Hero: Cashero' Teaser ...
01/12/2025
In the rush to deliver content to every screen, many broadcasters overlook one of the most crucial steps in the workflow: format and frame rate conversion. Get ...
01/12/2025
Fox Corporation Chief Financial Officer Steve Tomsic to Participate in Upcoming ...
01/12/2025
Arvato Systems' Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Receives BSI C5 Certification (T...
01/12/2025
Summary This short video gives you an summary of the changes in under two minutes.
--...
01/12/2025
As the festive season approaches, RT Supporting the Arts is proud to showcase a...
01/12/2025
Researchers worldwide rely on open-source technologies as the foundation of their work. To equip the community with the latest advancements in digital and physi...
01/12/2025
Festive specials of Christmas in Kilmainham presented by Marty Whelan, High Road Low Road, Callan Kicks the Year and Keys to My Life
Ring in the New Year with ...
01/12/2025
Architect and television presenter Hugh Wallace, best known to RT audiences as a long-serving judge on Home of the Year, has died at the age of 68.
In a state...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
Tales From the Loop, a new eight-episode series now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, explores the goings-on in a small Ohio town situated atop a mysterious machine that has made the stuff of imagination into an everyday reality for the local residents. Based on the paintings of Swedish artist Simon St lenhag, the series was written by showrunner Nathaniel Halpern, and the pilot episode reteamed director Mark Romanek with longtime collaborator Jeff Cronenweth, ASC.
