The series Evil, from creators Robert and Michelle King, has already been picked up for a second season. The show stars Katja Herbers as Kristen Bouchard, a forensic psychologist who joins a priest-in-training (played by Mike Colter) as they investigate the Churchs backlog of unexplained mysteries. As the episodes unfold, the two must come to grips with a logical or supernatural explanation to the supposed miracles, demonic possessions, and hauntings that have been reported.
The Kings turned to cinematographer Fred Murphy, ASC who they collaborated with on The Good Wife, Braindead and The Good Fight, to help bring Evil to the screen. Murphy alternates shooting Evil episodes with Tim Guinness. The team chose Panavision to support the series from preproduction through post.
We chose to shoot with the DXL2 camera because it has a terrific range from light to dark, says Murphy, a five-time Emmy nominee. It seems to reach into the darkness, and it seems to have more color. The other cameras I tested were much more contrasty and required more light to produce the same image. With the DXL2, it's more like film you don't have to put lights everywhere, and everything seems to fall off slowly and gradually.
On the shoot, Murphy pairs the DXL2 at 5K resolution with T2 Leica Summicron lenses. The sensor size is Super 35, and the aspect ratio is 16:9. The camera's specs include 16-bit Light Iron color and one of the quietest signal-to-noise ratios in the market.
Murphy says that the primary visual inspiration is The Night of the Hunter, the 1955 classic directed by Charles Laughton and shot by Stanley Cortez, ASC in expressionistic and spare black and white.
There's a moment in The Night of the Hunter when Robert Mitchum is about to stab Shelley Winters, says Murphy. It's a strange kind of wide shot in which the lighting and the set design combine to give an abstract, church-like appearance. The roof comes to a point, and he has a streak of light playing on him. But all around them, there's darkness. In a way, our whole visual approach is rooted in that scene.
Of course, that film is black and white, but on Evil, we try to use extremely intense color on occasion, says Murphy. There's a great deal of contrast between warm and cold, and the camera's ability to see subtle color differences helps make that work.
A simple night exterior establishing shot of the main character's home shows the camera's range. The location is a modest brick duplex in Astoria. There's very little light there, Murphy explains. I'm shooting at a stop of 2, at 1600 ASA. I had one large blue-ish light illuminating pretty much everything, and some lights coming from underneath to brighten the adjacent trestle. There's a small light on the house, and eventually, some headlights from cars pulling in. You'd be shocked at how little light I'm using. But with the DXL2, you can read all the way, deep into the background, underneath the trestle, and into the trees, which are silhouetted against the night sky ambience. Normally, in a night scene like that, the sky would just go black. There'd be nothing there. I'm just amazed at what the camera can capture.
Murphy and Guinness work with colorist Steve Bodner at Light Iron's facility in New York.
Steve is very good he's on my wavelength, says Murphy, who previously worked with Bodner on The Good Fight. It's so much easier when you find someone who likes what you like and has the same desires about the way it looks. I had Steve design the LUT for Evil, which is a very helpful and important part of it. It's a slightly adapted (KODAK 35mm) 5218 simulation, but it's more than that. I only use one LUT, and I correct the lighting, the camera, or both to suit the shot.
From the first time I sat with Fred and Tim for testing The Good Fight to now working with them on Evil I just felt like we all were on the same page, says Bodner. They both are so talented, and they are also open to collaboration, which is exciting because they allow me to try different ideas. I'm really grateful that they allow me to add my own personal touches because it is what makes my job fun and rewarding. I think Evil has a unique look that really stands out from other network programs.
Murphy notes his relationship with Panavision goes back to the 1970s, when he was a young cameraman making no-budget movies. Today, Panavision still has his back. If I need anything, they get it, he espouses. They've made gizmos for me, like the giant iris I used on Murder in the First and a special lens for Mothman Prophecies where only the center was in focus. And Light Iron, since it's part of Panavision, really understands this camera. The dailies look great. The people at Panavision and Light Iron make a key contribution to the look of these shows.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
01/06/2026
SBS confirms its broadcast sponsors for FIFA World Cup 2026
1 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has secured Hyundai, Hisense, Macca's, Rexona, bet365, Com...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Wins 15 Awards at the Canadian Screen Awards - See Pho...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
The series Evil, from creators Robert and Michelle King, has already been picked up for a second season. The show stars Katja Herbers as Kristen Bouchard, a forensic psychologist who joins a priest-in-training (played by Mike Colter) as they investigate the Churchs backlog of unexplained mysteries. As the episodes unfold, the two must come to grips with a logical or supernatural explanation to the supposed miracles, demonic possessions, and hauntings that have been reported.
