Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Tribute to the King

29/06/2022

It was June 2019 when director Baz Luhrmann first approached cinematographer Mandy Walker, ACS, ASC about collaborating on the new biopic Elvis. I was extremely excited, Walker recalls. Baz showed me a reel he had put together to explain Elvis' history and serve as a guide to the story he wanted tell. Elvis was the King,' and his experiences and rise to fame were larger than life.

Walker and Luhrmann had previously teamed on the director's epic 2008 feature Australia. The cinematographer describes their collaboration as such a fulfilling relationship. He runs the set like a conductor and is constantly communicating with all departments. It's a very rewarding experience for everyone. Baz makes us all feel involved and part of the process in a respectful and inclusive way.

Principal photography for Elvis was based in Australia's northeast state of Queensland and spanned approximately 20 weeks, with Austin Butler in the title role. Sourcing their lens package through Panavision Queensland, the filmmakers worked with Sphero 65 large-format optics which Walker had previously employed on the features The Mountain Between Us and Mulan as well as T Series anamorphic lenses modified for a 1.85x squeeze factor. Walker recently connected with Panavision to share her experiences from the production.

Panavision: On past projects, you've often assembled a look bible' during prep. Was that part of the process for Elvis, and if so, what sort of imagery was included?

Mandy Walker, ACS, ASC: Baz and [production designer and costume designer] Catherine Martin always do extensive research very early on and start putting together a reference book with historical references and ideas for sets and costumes. When I started, we added more inspiration, working together to research movies, art and photographic reference that tied to Baz's vision, and then I began exploring the technical aspects of how to express those ideas. We looked at documentary films, footage of Elvis' concert performances, and many photographs depicting his life and these specific parts of American history.

Very importantly, because there is documentary concert footage that exists, we would all study that meticulously when we had those scenes. The camera operators would watch to see how to match their shots and camera angles. We looked at the colors and design of the concert lighting. Even the dimmer-board operators were making the same lighting changes in time to the music. We spent weeks rehearsing and plotting the cameras and lighting for those scenes.

What was your process with Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin and other key collaborators to define the creative use of color in the movie?

Walker: We gleaned what we saw in the historical research, but we were also making a drama for cinema, so the storytelling of Elvis' journey and relationship with Col. Tom Parker [Tom Hanks] was really what guided how we looked at creating the visual language. We wanted the color palette to relate to the specific time and place as well as to express Elvis' emotional journey at those times in history. For instance, he came from a very poor neighborhood in Memphis, so for the beginning of his life, we wanted a desaturated palette, what we called black-and-white color.' Work from photographers such as Gordon Parks and Saul Leiter and images from Elvis' own photos guided the look of that era. Then, the Hollywood years of the 1950s and 1960s are full of Kodachrome colors, and Vegas in the '70s is full of glitz, contrast and saturated colors. We had different LUTs on set that represented each specific era.

It was important that the cinematography, art department, and costume and makeup were all on the same page. During preproduction, Baz is meticulous about shooting tests that bring together each and every aspect, so when it's time to actually shoot the movie, we're all in harmony. I also went into dailies every night to finesse and match the scenes from each era and the flow of each location to the next.

What is it about the Sphero 65 lenses that drew you to use them again for Elvis?

Walker: The nature of Elvis' life is epic. Those lenses are great at showing wide, grand frames but also intimate close-ups with low depth of field. For the beginning of his life through the 1960s we used this format. Then, to show the transition of Elvis' life when he went to Las Vegas, we went anamorphic, which helped delineate the historical time and place. One of the documentaries we had as a reference was That's the Way It Is, and that film was shot anamorphic at the Hilton ballroom.

Baz and I visited [Panavision's senior vice president of optical engineering and lens strategy] Dan Sasaki in Woodland Hills in August 2019 to start talking to him about the style of the movie and our visual language for depicting time within the history of Elvis' life. Dan suggested the Spheros for the first part of the movie and the T Series for the 1970s, and he and his team then added characteristics to the lenses that enhanced the look we wanted not too clean, and keeping a cinematic look as opposed to an electronic feel. Dan works in a way that is technical, but he can interpret the emotional feel you want in a lens.

Paul Jackson [managing director for Panavision Australia] was also part of our collaboration. He came in to meet with Baz and myself and talk about how we would liaise so the different lensing and cameras would flow perfectly for the schedule.

You also had a large-format Panavision Petzval lens. What qualities did it offer, and when would you use it?

Walker: We used it for special moments and to intensify the memories and dreamy qualities of the experience for the audience. This lens focuses your eyes to the center of the frame, like a vignette, and the background d
LINK: https://www.panavision.com/highlights/highlights-detail/tribute-to-the...
See more stories from panavision

Most recent headlines

03/06/2024

Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...

18/03/2024

USC Basketball Star Juju Watkins on Fashion, Film, Friendship Bracelets, and More

Listeners turn to Spotify to connect with their favorites-from artists and album...

18/03/2024

Young professionals successfully complete vocational training at SGL's Meitingen site

Seven young professionals completed their vocational training at SGL Carbon in M...

18/03/2024

Vintage Allure

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 ...

18/03/2024

ST Engineering iDirect Unveils Intuition at SATELLITE 2024 Conference and Exhibition

Global satellite communications leader gives market a first look at its next-gen...

18/03/2024

Box to Box Films shares with MediaSilo

Box to Box Films Shares with MediaSilo Amy and Drive to Survive producer updates collaborators simply and securely Boston, MA, March 18, 2024 - Box to Box Fi...

18/03/2024

Telestream Introduces AI-Powered Tools for Rapid Content Delivery at NAB Show 2024

Telestream Introduces AI-Powered Tools for Rapid Content Delivery at NAB Show 20...

18/03/2024

Docufiction Film Bringing Down a Mountain Edited with DaVinci Resolve Studio

Docufiction Film Bringing Down a Mountain Edited with DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton March 18, 2024 0 Comments Blackmagic Design today announced ...

18/03/2024

FingerWorks Telestrators Releases Enhancements to Computer Vision Live Tracking Software at NAB 2024

FingerWorks Telestrators Releases Enhancements to Computer Vision Live Tracking ...

18/03/2024

DirecTV to Allow Subscribers to Opt Out of Local Stations

DirecTV announced a new feature over the weekend that will allow its subscribers to opt out of their local stations in return for a discount. Customers who ch...

18/03/2024

Logging and reviewing: Moving towards a sustainable workflow

Jane Sung, COO at Cinedeck, explains how broadcasters and content production companies can achieve the goal of moving towards creating a more sustainable, effic...

18/03/2024

Altice Media sold to French shipping tycoon for 1.55 billion

The deal includes BFM TV, one of the country's largest 24-hour news channels, as well as documentary channel RMC D couverte, and RMC Story By Jenny Priestl...

18/03/2024

Meet the CEO and founder

By TVBEurope Staff Published: March 18, 2024 Nick Franco tells TVBEurope how he went from being a master plasterer and refurbishing the ornate plasterwork ...

18/03/2024

Master the Avatar State: Glowing Eyes in Adobe After Effects

Master the Avatar State: Glowing Eyes in Adobe After Effects Levi Borland March 18, 2024 0 Comments In this step-by-step tutorial, learn how to recrea...

18/03/2024

Next Season of Doctor Who' on Disney Plus May 10

The next season of Doctor Who, with Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor, premieres on Disney Plus and around the world May 10. It is the first season to launch on Di...

18/03/2024

Screen Australia and VicScreen launch new Screen Careers initiative

18 03 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and VicScreen launch new Screen Careers initiative LTR Denise Eriksen, Esther Coleman Hawkins, Caroline Pitcher, K...

18/03/2024

CBC/WRAL Night Helps Bring in Over $26k for PBS NC

Capitol Broadcasting and WRAL-TV continued a decades-long tradition of supporting PBS North Carolina, our state's public television station, to good result ...

18/03/2024

Banglalink Gets Unified Licence to Deliver Superior Digital Services in Bangladesh

18 Mar 2024 Banglalink Gets Unified Licence to Deliver Superior Digital Service...

18/03/2024

Thuraya partners with Niflink to deliver telemedicine and eLearning to users across its network

Abu Dhabi, 18 March, 2024 : Abu Dhabi, 18 March 2024: Thuraya Telecommunication...

18/03/2024

Thuraya partners with Niflink to deliver telemedicine and eLearning to users across its ne...

Abu Dhabi, 18 March, 2024 : Abu Dhabi, 18 March 2024: Thuraya Telecommunication...

18/03/2024

Major League Soccer: IMG on Capturing Fan Rituals and Delivering Consistent Coverage

Major League Soccer: IMG on capturing fan rituals and delivering consistent cove...

18/03/2024

Smashing Padel: Inside Aurora's Innovative Production of the Inaugural Hexagon Cup

Smashing padel: Inside Aurora's innovative production of the inaugural Hexag...

18/03/2024

Airspeeder Teams Up With EMG for World's First Live Broadcast of Flying Car Series

Airspeeder teams up with EMG for world's first live broadcast of flying car ...

18/03/2024

Netflix Announces News About 26 Upcoming Nordic Titles - Including 12 Brand New Titles

Back to All News Netflix Announces News About 26 Upcoming Nordic Titles - Inclu...

18/03/2024

Final sprint in the AS4 market communication

Final Sprint in the AS4 Market Communication: All Arvato Systems Customers Are Ready to Go Customers for market communication AS4-ready Arvato Systems is now...

18/03/2024

Tonight on Uzalo: Nkunzi takes a drastic decision

Tonight on Uzalo: Nkunzi takes a drastic decisionDon't miss Monday, 18 March's riveting episode of South African soapie Uzalo on SABC 1 on DStv channel ...

18/03/2024

Thales to modernize Montreal Mtro blue Line,improving passengers' punctuality and train reliability

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Following a call for tenders, the Soci t de tra...

18/03/2024

Streaming today: Vida the Vet' on Netflix - 18 March 2024

Streaming today: Vida the Vet' on Netflix - 18 March 2024Looking for something to watch tonight? Check out all the new streaming releases from all your fav...

18/03/2024

Skeem Saam': Is Tobias Maswahla Evelyn's son?

Skeem Saam': Is Tobias Maswahla Evelyn's son?Is actor Sicelo Buthelezi's character Tobias Maswahla related to Deputy Principal Evelyn Maswahla in S...

18/03/2024

Tonight on Generations: Khensani tries to mend his friendship with Sphe

Tonight on Generations: Khensani tries to mend his friendship with SpheDon't miss Monday, 18 March's riveting episode of South African soapie Generation...

18/03/2024

Question: Did George Lucas rip off Dune?

Question: Did George Lucas rip off Dune?Miles Phillips explores Dune's Legacy and its echo in Star Wars, claiming that the former is among the best science ...

18/03/2024

Tonight on Skeem Saam: Jacobeth kicks Bullet to the curb

Tonight on Skeem Saam: Jacobeth kicks Bullet to the curbDon't miss Monday, 16 March's riveting episode of South African soapie Skeem Saam on SABC 1 on D...

18/03/2024

Tonight on Muvhango: Matshidiso finds incriminating information on Nkele

Tonight on Muvhango: Matshidiso finds incriminating information on NkeleDon't miss Monday, 18 March's riveting episode of South African soapie Muvhango ...

18/03/2024

Tonight on Smoke and Mirrors: In a haze of alcohol, Sakhile knocks down Fanyana

Tonight on Smoke and Mirrors: In a haze of alcohol, Sakhile knocks down FanyanaDon't miss Monday, 18 March's riveting episode of South African soapie Sm...

18/03/2024

Tonight on Scandal: Jojo's bad PR costs him more than he can afford

Tonight on Scandal: Jojo's bad PR costs him more than he can affordDon't miss Monday, 18 March's riveting episode of South African soapie Scandal! o...

18/03/2024

Tonight on Champions: Lebo's family are tearing him apart

Tonight on Champions: Lebo's family are tearing him apartDon't miss Monday, 18 March's riveting episode of South African soapie Champions on Mzansi ...

18/03/2024

Tonight on Gqeberha: Msimelelo lays down the rules at the Tshisa Nyama

Tonight on Gqeberha: Msimelelo lays down the rules at the Tshisa NyamaDon't miss Monday, 18 March's riveting episode of South African soapie Gqeberha: T...

18/03/2024

Tonight on Umkhokha: Zisebenzele makes a bet with Khululiwe that Siphamandla will do it within a week

Tonight on Umkhokha: Zisebenzele makes a bet with Khululiwe that Siphamandla wil...

18/03/2024

Cyberani and Thales enter a strategic alliance to strengthen the Kingdom's cybersecurity

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Mr. Saeed Al Saeed, CEO of Cyberani, and Mr. Pie...

18/03/2024

Thales to equip Cibao International Airport in Dominican Republic with new Air Traffic Control Radar System

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Instituto Dominicano de Aviaci n Civil (IDAC) se...

17/03/2024

WATCH: Highlights from the 2024 Cape Town Carnival [video]

WATCH: Highlights from the 2024 Cape Town Carnival [video]The Mother City's biggest annual street parade returned to Green Point on Saturday with the Cape T...

17/03/2024

WATCH: Highlights from the 2024 Cape Town Carnival

WATCH: Highlights from the 2024 Cape Town CarnivalThe Mother City's biggest annual street parade returned to Green Point on Saturday with the Cape Town Carn...

17/03/2024

Young Papi leaves Big Brother Mzansi'

Young Papi leaves Big Brother Mzansi'Young Papi was the thirteenth housemate to get evicted from the Big Brother Mzansi' reality TV show on Sunday, 17...

17/03/2024

Smoke and Mirrors': Why Thandiswa might dump Caesar

Smoke and Mirrors': Why Thandiswa might dump Caesar Smoke and Mirrors' spoilers reveal that Caesar will propose marriage to Thandiswa. Will she stay wit...

16/03/2024

Josh Brolin Drama Outer Range' Returns To Prime Video May 16

Western drama Outer Range is back with season two on Prime Video May 16. Josh Brolin stars and executive produces. He also directs the season's penultimate ...

16/03/2024

Kristen Wiig Lined Up to Host SNL' for Fifth Time

Kristen Wiig hosts Saturday Night Live for the fifth time on April 6. Wiig stars in and executive produces Palm Royale, which premieres March 20 on Apple TV Plu...

16/03/2024

Magnite, Mediaocean Join To Make Buying CTV Campaigns Easier

Media buyers using Mediaocean's Prisma platform will be able to plan, execute and reconcile ad campaigns on connected TV directly from programmers who work ...

16/03/2024

Bitmovin, Yospace Combine To Insert Ads Into Live Streams

Streaming infrastructure company Bitmovin is teaming up with ad-insertion vendor Yospace to enable broadcasters to put commercials in live-streaming programming...

16/03/2024

Bumble Engages Peacock's The Traitors' To Promote Dating Deception Detector'

Bumble, the dating service, has tapped into Peacock's murder-mystery competi...

16/03/2024

Gerald Levin, Former Time Warner CEO, Has Died

Gerald Levin, former CEO of Time Warner, died March 13. He was 84 and had battled Parkinson's disease....