Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Mystery Down Under

07/09/2022

The Australian series Mystery Road: Origin adds to the popular mythology established in the franchise's preceding features and television seasons. The detective-driven drama follows Jay Swan (Mark Coles Smith), a newly minted police officer navigating his new position in the indigenous mining community where his estranged father resides. As series cinematographer Tyson Perkins explains, the subject matter offered a rich vein for visual storytelling. The look of Mystery Road: Origin certainly sits within the typical Western style, he notes. The color palette and camerawork resemble the West Australian landscape in which it was shot.

Specifically, the city of Kalgoorlie served as the show's fictional town of Jardine. Kalgoorlie is a mining town riddled with the scars of human industry, Perkins says. The visuals work to mirror this. Mystery Road: Origin is the prequel to a large body of work that includes two other shows and two films. [Origin series director] Dylan River and I looked to capture the tone that [Mystery Road and Goldstone director] Ivan Sen had captured in his original feature films. We loved how he used a single-camera approach and covered his scenes really sparsely. This style added to the ominous feeling that lingers around Jay wherever he goes.

Dylan and I are both big fans of Roger Deakins [ASC, BSC], Perkins adds. No Country for Old Men, Prisoners and Sicario were big inspirations a lot of the lighting and framing references that we drew upon in the show came from those films. We had a relatively long preproduction period, and given how tight television schedules are, our collective knowledge of the scripts and our desired approach proved to be invaluable. It meant we could keep focused on what was important to the story, even if we had to lose some shots from the list.

Perkins turned to Panavision Sydney to find the lens set that would match the Western style he was envisioning. We wanted a large-format lens set that would diffuse the harshness of the environment but at the same time would add to the hazy, hot feeling of the West Australian landscape, he explains. The H Series do that job perfectly and are a wonderful portrait set. They have a wonderful softness that's pleasing on skin and helped amplify the heat haze of the desert without feeling like they sacrifice resolution to do so. They also have this unique focus falloff that's hard to define but is something that I find tremendously pleasing.

For his camera, Perkins chose Panavision's Millennium DXL2. We wanted to harness the wide field of view that the DXL2 sensor provides, the cinematographer notes. This was not only to capture the wide vistas in the landscape we were shooting, but it was also chosen specifically for use in cars. Using a large-format camera for car interiors meant we could use our hero lens, the 50mm, for our car work and keep most of the actor in the frame. Lots of the show plays out in car interiors, so this was super-important for us.

We also shot a great number of scenes in the blue hour, and having the ability to push the camera to 2500 ISO was really handy in those moments where you're up against it in the very last moments of light, he says. We scheduled around having the ability to push the camera in that way, and it really had a material impact on what we were able to get.

I don't think you can beat the mix of equipment and support that Panavision offers, Perkins continues. This show was by far the biggest narrative project I had ever done, and my relationship to Panavision was so important to me.

Reflecting on what first brought him to Panavision, Perkins shares, Panavision has a storied history with many filmmakers around the world. However, in Australia, it was the companys support of the Aboriginal filmmakers that have come before that drew me to Panavision initially. My aunt Rachel Perkins is one of the pioneering Aboriginal directors in Australia. And in my early years, whilst I was working with slim to no budget, the support of Ann Lyons at Panavision Sydney was often the difference between me being able to have equipment for a job or not at all.

I've seen firsthand how the power of cinema can compel social change, so I always try to ensure that I contribute to that by foregrounding Aboriginal voices in my work, Perkins adds. Working with an Aboriginal director and lead actors on Mystery Road: Origin is a great example of that. It's something I'm extremely honored to have played a role in.

Images courtesy of Tyson Perkins.
LINK: https://www.panavision.com/highlights/highlights-detail/mystery-down-u...
See more stories from panavision

More from Panavision France

16/03/2023

Enter the Wu-Tang

For three seasons, the Hulu original series Wu-Tang: An American Saga has chronicled the life and times of seminal '90s-era rap group the Wu-Tang Clan. Cine...

16/03/2023

Committing to Memory

Nominated for three awards between the 2022 Berlin and Toronto International Film Festivals, writer-director David Findlay's short Lay Me by the Shore is a ...

16/03/2023

A New Take on the Old West

A revenge story unlike any other, the six-episode Amazon miniseries The English follows an Englishwoman (played by Emily Blunt) who traverses a mythical 19th-ce...

14/03/2023

Cinematic Fanatic

Winner of the Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema at the 2023 Santa Barbara International Film Festival and the RBC Emerging Canadian Artist Award at...

14/03/2023

The Making of Empire of Light

Written and directed by Sam Mendes, the period feature Empire of Light marks the latest collaboration between gaffer John Biggles Higgins and cinematographer ...

14/03/2023

A Sweet Science

Creed III finds Adonis Creed son of the late boxing champ Apollo Creed, the erstwhile nemesis, mentor and friend of Rocky Balboa a successfully retired heav...

14/03/2023

No Man Left Alone

Adapted from the 2015 Swedish film which itself was adapted from the Swedish novel En man som heter Ove (A Man Called Ove), director Marc Forster's feat...

08/03/2023

A High-Impact Short

Awarded The Golden Frog in the Short Documentary Films Competition at the 2022 Camerimage International Film Festival, A Mouthful of Petrol brings viewers into ...

08/03/2023

The Making of Elvis

On Sunday, March 5, cinematographer Mandy Walker, AM, ASC, ACS made history as the first woman to win the American Society of Cinematographers' Theatrical F...

01/03/2023

LEE Filters Canada Meets Evolving Needs in 2023

In the summer of 2021, after more than 30 years of selling its lighting products in Canada through a distributor, LEE Filters established its own footprint in t...

01/03/2023

Dining in Style

Expertly blending flavors of comedy and horror, director Mark Mylod's feature The Menu follows a young couple on an extravagant date to an exclusive restaur...

01/03/2023

Don't Sweat the Technique

The path toward lensing great films is even more varied than the platforms that distribute them. In the case of Netflix's Blonde, an artful balance between ...

22/02/2023

New Visions

For three decades, Film Independent's Project Involve has fostered filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds, helping many of them such as Jon M. Chu a...

22/02/2023

Through a Donkey's Eyes

Taking its cues from Robert Bresson's 1966 film Au Hasard Balthazar, director Jerzy Skolimowski's feature EO follows the wayward journey of a Polish cir...

15/02/2023

Building on What's Reserved

Created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, the FX comedy series Reservation Dogs centers around four teenagers figuring out life as they grow up on a Native Am...

15/02/2023

A Tailor-Made Ensemble

HBO Max's revamped Gossip Girl follows a group of privileged private schoolers as their not-so-teenaged drama is strategically shared on social media by the...

14/02/2023

Panalux Allegra LED range provides enhanced versatility, color accuracy

LONDON, England (14 February, 2023) Panalux, a leading rental provider of lighting and power solutions for the motion-picture industry and part of Panavision&...

13/02/2023

Given to Fly

In October 1948, Jesse Brown became the first African American to complete the U.S. Navy's flight training program and received his Naval Aviator Badge. The...

08/02/2023

A Treasured Heritage

The popular National Treasure franchise has embarked upon a new adventure on Disney+. The 10-episode first season of National Treasure: Edge of History follows ...

07/02/2023

An Honest Examination

The lived experiences of writer-director Elegance Bratton are brought to the screen in The Inspection, which follows the character Ellis French (played by Jerem...

06/02/2023

Intimate and Epic

Set in the West African kingdom of Dahomey in the year 1823, director Gina Prince-Bythewood's feature The Woman King focuses on the historically inspired bu...

02/02/2023

Shots That Speak Volumes

Director Sarah Polley's feature Women Talking about a group of women in an isolated Mennonite community in 2010 who share refuge in a hayloft while weighi...

02/02/2023

Honk for Your Format

It's not often that a cinematographer is tasked with shooting a film within a film, but for writer-director Adamma Ebo's feature Honk For Jesus. Save Yo...

25/01/2023

Panatar, Shantaram

Adapted from the novel by Gregory David Roberts, the Apple TV+ series Shantaram tells the epic story of an imprisoned criminal (played by Charlie Hunnam) who es...

25/01/2023

True to Life

Inspired by Stephanie Land's memoir of the same name, the 10-episode Netflix limited series Maid centers around Alex (played by Margaret Qualley), a young s...

24/01/2023

Mystical Turns

Lucas Delangle's Jacky Caillou gives audiences something to believe in. The director's feature debut follows the eponymous young man (played by Thomas ...

20/01/2023

Through the Years

For Vincent De Paula, CSC, shooting the Netflix series Firefly Lane felt like a dream come true. Over the course of 26 episodes spanning two seasons, he was tas...

17/01/2023

Liminal Journey

In Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, Mexican filmmaker and expat Silverio Gama (Daniel Gim nez Cacho) undertakes a mind- and time-bending journey o...

14/01/2023

In Conversation With Mandy Walker, AM, ASC, ACS

In December, cinematographer Mandy Walker, AM, ASC, ACS made history as the first woman to win the Best Cinematography Award from the Australian Academy of Cine...

13/01/2023

In Conversation With Mandy Walker, ACS, ASC

In December, cinematographer Mandy Walker, ACS, ASC made history as the first woman to win the Best Cinematography Award from the Australian Academy of Cinema a...

12/12/2022

Complementary Vision

The feature Mascarade reunited writer-director Nicolas Bedos and cinematographer Laurent Tangy, AFC, following their collaboration on the 2021 release OSS 117: ...

12/12/2022

The Making of Tesciowie (The In-Laws)

For director Jakub Michalczuk's lauded comedy Tesciowie (aka The In-Laws), cinematographer Micha Englert, PSC sought a natural look that he achieved with P...

07/12/2022

Listen for the Call

Directed by Valentin Petit, the globe-hopping Squad Up spot for the hotly anticipated video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II assembles a star-studded cast s...

07/12/2022

Eternal Hunger

To me, this definitely has that '90s video look and feel, cinematographer James Beattie says of the music video for the song Miriam by Berlin-based artis...

07/12/2022

All the Reasons

Directed by Brendan Yates, the music video for Paramore's This Is Why finds band members Hayley Williams, Zac Farro and Taylor York in secluded locales, f...

07/12/2022

Till It's Dawn

For the track Tonight on their album Alpha Zulu, French band Phoenix partnered with Vampire Weekend's lead vocalist and guitarist, Ezra Koenig. Underscori...

07/12/2022

Revolution x Reinvention

The campaign surrounding sportswear brand Puma's collaboration with multi-hyphenate artist Skepta presents a message of revolution, reinvention, and the lim...

30/11/2022

Farming the Imagination

My career has spanned many genres, a journey I could have never predicted, says cinematographer Simon Reay. With credits that run the gamut from the series Man...

30/11/2022

Love on the Margins

Starring Taylor Russell as Maren and Timoth e Chalamet as Lee, director Luca Guadagnino's feature Bones and All is a film about cannibal lovers, cinematog...

15/11/2022

A Collaboration With Panavision: Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC

Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC's credits as a cinematographer include the features Man on the Moon, Keeping the Faith, Mona Lisa Smile, Freedomland, Perfect Stran...

11/11/2022

The Making of The School for Good and Evil

Based on the book by Soman Chainani, the Netflix feature The School for Good and Evil depicts an epic battle as seen through the eyes of best friends Agatha (So...

09/11/2022

The Making of Sonata

Written and directed by Bartosz Blaschke, the Polish feature Sonata is inspired by the true story of a deaf boy misdiagnosed with autism who discovers a passion...

09/11/2022

Incredible Journey

Writer-director Olivier Dahan's feature Simone, le voyage du si cle (known in English as Simone: Woman of the Century) traces the life story of Simone Veil,...

06/11/2022

A Relationship to Remember

Introduced in 2021, the FilmLight Colour Awards celebrate the art of color grading as practiced around the globe. This year's nominees in the Theatrical Fea...

24/10/2022

A Love Like This

A comedy particular to modern times, the feature I Love My Dad is equal parts true-life catfish story and popcorn comedy. The movie was written and directed by...

24/10/2022

Un Mystery Crew Diferente

Created by Saturday Night Live alums Fred Armisen and Julio Torres along with fellow comedian Ana Fabrega, the Spanish-language comedy series Los Espookys foll...

11/10/2022

Call and Response

Known for photographing cult-classic television such as Felicity and Monk, Marshall Adams, ASC knows how to identify and respond to a story that subverts ex...

03/10/2022

Guiding Principles

Based on James Lee Burke's short story Winter Light, the feature God's Country stars Thandiwe Newton as Sandra, a college professor whose encounter with...

23/09/2022

A Look Beyond Horror

When cinematographer Zach Kuperstein got the job to shoot writer-director Zach Cregger's horror feature Barbarian, one of the first things he did was reach ...

21/09/2022

In Lieu of Lumon

From the eerie calm of Lynne Cohen photographs to the is it safe aesthetic of Marathon Man, cinematographer Jessica Lee Gagn has underscored her own creative...