In writer-director Leo Milano's debut feature, The Crusades, three friends find their school year thrown into turmoil by the possibility that their all-boys private high school might merge with its rival institution, a turn of events that would effectively open the doors to the lions. It's a coming-of-age story, cinematographer Dillon Schneider says. We shot it like a drama, but it's a fun adventure. I describe it like Superbad with a dash of Euphoria.
Schneider's own adventures behind the camera began by way of ski videos he shot while in middle school. Video-production classes followed in high school, after which he focused on cinematography at Columbia College Chicago, the alma mater of such distinguished directors of photography as Janusz Kaminski, Mauro Fiore, ASC and Michael Goi, ASC. After graduating, Schneider moved to Los Angeles and started shooting shorts and music videos and working as an electrician when I wasn't shooting, he recalls.
It was during his time at Columbia that Schneider began collaborating with Milano and their classmate Brent Madison, who would go on to produce The Crusades. Leo's very passionate about shooting in his hometown, so we shot in Chicago and worked with a lot of Columbia alumni, Schneider notes. We actually shot in the school that Leo went to.
It was also while he was attending Columbia that Schneider began working with Panavision, spending one of his summers as an intern at the company's Woodland Hills headquarters. For me, being at Panavision is like I'm a kid in a candy shop, he shares. You walk down the halls, and there's just so much history. It's an inspiring place to be there are endless opportunities to create.
The Crusades also marks Schneider's debut feature, and for the project, he worked with David Dodson, Panavision's senior vice president of client relations and business development, to put together a package that included C Series and E Series anamorphic optics expanded to cover the Venice camera's large-format sensor. I wanted my first movie to be Panavision and to have that Panavision look, Schneider says. David believed in me and made it happen for us. The film would not look like it does without the help of Panavision. I'm so grateful for the relationships I have here and what everyone's done for me.
During preproduction for The Crusades, Schneider also assembled a visual treatment, a 73-page document that contains detailed notes and reference images related to cinematic language, framing, camera and lens choices, filtration, camera movement and more. They taught us this at Columbia, the cinematographer explains. It shows the producers, camera operators, and all relevant departments things like lighting and mood and framing rules. It's also big for the production designer to see how I'm thinking about sets and locations and how we can collaborate. But most of all it also helps me to get all my notes in one organized place. I carry my iPad on set, open to the scene we're shooting and remind myself, use diffusion for this' or make sure Im lit for high speed here.' Everything happens so fast on indies, this is my checklist to dial-in each scene.
As Schneider discussed the look of the feature with Milano, he knew immediately they were envisioning it in the same way. Leo and I are both drawn to the hyper-realistic, what Vilmos Zsigmond [ASC, HSC] called poetic realism' images that are heightened and more romantic than real life, Schneider says. The look we went for was bigger than real life, really dramatizing the situations like the mind of a high-schooler does shafts of light, haze, making things eerie and dramatic.
To that end, he adds, he and Milano knew we wanted to shoot anamorphic, which just has this magic feel to it that translates to what these high-school kids are experiencing. Everything to them is based on their emotions, so everything feels way more substantial and surreal.
The filmmakers' primary lenses were a set of legacy C Series anamorphic primes, which were supplemented with select E Series focal lengths. I've always been drawn to the C Series look, the cinematographer shares. It has this magic to it, which is the look of classic cinema. And the E Series cut together so well with the Cs. We had an E Series 180mm, which was usually the long lens on the B camera. Because of the large format, it felt more like a 140 or 150. We also had a special Dan Sasaki-modified E 40mm we used for a drunk character's POV. It was super-funky and worked perfectly for the gag. Only the center was sharp, and the world around it was super-distorted.
Schneider estimates that 80 percent of the movie was shot with a single camera, with two cameras rolling simultaneously the remainder of the time. His camera team included 1st AC James Teninty and A-camera and Steadicam operator Will Christensen. James has done a lot of music videos and commercials with me, and he had all of the camera gear dialed-in and ran the department like a well-oiled machine, Schneider reports. Will went to Columbia with me, and he flew back out to Chicago to do this shoot, which meant a lot. Whatever intense situation was happening, I could always rely on him to be cool, calm and collected, which is great to have on your team.
I'm very particular about camera movement, he continues. I only try to move the camera when its necessary, and if the audience notices the move, Ive done my job poorly. We had Steadicam for the run of the show, but we'd only use it when the shot was absolutely supposed to be Steadicam. Most of the show was on dolly or handheld.
The Steadicam did come into play for a large night scene, executed in a single shot, in which the police break up a party. There was a long oner in True Detectiv
Europe Stories
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
21/12/2025
John Shortt named Young Sportsperson of the Year Kerry are the Team of the Year
...
19/12/2025
With Playout Release 2025.4, ToolsOnAir continues to push professional playout w...
19/12/2025
19 Dec 2025
VEON's Mobilink Microfinance Bank Launches Islamic Banking Oper...
19/12/2025
The six-part drama, set in a close-knit Welsh town fractured by an unspeakable c...
19/12/2025
Rohde & Schwarz drives the future of mobility at CES 2026 At the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Rohde & Schwarz will present a powerful lineup o...
19/12/2025
RT is proud to return to the RDS to support the 2026 Stripe Young Scientist & T...
18/12/2025
Canada's largest indoor arena has transformed its live production capabilities with a full ST 2110 infrastructure and Calrec's compact Argo S console. S...
18/12/2025
Long-term agreement includes the SES SCORE platform and hybrid distribution worldwide to deliver more than 5,000 hours of golf tournaments annually featuring th...
18/12/2025
18 Dec 2025
VEON Upgraded to Nasdaq Global Select Market, Enhancing Investor Visibility Dubai, December 18, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital o...
18/12/2025
Thursday 18 December 2025
Sky Sports remains the exclusive home of the Masters ...
18/12/2025
Using the additive process of 3D printing, layer after layer gets printed until an object is as close to the final shape needed as possible. Historically, machi...
18/12/2025
In 2025, RT proudly supported 185 arts and cultural events across the island of Ireland, reflecting significant growth since the scheme was re-launched in 2014...
18/12/2025
RT Sports Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
18/12/2025
RT lyric fm presents a very special Winter Solstice edition of Ambient Orbit, l...
18/12/2025
At 7.45pm on 1st January 1926, the precursor to RT , then 2RN, delivered the fledgling new Irish state's first public radio transmission. From those first c...
18/12/2025
December 18 2025, 05:30 (PST) The Movie Experience SLO Becomes First U.S. Exhib...
17/12/2025
Investigative journalists across the Western Balkans and T rkiye continue to con...
17/12/2025
The right playlist is essential on New Year's Eve, building the energy as you get ready and keeping it high as you count down to midnight. This year, Spotif...
17/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
17/12/2025
Wuppertal December 17, 2025
Riedel Builds Global Communication and Commentary ...
17/12/2025
December 17 2025, 17:00 (PST) Dolby and LG Unveil a New Era of Home Audio With ...
17/12/2025
Wednesday 17 December 2025
Heated Rivalry will be coming to Sky and streaming service NOW on 10 JanuaryTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy opti...
17/12/2025
RT has announced that Kathy Fox has been appointed Commissioning Editor with re...
17/12/2025
With the new season of Dancing with the Stars shimmering in the not-too-distant future this New Year, the celebrity and dancer pairings of the twelve couples ha...
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
16/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December.
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
16/12/2025
Singer -songwriter Brian Kennedy has been announced as the final celebrity dance...
15/12/2025
Cape Town, November 13, 2025 - SES and International artist and humanitarian, Fo...
15/12/2025
Luxembourg, December 15, 2025 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Abra Group launched fast and reliable multi-orbit inflight connectivity service on t...
15/12/2025
15 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan Delivers First Starlink Direct to Cel...
15/12/2025
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor finds himself the topic of year's cracker jokes
Oasis, David Harbour, Celebrity Traitors and Angela Rayner all feature in this y...
15/12/2025
Comscore Expands Cross-Platform Campaign Measurement to Include Audio and Social New capabilities strengthen cross-platform campaign reporting suite; CCR rebran...
15/12/2025
RT .ie has reached one billion page views this year and is on track to finish 2025 2% ahead of last year. Average time spent on the site is up 3% on 2024, with ...
12/12/2025
Last month, Spotify announced a new collaboration with the ATP Tour, the global governing body of men's professional tennis, aimed at bringing the next gene...
12/12/2025
Friday 12 December 2025
Ted is back! Seth MacFarlane's live-action comedic ...
12/12/2025
Uachtar n na h ireann, Catherine Connolly visited RT Raidi na Gaeltachta's...
12/12/2025
Ireland AM host Eric Roberts has been revealed as the sixth contestant taking to...
11/12/2025
Thomson and the Center for News, Technology and Innovation (CNTI) convened a two-day workshop in Sarajevo bringing together more than 35 journalists, editors, p...
11/12/2025
Having the right song soundtrack your moves can make all the difference when gam...
In writer-director Leo Milano's debut feature, The Crusades, three friends find their school year thrown into turmoil by the possibility that their all-boys private high school might merge with its rival institution, a turn of events that would effectively open the doors to the lions. It's a coming-of-age story, cinematographer Dillon Schneider says. We shot it like a drama, but it's a fun adventure. I describe it like Superbad with a dash of Euphoria. 
