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
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
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...
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...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
29/05/2026
Experimental HIV vaccine achieves a long-sought goal In a first for the field, all non-human primates given a new series of vaccines generated antibodies capabl...
28/05/2026
Thomsons Climate Crisis Toolkit is already being put to work, helping journalist...
28/05/2026
FOX Sports' MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy ...
28/05/2026
One of the most memorable postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
28/05/2026
NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most-decorated and most-watched pro...
28/05/2026
The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...
28/05/2026
Hosted by ESPN Senior Writer Ryan McGee, the ceremony honored winners from athletic departments, conference offices, professional networks, production companies...
28/05/2026
Major rights-holders rolled out their 2026 college football slates today, offering a first look at marquee windows, kickoff partners, and conference distributio...
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. 
