Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Cinematographer Dillon Schneider on the Feature The Crusades

01/08/2024

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
LINK: https://www.panavision.com/highlights/highlights-detail/personal-missi...
See more stories from panavision

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

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

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 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...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

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

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

14/04/2026

Appear Expands X Platform from Core to Edge at NAB Show 2...

Appear launches include XM estate management and new X Platform processing enhancements to add density for next-generation hybrid & IP workflows, X5 is also now...

14/04/2026

Synamedia turns OTT content into TikTok-style feeds with...

Addressing the needs of a new generation's viewing habits, Synamedia launches GO Shorts. The AI-powered module turns existing catalogues into TikTok-style ...

14/04/2026

NAB 2026 - Vubiquity and Eluvio Showcase Streaming Soluti...

Vubiquity, an Amdocs company and global leader in technology-led media services, will be showcasing a new end-to-end streaming solution in collaboration with El...

14/04/2026

LiveU Announces Expanded Collaboration with Sony at NAB S...

LiveU today announced a significant expansion of its collaboration with Sony Corporation, introducing integrated support for Sony's file-based workflow solu...

14/04/2026

BBC World Service TV selects Open Broadcast Systems for I...

Open Broadcast Systems (https://www.obe.tv/) has announced that BBC World Service has selected its decoders for IP Television distribution. The high-quality, lo...

14/04/2026

Blackmagic Design Announces DaVinci Resolve 21

Blackmagic Design Announces DaVinci Resolve 21 Brie Clayton April 14, 2026 0 Comments Major update adds new Photo page bringing Hollywood's most a...

14/04/2026

Sinclair's WTOV Taps Brightline for Lighting Upgrade

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

Grass Valley Showcases Alliance Ecosystem at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

FCC Selects New Lead Administrator for U.S. Cyber Trust Mark Program

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

Gray Media Names Jim Hays GM of WTHI

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

NAB Blasts CTA in FCC Sports Probe Comments

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

Wowza to Showcase AI-Powered Video Workflows and Emerging...

Wowza will return to NAB Show 2026 with a set of live demonstrations focused on how video infrastructure is evolving for a new generation of AI-powered and oper...

14/04/2026

Stegawave Debuts Real-Time Forensic Watermarking to Tackle Piracy in Live Sports Streaming

Stegawave Debuts Real-Time Forensic Watermarking to Tackle Piracy in Live Sports...

14/04/2026

Living in Boston: A Guide for Incoming Boston Conservatory Students

Living in Boston: A Guide for Incoming Boston Conservatory Students From navigating the T to balancing school with professional gigs, a current student shar...

14/04/2026

Just What Is Genre These Days, Anyway?

Just What Is Genre These Days, Anyway? Understanding the business and art of genre-bending in 2026. April 10, 2026 By Bryan Parys Illustration by Jack Fla...

14/04/2026

Lenora Helm Hammonds Is Turning Passion Into Plan A

Lenora Helm Hammonds Is Turning Passion Into Plan A The dean of the Professional Education Division has seen the industry from all sides. Now shes bringing it...

14/04/2026

How Michelle Zalabak Found Her Dream Career in Music and Finance

How Michelle Zalabak Found Her Dream Career in Music and Finance The Warner Music Group deal analysis manager helps determine what artist catalogs are worth a...

14/04/2026

SES, Japan Airlines to Expand Multi-Orbit Inflight Connectivity to Long-Haul Fleet

Luxembourg, April 14, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, today annou...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAir Composition Builder 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAir Composition Builder 2026 Boilerplate More Details: The Composition Builder 2026 application for macOS enables TV stations and Live Event broadcast...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAr just:live pro 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAr just:live pro 2026 Boilerplate More Details: just:live pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel Live Production Playout solution for video and static or real-ti...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAr just:play pro 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAr just:play pro 2026 Boilerplate More Details: just:play pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel automated 24/7 Master Control playout solution with SD, HD and U...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAr live:cut 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAr live:cut 2026 Boilerplate More Details: live:cut is an option to just:in mac pro 2025 and enables multicamera production workflows for up to 16 cam...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite NDI 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite NDI 2026 Boilerplate More Details: The Just In Mac Lite NDI application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specific...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite 2026 Boilerplate More Details: The Just In Mac Lite application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specifically for...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAir just:in mac pro 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAir just:in mac pro 2026 Boilerplate More Details: just:in mac pro is a macOS-based client-server multichannel capture solution to record SDI, HDMI, N...

13/04/2026

Jnger Audio Joins EBU ADM Implementers Group as Founding Member

Telos Alliance has announced that J nger Audio has joined the EBU ADM Implementers Group (ADM-IG) as a founding member. The group is focused on advancing ADM an...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Grass Valley to Showcase Alliance Partner Ecosystem

Grass Valley will demonstrate its Alliance Partner ecosystem at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C2408, Central Hall, April 19-22), showing AMPP integrations across live pr...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Media Links to Demonstrate IP Transport Solutions

Media Links will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2033), demonstrating IP transport solutions for live production including hitless protection technology, Xscen...

13/04/2026

NBC Sports Partners with Overtime for OT7 Football League and Navy All-American Bowl

NBC Sports has announced a programming, distribution, and sales partnership with...

13/04/2026

FloSports Promotes Jayar Donlan from COO to President

FloSports has promoted Chief Operating Officer Jayar Donlan to President, effective immediately. In his new role, Donlan will lead the company's commercial,...

13/04/2026

MASV Case Study: PanCam Pictures Uses MASV for Remote Post-Production at Senior Bowl 2026

PanCam Pictures, the documentary production company founded by Paul Camarata, us...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Mimir to Showcase Cloud Production Platform

Mimir will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (North Hall, Booth N2850), demonstrating its cloud-native media production platform with new capabilities including Mimir Cu...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: BBright Adds RIST Protocol Support to IP Gateway

BBright has announced that its IP Gateway now supports the Reliable Internet Stream Transport (RIST) protocol. The addition will be introduced at NAB Show 2026 ...

13/04/2026

Net Insight Awarded ESA NAVISP Development Project for PNT Technology

Net Insight has been awarded a development project through the European Space Agency's Navigation Innovation and Support Program (NAVISP), with co-funding f...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: intoPIX to Showcase JPEG XS, IPMX, and SMPTE 2110 Solutions

intoPIX will exhibit at NAB Show 2026, marking the company's 20th anniversary. The company will demonstrate its JPEG XS compression portfolio and IPMX-appro...

13/04/2026

Inside the Launch of BravesVision: How Braves, Raycom Sports Pulled Off One of the Most Ambitious Efforts in Regional-Sports-Media History

Starting from scratch, the team built an in-house content platform comprising ga...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: AI Will Make Its Presence Felt in Audio Offerings, Presentations

Here's a look at some of the new products and updates, along with audio-centric conferences, that attendees will find next week at the show When the 2026 N...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Avid to Demonstrate Integrated Newsroom Capabilities

Avid will launch new integrated newsroom capabilities for Avid for News at NAB Show 2026 (Booth N2226, April 18-22), demonstrating how Avid Content Core connect...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Synamedia Launches Cloud-Controlled Edge Playout Version of Quortex PowerVu

Synamedia has announced a new version of Quortex PowerVu, an IP-native, software...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Mediaproxy Adds AI Brand and Advertisement Tracking to LogServer

Mediaproxy has developed a suite of AI-powered tools for brand and advertisement tracking, integrated into its LogServer compliance logging and analysis platfor...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Disguise to Demonstrate Media Server and Software Integrations

Disguise will demonstrate its media servers and software at NAB Show 2026, appearing across five partner booths in Central Hall: MRMC, B&H, Planar, CarbonBlack,...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: OpenDrives Introduces Edge Hybrid Cloud-Edge Performance Accelerator

OpenDrives is introducing OpenDrives Edge at NAB Show 2026, a hybrid cloud-edge performance accelerator for distributed video and rich media workflows. The prod...

13/04/2026

ESPN Returns to The Shed for 2026 WNBA Draft, Expanding Camera Arsenal and Deepening Fan Coverage

The show will deploy 18 cameras across two sets and the draft floor, including a...

13/04/2026

Musik Hack update SweetEQ

Intuitive EQ plug-in gets an upgrade Following its official launch back in February 2026, Musik Hack's intuitive EQ plug-in has been treated to its firs...