
The psychological thriller Homecoming returns for its sophomore season with fresh twists, nail-biting cliff-hangers, and more of the unnerving cinematography that characterized the critically acclaimed first run.
Cinematographer Jas Shelton and director Kyle Patrick Alvarez took the reins for all of Season 2, following the work of DP Tod Campbell and director Sam Esmail on Season 1. For Shelton and Alvarez, who had previously collaborated on the features C.O.G. and The Stanford Prison Experiment, their challenge with Homecoming lay in maintaining continuity with the storytelling that made the first season of the Amazon Prime original so distinctive while finding a new visual language for a timeline that overlaps and extends the drama.
Our intent was to deliver continuity with Season 1, for example in color palette, the use of long takes, and a subjective point of view, but to find a new camera language to tell some new ideas, Shelton explains.
The setup for Season 2 finds lead character Jackie (Janelle Monae) waking up in a row boat adrift in a lake, unable to recall her name, birthday or address. Her ensuing search for identity will lead her into the heart of the Geist Group, the unconventional wellness company for war veterans behind the Homecoming Initiative.
Our camera package was guided by Season 1, but that was not the only reason for continuity with the Millennium DXL2, Shelton explains. We wanted to shoot with a large sensor and shallow depth of field. The Light Iron color science in the DXL2 maximizes these attributes to create beautiful images.
He continues, I've worked with the DXL many times before [including on the feature Like a Boss and the series Soundtrack] and I keep coming back to it. Each digital cine camera can be treated like film stock in that you select the sensor that will give you the right look for the particular project at hand, but I really like the color science of the DXL. It's not just what you can capture off the sensor, its what the Light Iron color science is able to do with the image that is impressive.
As with Season 1, Shelton paired the camera with G Series anamorphic lenses that were modified for the show. Panavision's Guy McVicker explains, Through the use of some new proprietary processes and unique adjustments, we were able to give Jas the opportunity to really embrace the aesthetic that anamorphic has to offer. The larger imager of the DXL also gave us more negative to exploit and stretch.
Shelton adds, The uniqueness of the anamorphic aesthetic was heavily embellished, yielding a much stronger curvature of the field and additional obliqueness in the bokeh. Also, the contrast was lowered, the sharpness reduced, and the gradation of focus from sharp to soft enhanced.
We recorded full-resolution 8K in compressed 7:1, sometimes dropping to 3:1 for scenes with heavy VFX, he continues. It was important to obtain the maximum information from the sensor and to cover the anamorphic glass, which lends a 3D quality to the visuals.
While the first series used changing aspect ratios to relay different story timelines, Season 2s filmmakers opted to lean into a cleverly calibrated color design. Shelton explains, We decided to keep anything that takes place in Geist's headquarters as sun-kissed and warm, and we made a different LUT for scenes with Jackie. This is apparent from the moment she wakes up in the boat and goes on her journey of self-discovery. It emphasizes dark blues, cool greens, and a gothic palette especially in the first part of the show with lots of fluorescent lighting built into the sets.
Because of the complex nature of the show, Shelton used meticulous storyboards. This is also reflective of his close collaboration with production designer Nora Takacs Ekberg. The wide range of locations meant, for instance, shooting exteriors at the Big Sky Movie Ranch in Simi Valley, Calif., and then traveling south to Torrance for Geist HQ interiors, which posed their own complications because there was only eight hours of daylight and the facility had a giant sun roof. Trying to create a daylight look in there that we could use for 12 hours rather than eight was challenging, the cinematographer says. Then we went up to Lake Arrowhead for a week, shooting out on the water quite a bit for the opening sequence.
Touch points for Season 2s tone included Alan J. Pakula's 1970s conspiracy films like The Parallax View and Todd Hido's dark and moody landscape photography.
Kyle wanted shots of Jackie to have this subjective point of view so that the audience is always following with her and experiencing her discovery, Shelton notes. The idea was to never let the camera settle until she comes face to face with Audrey Temple [played by Hong Chau] at the end of the second episode.
To underscore her state of mind, he adds, we borrowed ideas from the movies of Pakula and Brian De Palma where the camera has a very probing quality to it.
Shelton mounted the DXL2 on an Oculus gimbal head and moved it on a dolly to convey a floating camera movement. The design of the camera makes it easy for me to devise shots, he reports. We play with POV by using wider, more deliberate angles and longer takes in the early episodes, and then, as we unravel the mystery of what happened to Jackie, we employ tighter, more frenetic handheld shots in the later episodes.
DXL2 just suits the way I want to work, he adds. Its look is very filmic and soft, especially when using depth of field. The colors are muted, not overly punchy, whereas with other cameras the results are more saturated and I have to reign them in.
The final shot of Episode 1 features one of the series' elaborate long takes. The setup starts with a close-up of Chris Cooper (portraying Leonard Geist) in a farm field. As Cooper walks into his fa
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight will showcase the next evolution of Nimbra Edge, its orchestration and control layer designed to manage live media services across...
27/03/2026
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced powerful new innovations that further elevate the company's sports streaming solution. The advanced capabilities enh...
27/03/2026
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced significant new capabilities for Player Web X, its next-generation web video player...
27/03/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Czech-based production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast (OB) van with an integrated Riedel i...
27/03/2026
130 Industry Experts Confirmed as Show Celebrates its 10th Anniversary
MPTS, the UK's largest and most influential event for the media, production and tech...
27/03/2026
Grass Valley today announced the successful completion of a major live production deployment with NVP, a leading European media company specializing in live spo...
27/03/2026
Showcases resilient solutions for satellite-to-IP migration, REMI and hybrid live production
Appear ASA (Appear, OSE:APR), a global leader in live production t...
27/03/2026
San Francisco, California, March 2026 - Microsoft Ignite, a major annual conference hosted by Microsoft for developers, IT professionals, partners and business ...
27/03/2026
Clear-Com is proud to highlight its support for worship teams through professional communication solutions, with the deployment of its EQUIP wireless system a...
27/03/2026
Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Sage Alerting Systems (SAS), in cooperation wit...
27/03/2026
Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway Brian and Dayna Lee BM '13 met and fell in love at Berklee, and now their production companys first Broadway debut i...
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
Spotify's partnership with NAVER, Korea's leading digital platform, is built around one simple goal: making it easier for listeners in Korea to discover...
26/03/2026
Exclusive to ComposerCloud for first month
Sample library and virtual instrument gurus EastWest have announced the upcoming release of a new virtual drum i...
26/03/2026
Friday 27 March
Friday 27 March will mark Dynamic Range Day 2026, the annual day of online activity that was started in 2010 by mastering engineer Ian Sheph...
26/03/2026
Includes four separate instruments
Max Richter's SRM Sounds venture have just announced their fifth release, ASMR Choir. Captured at the main live room ...
26/03/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), has been tasked with administering the Sixth Presi...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...
26/03/2026
Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
New graphical configuration tool and...
26/03/2026
Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Continuing development drives advances in security, availa...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast con...