Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

George Richmond, BSC Crafts Period Looks With Anamorphic Optics for Rocketman

17/05/2022

Elton John's larger-than-life, rags-to-riches story is given the musical treatment in the new movie Rocketman from Paramount Pictures. The film is depicted as a true fantasy even though the script doesn't shy from some of the more rock n' roll aspects of the British superstar's lifestyle.

DP George Richmond on the set of Rocketman.

The stress on fantasy really allows you to go into the musical side of things and to push the use of fantastical images to tell the story, says George Richmond, BSC, who reteams with director Dexter Fletcher from Sunshine on Leith (2013), a musical set to tracks from Scottish band The Proclaimers.

This is Richmond's third musical counting his experience as a camera operator for Dion Beebe, ASC on Rob Marshall's Nine in 2009. While Nine was shot on film using spherical lenses from Panavision, Rocketman, was shot with a Panavised ARRI Alexa and G Series anamorphic lenses arranged at Panavision London.

Now that I've shot three, I find musicals one of the most fun forms of filmmaking, says Richmond whose cinematography credits also include Eddie the Eagle and Tomb Raider (2018). Everyone seems to enjoy their craft, and it's most enjoyable for me to be able to listen to the music and try to move the camera to the rhythm.

Taron Egerton as Elton John.

He adds, There were some terrific ideas in this script too including a great character arc for Elton as a 6-year-old, through his struggle with addiction and fame, to coming out of rehab. The way the script is structured with scenes of rehab at the beginning and end, and at various points in between, allows you to jump into whatever time period you want to tell the story.

The screenplay by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot) charts the pop icon's early years as a working-class north London lad, then as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music. The story follows his eventual musical partnership with songwriter Bernie Taupin, and his preparations to release Honky Ch teau, his 1972 breakthrough album.

Taron Egerton (who appeared with Elton John in Kingsman: The Golden Circle which was lensed by Richmond) stars as John. Jamie Bell plays Taupin, Bryce Dallas Howard is Elton's mother Sheila, and Richard Madden is Elton's manager John Reid.

While needing a lightweight camera to assist in the fluid camera moves he was plotting, Richmond's principal criteria in acquisition was to buck the trend of filming with large-format cameras.

Dexter Fletcher and Taron Egerton.

I wanted to try to create an image more in keeping with how we remember the 1950s to 1970s period, by not putting too much information (resolution) into it.

He selected to work with the Super 35 chip of the Alexa Mini shooting ARRIRAW 2.8K for the anamorphic and open gate 3.4K for the VFX spherical footage.

The other key decision was to shoot anamorphic, he says. I'm a great fan of anamorphic. You can infuse a sense of period into the project just by the lens choice but when we combine Panavision G Series lenses with the amazing set design, lighting design and costume design of Rocketman then it makes my job a lot easier.

Rather than song and dance numbers, Rocketman features a number of narrative-led fantastical set pieces for which Richmond devised complex, fluent camera moves.

The sequence choregraphed for the song Rocket Man is the film's center piece. It begins with Elton at his party popping pills and drinking booze, then he throws himself into a swimming pool, sinks to the bottom of a now impossible large underwater space and sees a younger version of himself singing back at him. He's pulled out of the pool, and we see him in an ambulance singing snatches of the song as medics try to put an oxygen mask on him. In a space that resembles the loading area of a hospital, his stomach is pumped of pills. We transition into some fantastic industrial space where he gets undressed and changed in a graphic silhouette with the LA skyline in background. Then, suddenly, we're out into the Los Angeles Dodgers stadium where Elton begins to sing and then goes up like a firework and explodes. You can imagine how much fun it was to create those images, which looked terrific with the anamorphics, he says.

Richmond's focus puller, Dave Cozens, worked with Panavision London to have correctors/shims added to the wide G Series to reduce the falloff on the top and bottom portions of the frame.

Generally, when shooting wide open on the wide anamorphics you get focus aberrations on the outside of the frame but with careful calibration you can tune those aberrations out of the top and bottom but leave them on the side. That allows you to increase the amount of useable focus when shooting wide or close to actors so the top of their heads, for example, are not out of focus while retaining faster fall off at the sides for a vintage anamorphic look.

Another sequence set to Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting was conceived as a single long-shot and required considerable preparation. It starts out with Elton in a pub, moves with him outside into an alley, through a fence then into and around a funfair populated by crowds of (1960s gangs) Mods and Rockers where a fight breaks out. It then tracks back the same way to settle Elton once more in the pub. The sequence is used to transition Kit Connor, who played 12-year-old Elton to Egerton playing Elton as a young man.

Richmond explains that the camera was mounted on a Stabileye head attached to a straight 4-foot-long metal bar and carried through the sequence by key grip David Appleby and camera B grip Craig Sheils.

This allowed us to move the camera from ground level to full reach during the shot and it is small enough so as to be discreet, very mobile and not in the way of the lighting, he says. It's stabilized but gives a slig
LINK: https://www.panavision.com/highlights/highlights-detail/george-richmon...
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...

13/05/2026

dB Broadcast Delivers New IP-based Cloudbass Sports OB Tr...

Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...

13/05/2026

Ikegami Announces its Broadcast Asia 2026 Innovations

Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...

13/05/2026

XRSA and FISE Partner to Deliver Immersive Action Sports...

FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...

13/05/2026

Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Built-In Power Zoom Lens

Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...

13/05/2026

Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Commencement Ceremony

Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...

13/05/2026

CBS Boston to Air CCBL Baseball

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/05/2026

Study: Free Streaming Emerges as TV's New Normal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/05/2026

Amagi Announces Major Enhancements To CLOUDPORT

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/05/2026

FCC Releases Updates to TVStudy Software

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/05/2026

Nexstar Names Elizabeth Ryder EVP, General Counsel

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/05/2026

Foundry releases Nuke Stage- simplifying virtual producti...

Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...

13/05/2026

Tradfluencer - The Sharon Shannon Story

A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm Watch the...

13/05/2026

Hermes Unlocks Self-Improving AI Agents, Powered by NVIDIA RTX PCs and DGX Spark

Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...

13/05/2026

NVIDIA, Ineffable Intelligence Team Up to Build the Future of Reinforcement Learning Infrastructure

Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...

12/05/2026

Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026

Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...

12/05/2026

G&D and CT Square Establish Joint Venture for India and Middle East Distribution

Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...

12/05/2026

Telemundo Reports Record Advertiser Demand for FIFA World Cup 2026 Coverage

With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...

12/05/2026

NHLs Stanley Pup Returns for Third Year on June 8

The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...

12/05/2026

NBCUniversal Outlines Ad Technology and Content Strategy at 2026 Upfront

NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...

12/05/2026

FOX Sports Funds Fandom Research Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School

FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...

12/05/2026

TNDV and Live Media Support NCAA Final Four Weekend for 13th Consecutive Year

TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...

12/05/2026

European Football Alliance Signs Distribution Agreement with Fubo Sports Network

The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...

12/05/2026

ESPN, TelevisaUnivision Ink Deal to Produce Additional Spanish-Language Super Bowl LXI Telecast

For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...

12/05/2026

CP Communications Manages RF Spectrum for Kentucky Derby Week

CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...

12/05/2026

LiveU and DRONERESPONDERS Announce Partnership for Public Safety Drone Video Transmission

LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...

12/05/2026

BMC TV Selects Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway for Horse Racing Transmissions

Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...

12/05/2026

NEP Europe to Deliver Broadcast Solutions for Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna

NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...

12/05/2026

Grass Valley Expands Collaboration with Ravensbourne University London on Media Production Education

Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...

12/05/2026

Stats Perform Launches Opta Pulse AI-Assisted Video Creation Platform

Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...

12/05/2026

FOX Sports and Sesame Workshop Announce Collaboration for FIFA World Cup 2026

FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...

12/05/2026

Little Show, Giant Heart: NHL in ASL Earns Two Sports Emmy Nominations in 2026

To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...

12/05/2026

At Its Annual Brandcast, YouTube Aims To Show Why Sports Is No Longer Just the Game

Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...

12/05/2026

Your Next Double Feature: Old Joy and Past Lives

A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...

12/05/2026

It's Your Party of the Year(s): A Look Back at Your Entire Music History on Spotify

Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...

12/05/2026

Black Lion Audio introduce the Auteur 8DAT

Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...

12/05/2026

Reason 14 now available

New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...

12/05/2026

One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pitch

One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...

12/05/2026

Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at PCIM Expo 2026

Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...

12/05/2026

Ad-Hoc News: aconnic AG announces improved fund raising plan to support business and refinance debt

aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...

12/05/2026

CNN Pushes Into Lifestyle Products with CNN Weather' App Launch

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/05/2026

Marshall Electronics Cameras Elevate Elite Equestrian Com...

Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...

12/05/2026

IBC2026 registration opens as international media industr...

Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...

12/05/2026

Ross Video Showcases Unified Production Workflows at Broa...

Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...

12/05/2026

With over 50bn euros in assets under management and recor...

500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...

12/05/2026

Randy Koeman Joins CVP as Part of Continued European Expa...

CVP, one of Europe's leading suppliers of professional video and broadcast solutions, has appointed Randy Koeman as Sales Manager, Netherlands, marking anot...