Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

DP David McFarland Illuminates Netflix Testament with Ast...

12/05/2025

With a body of international award-winning and premier festival-showing films, American Cinematographer David McFarland ( 12 Mighty Orphans , Mafak , The Ballad of Lefty Brown , The Rambler , The Boy Next Door ) was a perfect choice to lens Netflix's 2024 limited series docudrama Testament . No stranger to stories of survival against great odds that take place in Asia and the Middle East, McFarland has made a name for himself as a cinematographer willing to work off the beaten path. For Testament he relied on Astera to light the intimate spaces and dwellings Moses travels through on his journey to free the Hebrew people.

Testament is a retelling of the story of the 10 Commandments, explains McFarland. Most people, at least in the West, know the story of Moses. Tackling something this big was a little daunting, but on a story level, Testament is a character-driven drama dealing with a person overcoming insane obstacles. That kind of project really speaks to me. Filming took place over several months in Morocco across mountain and desert wilderness and inside giant set pieces and architectural sites, sometimes featuring hundreds of extras. McFarland worked hand in hand with director Benajmin Ross, to create the language of the film using camera movement and lighting.

Having come up through electric department, lighting is a paramount tool in McFarland's storytelling kit, an essential part of shot composition and camera support. With a period piece like Testament, I first and foremost go back to what lighting existed at the time. What are the motivating light sources in a story? says McFarland. For Moses there is sun, moon and fire. That right there shapes your direction regarding color temperature and where light comes from. McFarland began to focus on what texture of light would be naturally generated, looking to Astera, for his go-to lighting tools.

Intimately Lighting Architecture

Testament expertly walks the line of a grand epic, featuring hundreds of extras and thousands of people on a historic journey, yet is grounded by personal interactions between characters. Lighting these intimate sequences between Moses and his brother, his wife, or the pharaoh, was a major priority for the cinematographer. Typically, I light the space beforehand, to accommodate the specific set, but when it comes to how I'm going to light the actor's faces, I like to work with the actors and give them the floor during blocking rehearsals. Then, with the help of Astera lights, I can react to the performance.

A few years back, while working in India, I came up with a technique which I employed in Testament to create lighting sources that are fast, mobile and soft but still have a beautiful falloff. McFarland's tool creates a twist on a Chinese lantern by placing an Astera Helios Tube or a LunaBulb inside plastic and rubber water canisters.

Comprised of 8 pixels which can be individually colored, flashed and programmed from the Astera App, the baton-shaped Helios Tube is a small (21.7 x 1.7 /550mm x 43mm), highly controllable and versatile LED lighting solution. Easily maneuverable thanks to its small and narrow shape, the wireless Helios could be remotely dimmed or adjusted after McFarland placed them inside the canisters. When an even smaller solution was required, LunaBulbs, the wireless lightbulb lookalike LED from Astera, could be similarly set and adjusted remotely.

This improvised lantern was essential to McFarland's approach when filming in actual Berber villages throughout the series. The architecture of the Berbers, a people dating back to 2000 BCE whose modern descendants still reside in Morocco, often feature tall square towers, with a central interior opening that allows a fire on the ground floor to heat the structure while smoke escapes through the roof. The buildings have a soft sense of daylight, but it's very dark inside, describes McFarland.

To compensate, the cinematographer made use of his improvised lanterns complete with LunaBulb or Helios Tube. Using Astera's built-in flicker effect, he could create and augment firelight. During each blocking rehearsal, McFarland repositioned the lights to better shape the actor, adapting to evolving performances. I would take 5-6 of the lights and plastic canisters. Luckily because they are wireless, I could make critical lighting changes during the rehearsal. The Astera lights are so tough you can literally toss them where you want them to go.

In one powerful scene, Moses reconnects with his biological mother. It's probably my favorite scene lighting-wise in the whole show. The Berber architecture is very vertical, with dark stone walls and a hole in the ceiling high above delivering a pale, but beautiful light. It created a heavy contrast situation, yet I didn't want to over light this moment. McFarland first lit the space generally, choosing to lean into this central shaft of ambient moonlight,' which cinematically mixes with the rising firelight and smoke. He bolstered the ray of light with large HMIs bounced downwards, using his modified LunaBulb and Helios Tube set ups to augment and cultivate the firelight.

I love to play around with how much of the eyes we see in a scene. In this story people aren't always who they seem, and I tried to subliminally play up that feeling, using a strong eye light for someone we might want to trust, less for someone whose intentions are unclear. Exposed wooden beams inside the Berbers offered many rigging points for the improvised lanterns. Throughout the scene with his mother, careful lighting allowed the estranged family members to move between shadow and illumination, complementing the emotional dialogue.

Shooting Around Desert Wind

Portraying Moses' journey frequently brought the crew to shoot the Moroccan desert
LINK: https://kitplus.com/news/dp-david-mcfarland-illuminates-netflix-testam...
See more stories from tvbay

North America Stories

17/06/2025

Tegna Sets Major Expansion of Local News Programming

TYSONS, Va. Tegna is embarking on a notable expansion of its already substantial local news programming by launching live and on-demand local newscasts from 7 t...

17/06/2025

Television and Film Pioneer C. Francis Jenkins Honored

WASHINGTON One of Charles Francis Jenkins' many accomplishments the 1925 wireless transmission of moving images between the U.S. Navy's research facilit...

17/06/2025

Spectrum Awards $300,000 to Fifth Class of Spectrum Scholars

STAMFORD, Conn. Charter Communication's Spectrum has announced the fifth class in its Spectrum Scholars program. As part of the program, a group of 15 colle...

17/06/2025

RBFA selects EVS's Xeebra for New Replay Center

LI GE, Belgium The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) has selected EVS's Xeebra video review system to power its new centralized VAR (Video Assistant...

17/06/2025

Remote Production Webinar to Include New Industry Experts' Feature

TVTech is adding a new Industry Experts feature to its monthly webinars, beginning with the Remote Production Transition Accelerates webinar Tuesday (June 1...

17/06/2025

TelevisaUnivision Taps EDO for Expanded Audience Measurement of ViX

NEW YORK TelevisaUnivision has expanded its use of EDO's TV measurement platform to include consumer behavioral measurement of TV ads on ViX, TelevisaUnivis...

17/06/2025

Sinclair's Multicast Networks Report Double Digit Audience Growth

BALTIMORE Sinclair is reporting what it is calling record-breaking growth and best-season-to-date ratings for its free, over-the-air multicast networks, Charg...

16/06/2025

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Carmen Emmi, the Writer-Director of Plainclothes

By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...

16/06/2025

Tegna Announces Major Expansion of Local News Programming

TYSONS, Va. Tegna Inc. is embarking on a notable expansion of their already substantial local news programming by launching live and on-demand, local newscasts ...

16/06/2025

Netflix Expands Programmatic Ad Sales with Yahoo DSP

Netflix has announced that it is expanding its global programmatic ad offerings by partnering with Yahoo DSP. This will enable brands to buy Netflix advertising...

16/06/2025

Roku, Amazon Team Up to Dominate CTV Ad Market

NEW YORK In a landmark agreement to overtake the burgeoning connected TV (CTV) advertising market, Amazon Ads and Roku today announced a new integration that gi...

16/06/2025

EdgeBeam Wireless Names Conrad Clemson CEO

ATLANTA, BALTIMORE, CINCINNATI and IRVING, Texas The four major broadcast groups behind the ATSC 3.0-based EdgeBeam Wireless datacasting joint venture today nam...

16/06/2025

Amazon MGM Studios to Deploy Avid Tools on AWS

BURLINGTON, Mass. Avid today announced an extended agreement with Amazon MGM Studios to integrate Avid's Media Composer and Avid NEXIS on Amazon Web Service...

16/06/2025

Maxon Epic Sale Drops June 16

Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, gaming and more, today announced the ...

16/06/2025

Alfalite launches Skypix a new ceiling-mounted Led panel...

Alfalite, the only European manufacturer of LED displays, announces the launch of SKYPIX RGBW & IM, a new series of ceiling-mounted LED panels designed specifi...

16/06/2025

Summer Sale: Big Discounts on Ivory II Pianos - Now Through June 30th!

Save 40% or More on All Ivory II Collections!From now through June 30th, enjoy huge savings on all Ivory II Piano Collections. Our biggest discounts ever are be...

16/06/2025

Behind The Broadcast Booth, Ep. 3: Golf. My Future. My Game. Founder and CEO Craig Kirby Talks Advocacy in Sports and More

Behind The Broadcast Booth, Ep. 3: Golf. My Future. My Game. Founder and CEO Cra...

16/06/2025

The REMI Revolution Is Here: How Remote Production Technology in Esports Pioneers a New Age of Broadcast

The REMI Revolution Is Here: How Remote Production Technology in Esports Pioneer...

16/06/2025

From Super Bowl to Indy 500, New Orleans Artist Frenchy' Captures Energy of Sports Production on Canvas

From Super Bowl to Indy 500, New Orleans Artist Frenchy' Captures Energy of...

16/06/2025

NFL Films Enhances Post Studio With Dolby Atmos Audio

NFL Films Enhances Post Studio With Dolby Atmos Audio Forty-three channels of audio enable the facility to migrate to immersive By Dan Daley, Audio Editor Mo...

16/06/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Storj's David Colantuoni on Expanding Cloud-Based Storage to Live Sports Production

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Storj's David Colantuoni on Expanding Cloud-Based...

16/06/2025

Grass Valley 4K Cameras Head to Greece for View Master Events' New OB Truck

Grass Valley 4K Cameras Head to Greece for View Master Events' New OB Truck By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director Monday, June 16, 2025 - 2:33 pm Pri...

14/06/2025

Pluto TV Adds All Womens Sports Network's FAST Channel

NEW YORK Pluto TV and the All Womens Sports Network have launched a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) AWSN channel in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and the Nor...

14/06/2025

Scripps Inks Multiyear Agreement for WNBA Games on Ion

NEW YORK and CINCINNATI E.W. Scripps has announced a new, multiyear agreement with the WNBA that will continue Ions regular-season coverage of the league on Fri...

14/06/2025

NAB Highlights Hidden Importance of Spectrum in Major Sports Broadcasting

WASHINGTON The National Association of Broadcasters highlighted the hidden importance of spectrum in the production of major sporting events and described wha...

14/06/2025

1.0 Sunset, BPS and NextGen Broadcast's Potential Dominate ATSC Meeting

WASHINGTON Sunsetting ATSC 1.0, expanding business opportunities for NextGen Broadcast and increasing international adoption of the ATSC 3.0 standard were top o...

14/06/2025

Samba TV and Acxiom Announce Massive 40-market Global Expansion

SAN FRANCISCO Samba TV and Acxiom have announced that they will dramatically expand their longstanding relationship....

14/06/2025

San Francisco State University's School of Cinema Uses Blackmagic Design

San Francisco State University's School of Cinema Uses Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 13, 2025 0 Comments More than 40 Blackmagic Design came...

14/06/2025

Boris FX Mocha Pro Adds New AI Tools To Tackle VFX Tasks Fast

Boris FX Mocha Pro Adds New AI Tools To Tackle VFX Tasks Fast Jessie Electa Petrov June 13, 2025 0 Comments The 2025.5 release helps artists work more...

14/06/2025

AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 2025

AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 2025 Brie Clayton June 13, 2025 0 Comments Next-gen frame addresses diverse rackmount needs wit...

13/06/2025

Prime Minister: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Leader Who Champions Kindness

(L-R) Lindsay Utz, Michelle Walshe, and The Right Honourable Dame Jacinda Ardern attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Prime Minister at Eccles T...

13/06/2025

Central Texas Storm Knocks out KTXS Tower, Severely Damages Building

ABILENE. Texas A severe storm knocked down the tower and severely damaged the news studio and main facility of Sinclair-owned KTXS here on Sunday, June 8....

13/06/2025

Berklee's Music Business/Management Department Recognized by the Music Biz Association

Berklee's Music Business/Management Department Recognized by the Music Biz A...

13/06/2025

ATSC Honors Aldo Cugnini, Clarence Hau

WASHINGTON The ATSC, the Broadcast Standards Association, honored veteran technologist Aldo Cugnini and Clarence Hau, Senior Vice President of Standards, Policy...

13/06/2025

ESPN Doubles Down on Immersive Fan Experience for UFL Championship

(Editor's note: The 2025 UFL Championship Game between the D.C. Defenders and Michigan Panthers kicks off Saturday, June 14, at 8 p.m. Eastern. The game wil...

13/06/2025

HBO Max Plans July Launches in 12 New Markets

LONDON Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that HBO Max will launch direct-to-consumer in multiple new countries this July as the streamer becomes available in...

13/06/2025

Verbit Launches Speaker Identification for Live ASR Broadcast Captions

AI voice transcription and captioning platform Verbit has added a new feature to its Captivate ASR solution the ability to identify specific features in automat...

13/06/2025

FCC's Anna Gomez Meets with TV Networks, Studio Execs and Unions

WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission member Anna Gomez has wrapped up two weeks in California visiting broadcasters, television studio executives, enter...

13/06/2025

House Passes Rescission Package That Would Claw Back CPB Funding

WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives voted mostly along party lines to approve a rescission package that would cancel $9.4 billion in previously approve...

13/06/2025

AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 202...

At InfoComm 2025, AJA Video Systems announced DRM2-Plus, an intuitive, high-capacity 3RU frame that can neatly house up to 24 AJA Mini-Converters. Tailored to s...

13/06/2025

National CineMedia Selects Operatives Suite of AI-Based C...

Cinema advertising leader to leverage AOS and suite of AI-enabled solutions to optimize forecasting, yield management, and streamlined ad sales and operations a...

13/06/2025

Manfrotto Unveils Unique New Tripod System for Mirrorless...

Manfrotto has launched the ONE Hybrid Tripod, a new support system designed specifically for professional content creators working with mirrorless cameras acros...

13/06/2025

Synamedia unveils security enhancements to its Media Edge...

Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that its Media Edge Gateway (MEG), an ATSC 3.0 software-based IRD, now supports Device Security requ...

13/06/2025

LiveU Strengthens Presence in DACH Region with Strategic...

LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video contribution, production and distribution solutions, is deepening its commitment to the German-speaking market with th...

13/06/2025

Chaos Adds AI Tools Faster Animation Renders and More Sty...

Chaos, the leader in architectural visualisation software, today announces Chaos Corona 13, giving archviz designers new ways to add eye-catching style and flai...

13/06/2025

PALI's Nena Music Video Shot with Blackmagic Design

PALI's Nena Music Video Shot with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 12, 2025 0 Comments Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci Resolve Studio b...

13/06/2025

OddBeast Powers Up iRobot's Newest Roombas with Suite of CGI Launch Assets

OddBeast Powers Up iRobot's Newest Roombas with Suite of CGI Launch Assets Brie Clayton June 12, 2025 0 Comments The motion design and production ...

13/06/2025

On Chick Coreas Birthday, a Newly Uncovered Archival Release

On Chick Coreas Birthday, a Newly Uncovered Archival Release The Visitors, composed by Corea and performed by vibraphonist Gary Burton and pianist Kirill Gers...

13/06/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Backblaze's Gleb Budman Talks Products, Partnerships, and the Growth in Cloud Storage

SVG Sit-Down: Backblaze's Gleb Budman Talks Products, Partnerships, and the ...

13/06/2025

SVG Sit-Down: DAZN's Walker Jacobs Calls Streaming the FIFA Club World Cup The Most Ambitious Thing We've Ever Done in the U.S.'

SVG Sit-Down: DAZN's Walker Jacobs Calls Streaming the FIFA Club World Cup ...