Based on the best-selling mystery novel of the same name, the feature Where the Crawdads Sing tells the story of Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a young woman who grew up isolated in the North Carolina marshes and is implicated in a murder. Directed by Olivia Newman, the movie was shot by cinematographer Polly Morgan, ASC, BSC, whose long history of working with Panavision goes back to her days as a production assistant in London. Panavision recently spoke with Morgan about her collaboration with Newman and their choice of optics for the feature.
Panavision: What attracted you to Where the Crawdads Sing?
Polly Morgan, ASC, BSC: I read the book during the pandemic in the summer of 2020. I was pregnant, and when I read about this young girl growing up alone in nature, it really resonated with me and my experience as a child. I grew up in remote English countryside, in a valley next to a river. The country road that led to our farmhouse was a mile long, completely off the beaten track. I would spend lots of my time down by the riverbanks and walking through the woods alone. I deeply connected with Kya's story, her love of nature and her resilience to succeed no matter what life threw at her.
How did you become involved in shooting the movie?
Morgan: After I had my son in October [2020], my agent told me they were going to make the book into a movie. She tried for a long time to get me an interview with the director, but I wasnt on the list of DPs that the studio were looking at. With no other option, I wrote Livi a letter, expressing how much I loved the book, what it meant to me and how much I would love to work together to bring the story to life.
After she got my letter, we arranged a Zoom call and then talked for hours. I had made a pitch deck showing inspirations and ideas for the visuals, and we were on exactly the same page. In fact, she showed me the book she created when meeting for the job, and they were very similar.
After my meeting with Livi, I had to then go through a series of meetings with producers and studio execs. I think there was some trepidation because they didnt see much nature work in the material that I had shot before; in this business, unless you've already proven that you can do something, people are nervous that you cant do it. Luckily, they responded to the deck I had put together, and when I discussed our plans with camera movement, they felt more at ease.
When I got to the call to say I had been offered the job, I was overwhelmed. I was so excited to get to work with Livi and thrilled that I was going to be able to create the imagery I had imagined when reading the book.
Can you describe the pitch deck you made?
Morgan: I organized the book based on themes of color and how different colors and contrast would play within Kya's life. I highlighted the difference in contrast and color in the present-day courtroom and jail with the time periods of the 1950s, '60s and '70s, from Kya's childhood, and through her life as a young woman. My references were based on bringing the natural world into the viewers experience in a subjective way to connect them emotionally to the story. I used references from [the movies of] Terrence Malick, Jane Campion and David Lowery, images that focused on the play of light and quiet details. The concept was to make a commercial movie that was still artful and had a balance of scope and intimacy.
How would you describe the look that you and Olivia Newman wanted for the movie?
Morgan: I suppose its cinematic naturalism. The look is very soft and pretty. We embraced a pastel color palette and created a neutral LUT that was very true to the colors created by the production and costume designers. There is so much green in the frame, so we stayed away from any warmth that would add yellow and make the greens feel digital and artificial.
My approach to lighting was to always make sure that we had details in the shadows, with no deep, rich blacks. The landscape at night can very quickly fall into nothing, so I hid fixtures deep in the background to ensure there was always detail in the image and that the contrast would remain soft all the way through post.
Livi and I had a very clear idea of how we wanted to move the camera and frame the image. We wanted to do things to make it more unique to us, like certain angles that spoke emotionally to Kyas internal state. We played with focus and various modes of camera support. The words in the book are so lyrical, and we wanted the camera movement to reflect that. We employed Steadicam and various arms to move the camera as well as keeping a remote head on the dolly and always moving with the action on dance floor or track. Handheld was also employed for the more intimate and emotional scenes.
You ended up using a new set of Panavision prototype large-format spherical lenses for the movie. What made you choose those lenses for the look you wanted?
Morgan: Dan Sasaki [Panavision's senior vice president of optical engineering and lens strategy] reached out to me during Covid, and we talked about an independent movie I was going to do that was about a female running out in the countryside. I knew I wouldn't be able to control the light, so I was looking for lenses that were going to be softer so the natural light wouldn't be so harsh on the actor's face. He mentioned some prototypes that he was building and said they might work really well.
I never shot that movie, as I was having my baby by the time it went, but when I spoke to Livi, we talked about lenses, and I knew that Dan's glass would be a great fit. I knew I wanted to shoot the movie in large format to embrace a more expansive field of view, and I also knew that anamorphic lenses would counteract that.
I took Livi out to Panavision in Woodland Hills to chat with Dan. We looked at a variety of l
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
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...
10/06/2026
DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...
10/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager USA, covering Southern California and the Southwest region. Dino joins...
10/06/2026
An 11% decrease in number of global broadcast deals reflects the organization...
10/06/2026
The Women Without Boundaries Awards recognize women whose work is advancing the future of media, broadcast, AV, workplace technology, digital experience, and re...
10/06/2026
Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...
10/06/2026
SES is supporting broadcast distribution of the world's biggest football tou...
10/06/2026
NDI has announced that BirdDog has become the first hardware manufacturer to achieve full NDI 6.3 compatibility across its complete lineup of cameras, encoders,...
10/06/2026
Vince Caputo and Scott Carter, winners of the 2026 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Post Produced Audio have been announced as presenters for the 2026 SVG Advanced A...
10/06/2026
FOX One today unveiled a slate of new product features and enhancements designed to elevate the viewing experience for fans on the official streaming platform o...
10/06/2026
Primary production partners Dome Productions and Raycom Sports once again played...
10/06/2026
The Women in Sports Filmmaking Experienceship is an immersive professional devel...
10/06/2026
The league has expanded its HSAN architecture for the NBA Finals to manage more ...
10/06/2026
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League (XGL) Winter Draft will take place Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at Cosm Los Angeles from 7-9 p.m. PT. The event will strea...
10/06/2026
The University of Oklahoma (OU) Athletics Department and Learfield have announce...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has released TR-06-4 Part 8, a new specification for RIST Satellite-Hybrid: Out-of-Band Method. The specification creates a mecha...
10/06/2026
Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, supporting live medical proc...
10/06/2026
A still from The Doom Generation by Gregg Araki (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
By Lucy Spicer
Have you checked out our Sundance Film Festival 101 list yet...
10/06/2026
Get Hands-On with Interfaces & Mic Preamp Brands
If youre after a new interface or preamp, then GearExpo UK is the place to be! Well have a whole host of au...
10/06/2026
November 13-14 2026, The Midway, San Francisco
Following their recent rebranding, MONO Music Conference (formerly Music Expo) have officially announced thei...
10/06/2026
Debut instrument free for limited time
deFORM is the debut release from newly founded developer ebbandflow, and it's being offered as a free download fo...
10/06/2026
Alone Australia Season 4: Meet the Cast
10 June, 2026
Media releases
WATCH THE TRAILER
Smash-hit survival series Alone Australia drops its highly anticipa...
10/06/2026
DEADLY THEN, DEADLY NOW, DEADLY ALWAYS: SBS & NITV IGNITE NAIDOC WEEK 2026 WITH ...
10/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF advance laser-based drone defense with THORIS LCS Rohde & Schwarz is showcasing THORIS at ILA 2026: A sovereign, end to end counter...
10/06/2026
MAHLE and Rohde & Schwarz develop application for sensor testing of modern drive...
10/06/2026
Production and Development Funding supports the creation of compelling, commercially viable, artistic and culturally relevant South African screen content. Deve...
10/06/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...
10/06/2026
Accedo, Humans not Robots, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have announced the launch of Ecoflow X. Formerly an IBC Accelerator project, ...
10/06/2026
Frequency, the engine powering the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced that James Smith has joined the company as General Manager...
10/06/2026
At the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for live medical procedures s...
10/06/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media, and entertainment managed services, today announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform powered by Or...
10/06/2026
Klvr will showcase how venues, integrators and production teams are rethinking disposable battery usage at InfoComm 2026 (Las Vegas, June 17-19, booth #N6311). ...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has further enhanced the Reliable Internet Streaming Transport (RIST) protocol by incorporating a new feature, RIST Satellite-Hyb...
10/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
How to watch every ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 match live on Sky Sports
Where is the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 availabl...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
P RLA brings first-ever Beautifully Clean Oral Care'...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
Sky reveals pulse-pounding first teaser trailer for upco...
10/06/2026
Wuppertal June 10, 2026
Riedel Artist at the Heart of the 14th World Live Neurovascular ConferenceAt the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Li...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Showcases New Mobile Experience, Collections and Games Vision in APAC
Product
10 June 2026
GlobalSouth KoreaJapan
Link copied to c...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Ready to Join? The Netflix Fan Club Arrives at Cannes Lions
Business
10 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Download all assets
N...
10/06/2026
Chemists snap together complex 3D molecules from highly reactive radicals-without losing their shape Scripps Research team develops stereoretentive radical-radi...
09/06/2026
Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...
09/06/2026
SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...
09/06/2026
EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...
09/06/2026
Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...
09/06/2026
FOX Sports and ReachTV, an airport media network, have announced an agreement to...
Based on the best-selling mystery novel of the same name, the feature Where the Crawdads Sing tells the story of Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a young woman who grew up isolated in the North Carolina marshes and is implicated in a murder. Directed by Olivia Newman, the movie was shot by cinematographer Polly Morgan, ASC, BSC, whose long history of working with Panavision goes back to her days as a production assistant in London. Panavision recently spoke with Morgan about her collaboration with Newman and their choice of optics for the feature.
