
The comic book Dystopia tells the story of Jessica Hyde, a young girl on the run from the evil Mr. Rabbit, who holds Jessica's scientist father captive and forces him to create unthinkable biological horrors. Written and illustrated by an anonymous artist, Dystopia has earned legions of fans, some of whom have found far deeper meaning in its pages and believe clues to real-world viruses and pandemics are layered into its artwork.
One such group of obsessives, who have only known each other through their online interactions, come together and finally meet in person for Fringe Con, where an unwitting couple has plans to auction the recently discovered original artwork for Utopia, Dystopia's unpublished and never-before-seen sequel. Desperate to unlock Utopia's secrets, these friends are instead thrust into the heart of a vast conspiracy and forced to run for their lives alongside none other than Jessica Hyde who is in fact a real, living person, with a backstory that exactly matches the one told on the printed page.
So begins the eight-episode series Utopia, developed by showrunner Gillian Flynn and now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. As cinematographer Stephan Pehrsson, BSC says of the story's happenings, Everything is calculated, and there are dark forces controlling all of it.
When Panavision spoke with Pehrsson in mid-September, he was in London, nine weeks into production on another series. Despite Utopia's subject matter, the cinematographer says the series' release comes at a time the filmmakers never could have imagined during production, as the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. Hopefully people will see it as a piece of entertainment, he offers, and not a handbook for how to live life.
Pehrsson was brought onto Utopia by director Toby Haynes, who would ultimately direct Episodes 1, 2, 3 and 8. Pehrsson shot each of Haynes' episodes as well as Episode 6, and cinematographer Shawn Kim came aboard to shoot Episodes 4, 5 and 7. Kim joined the production after Pehrsson but still very early on, Pehrsson notes. We sent references back and forth, and he brought a lot of visual ideas. It was great to have him as a collaborator and be able to pick his brain.
Toby and I go way back, Pehrsson adds, noting that he and the director attended the U.K.'s National Film and Television School together. We have a shorthand. We know what the other person is thinking before he says it. Their professional collaborations have included the Emmy winning Black Mirror episode U.S.S. Callister, and it was in part thanks to that project's success, Pehrsson says, that Toby was invited over to the U.S. to direct Utopia, and he brought me along. We've done it before where we set up a show in a different country with a new crew, so we were confident we could make it work.
The series was shot in and around Flynn's hometown of Chicago, Ill. Pehrsson began his prep in February 2019, with production starting in May and lasting into October.
Flynn's story was inspired by and adapted from the British series of the same name, which aired for two seasons. I was in awe of the original, Pehrsson says of the show, which was created by Dennis Kelly and photographed by BSC members Ole Bratt Birkeland and Lol Crawley. It was super-strong, incredible television, with a distinct style. It's very controlled, with stark frames that are all about the graphic nature of the surroundings. But Gillian had her own take, so when we started, we took it our own way.
Given the central conceit of its storyline, that a graphic novel contains world-shaking secrets, we knew we wanted to merge comic books and conspiracy thrillers, Pehrsson reflects. We looked at classic conspiracy thrillers like The Parallax View, Three Days of the Condor and The Icpress File, and we talked about pushing the colors and not being afraid of making it bold in that way.
Gillian was very hands-on and very clear, but Toby was also given the freedom to be creative and put his own vision and ideas into it, Pehrsson continues. He loves handheld and the sense of immediacy of being with the characters. Jessica Hyde [portrayed by Sasha Lane] has been on the run since she was a small child, and she has this crazy energy; it felt appropriate to follow her energy and be a bit wild and handheld with the camera in her scenes.
The filmmakers did follow the lead of the original Utopia with their choice of the 2.39:1 aspect ratio. Where the original had been captured spherically, however, Pehrsson and his collaborators made the choice to shoot anamorphic. During prep, the cinematographer shares, We were blown away by the qualities of Panavision's anamorphic lenses, especially the T Series. There was nothing we could find elsewhere that could beat the look or the technical benefits. Normally with anamorphics, it's a 4-foot minimum focus, a T-stop of 4 all those things you have to compensate for when shooting. But with the T Series, it had all the right visual qualities, the anamorphic flare, but with a 2-foot close focus, and you can shoot them wide open [at T2.3 for every focal length up to and including 135mm]. That made a huge difference. This was the first chance I had to shoot with proper Panavision lenses, which was very exciting, and the T Series was great.
In particular, the cinematographer notes, The 28mm rarely left the camera. The whole show was pretty much shot on the 28mm and the 35mm. We wanted to shoot wide, close to the actors, and put them in the center of the frame. The actors were often looking at a tape mark on the matte box because we were so close!
Sourcing their package through Panavision Chicago, the filmmakers paired the T Series optics with Panavision's Millennium DXL2 camera, capturing 5K with a 2:1 anamorphic squeeze. We l
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
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 ...
16/04/2026
Appear ASA (OSE: APR) will announce three additions to its X Platform at NAB Sho...
16/04/2026
Harmonic has announced that CentralCast, a centralized master control facility for U.S. public media, has deployed Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor t...
16/04/2026
Interra Systems has announced that Encompass Digital Media has integrated its BA...
16/04/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate its Media Infrastructure capabilities at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C2408, Central Hall), bringing routing, signal processing, and orche...
16/04/2026
As preparations ramp up for the FIFA World Cup 2026, Verizon has outlined a sweeping connectivity and infrastructure initiative that will underpin broadcast ope...
16/04/2026
Advanced Image Robotics (AIR) has announced its selection for the 2026 MLS Innovation Lab. AIR will work with MLS clubs, players, and executives on automated vi...
16/04/2026
JWX has announced the acquisition of True Anthem, an AI-powered social publishin...
16/04/2026
Jomboy Media and FuboTV Inc. have launched the Jomboy Media Channel, a 24/7 channel available to FuboTV base plan subscribers. The channel, timed to the start o...
16/04/2026
Wave Central, a Domo Broadcast Company (Booth C2820), and EVS Broadcast Equipmen...
16/04/2026
Tata Communications and Formula 1 have released Race Before the Race, the firs...
16/04/2026
DPA Microphones has released a firmware update for its N-Series Digital Wireless...
16/04/2026
Sony's Live Stage at NAB Show 2026 is the place to hear directly from the content creators, end users, and technology experts who are pushing boundaries in ...
16/04/2026
Perfect Game and Youth Prospects have announced a partnership covering broadcast...
16/04/2026
National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) has announced a media rights partnership with Al...
16/04/2026
Audio-Technica has announced two new mid-side (MS) stereo broadcast microphones:...
16/04/2026
PSSI Global Services has announced the acquisition of Beagle Networks, a provider of IT infrastructure and onsite technical support for media and enterprise cus...
16/04/2026
Blackmagic Design has released Blackmagic Camera for iOS 3.3, a free update available now from the Apple App Store. The update will be demonstrated at NAB Show ...
16/04/2026
As live sports production continues to expand across linear, digital, and in-ven...
16/04/2026
Part of an infrastructure upgrade, the recently constructed spaces accommodate n...
16/04/2026
NBC has added NEP's Supershooter 11, which only just came online in time for...
16/04/2026
At Spotify, we want your experience to feel intuitive and personal across every moment of the day. Whether you're streaming your favorite playlist while you...
16/04/2026
Vintage broadcast experts release second plug-in
Telsie T is the second plug-in to be released by SonicWorld, a German audio company who specialise in servi...
16/04/2026
Compact unit offers hands-on plug-in control
Softube have just announced the launch of their latest hardware unit, the Flow Studio. Housed in a compact desk...
16/04/2026
Use any VST3 plug-in on immersive audio
Fiedler Audio have just released a powerful new plug-in wrapper that brings full VST3 processing to Dolby Atmos and ...
16/04/2026
Analysis plug-in gains enhanced frequency readouts
Nugen Audio's real-time analysis plug-in has just received a significant update that introduces some ...
16/04/2026
Recording & Music Technology Show
Sound On Sound are pleased to announce a new recording and music technology exhibition taking place in London on Saturday ...
16/04/2026
SBS reveals all-star alumni team to celebrate 70 years of the Eurovision Song Co...
16/04/2026
For decades, understanding the physical world from space has required a trade-of...
16/04/2026
The integration accelerates demographic audience delivery across local markets a...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Telestream Cloud Services, including Vantage Cloud, UP, and SENTRY monitoring tools, are now optimized for OCI, powering flexible multi-cloud media orchestratio...
16/04/2026
Fox Corporation (Nasdaq: FOXA, FOX; FOX or the Company ) today announced a strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), naming AWS as its preferre...
16/04/2026
Triveni Digital, a trusted leader in ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 service delivery, data broadcasting, and quality assurance solutions, today announced an ISDB-Tb capabilit...
16/04/2026
Synamedia and SoFast announce strategic go-to-market partnership to accelerate FAST, pay-TV, and VOD
At the NAB Show 2026, Synamedia and SoFast are announcing ...
16/04/2026
Showcases New, Open-Standard IP Solutions Across Its Portfolio, From Production to Playout
Imagine Communications is marking a decade of leadership in ST 2110 ...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Sportway Media Group, a world leading AI-automated sports production company and Broadcast Solutions, a leading system integrator and provider of innovative sol...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
AJA Enters into Agreement to Acquire Video Encoding Software Company Comprimato
Brie Clayton April 15, 2026
0 Comments
Deal will expand AJA's video ...
16/04/2026
Deity Announces PR-4 Compact Field Recorder with Pre-Orders Launching April 14
Brie Clayton April 15, 2026
0 Comments
Deity Microphones today announce...