
--
Producing a feeling of dread in one of the most beautiful locations on earth - the Fiji Islands - was the task of cinematographer Stefan Duscio for J.D. Dillard's horror/thriller Sweetheart. After being stranded on a deserted island and left to survive on her own, a young woman (played by Kiersey Clemons) realises that she is sharing the island with something that starts to hunt her, thus beginning her battle for survival.
Having just finished science fiction feature Upgrade in Australia for Blumhouse Productions, which was also producing Sweetheart, the company put Duscio's name forward to director J.D. Dillard. After a couple of Skype calls, it all came together very quickly, said Duscio. J.D. is a great leader with wonderful energy and filmmaking in his blood.
With 25 shoot days on a remote island in Fiji during May/June 2017, the crew enjoyed the microclimate of the island with very little rain. This compared to the mainland, a 30- minute boat ride away, where it rained every second day in the afternoon.
We wanted this absolute feeling of dread in this beautiful picture postcard location, where every day Kiersey's character wakes up and has to survive the day and another night, explained Duscio. We had this natural beauty that couldn't bring any calming effect to our lead. I relied on very slow camera movements whenever possible and holding shots a little longer than might be comfortable. And at night, I created a very dark look with just the right amount of detail - which is hard to do when creating realistic moonlight - so the audience doesn't see too much.
To make this possible, Duscio shot on an ARRI ALEXA Mini in open gate mode with a nine lens Cooke S4/i prime kit consisting of an 18mm, 25mm, 32mm, 40mm, 50mm, 65mm, 75mm, 100mm and 135mm.
Open gate mode uses the entire sensor, explained Duscio. So, a 50mm lens gives you roughly the field of view of a 40mm lens, but with all the depth characteristics of the 50mm. I love getting as much out of the lens and sensor as possible - it creates a mini large format look. We tended to live between naturalistic lens sizes of 25mm and 50mm throughout the shoot.
A regular user of Cooke lenses, Duscio used natural light and bounce during the day, with some occasional negative fill and overhead scrim. We got to know the island very well and designed the coverage to work with the position of the sun, he says. However, night shooting had some challenges: We used scaffold towers along the beach with M90 and M40 HMIbacklights, and thoroughly used battery poweredLED SkyPanels for closer quarters. Battery powered lighting was great on the beach, as it helped us to avoid submerging cables in heavily changing ocean tides, Duscio noted.
While Duscio had a history with Cooke lenses, Dillard needed to be convinced. I had a strong feeling that Cooke was the right look for this film, said Duscio. I showed J.D. footage from my 2015 film Backtrack and my 2017 film Jungle where I used Cookes, as well as other online footage that was relevant. He was very trusting and agreed that Cooke was the way to go. And I knew that I could absolutely rely on Cooke lenses while filming in the middle of nowhere.
As a very natural look was important to the film, Duscio relied on the ALEXA Mini and Cooke S4/i combination to deliver a look that would not be harsh. I didn't want to artificially affect the image as much as anamorphic would, but also didn't want anything too modern or too vintage. The S4/i primes gave me a great classic look that rendered the colours of our location and Kiersey's beautiful skin tones very naturally.
One of the things that Duscio likes about Cooke is the different lenses available. Cooke has a wide variety of lenses with a look for almost any project. They're reliable, very user friendly, and ultimately very natural looking.
Sweetheart was released in the U.S. on October 22, 2019.
About Cooke Optics, LTD
Cooke is a storied name in both cinematographic and ultra-high-end professional photography markets. Known worldwide for their precision, exacting tolerances and superior quality, Cooke lenses are specified by many of the world's most respected cinematographers. Cooke is also the developer behind /i Technology, the protocol enabling vital lens and camera information to be captured and passed digitally to post-production teams. Cooke was honoured with a 2013 Academy Award of Merit (an Oscar statuette) for its continuing innovation in the design, development and manufacture of motion picture camera lenses.
Features in production or recently shot with Cooke lenses include Vice, Bohemian Rhapsody, A Star Is Born, Venom, Call Me By Your Name, Motherless Brooklyn, Stan and Ollie, Darkest Hour, Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House. Television shows in production or recently shot with Cooke lenses include Osmosis, Top Boy, David Makes Man, Catch-22, The Perfection, Ozark, Gentleman Jack, Free Rein, Skam France, The Dark Crystal, Doctor Who, Fleabag, Kevin (Probably) Save the World, The Crossing, The Crown, Westworld, Poldark, Game of Thrones, Midsomer Murders, Orange is the New Black and Fargo.
###
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...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
A fentanyl countermeasure that adapts to combat future black-market drugs Scripps Research scientists developed a vaccine that teaches the immune system to rapi...
11/06/2026
The immense size of the tourney and its Atlantic-spanning operation also disting...
11/06/2026
Nielsen has released a new soccer fandom consumer research report, The Fans Behind The Game: FIFA World Cup 2026 Edition, examining the soccer audience in the...
11/06/2026
Telemundo will launch its FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage on Thursday, June 11 with...
11/06/2026
FuboTV Inc. has announced a distribution agreement with NBCUniversal. Fubo customers can now stream Telemundo and Universo, with NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), NBC...
11/06/2026
DAZN has announced its in-app features for FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage in Spain...
11/06/2026
Roblox has released the 2026 Roblox Digital Expression Report: Wave 4 - Sports D...
11/06/2026
FIFA has unveiled DNA, the Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Anthem, performed by A...
11/06/2026
ESPN will provide English- and Spanish-language news and information coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026 across its U.S. media platforms from June 11 through July 1...
11/06/2026
The latest product of the outstanding RIT Sports Network program, this recent grad from Long Island is carving out a promising path in broadcast engineering
In...
11/06/2026
DAZN has announced a multi-year agreement to make DSPORTS channels available to ...
11/06/2026
Laura Dern at the 1986 Sundance Institute Directors Lab (Photo by Eric Edwards)
By Lucy Spicer
It takes a village to bring together the Sundance Institute lab...
11/06/2026
As podcast formats evolve in the streaming era, podcasting needs updated, transp...
11/06/2026
As Spotify's global RADAR program enters its sixth year in Italy, a new class of artists is stepping into the spotlight. Today, we're announcing the six...
11/06/2026
Pride Month is a time for celebration, reflection, and amplifying the diverse stories and perspectives from the LGBTQIA+ community that enrich our world. To hel...
11/06/2026
First in new line of muted string libraries
VSL have just announced the launch of two new string libraries that represent the first two instalments in a new...
11/06/2026
New colour option for 61-key Launchkey MK4
At Superbooth 2025, Novation introduced the Launchkey Mini 37 White and Launchkey 49 White, bringing an additiona...
11/06/2026
Larger, but still compact!
Arturia's popular compact MIDI controller keyboard is now available in a, well, slightly less compact version! The new MiniLa...
11/06/2026
Eurosatory 2026: Rohde & Schwarz shapes the new-generation battlefield Rohde & Schwarz unveils next generation SIGINT/EW and CUAS solutions on uncrewed system...
11/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz unveils NEMACS - Directional, ultra secure connectivity for the ...
11/06/2026
MTI FILM acquires Mango/New Edit Posted by MTI Film on June 10, 2026
LOS ANGELES, CA - June 2026 - MTI FILM, the multiple Emmy Award winning Hollywood post-p...
11/06/2026
Study underscores the need for authoritative content intelligence to build trust...
11/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/06/2026
Maxon Brings Real-Time Architectural Visualization to AIA26 With New Redshift fo...
11/06/2026
ABC Kid's Caper Crew Shoots Australian Adventure with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton June 11, 2026
0 Comments
DP Judd Overton and team bring Wes A...
11/06/2026
PTZOptics, and LayerJot today announced live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how prompt-based AI, robotic camera control, and high-performance computing...
11/06/2026
Lightware, an industry leader in signal management, announces the release of GPIO-Button-10S, a dedicated control interface enabling straightforward press-to-a...
11/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/06/2026
Kiloview, a leading innovator in AV-over-IP video solutions, will return to InfoComm 2026 (Booth# N8327) with broadcast-grade AV-over-IP solutions designed for ...
11/06/2026
Australian Games Industry Glossary of Terms 10 June 2026
From DAU and EULA to COT and QADE, here's a list of game industry terms, industry jargon and their...
11/06/2026
Berklee's Tonya Butler Named Music Business Educator of the Year The Music Business Association honored Butler at its annual Bizzy Awards.
June 10, 2026
...
11/06/2026
Ann Mincieli to Receive Honorary Doctorate at Berklee NYC Graduate Commencement The five-time Grammy-winning engineer and producer, known for her longstanding...
11/06/2026
Thursday 11 June 2026
Daisy May Cooper rallies the nation ahead of ICC Women's T20 World CupTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy options and...
11/06/2026
Back to All News
Hadewych Minis and Geert van Rampelberg to Star in New Netflix...
11/06/2026
Back to All News
Official Trailer for Anime Adaptation of Thunder 3' Unvei...
11/06/2026
Summer solstice shows from C il House and Late Date from 9pm on Saturday 20 Jun...
11/06/2026
The GeForce NOW summer sale kicked off today with limited-time savings of up to ...
10/06/2026
DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...