Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Cinematographer Oren Soffer on the short film See You Soon

06/09/2024

Vincent lives in Los Angeles, Anthony in New York City. They met on a dating app and have been talking for months, but the physical distance between them has kept them apart until now, when Vincent flies to New York to stay with Anthony for a long weekend. Their first day is marked by awkward moments and fumbling connections that nevertheless give way to a profound intimacy that's both welcome and frightening to each of them. As they grow closer together, they can't help but recognize that Vincent's departure is also drawing nearer, and once the weekend is over, they'll again be thousands of miles apart.

Written and directed by Tyler Rabinowitz and shot by cinematographer Oren Soffer, the 16-minute short See You Soonstars James Cusati-Moyer as Vincent and Jonny Beauchamp as Anthony. The project was the latest in a string of collaborations between Soffer and Rabinowitz, going back to the latter's New York University thesis film. Shot in New York City over four days in the summer of 2019, See You Soon premiered online on June 27, timed with the celebration of this year's Pride Month. (The short can be watched here.)

The filmmakers captured the short with an Alexa Mini camera and Panavision Ultra Speed lenses, all sourced out of Panavision New York. The design of the movie, in terms of how we used lenses and camerawork to create intimacy, was done to address what both Tyler and I feel is a lack of representation of intimate gay relationships, Soffer shares. As queer filmmakers, it was really important for us to craft a visual story on screen that we just dont see much of, certainly not depicted in this way.

Soffer recently connected with Panavision to shine a light on his and Rabinowitz's creative approach to the project. (Note, the following conversation contains spoilers.)

Panavision: Were there any particular visual references that you and Tyler looked at for inspiration?

Oren Soffer: When Tyler sent me the first draft of this script, our process actually started with music. He said, While reading this, listen to White Ferrari by Frank Ocean. I want this film to feel the way that song sounds.' So that was the first piece of media that we consumed while thinking about how this film was going to feel, and then we started to figure out how it was going to look. We actually didn't exchange a ton of references; I think we made a conscious choice to follow our gut instinct on a lot of things. The two [features] that we did look at in terms of tone and mood were Call Me By Your Name [directed by Luca Guadagnino] and Weekend by Andrew Haigh, but stylistically we deviated from both of them a little bit.

We wanted the whole film to be about capturing the emotion between these two people, so everything about the visual style was going to be naturalistic and very minimalist and not very stylized. It was all to service the world of these two guys and what they feel spending this weekend together. We wanted to strip away any distractions in terms of the visual style and just let it be.

How did you arrive at the Ultra Speeds for your lenses?

Soffer: After the thesis that Tyler directed at NYU, Panavision helped us out on music videos that I shot and he produced and/or directed. They've been so supportive of these projects over the years, so when it came time for this project, Panavision was really the first place we thought of, and I reached out to Marni Zimmerman to see if they'd want to do another one.

Tyler and I had a conversation early on about anamorphic versus spherical, but it was not a long conversation. We wanted a sort of traditional aspect ratio, not widescreen, just to bring these two characters together in the frame and emphasize that this story is about the connection between them. And the Ultra Speeds were my first choice; they're my favorite spherical lenses. The glass is stunning. Shooting wide open, like I tend to do, creates really aesthetically pleasing visual flaws' in terms of the astigmatism, the bokeh, the falloff and everything. It was perfect for the mood that we wanted to create with this project. It was a little bit dreamy, a little bit ethereal. And I like that the lenses are really fast, so when you shoot them wide open, you get really quick falloff in terms of depth of field. That sense of separation between the characters and the background was part of the visual language that we wanted. We wanted them to feel isolated from the world, together with each other and separate from the environment.

It really underscores the intimacy between them.

Soffer: Intimacy was the key word that really informed all of our creative decisions: aspect ratio, lens choice, how we shot with the lenses, and also shooting on longer focal lengths, again to decrease the depth of field and emphasize that sense of isolation. We only shot wide-lens close-ups a few times, for key moments in the film when we wanted to create a sense of physical presence, to bring the audience within the world of the characters. As they were becoming more intimate, we were shooting with longer lenses to create this tension, like there's a separation hovering over them because they both know that eventually they're going to have to not be together. But then, for the scene where they have their fight, that's actually where we shot with wider lenses closer up, bringing them together in the moment that they're coming apart. It was an intentional, subtle subversion of the audience's physical proximity to the characters.

Early in the movie, there's a long-lens shot of the couple walking toward the camera, a day exterior with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. What focal length would that have been?

Soffer: That was a 150mm Ultra Speed, which is the highest focal length in that set, and it was with a 2x extender, so effect
LINK: https://www.panavision.com/highlights/highlights-detail/depth-of-emoti...
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 ...

09/10/2026

Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026

September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026 New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

29/09/2026

Oak View Group Names Cisco as Official Technology Partner

Oak View Group (OVG) has announced Cisco as an Official Technology Partner, with plans to standardize infrastructure across its venue network on Cisco solutions...

29/09/2026

SportsNet Pittsburgh Wins Three Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards

SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) won three honors at the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards. Program awards went to Bucs BP in the Sports Program Live category (produced ...

29/09/2026

CBC, PWHL Revive Hockey Night in Canada' on Saturdays

The Professional Women's Hockey League has announced home openers for all 12 teams for the 2026-27 season, along with a broadcast partnership with CBC under...

29/09/2026

Manifold Technologies Recognized as MXL Contributor Following IBC Innovation Award

Manifold technologies has been recognized as a contributor to the Media eXchange...

29/09/2026

Fubo Launches My Local Sports RSN Add-On Package

FuboTV has announced My Local Sports, allowing subscribers in select markets to add their local regional sports network (RSN) as an add-on to a Fubo Sports subs...

29/09/2026

ANI Deploys Grass Valley AMPP and Framelight X for News Operations

Asian News International (ANI), a wire agency and video news provider based in India, has deployed Grass Valley's AMPP Media Operating System and Framelight...

29/09/2026

SABC Deploys Ikegami UHK-X600 Cameras for IP-Based Production

South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has deployed Ikegami UHK-X600 cameras as part of an upgrade to IP-based production infrastructure. The deployment ...

29/09/2026

Busy in Bristol: ESPN Headquarters Come Alive With New Studio W, Remote-Production Workflows

REMI, REMCO models will drive the bulk of the broadcaster's NHL productions ...

29/09/2026

NASCAR Productions' Keith D'Alessandro on the Continued Evolution of Its Centralized Production Hub

Three years in, the facility is supporting more centralized race production, com...

29/09/2026

NBC Sports Brings Robust Sunday Night Baseball Production Playbook to MLB Wild Card Round

NBC, Peacock, and NBSN are carrying all four Wild Card series with a production ...

29/09/2026

Sundance Institute Announces 2026 Doc Fund Grantees

19 Nonfiction Projects Across All Stages of Production to Receive More Than $1 million in Support as Documentary Film Program Approaches 25th Anniversary LOS ...

29/09/2026

Zynaptiq introduce Loud & Wide

Two new plug-ins launch alongside updated bundles Zynaptiq have just announced the launch of two new plug-ins, alongside new and improved versions of two of...

29/09/2026

Wes Audio unveil the ngOmniBox

All-in-one bus processor revealed Wes Audio's ng product range has come a long way since it was first introduced, and now includes a tasty selection of ...

29/09/2026

First Baptist Nashville Drastically Upgrades Production Communications with...

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

29/09/2026

Fubo TV Launches My Local Sports'

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

ARRI Targets Content Creators with New HONOR Smartphone

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

Asian News International Enhances Workflow with Grass Valley AMPP, FramelightX

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

SABC Chooses Ikegami UHK-X600 Cameras to Support IP Studio Transition

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

SABC Upgrades to IP-Based Production with Ikegami UHK-X60...

Ikegami announces that the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, has chosen Ikegami UHK-X600 camera systems as part of an advance to IP-based operation ...

29/09/2026

Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone

Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone Brie Clayton September 29, 2026 0 Comments Blendkit, the largest 3D asset libr...

29/09/2026

Ease Live Reports over 75 Million Interactive Sessions Du...

Interactive streaming specialist Ease Live supported more than 76.5 million fan sessions across three major European media operators during this summers FIFA Wo...

29/09/2026

Ease Live to monetise key moments in live sports

Ease Live has added support for VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) to its graphical overlay technology, opening up new ways for broadcasters, streamers and rights...

29/09/2026

Rise AV launches awards celebrating the women advocates a...

Rise AV has announced the launch of the inaugural Rise AV Awards, a new global awards programme celebrating the women, advocates and organisations across the AV...

29/09/2026

Netflix Deploys Advanced Sony PTZ Cameras For Wonka's The Golden Ticket' Production

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

Massachusetts Broadcasters Association Names Gene Lavanchy 2026 Broadcaster of the Year

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

ESPN Reports Its Most-Watched WNBA Regular Season

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

Scripps Taps Digital News Veteran Sean McGarvy to Lead News Strategy

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

Gray Raises Political Ad Revenue Estimates

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

Edward Czarnecki Uses Game Theory to Assess ATSC 3.0 Transition Policies

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

First Baptist Nashville Drastically Upgrades Production C...

Clear-Com announced that First Baptist Nashville has upgraded its production communications with a Clear-Com intercom solution as part of a comprehensive sanct...

29/09/2026

Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Captured Action Shots for Sketch

Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Captured Action Shots for Sketch Brie Clayton September 28, 2026 0 Comments Camera's portable design and dynamic range...

29/09/2026

Kean Production Services Deploys AJA ColorBox to Deliver Consistent, Accurate Color Across In-venue Displays at Live Events

Kean Production Services Deploys AJA ColorBox to Deliver Consistent, Accurate Co...

29/09/2026

Berklee Alumni and Faculty Nominated for the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards

Berklee Alumni and Faculty Nominated for the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards A total of 28 Berklee alumni and faculty earned nominations across 20 categories this ye...

29/09/2026

Berklee's K-Pop & Beyond Explores Connections Between K-Pop and Hip-Hop

Berklee's K-Pop & Beyond Explores Connections Between K-Pop and Hip-Hop Now in its fifth year, the series brings together artists, industry leaders, and s...

29/09/2026

The energy transition will only succeed if it lasts

We tend to think we live in a digital world, with hopes and fears around artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, data centres and the next big technolo...

29/09/2026

Apple releases new guide to help families build healthy digital habits - UPDATE - Posted on 29 September 2026

Today, in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Apple relea...

29/09/2026

Final Cut Camera now supports variable aperture on iPhone\u00A018\u00A0Pro - UPDATE - Posted on 29 September 2026

Final Cut Camera, the professional filming app for iPhone, receives a major upda...

29/09/2026

RT lyric fm launch the hunt for Choirs for Christmas

RT lyric fm is proud to announce the annual Choirs for Christmas competition callout. Warm up those vocal chords and join us on RT lyric fm for a celebration ...

28/09/2026

NHL Names Adobe as an Official Creative, Marketing and AI Partner

The NHL has announced Adobe as an Official Creative, Marketing and AI Partner beginning with the 2026-27 season. The partnership will provide the league and its...

28/09/2026

MultiDyne to Showcase Expanded Portfolio Including MRMC Robotics at CABSAT 2026

MultiDyne will exhibit at CABSAT 2026 (October 5-7, Dubai Exhibition Centre), showcasing an expanded technology portfolio following its June 2026 acquisition of...

28/09/2026

ARRI and HONOR Launch Co-Branded HONOR Magic9 Pro Max

ARRI and HONOR have announced the HONOR Magic9 Pro Max, a flagship smartphone carrying ARRI branding on the device and packaging as the first product-level expr...

28/09/2026

Net Insight Adds Nimbra 1020G to Pan-Asian Live Media Trial Network

Net Insight has added the Nimbra 1020G to its pan-Asian live media trial network, giving customers and partners in the region a way to evaluate ST 2110 and JPEG...

28/09/2026

Vindral Named Recipient of 2026 Technology and Engineering Emmy Award

Vindral has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology and Engineering Emmy Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the category of We...

28/09/2026

Interra Systems to Demonstrate QC and Monitoring Portfolio at CABSAT 2026

Interra Systems will exhibit at CABSAT 2026 (Stand B2-37, Dubai Exhibition Centre, October 5-7), demonstrating its BATON QC platform, ORION monitoring solutions...

28/09/2026

PGA TOUR's Michael Raimondo on Agentic Production, ShotLink Automation, and the Evolution of PGA TOUR Studios

Two years into its new production facility, the TOUR is expanding centralized wo...