While growing up in a California beach town, James Kniest developed a passion for underwater photography which would lead him to a career in filmmaking. These days he is best known for his cinematography on popular modern horror shows, including The Haunting of Bly Manor, American Horror Stories, and hit 2014 horror film Annabelle. Following The Haunting of Bly Manor, Director Mike Flanagan invited Kniest to collaborate once more on The Midnight Club, a 2022 serialization of the Christopher Pike young adult series by the same name. The show uniquely intertwines an eclectic mixture of anthology-like vignettes throughout the main story. The cinematographer selected ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiance lenses with the Sony Venice camera to set the show's overarching look.
In The Midnight Club, a group of terminally ill teenagers, living together in a convalescent home, meet each night to share spooky/down-right-terrifying stories in front of the manor's fireplace. The show weaves together a main storyline of the teenagers' day-to-day lives, with secondary micro-narratives made up of the tales the characters tell each other. One of the most thrilling parts about The Midnight Club is that every episode has different stories in it, with different looks, different lighting, different lensing, and different camera language, Kniest describes. The cinematographer knew that to make the most of this broad canvas, he needed to establish a strong foundational look for the main storyline from which to then build these diverging narratives.
A big consideration for Kniest was how to prepare the transition between the primary plotline and the secondary stories. This integral transition would happen at least once each episode, taking place in front of the fire where the characters tell their stories. Kniest explains, In each episode we would push down a long wooden table in front of a fireplace and focus on the character who is relatively small in the frame compared to the raging fire behind them. We had to maintain sharp focus and high resolution without getting blown out by the fire. It was important to have a camera package that would be able handle the effects of this dominant light source without creating distracting, uncontrolled flares, or other artifacts.
Kniest is a DP who rose to cinematography through lighting, so he was keenly aware of the unique variables produced by The Midnight Club's specific set lighting. The adage painting with light' has stuck with me deeply, he says. One of the things that was important to me in choosing a lens set for the primary storyline was having lenses that were going to deal best with fires, flashlights, candles, and wall sconces. It was important for me to manage flares without getting hamstrung by them. He began testing lenses, seeking the set that would best handle this important scene without giving up the lens flares he loves.
Pre-production for the show began during COVID. Kniest recalls the funny looks he received, bringing loaner lens sets borrowed from William F White to test on the fireplace at a local restaurant. There I am in Vancouver with everything shut down, hardly anybody around, and I have a camera system set up at a restaurant table where they barely want to serve me, as is, he chuckles. He proceeded to put the ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiances through their paces. I d already half decided on the Supreme Radiance lenses but seeing how they could handle fire and headlight flares was the essential sign for me that they were the right lens choice.
The high speed, large format lenses became the primary lens package for the project. Kniest recounts, I fell in love with them because of their flare characteristics. I like to control the lens when we want to. It builds another world and gives the show more three dimensionality. I even ended up using them in the secondary stories sometimes we had five or six different looks in a single episode. That attests to the lenses' versatility.
I m very proud of The Midnight Club. With the Radiances, there was nothing distracting in the way the lenses captured the scenes, especially regarding the storyteller s face with the fire behind them. It is an element that plays in every single episode, so I am proud that we were able to work out this solution.
The Midnight Club is available to watch on Netflix.
Read the full interview with James Kniest: https://lenspire.zeiss.com/cine/en/article/james-kniest-uses-zeiss-supreme-prime-radiance-lenses-to-weave-narratives-together-in-the-midnight-club
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
14/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
14/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
14/11/2026
Newest Lenses, Horizon Anamorphic Seminar & Guided Lens Character Experience Highlight Creative Possibilities
At the 2026 Toru CAMERIMAGE Film Festival, ZEISS...
14/11/2026
Sonnet Announces Black Friday Sale on Select Products
Brie Clayton November 14, 2026
0 Comments
WHAT: Sonnet Technologies is having a sale on a select...
14/11/2026
Berklee Alumni Shine at the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards This year's winners included songwriters, engineers, and performers who contributed to acclaimed reco...
13/11/2026
The UIM E1 Series wraps its third season this week with the Bombay Sapphire E1 Miami GP, Nov. 11-14, on Biscayne Bay at the Miami Seaplane Base on Watson Island...
13/11/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
13/11/2026
Singer-songwriter Benson Boone will headline entertainment for the Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles St...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone, a 7th order ambisonic microphone array that captures spatial audio for immersive video prod...
13/11/2026
SMPTE has announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infrastructure and communications technology for the Solutions Hub at t...
13/11/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the theme and program focus for the 2027 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place Feb. 14-18, 2027, in La ...
13/11/2026
Football Manager 27 Touch is available on Apple Arcade starting today. The game ...
13/11/2026
MotoGP has announced a two-year media rights agreement with ESPN covering the Un...
13/11/2026
Apple Sports, the free iPhone app, has added the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to its lineup of supported sports, in time for Saturday's UFC 334. The...
13/11/2026
The NBA and Fanatics Studios, the joint venture between Fanatics and entertainme...
13/11/2026
ESPN held its annual EDGE Innovation Conference last night and offered up an ove...
13/11/2026
Regional sports network gives Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland students a platform to thrive
One of the biggest games in Division III college football will be pla...
13/11/2026
Studer-inspired 500-series PWM compressor unveiled
The HLabs range already includes a couple of Studer-inspired offerings in the form of the PRE169 and EQ16...
13/11/2026
Download Now!
To view the white paper, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name
Company*
Country* Please select your countryA...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Blue Lucy, the workflow orchestration and integration platform for broadcasters, rights owners and localisation companies, today announced an integration with c...
13/11/2026
Krotos announces Black Friday offers on Studio Pro and Studio Max
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
First-year annual plans start at US$195.99...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
New 7th order ambisonic microphone with 108 MEMS...
13/11/2026
Meet the Berklee Student Setting Planetary Motion to Music With his compositional platform SoniKosmos, Javier Roqueni aims to make the universe the ultimate i...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud company, today announced a partnership with Golden Times Media Technology (stock code 920021.BJ), a Beijing-based media and tech...
13/11/2026
CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, together with its Malaysian partner, Cedar ...
13/11/2026
SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infra...
13/11/2026
iWedia, a global leader in connected TV software solutions, will present its software-first approach to DRAM optimization at Android TV APAC Summit 2026 in Bang...
13/11/2026
Beginning today, November 13, Apple HomeView is available for purchase at Apple Store locations, on the Apple Store online, and in the Apple Store app in select...
13/11/2026
From pediatric research to smart hospitals, AI is helping care teams spend less time on routine tasks and more time with patients.
Health systems and startups...
12/11/2026
Industry leaders examine how Dynamic Media Facility, Media eXchange Layer, and c...
12/11/2026
The junior Tar Heel is embracing the technical and creative challenges of live production while emerging as a leader and mentor in the control room...
12/11/2026
Gracenote, Nielsen's content intelligence business, has released its fifth a...
12/11/2026
RTL Deutschland will bring the NHL to free-to-air TV in Germany starting Nov. 30...
12/11/2026
Clear-Com supported On Air 2026, a 24-hour student-led broadcast connecting 45 u...
12/11/2026
uniqFEED has opened a Remote Operations Center (ROC) in Madrid, Spain. It is already operational, delivering virtual advertising for LaLiga matches. The ROC is ...
While growing up in a California beach town, James Kniest developed a passion for underwater photography which would lead him to a career in filmmaking. These days he is best known for his cinematography on popular modern horror shows, including The Haunting of Bly Manor, American Horror Stories, and hit 2014 horror film Annabelle. Following The Haunting of Bly Manor, Director Mike Flanagan invited Kniest to collaborate once more on The Midnight Club, a 2022 serialization of the Christopher Pike young adult series by the same name. The show uniquely intertwines an eclectic mixture of anthology-like vignettes throughout the main story. The cinematographer selected ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiance lenses with the Sony Venice camera to set the show's overarching look.
