Viewers are introduced to a killer who terrorizes camp counselors, but with a fresh AHS blood injection into all the familiar horror tropes of that era. Slasher films arent the only thing the AHS production went back to AHS: 1984 also marks a return to Panavision as the camera service provider. This time, they added Light Iron post to the remix.
AHS cinematographer Gavin Kelly had just relied on Panavision New York for another series, where he used the Millennium DXL2 and vintage-look H Series lenses for some sequences. I gave [marketing executive] Mike Carter at Panavision Woodland Hills a heads up that I would want to use Panavision for American Horror Story, because as soon as I heard the concept for Season 9, I knew they had the expertise and the wealth of glass that we wanted, says Kelly, who joined AHS during the sixth season. It's like the entire history of filmmaking can be found in their glass! I definitely wanted to shoot on some older glass for 1984. The H Series lenses offered the right texture and creaminess, evoking a bit of nostalgia with the way focus falls off, and how the light kicks around the elements, flares, and so forth. Their beauty is in all their imperfections,' which was just perfect for AHS: 1984. In combination with the DXL2 and really the entire package of Panavision services it just all made sense.
The whole pantheon of slasher films from that era served as visual influences low budget, somewhat rough around the edges, night exteriors a bit underexposed, practicals running hot on a hodgepodge of whatever film stock was available and cheap, and transfers that induce slight color shifts.
We spent quite a bit of time with Light Iron Colorist Jeremy Sawyer to dial in some looks and LUTs to see how far we wanted to take this in terms of contrast and shifting the color, recalls Kelly. The camera, lenses, lighting, and the post color approaches combined to create the specific palettes for the season. We paid close attention to our visual influences throughout the shoot and designed the images accordingly including bleeding contrast and varying amounts of flare during the day, very dark with thick contrast and dense, cool shadows at night and not only for a specific 1980s color palate, but also other time period flashbacks throughout the season.
Kelly noted that the large-format sensor of the DXL2 with the H Series lenses yielded a shallow depth of field feel that isolated the subjects while still providing more than enough shadow detail to work with in post. The DXL2 handily captured scenes with maximum flexibility for us to massage the image later, he says.
Though the DXL2 can record in 8K raw, FXs specifications called for AHS: 1984 to be captured at 3840x2160 UHD in the ProRes 422 HQ codec and its 4:2:2 color space. Sawyer, who grades the show on DaVinci Resolve 15, notes, There are no real-world limitations for the FX broadcast in 4:2:2, but there is a noticeable difference with HDR grading in the very brightest and darkest of pixels.
For purposes of how we were pushing the look, we did lose some highlight range at the very high end, Kelly adds. That said, if I exposed in the right way, I maintained everything to have enough range in post where we could cook things purposefully and emulate a stricter latitude that older film stocks had.
Gavin is extremely collaborative, notes Sawyer. He has a definite vision for his work, but hes happy to see what others can bring to the table too. Combined with his realistic expectations about the schedule, it's been a joy working on this with him.
The show is finished in UHD 4K. The archive and worldwide distributors get UHD HDR (Rec. 2020) and SDR (Rec. 709) IMFs (Interoperable Master Formats). The U.S., however, gets a 1280x720p XDCAM 50 MXF file for a 59.94i frame-rate broadcast.
With the extensive amount of night shooting, the shows production schedule can feel compressed, and sometimes stuff comes up on this show very last minute, so it keeps you on your toes, Kelly explains. Mike and the whole Panavision team are great with our special gear requests and the service overall. This is an ambitious show, and everyone at Panavision is on board to help make everything possible. Its great to have that constant support to make AHS: 1984 awesome.... As in, totally awesome.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
Viewers are introduced to a killer who terrorizes camp counselors, but with a fresh AHS blood injection into all the familiar horror tropes of that era. Slasher films arent the only thing the AHS production went back to AHS: 1984 also marks a return to Panavision as the camera service provider. This time, they added Light Iron post to the remix.
