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
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Marshall Electronics launches the CV420-27X, its next-generation ultra-high-definition (UHD) IP camera, at ISE 2026 (Stand 4N900). Engineered for modern IP-base...
28/01/2026
Grass Valley has announced that Television Mobiles Ltd. (TVM), one of Europe's leading independent outside broadcast providers, has carried out a major refu...
28/01/2026
AI, graphics and virtual software power new production capabilities
FOR-A is bringing remarkable new technologies to FOMEX, the Future of Media Exhibition (ex...
28/01/2026
Continuing a longstanding collaboration, Riedel Communications and Nordic media technology company Media Tailor have once again joined forces to deliver a state...
28/01/2026
Pebble has appointed Paul Nagle-Smith as vice president for customer fulfilment, strengthening its senior leadership focus on customer delivery and operational ...
28/01/2026
Cloud playout solutions provider, Veset has announced that leading Mexican broadcaster, TV Azteca is using Veset Nimbus on AWS as a disaster recovery (DR) playo...
28/01/2026
Ensuring it can keep pace with a rapidly evolving live sports market, Balkan broadcast facility provider MVP Most Valuable Production has upgraded its flags...
28/01/2026
Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the cloud solutions provider that powers and protects life online, and Yospace, the leader in dynamic ad insertion tec...
28/01/2026
The renowned Reykjavik City Theatre (RCT) recently underwent a major intercom system upgrade using Clear-Com solutions. This milestone project utilizes Clear-C...
28/01/2026
Luxembourg, January 26, 2026 - SES S.A. ( SES or the Company ), a leading space solutions company, acknowledges the credit rating action announced by Fitch to...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
28 01 2026 - Media release Screen Australia refreshes Market & Audience approach...
28/01/2026
Boston Conservatory Orchestra Premieres a New Piano Concerto by Peter and Leonar...
27/01/2026
Click for Japanese version
Tokyo, Japan - January 27, 2026 - Akamai Technolo...
27/01/2026
L-R: Jonathan Cuchacovich, Sonia Kennebeck, Alan Fischer, Daeil Kim, Andrew Sta...
27/01/2026
Today, Spotify is proud to support our partner Backline, an industry-leading men...
27/01/2026
With nearly 29 million monthly listeners and clear momentum on Spotify, Net n Ve...
27/01/2026
January 14, 2026
We are proud to share that 25 Ontario, First Gulf's commercial project located just two minutes from our head office, has been recognized ...
27/01/2026
January 22, 2026
First Gulf is excited to share that a full-building lease has been secured at 625 Bronte Rd in Oakville, part of Bronte Station Business Park,...
27/01/2026
January 23, 2026
First Gulf continues to demonstrate its commitment to high-performance, sustainable real estate with 351 King Street East achieving BOMA BEST ...
27/01/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
27/01/2026
Nielsen will continue to drive growth and provide local audience measurement
in...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Amagi Media Labs Limited, the only cloud-native SaaS provider offering end-to-end solutions across live production, content preparation, distribution, and monet...
27/01/2026
Miri Technologies Inc. today unveiled its V410 live 4K video encoder/decoder for streaming, IP-based production workflows and AV-over-IP distribution. Designed ...
27/01/2026
The Paul E. Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell in Massachusetts has chosen Ikegami cameras for incorporation into its broadcast-quality television production facili...
27/01/2026
SipRadius, specialists in secure, low latency media transport, will show the pro AV community its end-to-end solution for high quality content distribution and ...
27/01/2026
Hiltron will highlight the fruits of its 45-plus years of experience in satellite communications system integration and product development at the annual GovSat...
27/01/2026
Klvr will demonstrate how its Charger Pro solution is delivering cost reduction and performance benefits for live entertainment and pro AV markets at ISE 2026 (...
27/01/2026
Amino, a global media technology leader in enterprise video and digital signage, today announced that its Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2026 booth (4N700) wil...
27/01/2026
ANI, India's leading news agency and a major content provider across the Asia Pacific region, today announced a significant expansion of its long standing p...
27/01/2026
Independent analysis confirms faster encoding, lower CPU usage, and improved perceptual quality compared to CBR and CRF
VisualOn, a leader in multimedia playba...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
New agreement for uninterrupted UHF connectivity for Australian Defence Force through 2033, With Options Extending to 2041
Luxembourg, January 13, 2026 - Satel...
27/01/2026
Tuesday 27 January 2026
SNL UK creative team expands as Pauli Lovejoy, Annie Ha...
27/01/2026
Back to All News
When It Feels Real, Is It Still a Lie? The Art of Sarah' ...
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.
