
Cinematographer Simona Susnea brings Unseen Kingdoms to light
data-src=https://cdn.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/avatars/263018/5fa08c562aaf4-bpthumb.jpg data-srcset=https://cdn.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/avatars/263018/5fa08c561c0e7-bpfull.jpg 2x class=lazyload avatar avatar-80 photo height=80 width=80 />
Brie Clayton January 13, 2021
0 Comments
Cinematographer Simona Susnea traces her career behind the camera back to an early interest in journalism, which in turn opened the door to still photography. Segueing into moving images, she went to film school in her native Romania and then continued her education at the U.K.'s National Film & Television School, where she earned her master's in cinematography. Since graduating, she's made London her base of operations, notching a steady stream of credits in music videos, shorts, documentaries and commercials.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/13232722/Susnea3_1200-1024x540.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2350040/>Cinematographer Simona Susnea, captured on DXL2 with a prism in front of a 50mm Primo 70 prime.Among her most recent commercial work is a 60-second spot made for cosmetics company The Body Shop and charitable organization End Youth Homelessness in partnership with U.K. broadcaster Channel 4. The commercial is part of a larger project, titled Unseen Kingdoms, that combines spoken-word poetry with intimate studies of young women and their personal experiences with homelessness. It's a really important campaign, Susnea notes. It's all doc-style with real people, no actors whatsoever.
Susnea shot Unseen Kingdoms over four days, two each in Bristol and London, working with co-directors Andrea Kurland and Daisy-May Hudson. Kurland is editor-in-chief at Huck magazine and editorial director at TCO London, while Hudson had previously directed the acclaimed documentary Half Way, which charted her own experience with homelessness. They had really good synergy, Susnea says. Andrea was more the creative director, and Daisy-May focused on working with our [on-camera] contributors. It was a great approach.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/13232736/Susnea2_650.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2350041/>Panavision recently connected with Susnea to discuss her experiences capturing the project in large format with the Millennium DXL2 camera system.
When did you first begin working with Panavision?
Simona Susnea: I was back home in Romania, about to graduate from film school, and I was lucky to be one of the last people to go to the Budapest Masterclass that Vilmos Zsigmond [ASC, HSC] was organizing. I was there for about two weeks, at Korda Studios, and it happened that Lee Mackey brought the camera equipment from Panavision London. I loved the cameras, and it was my first time trying anamorphic on film. When I came to the U.K., I reached out to Lee, and Panavision helped me over the course of my time at the NFTS. Working with Panavision, the collaboration isn't just based on a technical conversation. They're excited to hear about the project, which I really love. You know you're going to a place where they appreciate your work - plus they have the best kit and the best glass.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/13232800/Unseen_Kingdoms_1200-1024x777.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2350042/>Susnea captures the action at sunrise. (Photo by Marina Lewin.)What led to the decision to shoot Unseen Kingdoms' with DXL2?
Susnea: It just so happened that before I was confirmed on the job, I had booked a test with the DXL2, so it was a bit of serendipity. We went through different lenses, shooting with ambient light, and ISO tests. The base sensitivity is 1600, and after doing the test, I knew I could push the ISO to 4000 and still get very good results.
Having the test beforehand made me feel confident taking the camera into a scenario where I knew there wasn't going to be a lot of time. I knew I could trust it. A lot of the people we were working with feel quite uncomfortable when you light them; I was able to see what the light was doing in the space, be confident that I could push the ISO, and get all the coverage in a small amount of time. We shot everything either handheld or on Steadicam, and it worked really well.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/13232819/Benjy_650.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2350043/>From left: 1st AC Benjy Kirkman, loader Jakub Rogala, and Susnea. (Photo by Benjy Kirkman.)Also, coming from photography, I love large format, and I felt it was going to be good for enhancing the faces of our characters, which was very important. The combination of Panavision glass on large format was really exciting.
You paired the camera with Primo 70 lenses?
Susnea: Yes, we had a full set with us. There's something modern but also something vintage that I love about their look - almost no distortion, beautiful warm highlights, the flares are really nice. The way they render highlights feels modern to me, but not plastic. It has an organic feeling that's very pleasing and very similar to what I see with my eyes, but it still has a sharpness that I appreciate. They hit the sweet spot between soft and sharp, which can be harder to get with vintage lenses unless you're at a particular T-stop. But with the Primo 70s, I wasn't locked into having to shoot at T4; I could go to T2, and I loved that freedom, especially since I had very little control of the lighting.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/13233007/Susnea_ISO650.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2350044/>This image was captured with an ISO of 2500 at 6K resolution, with a 65mm Primo 70 on the DXL2.
What was your collaboration like with Andrea a
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...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
LTN, a global leader in IP-based video transport and network services, today announced that PBS has selected LTN as its IP video partner to modernize and future...
23/06/2026
LiveU will introduce its Q Era to Australia and New Zealand for the first time at ABE2026 on Stand No. 25, (July 30 31). Leading the showcase is the LU900Q, a n...
23/06/2026
Miri Technologies Inc. has begun shipping its highly anticipated V410 live 4K video encoder/decoder for streaming, IP-based production workflows and AV-over-IP ...
23/06/2026
DHD audio reports the completion of an upgrade to the audio production facilities at the Galilee headquarters of Radio Tzafon. The station broadcasts two progra...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Multifaceted Growth Executive Brings 20+ Years of Experience Leading Organizations Across Tech and M&E
Imagine Communications today announced the appointment ...
23/06/2026
Australians in Film and Screen Australia's talent development initiative UNT...
23/06/2026
Visual Productions Unveils RdmRelay2 Four-channel Relay Control at InfoComm 2026
Brie Clayton June 22, 2026
0 Comments
New Relay Solution Combines DMX, ...
23/06/2026
SMPTE Makes Its Standards Freely Accessible, Opening Standards Library to the Gl...
23/06/2026
The RT Toy Show Appeal has raised over 31 million since its inception in 2020 ...
23/06/2026
News Highlights:
NVIDIA technology runs 81% of the TOP500 and 90% of the systems new to the list.
26 systems on the TOP500 adopted the NVIDIA Grace CPU, up ei...
23/06/2026
Companies are asking how to build specialized AI that fits with the way their workflows actually run.
The first wave of enterprise AI was about access. Compan...
23/06/2026
Newly identified molecule strengthens the eye's response to damage in retinal disease Scripps Research discovery finds that restoring the naturally occurrin...
22/06/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
22/06/2026
Cosm has announced the appointment of David Ho as Chief Legal Officer, a newly created executive role reporting to President and CEO Jeb Terry. Ho will oversee ...
22/06/2026
Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have announced the developm...
22/06/2026
Daktronics has completed an audio control system upgrade at Petco Park in San Di...
22/06/2026
Accelerate Media has named John Willi as President and announced the launch of the Accelerate Sports Network (ASN), a prep sports media and streaming platform c...
22/06/2026
All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) and 3XBA (3 3 Basketball Association) have announced live television coverage of the annual 3XBA tournament on Friday, Jun...
22/06/2026
OWL AI has announced the appointment of Jay Prasad as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Prasad succeeds Josh Gwyther, who has served...
22/06/2026
CP Communications delivered RF video and audio support for TNT's Inside the NBA at the 2026 NBA Finals, providing main show coverage in San Antonio and ea...
22/06/2026
Polymarket has announced a partnership with GRID, an official esports data platf...
22/06/2026
As sports venues continue to evolve into more video-centric, fan-engagement-driv...
22/06/2026
As the regional sports production scene shifts toward streaming, this Texan helps lead the engineering behind Victory+'s growing live platform...
22/06/2026
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
the memories of your elders [are] a scaffolding for you to build your identity on - and t...
22/06/2026
New hyper-resolution analyser EQ revealed
CEDAR Audio's all-new Icons plug-in series has just gained its newest member, Blade. Described by the compan...
22/06/2026
Turn any live input into a cinematic soundscape
Designed for use in the studio and on stage, Sampleson's latest creation is capable of taking any audio ...
22/06/2026
Adds guitar strings to Eurorack rigs
ADDAC System are renowned for their weird and wonderful synth designs, and their line-up includes plenty of gear that...
22/06/2026
FIFA World Cup 2026 fever grows, as more than one third of Australians tune in ...
22/06/2026
In our latest blog, Tim Pearson explores NAGRA Venturi, the new streaming security solution for the AI era from NAGRAVISION. Designed to aggregate and analyze ...
22/06/2026
Expanded integrations give advertisers access to distinct contextual signals acr...
22/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/06/2026
Xilica today announced the release of Dynamic Voice Lift, a new feature in Xilica Designer v4.12 that brings adaptive speech reinforcement to large meeting spac...
22/06/2026
Telecom operators have seen remarkable returns from using generative AI to automate network management, customer care and back-office operations. Most of that i...
22/06/2026
Monday 22 June 2026
Official trailer released for Katie Price: Nothing to Hide,...
22/06/2026
The next era of AI will not be defined by compute alone. Its growth will be dete...
22/06/2026
Mission, Vision and Veritas - new Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) supercom...
22/06/2026
At the ISC conference running in Hamburg this week, NVIDIA is introducing new so...
22/06/2026
For the past two years, the U.S. National Science Foundation's National Arti...
22/06/2026
JUPITER, Europe's first exascale supercomputer at Germany's Forschungszentrum J lich, runs on NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchips and NVIDIA Quantum-X800 Inf...