![](//www.4rfv.com/images/no_image.jpg)
With its fourth season, the National Geographic series Genius presents a dual portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, inspirational leaders who paved parallel paths as pioneers in the American civil rights movement in the 1950s and '60s. Genius: MLK/X traces their journeys from their formative years through their rise to prominence, as they each shaped a legacy that remains vitally important.
Trevor Forrest served as lead director of photography for MLK/X, with cinematographer Joe Jody Williams lending his talents to select episodes. Forrest worked closely with Panavision to select an equipment package based around Panavised Alexa 35 cameras and Primo spherical lenses, with modified Anamorphic Flare Attachments used for key moments. Trevor was an early adopter of our Anamorphic Flare Attachments, says Dan Sasaki, Panavision's senior vice president of optical engineering and lens strategy. He used them on Little Fires Everywhere, and when he was prepping MLK/X, he was looking for an even more pronounced anamorphic effect. We ended up modifying the AFA so it would still provide the anamorphic flare and also induce a visually appealing falloff around the edges.
What follows are Forrest's reflections on the production, in the cinematographer's own words.
When I read the scripts for the pilot and first few episodes, I was mostly struck by the scale of the story about the whole lives of these two iconic world figures. I knew that even though this was a biopic, it was a modern thriller at its heart. What brought this scale together was the parallel connection described in the book The Sword and the Shield, which inspired the series.
Looking at the range of years from the mid 1940s to the late 1960s, I initially tried to create an approach to each decade. This quickly shifted to follow the socioeconomic movement of the time. There was pre-war, post-war and then the 1960s, which had its own departure because those years were a very dangerous time for both MLK and Malcolm X as they grew beyond their beginnings and many saw them as threats to the political status quo.
A film stock that charted this exact trajectory was Kodachrome color reversal. It became my base reference and way into creating this world. The specific qualities of reversal are much closer to a digital sensor than the density of a three- or four-strip motion-picture film stock. Reversal is thin and sharp exacting is another way to say it.
Photographers of the time that ran parallel to this journey and had used Kodachrome were Gordon Parks and Ernst Haas. They were already on the mood wall of director Channing Godfrey People's office wall when I met her. The archive staff of Life magazine and National Geographic were amazing partners and allowed me to physically dive into the image archive for inspiration. This is how we designed the color palettes of sets and costumes, which were beautifully created by production designer Todd Fjelsted, costume designer Mercedes Cook and their teams.
The way we depicted the show's periods would follow the look of the film stock as it grew over those decades. From 1940-1945, what we called our pre-war era, Kodachrome had bright, natural greens, a muted palette of all the other colors that weren't yet well developed, cream highlights, and brown and blue shadows rather than black. Our approach to this era was informed by nature daylight, with candlelight and flashlights at night in the countryside, and very little streetlight in the towns.
In the post-war years of 1947-1959, film-stock technology rocketed, and Kodachrome became the signature of Life magazine and the photography of the time. Bright, clear colors, skin tones and clothing details were well-defined, and the shadows were now a deep navy blue. The war was over, and we sought to capture the flamboyance and relief with more color, camera movement, and joy expressed through costume and lighting front-lit flash photography and warm tungsten streetlight and home lighting. We let the shadows fall away to allow the story to be clandestine in Malcolm's world and to underscore the private drama unraveling in MLK's life at home and at church.
In the 1960s, Kodachrome had its best clarity in the highlights, but the shadows fell off very quickly. Fluorescent lighting worked together with this to create a shadowy world of uncertainty complemented with pin-sharp and easily overexposed cold highlights. This kept the shadows cool, which also added to the fashion, cars and overall style of the time. Things were dark and dangerous, but the decade, and the cinema of the time, had a style to it that was slick and sharp. Noir filmmaking had found another level.
We used Alexa 35 cameras with classic Panavision Primo lenses. We paired the Primos with modified Anamorphic Flare Attachments for signature punctuations throughout the journey moments that connected MLK or Malcolm X to their past, or out-of-body experiences when the stress and fear became so intense. I've used Primos many times, so I know their qualities intimately. I knew they would render the huge range of beautiful skin tones accurately and represent the characters in a way that felt like you could reach out and touch them. Clarity, not sharpness. The perfect combo.
This project was unique because of its continued cultural importance. We had the opportunity to lift the words of these two men into the world of today. I was brought closer to the story by my film family of technicians, like gaffer Justin Dickson, who had lived the story growing up in the Baptist South and shared their very personal experiences, love and emotion for the scripts, which elevated my ability to tell the story. It was one of those shoots that happens a few times in your career. It was a special experience.
Images courtesy of National Geographic and Tre
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
26/07/2024
by Ianeta Le'i
I honestly don't remember the first time I met Bryson Ch...
26/07/2024
(L-R) Louise (Karen Gillan) and Antonina (Margaret Sophie Stein) strike up an un...
26/07/2024
Last month, Spotify's annual Songs of Summer predictions made their return, ...
26/07/2024
Summer is peak season for some of our favorite sports and events. Whether you're rooting for the home team at the ballpark or cheering for your country as i...
26/07/2024
Nine talented young professionals completed their vocational training at SGL Carbon in Meitingen from the beginning of June to mid-July, achieving an overall gr...
26/07/2024
Orders1 of $5.2 billion; book-to-bill of 1.0x
Revenue of $5.3 billion, up 13%
...
26/07/2024
(Editor's note: TVTech reached out to several station groups to determine the impact of the CrowdStrike outage on operations. Many, including NextStar Media...
26/07/2024
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. Bitcentral has integrated Pixalate's ad fraud protection, privacy and compliance analytics solution Post-Bid Analytics and Reporting i...
26/07/2024
Aldous Huxley's classic novel Brave New World is a science fiction thriller set in a murky future with a highly ordered society. While Huxley and other sc...
26/07/2024
Hollyland Adds Pyro 7 All-in-one Video Monitor, TX and RX to Pyro Series
Brie Clayton July 26, 2024
0 Comments
Seven-inch 2.4/5GHz wireless monitor wi...
26/07/2024
Geddy Lee Asks Are Bass Players Human Too? Graded Using DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton July 26, 2024
0 Comments
Blackmagic today announced that t...
26/07/2024
Another reminder of the popularity of ad-supported connected TV comes in a survey by Premion and Advertiser Perceptions which found that 61% of the marketers th...
26/07/2024
Nielsen's Gracenote unit said it is selling its metadata about the content of television shows and movies for use in targeting connected-TV advertising camp...
26/07/2024
CBS premieres 13 Days in Ferguson, a special about the aftermath of a police shooting of a young Black man in 2014, on Friday, August 9. The special features Ce...
26/07/2024
Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced the launch of their long-awaited premium streaming bundle for the United States. For $16.99 per month, subscribers w...
26/07/2024
It provides multi-voltage output (14.4V, 28V, and 48V) through two XLR4 outputs and one XLR3, offering power to cameras, monitors, and lighting equipment
By Je...
26/07/2024
The lawsuit submitted by investor Scott Baker claims the deal would cost Paramount shareholders $1.65 billion
By Jenny Priestley
Published: July 26, 2024
...
26/07/2024
Florida-based Video Village Miami provides on-set video assist for local commercials and music videos. Frank Collins established the outfit in 2019 after a 20-y...
26/07/2024
QuickLink, the leading global provider of multi-camera video productions and remote contribution solutions, will present QuickLink StudioPro at IBC 2024 (Stand ...
26/07/2024
Relo Metrics (formerly GumGum Sports), the leading AI-powered sponsorship analytics platform for real-time data decisions, today launched an industry-leading in...
26/07/2024
Anton/Bauer, a leading provider of mobile power systems for the film and television industry, has announced the launch of the VCLX LI 1600. The latest evolution...
26/07/2024
Bitcentral, the leading provider of professional media solutions for broadcast and digital video, today announces that it has integrated Pixalate, the ad fraud ...
26/07/2024
Cobalt Iron Inc., a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced that Secure Automated Backup with Compass , a cloud backup-as-a-s...
26/07/2024
VisualOn IBC2024 Exhibitor Preview
Sept. 13-16
Amsterdam
Stand 5.A52
As video streaming consumption surges, service providers face significant challenges wi...
26/07/2024
Quanteec
IBC2024 Exhibitor Preview
Sept. 13-16
RAI Amsterdam
Stand 1.A05
Quanteec, a global provider of video delivery technology for broadcasters, will s...
26/07/2024
Witbe
IBC2024 Exhibitor Preview
Sept. 13-16
Amsterdam
Stand 5.F84
At IBC2024, Witbe will showcase the power of its automated testing and proactive monitori...
26/07/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. The Federal Communications Commission has announced the launch of its new Mobile Speed Test app. The new app features an enhanced user interfac...
26/07/2024
LONDON In a notable landmark for the use of cloud-based services at the Olympics, Alibaba Cloud and Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), has today announced the...
26/07/2024
NEW YORK As part of a $2.5 billion media rights deal with the NBA announced on July 24, NBCUniversal and the NBA have also announced an 11-year agreement for ri...
26/07/2024
BEAVERTON, Ore. Versatile Video Coding (VVC) promises to play a pivotal role in driving advancements in video compression technology, with organizations across ...
26/07/2024
COLUMBUS, Ohio The political news channel PurpleTV has expanded it reach with news that it has launched on Channel 25.1 in Columbus, Ohio on TV Station WXOH, wh...
26/07/2024
NEW YORK As part of a push into the contextual advertising business, Nielsen's Gracenote has announced that it is developing new contextual categories to gi...
26/07/2024
Puget Systems Returns to SIGGRAPH 2024 to Demonstrate its On-Premises Generative...
26/07/2024
Dreamtek Delivers Innovative A/V, Live Production and Post Workflows with Blackm...
26/07/2024
Dejero to bring even smarter' mobile internet connectivity solutions to IBC...
26/07/2024
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games are about to begin, and Capitol Broadcasting is rea...
26/07/2024
Berklee Alumni Nominated for 2024 Emmy Awards Twenty-one Berklee alumni received Emmy nominations this year for music composition, sound mixing, and sound editi...
26/07/2024
Jennifer Lyons, president and general manager of WBBM Chicago, is moving into a ...
26/07/2024
Kennan Oliphant has been named VP of news and station manager at WWJ Detroit. He will report to Jennifer Lyons, who has added a regional GM role that gives her ...
26/07/2024
Charlie Hustle & The Matter of Pete Rose, a four-part docuseries, debuts on HBO and Max July 24. The series details the life of the baseball superstar, includin...
26/07/2024
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games present a unique and exciting opportunity for local...
26/07/2024
Paris 2024: V varo Providing Live Media Transport Services for Leading Internati...
26/07/2024
Paris 2024: BBC Sport on Its Remote Production Workflow for the Summer Games By Heather McLean, SVG Europe
Friday, July 26, 2024 - 7:31 am
Print This Story...
26/07/2024
Paris 2024: BBC Sport Unveils the Olympic Storytelling and Breathtaking Scenery ...
26/07/2024
Paris 2024: Taking a Step Forwards with BBC Sport's Olympic Studio Combining...
26/07/2024
Paris 2024: Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe Provides a First Look at Its Ol...
26/07/2024
Live From Paris 2024: NBC Olympics Set for Historic Opening Ceremony Unilateral coverage builds on impressive OBS production as NBC dives deep into Team USA cov...
26/07/2024
Live From Paris 2024: SVG's Onsite Editorial Team Breaks Down Opening Ceremo...
26/07/2024
True-crime documentary, The Body Next Door to launch on Sky Documentaries and NO...