DIGITAL CAMERAS AND LENSES USED FOR FEATURE FILMS IN 2021

DP Haris Zambarloukos used an Arri Alexa Mini LF equipped with large-format lenses — Panavision System 65s that were made in the early 1990s. "I use a particular set with very specific serial numbers. ASC associate Dan Sasaki, of Panavision, maintains them in L.A., and then they are shipped to London or wherever I need them."

DP Seamus McGarvey: "We shot with the new Leitz large-format lenses using the Alexa LF and Alexa Mini LF. I love portraiture, and the detail we were able to capture in the landscapes of our wonderful actors' faces was startling."

For The Card Counter, Paul Schrader and DP Alexander Dynan drew inspiration from Bresson's 1966 feature Au Hasard Balthazar, which was filmed in 1.66:1, the European widescreen standard. The filmmakers use this frame to lend a portraiture quality to their close-ups — which, along with the rest of the film, were captured with Arri Rental's DNA LF lenses on an Alexa LF in Open Gate mode — and to isolate Tell from his surroundings.

The aesthetic quality of the Blackwing7s appealed to Dp Antonio Riestra for the moody tone The Envoys required. "The lenses are soft and gloomy and easy to flare. Also, the way you use the T-stop can change the nature of the lens. The contrast changes, so you have to learn how to use the lenses creatively."

DP D’Antonio used Red DSMC2 cameras with a Monstro 8K VV sensor. She sums up her lighting approach on this film as "very little intrusive lighting, a lot of natural light, and a commitment to exploit to the maximum the situations that presented themselves." Lenses were Arri Signature primes, which D’Antonio describes as "Beautiful. They’re precise, but also soft. They’re versatile because they’re light. In many of the situations we shot in, it was important that the lenses be comfortable to use "

Ari Wegner, director of photography, utilized the full width of the Arri Alexa LF’s sensor, pairing the larger-format camera with Panavision Ultra Panatar lenses. "We loved those lenses," she says. "They’re beautiful on faces and 1.25x anamorphic is a very gentle anamorphic. It feels anamorphic without being anamorphic, in all caps".

DP Bruno Delbonnel: "At night, we dimmed the light boxes way down, and the movers took over. Then, during the torch fight, there was almost nothing. We had a real torch, and for some shots I asked an electrician to swing a fake torch, equipped with LEDs, offscreen. "