From Doctor Sleep to Crawl: The Cinematography Behind 8 of 2019’s Most Eye-Popping Horror Films

Pawel Pogorzelski on Midsommar

The Approach: Eastern European meets Western fairy tale

How They Did It: I achieved the goal by doing a lot of tests, starting with cameras, to find which one we would use. Once that was signed off by director Ari Aster, I dove into the lenses, which are very important to capturing the right tone. It was a laborious process of fine-tuning them to get a fairy-tale-like glow in the image. Once all the camera elements were in place, we began testing lighting inside and outside, figuring out how to manage the sun within our capabilities. When we arrived on the location where the village was built, we realized that covering overhead would never work, because of the size of the set, and started figuring out what would work from the ground.

The Takeaway: The sun is brutal: It is hot during the summer when spending the entire day outside, and you never realize how fast it moves until you’re losing the perfect light while waiting for a prop, an actor, or a piece of gear. That’s when you learn to let go and make the best of what you have.

Tech Box

Shooting days: 45
Camera: Panavision DXL2
Lenses: Panavision Primo 5Ks at the beginning, used Primo Artistes shot 8K once in Harga. Lighting: 18Ks, M90s, M40s, 20K tungstens, DMG Lumière LEDs (Maxi, Mini, SL1), condors with 40×20 rig with 40 ARRI SkyPanels, covered in half grid cloth
Picture post/DI: Harbor Picture Company/
Jeff Penman, Joe Gawler, Roman Hankewycz

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