Capucine · old hollywood@oldhollywoodcap

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The Creator Sony FX3 cinematography

Three years after it came out, THE CREATOR still looks like something that shouldn't have been possible. The reason sits in how Gareth Edwards and Oren Soffer chose to shoot it: roughly 95% of the footage was captured on a Sony FX3, a camera small enough to feel almost casual, mounted with a vintage 75mm Kowa anamorphic lens. Because that setup handled low light so well, natural sources could do the work instead of being replaced, and the film leans on available city light and long stretches of blue-hour photography. Edwards then carried that tiny rig to around 80 locations across the world, and the approach favored real landscapes, practical light, and actual environments first, with ILM adding the futuristic elements afterward. What that produces is a strange and lovely combination: massive science-fiction imagery that still feels as intimate as a documentary. Nothing about the future in it feels artificially constructed. And three years on, it holds up as a strong argument that a movie's look can begin with photography rather than with technology.

1h

Capucine · old hollywood@oldhollywoodcap

Follow

The Creator Sony FX3 cinematography

Three years after it came out, THE CREATOR still looks like something that shouldn't have been possible. The reason sits in how Gareth Edwards and Oren Soffer chose to shoot it: roughly 95% of the footage was captured on a Sony FX3, a camera small enough to feel almost casual, mounted with a vintage 75mm Kowa anamorphic lens. Because that setup handled low light so well, natural sources could do the work instead of being replaced, and the film leans on available city light and long stretches of blue-hour photography. Edwards then carried that tiny rig to around 80 locations across the world, and the approach favored real landscapes, practical light, and actual environments first, with ILM adding the futuristic elements afterward. What that produces is a strange and lovely combination: massive science-fiction imagery that still feels as intimate as a documentary. Nothing about the future in it feels artificially constructed. And three years on, it holds up as a strong argument that a movie's look can begin with photography rather than with technology.

1h