Cinematographer Dick Pope, BSC, chose to return to Cooke Panchro/i Classic Prime lenses to shoot Supernova, a film about love and loss written and directed by Harry Macqueen and starring Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci.
Supernova follows Sam (Firth) and Tusker (Tucci), partners of 20 years, on a road trip across England visiting friends, family, and places from their past. Since Tusker was diagnosed with early-onset dementia two years ago, their time together is the most important thing they have.
“The lenses I chose for Supernova were based on the look that Harry Macqueen wanted for his film, which was somewhat old fashioned, warm and romantic in feel, offering a close and intimate chemistry between the two main characters,” said Pope. “I arranged a screening for him of Edward Norton’s Motherless Brooklyn, on which I had previously used Cooke Panchro/i Classic Primes, and Harry loved them on that film.”
Pope had also used the original Cooke Speed Panchros on Mike Leigh’s Mr Turner (2014). “These classic go-to Hollywood lenses from the 1950s and 1960s were loved by Stanley Kubrick and often used by him–for example, on Spartacus,” he said. “The updated Panchro/i Classics retain the same characteristics as those vintage lenses.”
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More