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This was a collaboration with London artist Stanislaw Krzyzewski.
Lens/Camera Information
Lens series: Cooke SP3
Focal lengths: 25 / 32 / 50 / 75 / 100
Camera: Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Format: Digital
Production information
Director of Photography: Ed Prosser
DOP instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prossered
DOP website: edprosser.com
Rental company: One Stop Films
This was a collaboration with London artist Stanislaw Krzyzewski, his drawing style is monochromatic, anatomical and moody, so I wanted to craft an intimate, atmospheric portrait of an artist at work, where lens choice, lighting, and composition all served to enhance his world of shadow and creative intensity!
I love the texture of the SP3s and how they balance sharpness with some nice fall off to the edges – as well as the swirly-like nature of the bokeh, which I felt would add drama to our scenes. For these kinds of projects, I tend to gravitate toward vintage characteristics in lenses, so this made the SP3s a perfect choice.
I wanted to contrast the colder colours of the noisy outside world with the warmer tones of his inner sanctuary – so we shot most of this between dusk and night. The SP3s were fast enough for this and the full frame sensor of the PYXIS 6K was also chosen due to it’s duel base ISO and ability to capture in RAW, which helped to manage noise in post. The project was shot across 3 evenings, we shot a master interview which I then cut down to inform the scenes and sequences I wanted to capture. I used a small LED panel with extra diffusion to light the internal scenes with Nanlite pavobubls to control practicals, lights were around 2800-3200K and the camera around 4000K to maintain warmth.
I initially considered the 32mm for the interview, however, I ended up using a more classic 50mm instead as it minimised studio clutter, directed focus onto Stash, and created better separation in the small apartment setting. The 75 & 100mm were great for capturing tighter shots of Stash working, portraits, hands and close ups of drawings. The 32mm was used for wider establishing shots.
As I was working on my own as a self-shooting director (and shooting in a small studio apartment), it was important to keep the camera package small to maintain intimacy and not overwhelm the space, shooting on the SP3s made this VERY easy (probably the smallest cine lenses I’ve used!).
This project really reinforced the benefits of solo filmmaking, it has its challenges for sure, but there is a level of intimacy and collaboration between filmmaker and subject that is harder to maintain with larger crews. Modern equipment now makes that possible without sacrificing quality!
