The Wingman

Lens/Camera Information
Lens series: SP3, S8/i FF & Varotal/i FF
Focus lengths: Various
Camera: Sony BURANO
Format: Digital
Director of Photography: James Friend, BSC, ASC

Esteemed cinematographer James Friend ASC BSC won the Academy Award for ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ in early 2023. In October of that year he lensed ‘The Wingman’, a short film for Sony designed to showcase the upcoming BURANO camera and the well-established VENICE 2.

The five-minute piece is a tour de force, a very ambitious “test film” of sorts helmed by Friend and shot over three days. The short is predominantly shot on Cooke lenses including the S8/i FF Primes, Varotal/i Full Frame zooms and recently released SP3 series.

“We needed to put the audience within the pilot seat of a light aircraft in places that had never been done before with cinema cameras. The Cooke SP3’s series combined with the Sony camera systems made the whole profile of the camera extremely manageable in confined situations. Without them, we would have not been able to get the shots or maneuver the aircraft in such a dynamic way.”

When it came to dealing with changing sunlight and cloud cover Friend found that the SP3s continued to shine. “With every type of unforgiving lighting condition in the air the Cookes rendered stunning pictures straight out the box, handling sun flares and extreme contrast beautifully.”

Whilst mixing multiple cameras and lenses might have been reason for concern the BURANO and VENICE 2 share the same colour science and the Cooke lenses proved to be consistent throughout. “They cut seamlessly with the other large format Cooke series, even when projected on the big screen.”