
On the surface, a biopic about Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin and a heavy-hitting mob drama about a young Tony Soprano's coming of age might not seem to have much in common. In fact, though, there's more connecting them than one might think. Both are set amid a backdrop of political and cultural change, both stories span the 1960s and '70s, and both were photographed by Kramer Morgenthau, ASC with Panavision T Series optics.
The Many Saints of Newark is the much-anticipated feature prequel to the acclaimed HBO series The Sopranos. The feature focuses on the young Tony Soprano, the character made famous by James Gandolfini's iconic performance over the series' six seasons, and here portrayed by the late actor's son, Michael Gandolfini. Behind the scenes, the project afforded Morgenthau an opportunity to reteam with director Alan Taylor following their earlier collaborations on the features Thor: The Dark World and Terminator Genisys, and on episodes of Game of Thrones.
Kramer Morgenthau, ASC (holding viewfinder) and director Alan Taylor.
Taylor is also an alumnus of The Sopranos, where he worked with series creator and showrunner David Chase, who penned the screenplay for The Many Saints of Newark. A lot of the cinematic language that Alan uses was formed over the years he was working on The Sopranos, Morgenthau says. It's a language that originates from classical Hollywood cinema filmmakers like John Ford and films like The Godfather where you let a single shot play out, you don't move the camera unless the characters are moving, and you frame close to subjects so you feel like you're in the room with them.
The feature was shot on location in Newark and Brooklyn in spring 2019. We wanted to honor the TV series, the cinematographer reflects, and at the same time open the story out for widescreen cinema by shooting anamorphic and large format. Working through Panavision New York, Morgenthau opted to pair T Series lenses with a Panavised Arri Alexa LF camera.
Having previously worked extensively with C Series anamorphics, The Many Saints of Newark marked the cinematographer's first full feature with T Series glass. On the technical side, I like the reliability and controllability of the Ts, he shares. Optically, we used the natural falloff on the edges, the vignetting, and the bokeh of the T Series to capture the texture of the period setting.
Morgenthau also asked Dan Sasaki, Panavision's senior vice president of optical engineering, to dial-in the lenses' look. I wanted silky blacks versus hard blacks, and I didn't want anything to be too hard or sharp, the cinematographer explains. I wanted lenses that were distressed' and would help to break the image down.
The first part of the movie takes place in 1967 before the story then jumps to 1971. In those four years, the world around the teenage Tony Soprano changes radically. In the '60s, our characters are more rooted in the old-school wise-guy gangsters of the 1940s and '50s, says Morgenthau, who researched historical photography of the 1967 Newark riots and of Newark's North Ward, then home to the local Italian American community.
Alan tends to keep within a very tight optical range, Morgenthau notes. We leaned toward the 40mm, 50mm, 75mm range for a lot of the movie, and we loved the 28mm for vistas. We shot wides across the film on crane and dolly to be composed and considered, but all the coverage was done handheld to give a little more intimacy. It's very controlled handheld, though, operated by Mike Heathcote sometimes you can barely even tell and then the camera gets a little looser toward the '70s.
Morgenthau went straight from principal photography on The Many Saints of Newark into production on Respect with director Liesl Tommy. So much of Respect is about the musical performance, the cinematographer says. I wanted the camera to be lyrical and fly like a bird.
Principal photography on Respect commenced in September 2019. For the production, Morgenthau sourced his camera and lens package through Panavision Atlanta, keeping with T Series lenses, which he this time paired with Panavised Alexa Mini LF cameras. I chose to use the LF and the T Series again partly out of minimalism, he says. Since the T Series lenses are so malleable to different looks, they were the perfect choice. I love seeing how I can push a great lens in different directions by changing other factors.
Compared to The Many Saints of Newark, Morgenthau says, We had an entirely different approach to the color science and the way the optics were tuned. We added film grain to enhance the cinematic feeling by taking off the hardness of the clean digital [format], and we tuned the lenses so they weren't as distressed and to withstand direct light. Much of the film involves reconstructed concert footage, where we were looking right into stage lighting. While we let the flares fail' in Saints, on Respect we wanted to hold the highlights so they wouldn't just milk-out the entire lens when we would look at a light.
Franklin's story is told over three time periods. For her childhood in the 1950s (when the young Franklin is portrayed by Skye Dakota Turner), Morgenthau chose a desaturated look almost like hand tinted photographs, says with a highly controlled camera to mirror the domineering personality of her father (Forest Whitaker). In the 1960s, as Franklin (now played by Jennifer Hudson) reaches stardom, the images are much more colorful, with showstopping concert sequences. The '70s then find the singer in a downward spiral; for certain key sequences in this portion of the film, Morgenthau employed a speciality 100mm Panavision anamorphic portrait lens to illustrate an alcoholic's myopic vision, where the edges
Most recent headlines
13/03/2025
WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency has launched a massive, new deregulatory initiative that could potentially subject virtually all ...
13/03/2025
SUNNYVALE, Calif. SDVI has announced that it has integrated its Rally media supply chain management platform with the Spectra Vail multi-cloud data management s...
13/03/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules to permit Gray Media to acqu...
13/03/2025
TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?...
13/03/2025
Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice The songwriting major sang Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals during the blind auditions.
...
12/03/2025
O Spotify acaba de lan ar o relat rio Loud & Clear deste ano, uma vis o transpar...
12/03/2025
Spotify acaba de presentar el informe Loud & Clear de este a o, una mirada trans...
12/03/2025
Ramadan, a period of profound spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, is a time for fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Enrich your experience thi...
12/03/2025
Spotify has just unveiled this year's Loud & Clear report, a transparent loo...
12/03/2025
More than 70% of FAST programming has been produced since 2010, according to new Gracenote report
NEW YORK March 12, 2025 Gracenote, the content data busin...
12/03/2025
GEONA, Nev. Independent digital and linear advertising rep firm Viamedia will adopt cloud-based ShowSeeker Pilot as its primary ad campaign and order management...
12/03/2025
BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that Wael Yasin has joined the company as sales director Central Europe....
12/03/2025
LONDON A new study highlights opportunities for shoppable TV and the massive impact online consumer spending is having on the economy, with Omdia predicting tha...
12/03/2025
CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations....
12/03/2025
Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering
Brie Clayton March 12, 2025
0 Comments
High-capacity switch enhances existi...
12/03/2025
DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol
Brie Clayton March 12, 2025
0 Comments
Feature film relies on DaVinci Resolve Studio for ...
12/03/2025
SVT Leverages Ateliere Live to Pioneer 100% Software-Defined Production at Rally...
12/03/2025
Berklee Awards Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant to Four Organizations A total of $17,000 will be distributed among the Boston-based nonprofits.
By
Madd...
12/03/2025
TVBEuropes Jenny Priestley sits down with new SMPTE president Richard Welsh to discuss his aims for the organisation going forward, its efforts to attract a you...
12/03/2025
The new process has significantly enhanced operational efficiencies, with automation freeing up creators to concentrate on higher value tasks
By Matthew Corrig...
12/03/2025
Jellyfish Pictures, which has offices in London and Sheffield, said it has been battling hard in the face of strong headwinds over the last 12 months
By Jenny ...
12/03/2025
Visit Booth #W2213 to Experience the Latest in AI-Driven Content Discovery and Workflow Automation
Bitcentral, a leader in media workflow solutions, is set to ...
12/03/2025
CHICAGO Jeff Lilly has been named WGN-TV director of technology effective March 17, 2025, according to Ric Harris, WGN-TV vice president and general manager....
12/03/2025
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. A new study from LG Ad Solutions indicates that consumers want more features that would allow them to shop for products on the connected T...
12/03/2025
BOTHELL, Wash. The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the Video Services Forum (VSF) will once again present...
12/03/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcast announced that it has upgraded Xfinity Internet speeds for more than 20 million customers for no additional cost....
12/03/2025
Create with Maxon: Cinema 4D Fundamentals Workshop - March 12-14
Brie Clayton March 11, 2025
0 Comments
Makin' Waffles with Elly Wade
During Marc...
12/03/2025
Ottawa, Canada - March 12, 2025 - Ross Video is pleased to announce the appointment of Aaron Tunnell as Business Development Director, Cloud Solutions, reinforc...
12/03/2025
12 Mar 2025
VEON to release 4Q 2024 trading update on 20 March 2025 Dubai, 12 March 2025 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a global digital operator, today confirms ...
12/03/2025
Getting set for the Winter Olympics: Inside SVT's ongoing software-based pro...
12/03/2025
THE PLAYERS Championship 2025: AI Commentary, Shared-Reality Viewing at COSM, La...
12/03/2025
Seamless SMPTE 2110: A Discussion on Making the Move to IP Less Painful Leaders from Netflix, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, LinkedI, and Megapixel address ...
12/03/2025
Opening Doors of Perception: Meta's Ajit Ninan on Rethinking AR/MR Perceptua...
12/03/2025
With the 2025 Formula 1 season set to begin in Melbourne on March 16, Sky Sports is gearing up to deliver its most comprehensive F1 coverage yet. Following a th...
12/03/2025
Unicanal and Trece TV revolutionize Digital TV in Paraguay with Rohde & Schwarz ...
12/03/2025
Honoring Service, Celebrating Sport: Rohde & Schwarz UK Sponsors NavyFit Rugby D...
12/03/2025
New HVS-Q12 Represents a Quantum Leap in Switcher Design...
12/03/2025
Telespazio and ABS Expand Partnership to Deliver Tailored C-Band Connectivity So...
12/03/2025
ABC conducts independent audits across the TAG programs. In the March 2025 TAG s...
12/03/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Moonlight: ESA program to create a satellite con...
12/03/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
In 2025, Thales ranks among the top 0.01% of the...
12/03/2025
Consumer show back following hugely successful first series
10 March 2025 Following a hugely successful first series, The Complaints Bureau returns to RT ...
11/03/2025
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
11/03/2025
Salsa is making a comeback, captivating new listeners with its infectious energy...
11/03/2025
For many people, music can serve as a reflection of their roots and upbringing. ...
11/03/2025
The solution delivers reliable, scalable and secure connectivity for critical pu...
11/03/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced that Weigel Broadcasting has deployed Harmonics VOS Media Software, which offers playout-to-delivery capabilities, inclu...
11/03/2025
NEW BERN, N.C. Wheatstone will introduce a Linux audio driver for its WheatNet IP audio network during the 2025 NAB Show, April 5-9, at the Las Vegas Convention...
11/03/2025
NEW YORK A new study finds that as TV viewership for women's sports surged by 131% in 2024, the programming also saw a 56% year-over-year increase in ad im...
11/03/2025
Powerful switcher for news studio
FOR-A, a cutting-edge video broadcast technology company backed by more than 50 years experience, has installed its HVS-1200 ...