New Zealand Cinematographers Society

New Zealand Cinematographers Society NZCS is the industry body for cinematographers, camera & lighting crew in New Zealand. Join us 🙏

IN MEMORIUM | VALE RODNEY CHARTERSNZCS member Donny Duncan NZCS (with Murray Milne NZCS & Leon Narby NZCS) pays tribu...
19/09/2026

IN MEMORIUM | VALE RODNEY CHARTERS

NZCS member Donny Duncan NZCS (with Murray Milne NZCS & Leon Narby NZCS) pays tribute to fellow cinematographer Rodney Charters.

"The NZCS is deeply saddened to hear of the recent passing of NZ-born cinematographer Rodney Charters ASC, CSC, NZCS, on September 13th 2026, while attending the IBC media and entertainment convention in Amsterdam.

Although the great majority of Rodney’s work was in the USA, he was very proud of his local roots and became a member of the New Zealand Cinematographers Society in 2011. Rodney received accreditation in the 2nd year of the program in 2013 to join an elite group including cinematographers Alun Bollinger NZCS; Stuart Dryburgh ASC, NZCS; Thomas Burstyn NZCS,CSC,FRSA and Leon Narbey NZCS.

Leon recalls formative years in the mid-60’s when he and Rodney (fondly known as “Rodders” at the time) were both arts students at Elam School of Fine Arts at Auckland University, along with other notable alumni like director Roger Donaldson, production designer Andrew McAlpine, artist Robin White and arts tutor Colin McCahon. There were often gatherings in Rodney’s mum’s house in Grafton which became something of an open house for bohemian arts students at the time.

Elam is where Rodney pivoted from studying stills photography, and filmed, directed and edited his B&W short film Film Exercise, which kickstarted his career. Leon remembers Rodders wielding a 16mm Arri ST camera, riding on the back of a motorcycle to get arty wide-angle POV tracking shots of the hypnotic white line.

Film-making became a life-long adventure for a young boy from New Plymouth, who first discovered his photographer father’s Bolex film camera and then in 1966 made the award-winning short film which guaranteed him a place at the Royal College of Art in London. This led onto documentary travels around the globe with the BBC, before moving into drama work in the USA through a 2nd Unit opportunity.

Rodney’s stellar career in shooting US television series and features has been well documented, but one of the stand-outs must be helming 184 episodes of the TV series “24” over a ten year period from 2001-2010 – a massive effort in anyone’s terms, but only one of dozens of prime time TV shows he worked on!

Rodney rarely got the chance to work back in his homeland but in 2016 /17 he was a cinematographer on The Shanarra Chronicles in Auckland, New Zealand. The NZCS was lucky to schedule an event where Rodney discussed his approach to shooting high rating US TV shows like Dallas, Shameless, Nashville, Charlie’s Angels and 24. It was a rare evening where members could ask questions and learn from a cinematographer at the top of his game on the international stage – personal insights that just can’t be gained anywhere else.

NZCS Executive committee member Murray Milne NZCS fondly remembers working with Rodney on The Shannara Chronicles and writes "I had the pleasure of working with Rodney while I was filming the underwater shots on the Shannara TV series, and we enjoyed creating the "angel" lighting around a past cast member who returns in a vision underwater. I was in touch with Rodney recently and he shared with me that he was excited to go to the IBC again, as he always loved the new technology at such events"

This is an excerpt from the email exchange Murray and Rodney had which showed his continual fascination with new tech, at the fine age of 80 years.
“The blimped IMAX camera comes in at close to 230 kg while the DJI 4P with a gimbal weighs only 230g and and also has 17 stops of dynamic range, thanks to a new chip from Sony. Extraordinary times to still be hanging on the edge of this business.”

Rodney was highly engaged in directing, educating and giving back to the craft that had given him so much joy, curiosity and passion over his career and was on a never-ending quest to teach and connect people from all around the world.Rodney also held a great love for his whānau and his grandchildren were a particular joy in his life. The love of film making runs deep in the Charters family and our thoughts are with Gillian, May, Jasmin, Robin and their families.

The New Zealand Cinematographers Society is proud to have known Rodney Charters and appreciate the tremendous legacy he has left behind."

Haere rā e te hoa | Farewell friend.

NZCINE are stoked to present a behind-the-scenes talk on the collaborative process between DoP Bayley Broome-Peake & Wri...
10/09/2026

NZCINE are stoked to present a behind-the-scenes talk on the collaborative process between DoP Bayley Broome-Peake & Writer/ Director duo THUNDERLIPS, in bringing to life their first feature film "Mum, I'm Alien Pregnant".

Learn how the team worked together, both creatively and practically, to turn ambitious ideas into what audiences see on screen — including some of the film’s more challenging, inventive and downright ridiculous gags that never made it to the final cut. We will also explore the experience of making a first feature in Aotearoa/ New Zealand. What does it really take? And what challenges can a director (or in this case two directors) & their DoP overcome collaboratively to find solutions and make the most of the opportunities available?

Moderated by NZCS member Paul Mockridge, join us THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 24th 2026 at UNITEC, Auckland @ 6pm - mix & mingle | Talk starts -7pm | Free NZCS members| $25 other Guilds& Societies|$45 for non-members. Event will be live streamed as well.

REGISTER at nzcine/events. It's going to be a gooey ... we mean a goodie!

Special thanks to Unitec Creative Industries, Halcyon Digital & the Mum, I'm Alien Pregnant Producers & Creative Team.

Mulan Directed by Niki Caro, shot on the ARRI Alexa 65. Cinematographer Mandy Walker worked closely with Dan Sasaki at P...
31/08/2026

Mulan
Directed by Niki Caro, shot on the ARRI Alexa 65. Cinematographer Mandy Walker worked closely with Dan Sasaki at Panavision Woodland Hills to develop custom lenses to bring her vision to life. The base lens package was Panavision Sphero 65, which are built from the actual Lawrence of Arabia lenses. She de-tuned them even more around the edges to add a little softness to the image and sometimes a vignette.
 A couple of portrait lenses using glass based on Petzval lenses from the 1800s. 
These were supplemented with 300, 400, 800 and 2800mm lenses.

The second unit was directed by John Mahaffie and the cinematographer was Aaron Morton.
Locations visited when the second unit travelled to China were Hengdian (Zhejiang Province), Xiangyang (Hubei Province), Zhangye National Geopark, Turpan & Tuyuk Valley.
Both units joined the South Island for the huge battle scenes, with over 1000 people on set.

A beautiful film of epic proportions. Many great memories of this production.

Mission: Impossible – FalloutDirected by Christopher McQuarrie, shot on film & digital using Panavision Panaflex Millenn...
29/08/2026

Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, shot on film & digital using Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2, ARRIFLEX 235 / 435, Panavision DXL Camera and Panavised Red Weapon Dragon.

Panavision C Series Anamorphic Lenses, Panavision E Series Anamorphic Lenses, Panavision Primo 70 Lenses with Rob Hardy as cinematographer and Fraser Taggart as the cinematographer of the second unit.

The breathtaking helicopter action sequence was filmed for IMAX over eight weeks using the 8K Panavision DXL cameras. This was a huge undertaking, and many talented crew members from around the world came together to pull it off.
Special camera mounts were fabricated to focus on Cruise from the exterior of the helicopter. This had never been attempted before. Cruise spent over 2,000 hours at Airbus learning how to fly the helicopter at an expert level.
Camera housings were also required to surround the cameras due to the below-freezing temperatures while flying through the mountains in winter. 
RF infrastructure connected the helicopter to the helicapter camera control and enabled the footage to be monitored.
Logistics provided another challenge, as we carried all equipment across thirteen helicopters.
A lot of amazing memories from this film and a once-in-a-lifetime experience I’m thankful to have been a part of.

Westworld - Season 3 - Singapore The opportunity to shoot on film doesn’t come often. But there are lots of conversation...
27/08/2026

Westworld - Season 3 - Singapore

The opportunity to shoot on film doesn’t come often. But there are lots of conversations about a resurgence.
The show’s creators chose Singapore to depict a hyper-futuristic vision of 2052 Los Angeles and other global cities.

Westworld Camera Package:
ARRICAM ST and LT
ARRIFLEX 235 (drone)
Sony Venice (night)

Lens package:
ARRI Master Primes
Zeiss Supreme Prime Lenses
Zeiss 8mm Rectilinear

Specific Kodak Stocks Used:
Kodak Vision3 50D 5203 (Daylight)
Vision3 250D 5207 (Daylight)
Vision3 500T 5219 (Tungsten
Four perf 16:9. There are aspects of the show that were captured at 2.39:1 aspect ratio for a different timeline, and those were three perf.

Westworld is also believed to be the first production to shoot on 35 mm film with a drone.
They flew an [Arriflex] 235, which used 200-foot rolls. So, you’ve only got about a minute and 50 seconds worth of runtime per roll. XM2 also developed a system that allowed them to use the [Arriflex] 435 in the drone.

It was a privilege to work alongside such a talented crew and contribute to a film that brought together large-scale act...
26/08/2026

It was a privilege to work alongside such a talented crew and contribute to a film that brought together large-scale action, practical water work and some pretty impressive filmmaking.
The Meg:
Directed by Jon Turteltaub
Director of photography Tom Stern
Second unit director James Madigan
Director of photography: second unit Andrew McGeorge
Second unit director: H20 unit John Mahaffie
Underwater director of photography Kina Scollay

Throwback to filming THE MEG. An incredible experience and the unique challenges that come with filming in and around th...
26/08/2026

Throwback to filming THE MEG. An incredible experience and the unique challenges that come with filming in and around the ocean. These are some shots from my fisheye camera, capturing the action from a different perspective. Between the boats, water work and camera rigs.

Channel 4 unveiled a new look for its flagship channel, a series of surreal indents deconstructing the iconic 4 logo.Dir...
25/08/2026

Channel 4 unveiled a new look for its flagship channel, a series of surreal indents deconstructing the iconic 4 logo.

Director – Jonathan Glazer
DOP – Alex Barber

Shot using 3D rigs. One camera set for Infrared and one as normal, to allow flexibility in IR intensity.

Skin tones, vegetation, skies and landscapes can all behave differently when photographed in infrared. What appears ordinary to the eye can become abstract, surreal or strangely beautiful when viewed through an infrared camera.
REDS having interchangeable OLPF RED was particularly convenient
Kodak/Wratten gelatin filters were added to accentuate the desired look.

Once the camera is capable of seeing IR, the filter determines much of the look:
* 590nm — more false colour and surreal colour possibilities.
* 665nm — a balance between colour experimentation and stronger IR contrast.
* 720nm — the classic infrared look; often a good starting point.
* 780nm — stronger, more monochromatic/high-contrast IR.
* 850nm and above — increasingly pure infrared and typically a stronger black-and-white effect.

Next Up on the NZCS Instagram ‘Take Over’ 🎬… Mr Sam Fraser ! Seasoned Digital ImagingTechnician | Phantom Op| 1st & 2nd ...
21/08/2026

Next Up on the NZCS Instagram ‘Take Over’ 🎬… Mr Sam Fraser ! Seasoned Digital Imaging
Technician | Phantom Op| 1st & 2nd AC and all-round gun behind the scenes. We are handing over the reins next week - stay tuned ! 👀

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