How the WandaVision team got the right look in terms of cinematography

Marvel Studios' much-anticipated superhero series "WandaVision" premiered on streaming platform Disney Plus Hotstar Premium on January 15, 2021. WandaVision not only channels classic sitcoms, but it also aspired to capture specific eras throughout the series. It aimed for a fresh approach to each episode when it came to cinematography. Here's how the director of photography Jess Hall got the right look in terms of cinematography, lighting and making aesthetic choices.

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WandaVision Cinematography

Director of photography Jess Hall, ASC said, "The approach was to study and absorb the references of each period, to distil their technical and aesthetic choices and then to selectively apply and to filter these within our own stylistic sensibility. The objective is to create images that were in a sense truly post-modern, not simply a homage to the past. This is what the complex narrative of ‘WandaVision’ demanded."

Jess Hall utilised 47 different lenses to create seven different periods—many customs modified to render specific period characteristics. He said for the 1950s, he tested lenses of the actual period and then modified modern lenses to selectively render the characteristics that he liked. For him, it was never a case of simply copying what had been done before.

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In terms of lighting, Jess Hall utilised a carefully crafted lighting style, as well as lighting instruments that were period-appropriate. He said that it meant delving deep into the archives of several studio equipment houses to source equipment that has become almost obsolete. According to Jess Hall, the 1950-1970s episodes were shot with period tungsten lighting. LED lighting doesn't make an appearance until the later episodes that are situated in the 2000s.

Jess Hall also studied and incorporated specific composition and camera movement to convey the various periods, adopting specific camera approaches to episodes, depending on what the period’s sitcoms tended to utilise. He said that he would like to think that WandaVision has a unique quality and that in a certain sense its look is original. Jess Hall believes WandaVision is a visual synthesis that has transcended the cut and mix.

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WandaVision Plot

Wanda and Vision are just starting their married life together in a new town, and they're meeting their neighbours. Vision's starting to work at his new job while Wanda navigates life at home. They are concerned about hiding their powers from their new friends and neighbours. That's when we start to realise that things are not quite what they seem.

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