Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC is known for his preference for 35mm anamorphic cinematography. In fact, he knows the serial numbers of his favorite Panavision anamorphic lenses by heart, and knows exactly how each lens will affect a given photographic subject.

“When I look through an anamorphic lens, it just feels very natural and human to me because the field of view is so wide,” he says. “The glass in these lenses that we’ve been using for the last 30 or 40 years was cut by hand, so there are imperfections. The light does unimaginable things when it hits those aberrations. An unquantifiable magic happens, and I love that. It’s one of the tools we use to sell the illusion.”

It’s here! The highly anticipated teaser trailer to the second installment of The Hunger Games. Catching Fire hits theaters on November 22nd.

Director Francis Lawrence (center) with Liam Hemsworth (left) and Jennifer Lawrence (right) on the set of THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE. Photo credit: Murray Close

Shot on Kodak 35mm and 65mm by Jo Willems, BSC and directed by Francis Lawrence, Katniss and Peeta are in the arena again, this time against the backdrop of rebellion and the Quarter Quell.

As a follow-on to last week’s film formats for TV post, I would like to take a broader view of what people are shooting in the feature film arena these days:

Let’s start with 65mm color negative. The big, recent example of 65mm use is on The Dark Knight. It’s not an entirely 65mm production. The 65mm was cut into a number of 35mm shots, like the Bank Heist and the Batmobile chase scenes. 65mm was chosen to do this because it simplyis the best. In the opening sequences of The Dark Knight you can just see the quality that 65mm brings to the screen.

Wally Pfister, ASC, BSC and Travis Mosler at LAFF

Oscar® winner Wally Pfister, ASC, BSC, headlined the KODAK Focus at the LA Film Festival this past Saturday. He discussed current and past projects such as The Dark Knight Rises, Laurel Canyon, Inception, and Insomnia. From shooting sixty minutes of native IMAX 65mm film for The Dark Knight Rises (a record for feature length films), to foregoing a digital intermediate for Inception, Pfister treated attendees to an inside look at his creative process including format choices, camera styles, inspiration, and more!

Kodak, the LA Film Fest, and others covered the event well online. We were there live-tweeting as it happened, and we know many of you were following along our hash tag . Here's a sample:

Kimberly Snyder
President and General Manager
Entertainment and Commercial Films Group
Vice President of Eastman Kodak Company

For the 2008 release of The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan and cinematographer Wally Pfister, ASC, BSC shot large format film to bring pinnacle scenes to the screen in a gigantic way. The filmmaking team re-united for The Dark Knight Rises, one of the most anticipated films of the US summer season, and chose to return to the IMAX. For The Dark Knight Rises, they used more 65 mm 15-perf format footage than any Hollywood movie in the history of cinema, according to The Wall Street Journal.

This large format renaissance in narrative storytelling is exciting, and the rewards are evident: jaw-dropping visuals combined with an unparalleled movie-going experience that gets audiences off the couch and into cinema seats. As filmmakers continue to seek new ways to tell stories, their creative motivation hasn’t changed – to tell compelling stories in unique ways. And the large format helps them attain their visual goals.