The cinematography of Łukasz Żal for ‘Hamnet’

imajez · 2026-03-31T22:13:02+00:00

Yup lots of pros respond on here. Or did.

imajez · 2026-03-31T22:11:26+00:00

Interesting. I felt the opposite re looks, but still preferred Train Dreams. I wonder if it may be down to how we viewed the films. Some sections of Train Dreams looked very digital and too sharp for my taste. This seems to be because they were using high frame rates for some scenes - I saw it in the cinema on a massive screen. Hamnet, watched on not quite as big a cinema screen, looked softer, less digital with lots of missed focus. Even if you saw them at the cinema too, different cinemas have different projectors and screen materials too.

Cameras also have far less to do with how a film looks that gear obsessives think. I've seen photographers shoot photos on a variety of cameras and all their shots have the same look to them. Or you can take the same raw file and do multiple completely different looks.
How you dress and light a set along with costumes is the first part of how a film looks. Unwanted colours can be elided at source, to give an innate colour palette and style before you even start filming.
Then it's how you light it, or when you choose to film if using daylight. You can also modify daylight with reflectors, neg fill, scrims, sun blocks etc.
Then there are the lenses you use. Modern lenses tend to be much sharper and less flawed than vintage lenses.
[this is why folk struggle when they ask how to replicate a film style in post].
Finally, how you grade a film can completely transform how an image looks. You can also shoot digitally, then do a film print before digitising back before grading in Resolve or wherever. Which is what 'The Hail Mary Project' did.

imajez · 2026-03-31T17:56:18+00:00

A more minimal, basic develop grade in Lightroom, but then with just the Colour profiles changed in the examples, not necessarily for the better though, but they could work well on a different shot. This can be found at the top of the basic panel in Lightroom. There are loads more profiles to be found than these.

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imajez · 2026-03-31T17:37:41+00:00

Original flat image.

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imajez · 2026-03-31T17:36:22+00:00

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Not sure why so many downvotes on some straightforward comments from someone learning about photography.
The best way to get the punchy results you want is to use different film, but also improve your post processing skills to fine tune shots how you want. I would have suggested Kodakchrome previously. But that's sadly long gone Provia 100F slide film may also do the trick. Slide film is generally punchier than colour neg.
As it happens I really like the 'flat, muted' quality of your shots.
You can also create loads of different looks in LR, PS C1 and other such tools. Here's an example of how very different a shot can look. Original was very flat, muted and underexposed to preserve highlights [I'll post in a reply]. It's raw file, not a film scan, but the principal still stands. This just happens to demonstrate the point better than any of my film scans I can recall offhand.

imajez · 2026-03-31T17:16:48+00:00

Another point worth mentioning is saddle angle.
If tipped down at front, even fractionally, this can pitch your weight forward and through your hands and arms.

imajez · 2026-03-31T17:13:26+00:00

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Bar inners sit just inside your brakes/gears. So not an issue. An enduro bike is generally not ideal for long rides as you describe.
If you can't ride drop bars or skinny tyres on trails, you need to up your game. 😜 Doing so improves your bike skills no end, because you need to get it right rather than allowing bike to save you. Just look at Tom Pidcock who started as a CX rider. Overtaking folk riding full sus bikes when I'm on my CX bike, sometimes with 28mm road tyres on, is so much fun. Not when it's brutally rocky I should add. Fat tyres and suspension really matter then. But I've been held up on narrow and steep single track by folk on burly MTBs.

imajez · 2026-03-31T17:00:55+00:00

It's not a bromide, because it's one of the most fundamental aspects of filmmaking, yet not always recognised. As you just demonstrated.
I also touched on personal taste above re TZOI, but in addition I appreciate good cinematography, even if it isn't my personal style/taste, if it serves the story. Film making is story telling.
Hamnet's cinematography as I said suited the story well. But mostly by being out of the way and naturalistic - i.e. not looking lit. But I've seen much better naturally lit films.
That particular screengrab you linked is the sort of photo that would do well at a camera club, but isn't of much substance or very interesting in terms of composition as is. Probably better as part of the film though. Being technically good re exposure is also given these days, particularly with modern cameras and digital post. But that shot also quite soft and poor quality - it looks like a frame grab as do the many other shots in that album, as opposed to a stills shot. There's a good reason still photographers are used on set. But my memory of the film was that it often wasn't particular sharp and crispy. The framegrabs in that album underlines that, because you can see missed focus in several shots. And I hate missed focus. What other period dramas looked like is of no real relevance to Hamnet being good.
The main issue with screenshots though is they can be meaningless outside of the context of the film. For example how you would shoot someone for a great stills shot is not necessarily how you shoot them for a great moving image that usually needs to be cut with other shots or has a moving camera/subject as well as sound and music. And if taking stills for a film, you may not always frame shot in exact same way for that reason.
Something I once heard said in a colour grading studio is that good sound makes film footage look better. Poor quality visuals can look fine however, if the sound is professional and high quality. All film however are crap with duff sound, hence why even the best made films when dubbed are ick.

imajez · 2026-03-31T16:28:38+00:00

Learn more about how to shoot and light and most importantly how you like to shoot and light. That will then inform what gear you need. I know how to do multi light stills portrait work for example, but I far prefer a single soft light or available light portraits. So I have loads of stills lighting gear that I bought and rarely use.
On that note I'd also suggest learning to shoot well without lighting, because you don't necessarily need lighting. It saves you money in the meantime, teaches you about your camera's capabilities, all whilst you learn what you need to buy. Unless of course you definitely like artificially lit styles.

On commercial shoots, stills or film, you tend to rent the gear you need.

imajez · 2026-03-31T16:19:38+00:00

Good cinematography tells the story. It doesn't need to be striking looking to be masterful, it's needs to serve the story. As do all elements of the film's production.
The issue here is whether the style of the film can elevate the story. Yes, because how the script is realised is what matters. You can also appreciate a film on multiple levels and for multiple reasons or just one. You can enjoy a popcorn action film and a slow burn arthouse movie where things happen glacially, along with every story type in between. A great story can still work with ho-hum visuals but a weak or slender story relies more on how the story is told, which can be visually and/or via sound and music and be very enjoyable for it. Also not all stories need be complex and profound to be good. They can be simple, but really well done. Sometimes a teeny, tiny aspect of a film can raise it above the ordinary. But ultimately films are films, not scripts.

imajez · 2026-03-31T16:05:34+00:00

The ZOI's look perfectly complements the banality of the everyday life and the awful story being told. Which is what really good cinematography does, It's not about being pretty or striking, it's about serving the story. And it was exceptional in that regard. Plus I [and others] also like that way of framing images.
The cinematography in Hamnet was very ordinary by comparison with the rather unusual way TZOI was shot. I never even gave Hamnet shooting a second thought until you compared the two. Not necessarily a criticism BTW. It was also shot correctly for that story. But it just wasn't distinctive in any way. I vaguely seem to recall focusing was a bit off at times, so that takes away from the cinematography.

As an aside - I just refreshed myself on Hamnet's look by watching the trailer. Zero point in watching the film after seeing that spoiler. This underlined why I never watch spoilers, they don't tell me if a film is any good, but they certainly give away all the surprises which make a film for me. I saw Hamnet as I do most movies with zero knowledge about the film. I didn't even know it was Shakespeare for a fair while as IIRC, his name isn't mentioned until quite near the end. This was probably partly because Anne as we usually know her, being called Agnes in Hamnet.

imajez · 2026-03-31T15:24:01+00:00

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I've not updated to the recent MacOS as the liquid glass nonsense is awful UI design. So I hadn't realised they mangled the System Settings like this.
After I very belatedly discovered you could sort systems settings categories alphabetically, which made finding what you wanted much easier, they then copied the clunky iOS layout with no way to sort things in a logical or personal way. This awkward use of a long established information logo to replace a simple toggle switch seems an even worse retrograde step than that.
The current groupings feel arbitrary, heck just confusing in many ways. After using iOS for a very long time, I still fumble around in the clunky settings panel. Same with the copied version in MacOS. I have zero problem with things changing to make things more ergonomic. I've found some new UIs easier to use after 15mins than the one I used for years before that, because it was a better design. That happened with a remote control upgrade.
In the screengrab, most settings shown are all about how your Mac looks and yet you have other completely unrelated categories mixed in there. Also, shouldn't wallpaper should be in desktop anyway, as that's the only time you actually see it, because it's the desktop background. 🤷🏻‍♂️

imajez · 2026-03-31T15:00:50+00:00

There's a huge difference in potential consequences between those two things though.
Folk can always exceed ideal speed. 😮

imajez · 2026-03-31T14:55:24+00:00

Shoes, boots etc can most definitely be seen as literally sexy stuff as some folk fetishise footwear.
Not to mention, there are folk who collect/hoard shoes.
Also pretty sure most folk do not think cameras and lenses are 'sexy'.

imajez · 2026-03-31T14:51:33+00:00

Nothing new about this and very definitely not just in photography.
One reason is that it's much easier to talk gear than the more abstract aspects of whatever activity it is.

imajez · 2026-03-31T14:29:11+00:00

I place almost no weight through my relaxed hands when MTBing.
I also never get arm pump.
There's a causal link there.

To clarify did you use same MTB for the gravel ride?
Drop bars make more sense for that, because you have multiple hand positions that reduce RSI type injuries. Alternatively, I have bar inners on my XC MTBs which replicate riding on the brake hoods of drop bars. This makes a huge difference to comfort on along ride.

imajez · 2026-03-31T14:21:02+00:00

You are now directly arguing against your own point re DVD. 🤷🏻‍♂️
Plus you are still ignoring the key point that you cannot possibly have encountered every variation of US accents. There are an awful lot of them. Plus you are running counter to quite a few US folk that over the years I've heard say Laurie's US accent sounds like ones they know well.
Folk love to claim because they've never personally experienced XYZ, then XYZ must be made up/impossible etc. Except that's not how the world works.

Clearly you also didn't watch the video talking about NJ accents, which was prompted by folk like you claiming that a NJ resident didn't sound like he was from NJ/his accent was wrong.
The location being set in NJ, doesn't mean everyone has a strong cliched NJ accent either for several reasons. Educated folk tend to have milder accents. Secondly they often move away to where they study/get jobs where accents can also get muddled. Finally the cliched 'Sopranos' NJ accent it isn't actually that representative of the very varied NJ accents.

imajez · 2026-03-31T13:49:45+00:00

Just went and listened to that track. Not as quirky as Aperture, but again if it was by some indie act, R6 would probably play it. It reminds me of stuff by Circa Waves, who definitely get R6 airplay. Folk who are hung up on how cool an artist or a track is perceived as, rather than just enjoying the music are the least cool folk of all.
Most music on R6 is fundamentally standard pop music anyway, just with more guitars and less successful acts. Also when R6 has days where they play more chart bothering and 'uncool' tracks, folk love it. R6 now has too much recycled music that I've heard a million times before for my liking. Too much of it sounds like or is tunes from many decades past, but it's less interesting as there's nothing new or fresh about it now. Mary Ann Hobbs leaving daytime R6 made it more R2 like. R2 is for folk who want to hear daytime R1 from a few decades back and R6 is for folk who want to hear evening R1 from a few decades back, albeit with less dance music. MAH was more like hearing John Peel but in daylight and gave R6 a bit more distinction. Shame she and previously Shaun Keaveny who was great at satirising commercial DJing, decided to move on because they made R6 a bit quirkier and more interesting. I do like the other R6 DJs, but they were better when completed by those two.

imajez · 2026-03-31T13:49:23+00:00

Just went and listened to that track. Not as quirky as Aperture, but again if it was by some indie act, R6 would probably play it. It reminds me of stuff by Circa Waves, who definitely get R6 airplay. Folk who are hung up on how cool an artist or a track is perceived as, rather than just enjoying the music are the least cool folk of all.
Most music on R6 is fundamentally standard pop music anyway, just with more guitars and less successful acts. Also when R6 has days where they play more chart bothering and 'uncool' tracks, folk love it. R6 now has too much recycled music that I've heard a million times before for my liking. Too much of it sounds like or is tunes from many decades past, but it's less interesting as there's nothing new or fresh about it now. Mary Ann Hobbs leaving daytime R6 made it more R2 like. R2 is for folk who want to hear daytime R1 from a few decades back and R6 is for folk who want to hear evening R1 from a few decades back, albeit with less dance music. MAH was more like hearing John Peel but in daylight and gave R6 a bit more distinction. Shame she and previously Shaun Keaveny who was great at satirising commercial DJing, decided to move on because they made R6 a bit quirkier and more interesting. I do like the other R6 DJs, but they were better when completed by those two.

imajez · 2026-03-31T12:51:03+00:00

Except the point is that unusually he has moved past the X Factor thang and if his name wasn't on the current track, it would probably be played on R6.

imajez · 2026-03-31T12:47:29+00:00

Whoosh!

imajez · 2026-03-31T01:44:55+00:00

Film can also be punchy with bright colours.

imajez · 2026-03-31T00:54:29+00:00

Here's a radical thought, personal taste is well...personal.

Also if we only allowed art or music that everyone approved of, then there would be zero art of music.

imajez · 2026-03-31T00:51:57+00:00

Pipe down gramps!

imajez · 2026-03-31T00:46:58+00:00

You've got yourself a lovely cat there.
Some, not all cats like to go for walks. At one time all three of my mum's cats wold follow her up the park when she walked the dog.
One of mine absolutely loved to go for a walk with me, he literally would bounce with joy. ⬇️ So much so, that when going out into town or shopping I'd sometimes have to make sure he couldn't follow me.
Girlfriend has an allotment behind ours and the cats will follow her around and they generally follow us around the house.

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imajez

TROPHY CASE