Cinematography

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There is a moment in horror filmmaking where the most terrifying thing a director can do is show you less — and GOOD BOY cinematographer Ben Leonberg built an entire visual language around exactly that instinct. Shot almost entirely from the eye-level perspective of a golden retriever named Indy, the film forces the audience into one of cinema's most unusual and genuinely unsettling points of view. Leonberg captured the film over 400 days across three years on a RED Dragon-X in 6K, pairing the camera's technical precision with vintage 1970s and 80s Nikon lenses specifically chosen to counter digital sharpness and introduce a warmer, more organic quality — a "handmade" aesthetic that feels simultaneously intimate and deeply wrong in the context of what Indy is witnessing. The 15mm AIS lens became the film's visual signature, wide enough to pull the viewer into Indy's world while keeping the frame unstable and alive in the way that only a dog's relationship to space can be.

What makes the cinematography of GOOD BOY genuinely remarkable is how technically intentional every apparently casual choice is. Strong backlighting was used consistently to trace the edges of Indy's coat and remind the viewer that they are looking through an animal — not with one. "Ping lights" created bright reflections in his eyes to emphasize his focus and reactions, turning a retriever's natural attentiveness into something the audience reads as intelligence and dread simultaneously. The production avoided CGI almost entirely, relying instead on practical techniques — including a stuffed dog stand-in called "Findy" for setup shots — and on Leonberg and his wife and producer Kari Fischer working a closed set with just the two of them and their dog. The minimalist crew was not a budgetary constraint. It was a cinematographic decision. Indy could only give what he genuinely felt, and what he genuinely felt required his two favorite people and nothing else in the room to distract him.

For writers and filmmakers, GOOD BOY is a masterclass in committed perspective — in choosing a point of view so completely that the camera itself becomes a character with instincts, fears, and a way of processing threat that is fundamentally different from a human being. The shadows, the partial views, the panting close-ups and sidelong glances — all of it teaches the audience a new visual grammar over the course of the film, until by the end they are reading danger the way Indy reads it. That is not just good horror filmmaking. That is world-building through lens choice.

RED Digital Cinema went behind the look of GOOD BOY with Ben Leonberg in a detailed conversation about the film's visual approach — worth watching for any filmmaker interested in perspective-driven cinematography and the technical decisions that make it work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H50Xr3D_aXM&t=23s

GOOD BOY is now available on streaming services.

What do you think of GOOD BOY's approach to cinematography? Does shooting entirely from a dog's perspective change how you experience the horror — and are there other films that have used a non-human point of view as effectively?

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Few films in recent memory have demanded as much scientific rigor from their cinematography as PROJECT HAIL MARY, and director of photography Greig Fraser rose to that challenge with a combination of old-school technique and unexpected ingenuity. To recreate the sun's alien appearance from deep space — where its color temperature and quality of light behave nothing like what we experience on Earth — Fraser turned to vintage tungsten lights rather than modern LED arrays, using their warmer, harder quality to simulate the harsh, unfiltered solar radiation that would bathe a lone spacecraft millions of miles from home. In one of the film's most technically demanding sequences, Fraser also employed a simple Amazon filter to solve a problem that had stumped the production, a reminder that practical problem-solving and artistic instinct still matter as much as any piece of cutting-edge equipment. The result is a film that feels visually honest — light that behaves the way physics says it should, not the way audiences have been trained to expect it to.

What makes the science-cinema relationship around PROJECT HAIL MARY particularly compelling is how genuinely it runs in both directions. NASA has noted that the film's portrayal of deep space exploration, lone-astronaut psychology, and first-contact science aligns meaningfully with real research and mission planning — and the agency was enthusiastic enough about the connection that the Artemis II crew, including astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, was expected to watch the film during their quarantine period before their historic deep space mission. That a crew preparing to explore beyond low Earth orbit would find value in a piece of narrative cinema speaks to something important: fiction has long served as a rehearsal space for the imagination, helping scientists and engineers emotionally process the scale and isolation of what they are about to attempt. Films like PROJECT HAIL MARY do not just borrow from science — they give something back, articulating the human experience of exploration in ways that technical documentation never can.

The deeper conversation between science and cinema is ultimately about how we make sense of the unknown. Filmmakers study orbital mechanics, consult with astrophysicists, and simulate zero-gravity environments to achieve visual authenticity — but scientists, in turn, have long acknowledged that popular culture shapes public appetite for exploration, drives funding conversations, and recruits the next generation of researchers. The Artemis program exists in a cultural landscape that includes INTERSTELLAR, THE MARTIAN, and now PROJECT HAIL MARY — films that make the vast, indifferent universe feel personally meaningful. When Fraser lights a spacecraft interior to match what a physicist would predict, and when NASA astronauts find that portrayal resonant enough to watch before their own mission, the boundary between science and storytelling dissolves entirely. Exploration, whether on screen or in orbit, is fundamentally an act of imagination — and the best science fiction reminds us that the two have always been pointing in the same direction.

What story about space exploration — real or fictional — first made you feel like the universe was worth reaching for?

Amanda Toney

4 days ago

Love that this is your process Abidoye Ezekiel - do you read the whole script first to get your sense of visualization?

Sam Rivera

3 days ago

That's a great mindset—storyboards as a cinematography tool, not just a safety net. What's one shot type you've recently rediscovered?

Abidoye Ezekiel

in briefly, i will have to get the script first, go through it and get out to visualize it...

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yes I have some visual art i work on recently, if you like i can send it to you and you check them out and trust me you will like the style...

Is there anyone in my network that can help Ryan Lambert out?

Bummer about your 8mm—happens at the worst times. Try Samy's Camera (multiple LA locations) or Freestyle Photo in Hollywood or Downey. Both have solid Super 8 rental options and can get you set up for the weekend. Good luck with the shoot!

Ryan Lambert

Thanks for writing. I don't even look at Samy's if I walk by. hahahaha. Same with Pro8. I was looking for a "friend" deal to help a fellow filmmaker. Fortunately my DP was doing the same search and we found a wonderful DP to help us. Then I messed with mine and it worked! Go figure.

Ashley Renée Smith

6 days ago

Lindsay Thompson, this is such a great overview, NAB always feels like a pulse check on where the industry is heading.

My husband actually used to attend every year, but I’ve never had the pleasure of...

Lindsay Thompson

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1 person likes this
- Ashley Renée Smith
5 days ago

Ashley Renée Smith Thank you -- that is a great way to put it, a pulse check is exactly what it is. Your husband has good taste in conferences.

I am not making the trip this year, but I will definitely...

@Lindsay and @Ashley - I found this pretty interesting coming out of NAB: https://www.mediaplaynews.com/nab-show-2026-streaming-summit-chair-raybu......

NAB week is always exciting—even just following the announcements from home. For those attending, what's one piece of gear you're secretly hoping gets announced

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1 person likes this
- Laura Hammer
6 days ago

Laura Hammer Greig Fraser’s approach here is exactly why his work stands out so much to me. I absolutely adore his cinematography, and this is such a perfect example of how intentional and thoughtful...

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Yesudas Kadaviparambil Joseph

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1 person likes this
- Amanda Toney
2 weeks ago

Diz Sharpe ,for Bourne Ultimatum Window Crashing Scene ,he nailed it

Jack Teague

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2 people like this
- Amanda Toney
- Maeve ThunderChild
2 weeks ago

I've got a list, Alice Brooks, Christina Alexandra Voros, Ari Wegner, Rachel Morrison, Dan Lautsen, Haris Zambarloukos, Stuart Howell. There's probably more that I can't think of at the moment.

Maeve ThunderChild

I've got two of them & others on my list too, Jack Teague !

Mark Furney

Vilmos Zsigmond (favorite: McCabe & Mrs. Miller)

Andrzej Bartkowiak (favorite: The Verdict. Andrzej’s ability to shoot interior scenes in a stunningly beautiful manner is amazing. Some of the interior...

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1 person likes this
- Ashley Renée Smith
1 week ago

I'm loving all of your responses here. I just watched Crime 101 - several of you brought it up, I agree - that was a beautiful film. (off topic - reminded me of old school 80's/90's movies we used to see - not as good as them - but love those fun rides)

Jose Olivera

2 weeks ago

My name is Jose Armando Olivera Enriquez, a screenwriter from Peru and creator of the registered sci-fi project “AROLEN’S.”

I am reaching out to present a high-concept feature film that combines real h...

1 week ago

Hi Jose Olivera - Id recommend putting this post up in the Introduce Yourself lounge so you can network for introduce yourself weekend: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/introduce_yourself...

3 weeks ago

Foreground objects are one of the most underutilized tools in the frame. When used with intention, they do several things at once -- they create depth, direct attention, and add context without the di...

Pat Savage

Amanda Toney Excellent and cued up for this evenings content! I just bought How to Prep to Sell Your Completed Feature Film at a Film Market and Plan Your Film Festival Strategy in the "New Normal" -...

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Cinematography

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Top Contributors

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GENERAL DISCUSSION

PROMOTION