American Cinematographer - April 2024 - 47

In some respects, Echo breaks new ground. It's the first Disney/Marvel
show with a TV-MA rating, as well as the first project under the Marvel
Spotlight banner, which presents stories that place less of a priority
on the audience's comprehensive knowledge of the MCU. It's also the
first Marvel series to release all episodes simultaneously and the first to
premiere on both Disney Plus and Hulu.
Marvel fans last saw antihero Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) firing a bullet
into her nefarious mentor, Wilson " Kingpin " Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio),
in the finale of Hawkeye. Echo picks up in the aftermath and finds Maya
taking refuge in Oklahoma among the Choctaw Nation, where she reunites
with her estranged family and discovers her ancestral powers.
To shoot the series, Kelly returned to an old favorite for her glass:
the Macro Auto Panatar 55mm (aka the MAP55), which was originally
introduced in the early 1970s to emulate properties of the B Series with
macro focus. Kelly previously used it on the FX series Y: The Last Man for
the story's post-apocalypse portions, and " I fell in love with it, " she says.
" It's a macro, but it looks beautiful in portraits. Panavision has a few of
them, but I have my favorite serial number that I always ask for. "
She also asked ASC associate member Dan Sasaki of Panavision to infuse
a set of T Series anamorphics with MAP55 characteristics, incorporating
vintage lens elements and additional tuning to accentuate flares.
" Dan did some gorgeous magic like only he can, " the cinematographer
says. " One of my favorite aspects of the MAP is that when you flare
the lens, the flare takes on the same color as the light source. With a lot
of other anamorphics, you get that blue horizontal flare, but Dan was
Opposite: Actor Alaqua Cox, as Maya Lopez, leans in with her real
prosthetic leg - not a VFX element - for a fight scene at a roller
rink. This page: A young Maya, who is deaf, uses American Sign
Language with her cousin in a tent during a family gathering.
able to get the MAP flare characteristics in the T Series. "
Sasaki crafted " A " and " B " sets of the T Series for the show, which
Kelly shot on the Arri Alexa Mini LF. The A set possessed the MAP 55
flavor, whereas the B set was a less aggressive tuning and was reserved
for VFX-heavy scenes.
No matter which lens was on the camera, particular attention was
paid to framing lead actor Cox, who, like Maya, is deaf and communicates
with ASL. " We really played a lot with the idea of what a close-up
would mean, " says Kelly, who studied ASL with her crew before production
began. " You take for granted that when someone is speaking, you
can get as tight as you want with the shot, but with ASL, you really have
to make sure you keep not only hands in frame, but also body movement.
In prep, [director] Sydney Freeland and I did a whole day of testing
with a stand-in who spoke ASL. [We determined that] while a character
was speaking ASL, their close-up would be more like a medium close.
However, when we were alone with Maya, in her headspace without dialogue,
we definitely got closer. "
Kelly told A-camera operator Nick Müller that they " must not take
away Alaqua's voice by framing out her hands. "
APRIL 2024 / 47
ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF MARVEL STUDIOS. PHOTOS ON THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE BY CHUCK ZLOTNICK.

American Cinematographer - April 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - April 2024