DOP Lorenzo Levrini joins Look Inside

Just joining the Look Inside team – Lorenzo Levrini, an award-winning cinematographer whose work caught Nic’s eye about a year ago when he watched the short film, Bad Day At The Office, directed by Nick Scott.

Nic Penrake: “Right from the get-go I was really impressed with Lorenzo’s approach to shooting Look Inside – it was both technically thorough and intellectually probing. His reasoning behind choosing anamorphic lenses for the film was eloquently presented, and he was quick to illustrate the kind of look he could give us with examples from his own work as well as films we both knew. Shiona, our director on Look Inside, was equally convinced by the choice to go anamorphic.”

Shiona: “Look Inside is an ambitious film that requires true passion from everyone on the team, but especially the cinematographer, because it’s such a visual piece. Lorenzo clearly demonstrated that kind of passion during our first meeting. His choice of anamorphic lenses seems the best way to create the surreal world Estelle is living in. We also discussed using Steadicam, as the flowing movement can make the atmosphere more dream-like. I’m very excited to be working with him.”

Lorenzo: “For Look Inside, we want to assume a very subjective point of view and be right there with the protagonist as she explores a space which essentially represents her interior life. By using the Alexa 4:3 and a set of anamorphic lenses, we will be able to bring the camera very close to our protagonist while taking in a lot of the background keeping the background out of focus. This will create a white, dreamlike space, and the vintage anamorphic lenses we’ve chosen will help us maximize this dreamlike feeling with their poetic distortion, which will also mirror our protagonist's experience of the alien world she inhabits.”

Lorenzo’s first feature was Nightmare Box, directed by American slasher veteran Jon Keeyes. In late 2012 he spent two months in Bangladesh shooting Shongram, a love story set during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. He was shortlisted at the Reed Film Awards two years in a row for the shorts, Gaffer and Achiever. He has worked on high-end commercials for clients such as Samsung, Barclays, CBS and the Be More Dog campaign for O2, travelled the world for TV shows and shot countless shorts and music videos.

He has shot digital, online and viral content for Lucozade, Pfizer, Ben Sherman, NHS, Virgin Media, Dove, Nintendo, RICS, McCoys and HSBC. His recent short films include Soror, Bad Day At The Office, The Prey and Tea For Two. He has taught at London Metropolitan University and Ravensbourne and has recently created London Film Lighting Workshops, under which he teaches film lighting in innovative ways.

You can see some of Lorenzo’s work here.