It won’t be wrong to assume that Dune Part Two will win an Oscar in 2025. Between the acting, special effects, and the story, I bet, at least three. Of course, the story is supported by an entirely made-up world and a very distinct look, and that is by no means an accident. In a recent interview with ARRI Rental and Greig Fraser, the cinematographer of Dune Part Two, we got a deep dive into the gear used to create this look. (Spoiler alert: if you are a gearhead, prepare to drool)

The cameras used for Dune Part Two

Before the interview, many guessed that the movie was shot on a film camera. That’s not the case, but it’s not too far from the truth. The first “Dune” movie (the 2021 one, not the original 1984 adaptation) was actually shot on film, albeit partly. The team used a mix of IMAX cameras alongside digital ARRI ALEXA LF and Mini LF cameras.

However, for Dune Part Two, the team decided to take a different approach. Fraser states, “We started by asking ourselves some philosophical questions about whether part two needed to look the same as part one. Do we continue with the same format? Do we stay with digital, or do we go to film? Do we shoot 16 mm?”

In the end, the team decided to go fully digital. They brought the Mini LF again, but instead of using it with the ALEXA LF, they decided to go for the much wider ALEXA 65.

The weird part is that the recording didn’t stay digital. To achieve a more film-like look, the team took the digital footage, print it onto film, and then scanned it back to digital. You can argue it’s a complex and convoluted process, but maybe it was worth it. It’s hard to tell just how much the scanning process contributed to the movie’s look because we don’t have the original digital footage to compare. But Dune Part One used a similar process, so I doubt they were doing it for no reason.

If you’ve seen the movie, you may ask, “What about the infrared black-and-white footage? Was it shot on ARRI as well?” Thankfully, ARRI Rental explained it in the interview:

“ARRI Rental carries a limited number of native black-and-white ALEXA Monochrome cameras that can see into the infrared spectrum, but not enough were available for the shoot, so the IR filters were removed from regular ALEXAs for these scenes, with Fraser adding a filter in front of the lens to block almost all visible light from the sensor. Colors were desaturated to monochrome for on-set monitoring and postproduction.”

Dune Part Two – lenses

Another change from the first movie was in the lens lineup. The previous Dune movie was shot partly on spherical lenses and partly on anamorphic lenses. In the sequel, the team went full in on spherical lenses while ditching the anamorphic lenses completely.

The spherical lenses themselves form quite an impressive lineup. For a good chunk of the movie, the team shied away from ARRI’s top-grade glass in favor of older, imperfect vintage glass. The argument was that the amazing ARRI lenses were just “too amazing”, giving a clean image when the team aimed for a grainy one.

So, instead, the team chose re-housed 1980s moviecam lenses and re-housed Soviet-era lenses. The soviet glass was partly supplied by IronGlass, while the rest came from Fraser’s personal collection.

“I worked closely with Christoph Hoffsten at ARRI Rental in Germany to tune and detune optics. The Moviecams were pleasing and had good depth, as well as a really good range to choose from. They helped create the texture I wanted, and the Soviet glass was especially well suited to what we were doing; we used them all in harmony, effectively”, says Fraser.

According to Fraser, there were actually more crazy lenses in the lineup: “We had a 57 mm LOOK lens with Petzval glass where you can dial in your effect with a third lens ring, and a 50 mm T.ONE lens. They were incredible, although we didn’t end up using them as much as I’d intended because our focal lengths were more in the longer range, but I’m hoping to incorporate them on another movie, especially if ARRI Rental makes more of them.”

Conclusion

I am going to talk about myself here. I do own a few vintage lenses, and it’s amazing to me that lenses in the same price range were used to shoot Dune Part Two. It’s wonderful that ARRI Rental gave us an insider’s look into the gear involved. If you are looking to start your vintage lens collection too, you can get your first vintage lens for as little as $10.

[via ARRI Rental]