The look of love: OSF

copy written for One Stop Films in British Cinematographer

OSF specialise in supplying camera, lenses and grip equipment to the film, TV, commercial and promo industry and could be the industry’s best kept secret. 

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There’s nothing cinematographers love more than perfecting a distinctive look that will help tell the story for their director. In the age of digital sensors which tend to render all glass equal this is often quite a challenge.  

Yet there is a place, one of the best industry’s kept secrets we dare say, where unusual, rare, and vintage lenses are lovingly housed ready for the director of photography with eyes for a prize. 

If you want to shoot on the anamorphic lenses through which Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC, created Francis Ford Coppola’s hallucinatory Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now, look no further than One Stop Films. 

“Over the past 15 years we have built up a significant collection of some of the rarest spherical and anamorphic lenses in the UK,” Jonathan Iles, who co-founded the company in 2008 with Danny Bishop who both worked in the camera department. “Most importantly the lenses are maintained in house; in tip-top condition optically and mechanically. It’s our investment in these lenses that allows us to work with cinematographers of the highest calibre to give your production an edge, with a specific look.” 

Iles and Bishop fell in love with old professional glass at the time when film was being phased out and digital cinema rose to the fore. They set about acquiring amazing vintage and anamorphic lenses including sets of Todd-AO, Lomo, Cineovisions, Cooke S2, Canon K35s and Russian-made Elites which would otherwise have remained gathering dust in garages and attics. 

Today, One Stop Films has one of the widest selections of 35mm and full frame glass in the UK. They’re constantly updating the inventory with unique optics for DOPs from offices at 3 Mills Studios in East London; offering a range of services – both spherical and anamorphic.  

“All of our equipment is in immaculate condition,” Iles says. “We recognise that this is paramount to your production. We can offer package deals and are happy to help with testing or to answer any technical questions you might have.” 

These might be answered by ‘legendary’ lens technician Agis Louka, whose extensive knowledge was built working on location in the camera teams on classic Oscar winning films The Killing Fields, The Mission, Gorillas In The Mist and Gladiator. 

Simon Dennis BSC visited OSF seeking a specific look for the 2016 horror mystery The Limehouse Golem directed by Juan Carlos Medina.

OSF rented a number of modern Anamorphic lenses for Dennis to compare alongside the facility’s vintage varieties and knew he’d found what he wanted when he saw the Todd-AO. 

“These were old school Anamorphics in the truest sense, used on movies like Dune and Mad Max,” recalls Dennis. “There were four in the box – 35, 55, 75 and 100mm – with glass weathered at the edges in places.” 

“Even without filtration they had a natural, gauzy feel with haloing flares and beautiful fall-off. Age-wise they felt tonally closer to the ‘60s and ‘70s, which was no bad thing. Also, the 55mm had a 12-inch minimum focus, which I’d never seen before. When Juan saw the tests, he immediately stopped me and said, ‘This is the movie, this is the look I had always imagined!’ During the shoot, Juan joked by calling the Todd’s the ‘jewels’ of the shoot which, on hindsight, was a pretty good description of them. So, thank you to One Stop for helping us film our distinct period look!” 

Other productions supplied by OSF include The Ballards of Renegade Nell (DP Oli Russell with Caldwell Chameleons Anamorphics and Canon Type SKs); The Bastard Son and The Devil Himself (DP Nick Remy Mathews ACS with Canon Type SKs); Nolly (DP Sam Care with Meru Anamorphics); Supacell (DP Aaron Reid with Blackwings / OPF squish diopters; and Culprits for Phillip Blaubach BSC equipped with Caldwell Chameleons Anamorphics, Blackwings T Tuned and Signature Primes. 

OSF can also supply the latest digital cameras, including full frame, and has a good range of 35mm and 16mm film cameras.  

“We would love to welcome you to our studio to take you through comprehensive tests, to compare cameras and lenses side by side and to build the right package for your shoot and budget.”