SHOT ON THE “DREAM LENS”
Paradise, wide open.
A man sits on a beautiful Hawaiian beach, enjoying a mai tai. He reaches the bottom of the glass, exchanges a friendly nod with a waiter and orders another. Paying with his Hawaiian Airlines Mastercard brings the idea home: start earning your next vacation while you’re still enjoying this one.
Directed by Adam Jones for MullenLowe, the spot called for restraint. The story didn’t need more action. It needed the audience to settle into the moment—and wish they could stay.
A legendary piece of glass through which to see the beauty of a Hawaiian beach.
A SIMPLE IDEA.
A DREAM OF A LENS
With a full shoot day devoted to this small narrative, there was room to explore a distinctive visual approach. Working with cinematographer Austin F. Schmidt, Jones committed to an unusual choice: shoot everything except the drone footage on a single Canon 50mm f/0.95, wide open.
Introduced in 1961 for the Canon 7 rangefinder camera, the aptly nicknamed “Dream Lens” was among the fastest photographic lenses of its era. Its appeal here wasn’t low-light capability. It was the character of the image. Canon Global
At f/0.95, its exceptionally shallow depth of field creates painterly backgrounds, turning the surroundings into soft washes of color and light. The lens’s warmth and expressive optical qualities offered something more evocative than a perfectly sharp postcard. Freestyle Cinema Rentals
The directing approach followed the same principle: keep the performance relaxed, let the small gestures register and give the images room to breathe. Make the audience feel the vacation, not just see the beach.
THE FINISHING TOUCHES
Filmed at The Kahala Hotel & Resort, the production embraced the property’s classic Hawaiian elegance and beachfront setting. Island Film Group and Krista Carella provided the local production support. The Kahala Luxury Hotel & Resort
Beautiful finishing work by Ryan McNeal at RKM Studios carried that warm, contemplative direction through the color grade. Special thanks to Freestyle Cinema Rentals in Los Angeles for providing the lens that helped define the film’s look. RKM Studios