Cinema Through Supernatural Eyes – Using an Infrared Camera for Storytelling

MZed Education

by Mascha DeikovaSeptember 12^th, 2025

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Filmmaking is full of techniques that make us see the world differently, and we often discuss them in our educational pieces. Fisheye lenses, Dutch angles, unusual shutter speed. But there’s one tool that feels almost supernatural: the infrared camera. It shows us something we cannot see with our own eyes. Heat. Hidden wavelengths. Skin glowing ghostly white, plants turning silver. Is it only beneficial for a surreal aesthetic, or can it also be used for impactful storytelling? Both. Below, we explore film examples that illustrate this bold cinematic decision and its rationale.

When you think about infrared, what images pop into your head? We’re accustomed to the classic “cliché” image of an IR night vision security camera, aren’t we? Or to footage captured by the same technology in the wild for documentary shows like Planet Earth. However, Infrared can create a totally different effect on the viewer, and here is how.

How does the infrared camera work?

Before diving too far into the creative side, let’s pause for a moment and look at how it actually works. In the MZed course “The Art & Science of Lenses,” filmmaker and educator Tal Lazar explains the basics. The light we see is a range of wavelengths, each visible as a different color. Human eyes can detect only those between about 400 and 700 nanometers. Anything below and above that is not visible to us at all:

Infrared (or IR) is above 700nm. Such cameras use special sensors or modified filters to capture those longer wavelengths – the light (or thermal energy) emitted by all objects above absolute zero temperature. The variations in these emissions form the basis of thermal imaging, showing heat patterns. In this text, we’ll also use the term “near-infrared,” – it is the section of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) wavelengths nearest to the normal range but just past what we can see. Don’t worry, we won’t get too technical here. Once you see the film examples with the infrared camera in action, everything will make sense.

Infrared camera for convincing world-building

Let’s start with the big one: an impressive cinematography masterpiece – Dune: Part Two. If you watched it in the theatre when it came out, like I did, you couldn’t have missed the gladiator scene. It feels like a visual feast for the eye, and at the same time, an incredibly bold filmmaking choice.

Director and screenwriter Denis Villeneuve explains that the fight happens on the Harkonnen planet, Giedi Prime. According to the original Dune saga, this fully industrialized planet has no nature left. That got Denis thinking: what if their sunlight, instead of revealing color, erased it completely?

Together with cinematographer Greig Fraser, they came up with the idea of a “black sun,” which emits only infrared light. Strictly speaking, the technology they applied is not the classic thermal vision that the military uses to see in the dark. To achieve the Giedi Prime look, filmmakers removed the infrared filters from regular cameras (that would normally exclude it) and added a custom filter to block visible light, so the scenes play out in black and white infrared.

The result? A totally alien world, where skin tones are pale, the irises of the eyes pop in an eerily striking way, and characters appear ghostly. By the way, that’s not the only interesting cinematography decision on “Dune: Part II,” so head over here if you want to read more about it.

Otherworldly perspective through infrared

Cut to: a film, in which I hadn’t expected to see infrared sequences at all. Namely, A24’s recent documentary about stones, Architecton. This is a mesmerizing piece of visual storytelling, with impressive camera work, quiet, lingering shots, and almost no dialogue.

The infrared camera placed in particular sequences makes landscapes, ruins, and buildings feel surreal, almost otherworldly. It lets us see them in a different light (pun intended.) And it ignites a very distinct emotional response. This is important because this documentary shows stones as living and breathing beings. They are the protagonists, and the IR shots make them stand out, creating an almost intimate connection with them. Curious, isn’t it?

Day-for-night technique

Interestingly enough, the infrared camera can also be used as a savvy solution to a challenge that filmmakers often face: how to shoot night scenes when it’s still daytime and make them look convincing.

We already talked about this technique here, but let’s revisit it real quick. In the sci-fi horror film Nope, there are numerous suspenseful night sequences. Practically all of them, with some exceptions, were shot during the day – yes, even the moment in the following film still. No kidding!

So, how did they achieve it? Inspired by his custom trick for the lunar rover chase in Ad Astra, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema built a custom two-camera rig. The first camera shot infrared light with a narrow bandwidth, and the second – using the Panavision System with 65mm film information. Both were mounted on decommissioned 3D-stereo rigs and aligned to capture the same frame. In post-production, they used the infrared camera as a guidance track for the exposure of different objects, and the System 65mm for color and grain information. A brilliant idea!

Subjective infrared camera as a character

You are probably thinking: Why don’t we talk about the ultimate classic use of an infrared thermal camera in Predator from 1987? Not to worry, here it is:

The filmmakers used a real thermal video imager to simulate the alien’s heat vision, which it uses to track its glowing prey in the jungle. It was allegedly a huge piece of equipment and a great challenge during the shoot. Yet the result is definitely worth it. The thermal vision becomes associated with the beast, heightening the suspense. Seeing these images, we instantly understand that this creature can see in a dimension humans can’t – and that sends chills.

Infrared camera for night vision

And last but not least, the infrared camera has also found a home in war films, military thrillers, and horror stories. Its use in tactical vision, surveillance footage, and drone strike sequences is no surprise, as it mirrors how this tool is actually used in reality.

The interesting and haunting twist comes in stories with ghosts, as infrared has long been associated with the possibility of capturing something supernatural. Take Paranormal Activity, for example – no, the filmmakers didn’t use thermal infrared like in Predator above.

Instead, they relied on near-infrared night vision – a system that uses an infrared light source and a camera sensor sensitive to that spectrum, turning complete darkness into an eerie grey-green world.

That’s why the footage feels so unsettling: It is almost natural vision, but not quite. Night vision sits between infrared and normal. It is familiar enough to feel real, but strange enough to whisper that something unearthly might suddenly appear.

Infrared camera and its impact on storytelling

So, why does an infrared camera work so well in such a range of scenarios? Because it disconnects us from normal human vision. The moment we see the images it creates, we know we’ve entered another perspective. We start to wonder whose eyes we’re seeing the scene through – the monster, the machine, or something beyond. It may feel alien, intimate, terrifying, or simply cold and distant. But it does make us feel different.

What do you say? Are there any other notable examples of infrared film that we should discuss? How would you implement this tech in your projects, if you had the possibility? Let’s talk in the comments below.

Feature image: film stills from “Dune: Part 2” by Denis Villeneuve, 2024; from “Architecton” by Victor Kossakovsky, 2024; and from “Predator” by John McTiernan, 1987.

Full disclosure: MZed is owned by CineD.