Embracing the Uncomfortable – VistaVision and the Controlled Chaos of “One Battle After Another”

Oscars 2026

by Mascha DeikovaMarch 9^th, 2026

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Fast, fierce, raw, and spontaneous. These are the first words that come to mind while watching the phenomenal action-thriller, “One Battle After Another” by Paul Thomas Anderson. But it’s not only the mind-blowing story that creates this effect. You can feel it in everything: the acting, the cinematography, the editing, the music, and the film’s holistic approach to embracing the uncomfortable. Why did the team decide to shoot in VistaVision? How did Paul tackle the coverage question to establish the film’s visual tone? And what lighting decisions were sometimes necessary to capture the actors’ spontaneous performances? Let’s find out!

Although “One Battle After Another” reportedly flopped at the box office, losing about $100 million, it did receive high critical acclaim and 13 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing. Also, putting aside all the controversy and political topics it touches on, this movie is just pure fun to watch. No, seriously, sitting in the cinema, I felt as if my eyes were glued to the screen. I even tried not to blink so I wouldn’t miss a single moment. The 2 hours and 42 minutes of runtime, which definitely scared some potential viewers off, flew by at cosmic speed. If you haven’t watched it yet, consider my heartfelt recommendation.

VistaVision at the heart of the project

Do you remember the term “VistaVision”? This is a cinematographic format created in 1954 at Paramount Pictures that quickly fell out of fashion. It was somewhat of a competitor to the more widely adopted CinemaScope. VistaVision used 35mm film stock, but with frames oriented horizontally rather than vertically (which allows more resolution in a single frame). After the 60s, it was mostly used for short-length projects and VFX photography because of the larger negative. Guess what! VistaVision is enjoying a comeback in feature films and appears to be entering its prime era!

In the “ASC Clubhouse Conversation,” the cinematographer of “One Battle After Another,” Michael Bauman, recalls that director Paul Thomas Anderson wanted to shoot the film in VistaVision from very early on. Anderson had already worked with the format on the short musical film, “ANIMA,” with Thom Yorke, and absolutely loved the results.

The main problem was that they wanted to include all types of camera movement, shooting handheld, using a steadicam, or even strapping the camera to the car. To do that, they had to find reliable enough camera systems and adapt them for these purposes. It certainly wasn’t an easy task. Even if something seemed promising, the question of availability arose. (Another film from 2025 – “Bugonia” by Yorgos Lanthimos – was also filmed using VistaVision. As I said before – a real comeback!) They ended up using three bodies, with a Beaucam, restored by actor, cinematographer, and cinephile Giovanni Ribisi, serving as their A-cam.

And all that VistaVision entails

Getting the right cameras was only part of the story. As is often the case with vintage equipment, you also have to find solutions for everyday use. It starts with something as basic as a suitable viewfinder just to operate the system, and goes all the way to a custom-built blimp to reduce the camera’s noise. Despite all these challenges, they still went for it. Why? This is not an epic war film or a western set in vast, daunting landscapes. “One Battle After Another” is about a family and follows an intimate story filled with emotional close-ups. So why use such a large format for it?

Well, the answer is hidden in the question. Thanks to the format, the intimacy becomes something grand. The story of one family takes on an important place in history. The individual struggle turns into an epic about fighting against oppression and about how this struggle and the fire of revolution are passed on to future generations. It’s like a visual tool that helps to make something specific feel wide and relatable.

However, as Michael Bauman clarifies in the conversation, they also carried two Super 35 cameras. First, for practical reasons. The production moved across nine cities, and the filmmakers needed to make sure they always had something to shoot with. Second, these cameras were more convenient for filming close-ups. And above all, they allowed the crew to run longer takes, since VistaVision uses twice as much film.

The coverage question

This is a great segue to our next topic, the approach to coverage. If you’ve seen the film, you might have noticed its love for long takes, sometimes lingering on a face, sometimes following messy action as it unfolds. Compared to a digital camera, VistaVision brings certain limitations in terms of where the camera can be placed, especially in tight spaces. Yet, according to Michael, Paul is okay with limitations. He likes an observational camera and is also very comfortable working with less footage, clearly imagining in his head how everything will come together. He’s the kind of director who, when asked, “Don’t you want to get a reverse?” simply replies, “No, I’m good.” As Michael Bauman puts it, the story is not only about what you see, but also about what you don’t. It’s okay not to see everything.

The difficulties of working with VistaVision also forced the style and visual tone of “One Battle After Another.” Apart from delivering its remarkable depth, the format influenced where the cameras could be placed, how they were mounted, and what could be framed. At the same time, as Michael admits, the team was learning along the way, and their confidence grew as the shoot progressed. For example, in the scene above, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Bob flees the hospital, runs down the back entrance stairs, jumps into a car, and they drive away, all in a single take (from 02:19). All this in one take! To make this possible, the filmmakers built an 8-foot slider and attached it to the car. At the beginning of the shoot, they could hardly have imagined something like this working with VistaVision. By the end, however, they started to make much bolder decisions.

Lighting approach in “One Battle After Another”

Obviously, “One Battle After Another” was a massive-scale, high-budget project. At the same time, Paul Thomas Anderson’s main reference was “The French Connection,” the 1971 American neo-noir action thriller, shot almost like a documentary, and it carries distinct indie vibes. (Interestingly, we compared the car chase sequences from both films in a separate article.)

This “raw” approach naturally found its way into lighting. Paul wanted to keep a small footprint. (Michael calls it “an interesting conundrum,” given the scale of the production, with five cameras, 40 to 50 lenses for various setups, a couple hundred thousand feet of film, and the lighting truck fully packed.) So they tried to integrate as much of the lighting as possible into the set decoration. The main idea was to achieve the look and feel of natural environments on practical locations (or to “emulate,” as it’s called). The second important goal was to allow for as much camera movement as possible.

Fun fact: since they were using a vintage camera and vintage film stock, Paul even bought a set of incandescent lights from 1983 on eBay, a Lowel kit, because he really liked the look created by umbrellas. At the same time, they needed enough exposure, so the crew also implemented plenty of LEDs for speed and versatility, and to maintain the smaller footprint.

Embracing the imperfect

Let’s rewatch one scene in particular. Please pay close attention to the moment in the hallway, starting at 00:29:

A lot is going on here, right? Michael recalls that the production design team sourced all the set decoration from local community marketplaces and paid close attention to the details, which is always a great advantage for the cinematographer. In terms of lighting, they went for overhead practicals they could control, with a little bit of fill or bounce if necessary. That approach allowed the actors and the director to feel free in their environment and improvise. For instance, it was never in the script that these teenage guys would be skating up and down the hallway.

The importance of preserving the spontaneous aspects of actors’ performances, along with Paul Thomas Anderson’s soft spot for practical locations, shaped the “raw” approach on “One Battle After Another.” In other words, they had to find a way to embrace the uncomfortable. The fact that they could review the dailies only three days later. The issue that many of their lenses had different color tonalities. Imperfect camera movements. The mistakes. Yes, faces could fall into darkness, and yes, shots could become overexposed. “Just being comfortable with the uncomfortable,” as Michael Bauman puts it, describes this mindset.

Let’s just make mistakes. Mistakes are good, and we can find interesting stuff.

Michael Bauman, the DP of “One Battle After Another”

Of course, they had lots of prep, so instead of “mistakes” we might call them “happy accidents.” Yet this approach is exactly what helped filmmakers create the raw, authentic, fierce, and captivating feeling we mentioned at the start of this article. It seems like they tackled one challenge after another on “One Battle After Another”, and did so brilliantly.  

Conclusion

Michael Bauman won the Theatrical Feature Film prize for his work on “One Battle After Another” at the 40th ASC awards. It was his first-ever ASC nomination, and he actually received two in the same evening – the second one in the Limited Series category for his work on “Monster: The Ed Gein Story.”) If you’d like to read more about this successful ceremony for Michael, head over here.

The 98th Academy Awards will take place on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, as usual. One Battle After Another’s biggest competitor this year is “Sinners,” Ryan Coogler’s horror film, which scored a record-breaking 16 nominations. It should make for an interesting finale to the awards season, for sure!

Have you watched “One Battle After Another”? What do you think about it, its plot, its cinematography? How did you enjoy its visual style? Let’s exchange opinions in the comment section below!

Feature image: a film still from “One Battle After Another” by Paul Thomas Anderson, 2025.

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