Interview with DP Li Zhipeng on Angénieux Lenses

Director of Photography Li Zhipeng is no stranger to creating and producing film and television projects, have served as director, screenwriter, and DP for a number of different short and feature films. He chose Angénieux lenses to shoot his feature film “Revive! Horned Frog” and the ancient martial art short film “Standing Alone in the Wind.” Below, he shares his experiences with using the Angénieux Optimo Prime and Type EZ zoom lenses.

What do you think of the Angénieux lenses? What do you find unique about the lenses in technical and artistic performance aspects?
I have always been pleasantly surprised by the Angénieux lenses. They are like a dye vat for our creative vision, and each shot is infused with the unique Angénieux charm, perfectly matching the mood and seamlessly integrating with the narrative.
The technical advantages of the Angénieux Optimo Primes are prominent and balanced. They deliver stunning results in a remarkably compact and lightweight package. The Type EZ Zooms’ interchangeable rear optical group allows for quick changes in aspect ratio, making it a very cost-effective feature among different lenses.
For a cinematographer, the Angénieux Optimo Primes’ IOP technology offers greater flexibility, enhancing creative freedom through simply changing the iris, internal elements, and rear filters. The rear filter method, compared to front filters, allows for a more cohesive image; they are small circular filters that reduce the size of the lens hood, making them practical even in tight spaces.
In operation, the combination of OP and EZ lenses works very smoothly. The fast T-stop and large image coverage provided by the lenses makes shooting effective even in low-light conditions without needing high-powered lights that many zoom lenses face. There are also no discrepancies in image quality during post-production’s colour grading between zoom and prime lenses.
“Standing Alone in the Wind”, where I was director and director of photography, was my graduation film. It was my first foray into period drama, and the shoot presented unique challenges. We were required to showcase high-quality makeup and costume texture, and our shooting days had to be compressed so we needed to react quickly on set. The two EZ zoom lenses were instrumental in winning the race against time on numerous occasions.


How would you define the unique characteristics of Angénieux OP lenses? How do these lenses help you in creating and shooting?
I believe the most unique characteristics of Angénieux Optimo Primes are delicacy and stability. They offer nuanced tonal ranges and skin tone reproduction, which perform well even in complex lighting situations. The soft colours and contrasts are very pleasing, striking a nice balance between digital and vintage aesthetics, making them suitable for a wide variety of projects while still maintaining the uniqueness of each.
In both projects, I designed many long shots with complex lighting changes. There were scenes from low-light environments evolving into an on-stage scene, mixing different multi-coloured lights, as well as long panning shots in a horizontal space. These shooting scenarios delighted us in many ways. The Optimo Primes maintained a high level of consistency under different lighting conditions, and they handled skin tones, glare, and bokeh beautifully even in complex lighting. They also achieved excellent distortion control in wide-angle situations, allowing for very natural transitions in the overall image.
Whatever challenges future shoots may bring, I am confident that the Angénieux Optimo Primes will be my unwavering ally.
The two shooting projects “Standing Alone in the Wind” and “Revive! Horned Frog” have very different themes. What kind of visual style came to mind when you first saw the script for “Revive! Horned Frog”? What led you to choose Angénieux Optimo Prime lenses for the shoot?
The two projects indeed had quite different styles. One required a restrained static feeling and white space, while the other jumped back and forth between reality and non-reality, employing a lot of compositions that disrupt the natural balance of the image, dynamic shots with varying speeds, handheld shots, and long shots. There were also clear distinctions in lighting; the former used natural light, while the latter used a lot of mixed-coloured lights and shaped lighting. In terms of visual style, I tried to achieve a combination of cyclical narrative changes and progression while using a unique yet unified visual style to accurately express the reality and non-reality spaces through subtle variations.
“Revive! Horned Frog” was my second time using Optimo Prime lenses. Knowing that the film’s visual style, shooting techniques, scenes, and lighting would be varied and complex, the Angénieux Optimo Primes were a natural choice.
For me, “Standing Alone in the Wind” and “Revive! Horned Frog” both shaped my understanding of visual storytelling The OP and EZ lenses were instrumental partners in this journey. I also want to take this opportunity to thank my partner Qian Xiaoyi and my team for bringing the “Horned Frog” project to life with me.


During the shooting process, which focal lengths were used most frequently? What were the main considerations in different scenes?
When selecting focal lengths, I consider several factors: first the script, followed by the scene, aspect ratio, and other conditions to determine the commonly used focal lengths.
In “Standing Alone in the Wind,” the most commonly used focal lengths were 40mm, 75mm, and 135mm. Since it is an ancient martial art film, I referenced many concepts from traditional Chinese aesthetics during the pre-production planning, aiming for a more classical look. I chose an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, so the 40mm lens became my mainstay. The 40mm lens in this aspect ratio effectively controls the distance between characters and the environment, allowing for a balanced sense of proportion in the background, whether in single or group shots. The 75mm lens provides a more immersive experience for single or close-up shots, allowing for excellent control of the bokeh at an appropriate distance. “Standing Alone” has many outdoor scenes involving bamboo groves, forests, and valleys, which naturally create dense backgrounds. The bokeh produced by the 75mm lens is beautiful, especially when the wind moves through the bamboo forest, creating a natural transition that combines dynamism and beauty. I often used the 135mm focal length for long shots, compressing characters and environments into a flat image, also trying to explore the visual effect found in traditional painting.


In “Revive! The Horned Frog,” the most commonly used focal lengths were 21mm and 32mm. Since the story wanders between reality and fantasy, we wanted to use a unique visual experience to distinguish between the two, while also hoping to form a unified visual style through subtle changes. We frequently used EVA special animation camera positions, and during pre-production location scouting, we looked for scenes with strong lines and depth. The 21mm lens, with excellent distortion control, helped us enhance spatial perspective and achieve a subtle breathing effect under long focal lengths. We usually look for strange yet natural lines or foregrounds near character blocking, using angles to separate and break the unity of the real scene. The 21mm lens excellently fulfilled our various pre-production ideas.


How do you combine the use of prime and zoom lenses?
I consider the visual representation required by the script, the film’s style, the scale, the shooting environment and conditions, the mobility of equipment, and the design of the lenses when deciding between prime and zoom lenses. Ideally, I hope to have a set of prime lenses covering focal lengths from wide-angle to 150mm, along with two zoom lenses, and then equip a long zoom lens, such as the Optimo Ultra 12X.
This lens configuration ensures that I have a stable and reliable lens selection in any situation, effectively meeting the design needs of various shots. It allows for quick zoom-ins or outs and facilitates rapid adjustments across multiple camera setups, enhancing the efficiency of the cinematographer’s work on set.