The first NZCS Professional Development Masterclass for 2025 was held on Sunday, March 2nd, at Xytech Lighting Rentals in Auckland.

We took advantage of a narrow window of opportunity, where NZCS President, Aaron Morton NZCS was in Auckland prepping for an upcoming film, but was able to take time to share to our members, some of his wisdom and expertise as a seasoned cinematographer.

Aaron Morton NZCS

This was a practical masterclass, where Aaron and gaffer Scott Harman demonstrated a variety of lighting units and techniques to the participants, and showed behind-the-scenes stills and excerpts from movies to illustrate points along the way.

Another of Aaron’s tricks that he demonstrated, was the placement of an eyelight, right below the lens in order to maximise reflection back from the eye with minimal lighting levels.

Some of the highlights were the use of multiple 4 x 4 mirrors to “rifle” the light beam from a large 18K HMI into tight and difficult spaces, and thus increase the overall distance from source to subject and create harder light beams. 

We were also treated to a demo of Aaron’s light metering techniques, and discussion as to why he considers it to be one of his most essential lighting tools.

Another gem of information, which could be applied to any project, big or small, was the “Ronnie Light” rig demo - which aligns two lighting units vertically to minimise multi-directional shadows on the ground (which happens with conventional side-by-side rigs).

Aaron also showed scenes from “The First Omen” and his innovative approach to filming in a historic Italian cathedral, with a minimal lighting footprint in a highly sensitive location. One of his favourites lighting units for speed and versatility in situations like this, is an LED moving head fixture which can instantly change beam shape, direction, color, intensity and gobo effects.

We were also shown a breakdown and demo of a car interior night driving scene from the film  – shot against greenscreen with rows of programmed Astera tubes in chase mode to give the very real illusion of moving past streetlights.

Another of Aaron’s tricks that he demonstrated, was the placement of an eyelight, right below the lens in order to maximise reflection back from the eye with minimal lighting levels.  Aaron and Scott also demonstrated  some new  lighting technology provided by Xytech  –  such as the Hyper-Optic multi-lens accessory for the Skypanel X range, and wrapped up the session with a lively Q&A

Aaron discusses blue-screen set-up for boat sequences on "Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power" tv series

This masterclass was attended exclusively by NZCS members, of varying experience levels. It was gratifying to pitch something at our more experienced, accredited members too and the feedback has been very favourable  - even those cinematographers with many year’s experience walked away seeing some concepts in a completely new light. 

Many thanks to our Major National Sponsor, the Xytech Group, for providing a location and lighting equipment, ImageZone for supplying cameras and lenses, Halcyon Digital for Qtake and DIT, Samsung for the OLED monitors, Moana Grips for the dolly, and our NZCS volunteers for helping make this a great day!

Photo credits: Murray Milne NZCS

~ Donny Duncan NZCS, Professional Development Manager