READ THE LATEST ISSUE HERE

Dune: Prophecy

Posted on Feb 3, 2025 by Admin

Something borrowed

An origin story of sorts, Dune: Prophecy aligns itself with the latest film adaptations of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel. DOP Pierre Gill, CSC discusses his creative decision-making and the practical aspects of being on such large sets

Words Katie Kasperson | Images HBO/Attila Szvacsek

The latest addition to the Dune universe, Dune: Prophecy is set more than 10,000 years before Paul Atreides’ birth. The prequel series follows two Harkonnen sisters, Valya and Tula, who go on to establish the Bene Gesserit – a group of gifted women who use supernatural powers to plan and execute social and political events. 

Released less than one year after Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, Prophecy is a natural extension of the director’s work (though the two projects are technically unrelated), maintaining a similar visual style. This was a choice made primarily by DOP Pierre Gill, CSC, who shot episodes 1, 5 and 6.

A concerned woman stands in a hall with a black veil over her face
Vibrant colour palettes distinguish this movie from its counterparts

Where in the world

When interviewing for the job, Gill was initially asked, “‘What do you think it should look like?’, which was the biggest question at the beginning,” he recalls. “Set 10,000 years before Dune, it could have been completely different.” As a fan of Villeneuve’s films, Gill wanted to ‘stay in that environment’, giving audiences more of that world rather than something totally separate. He and the crew agreed to stay away from other adaptations, like David Lynch’s Dune (1984), for instance. “It’s too weird and different, and it’s going to make things harder,” they’d remarked.

To achieve a mirror image, Gill studied Dune and Dune: Part Two, noting their monochromatic aesthetics, which are especially evident during Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen’s black & white fight scene.

Gill paid close attention to colour and light when crafting Prophecy, making the Sisterhood appear colder, greyer and softer, and the Imperial Palace warmer, with ‘as much harsh light as possible’.

“When you read a sci-fi script, you never quite understand what’s going on, and you don’t know where you are,” Gill admits. With Prophecy, “you know right away where you are because the colour is always a bit different.”

Unlike its film counterparts, Prophecy sometimes adds a vibrant pop of colour, particularly in episode 1. Princess Ynez – the Emperor’s daughter – wears a red dress to her wedding, signifying imminent danger while establishing her character as being unlike the rest. This same dress appears in a Sister’s dream – a highly stylised, foreboding sequence in which Gill could ‘get creative’. Red appears again when Ynez and her brother go out into the city and visit a nightclub. “I purposefully made it redder and more orange, in another zone completely,” says Gill. “The other part of the universe is bringing you into a new colour palette.”

A camera crew films actors in white laying on the ground
Gill enjoyed working on the larger set builds that were created for Prophecy

Places and spaces

As DOP, Gill recognises that, despite his most ambitious creative intentions, he must be a realist. “That’s what you do as a cinematographer – it’s reality. You have to adjust,” he states, explaining struggles with angling sunlight and working in tight confines. Filming Prophecy mostly on set builds, there were occasional physical constraints, such as limited space for light sources.

He was meticulous with framing, ensuring certain character touchstones – like Valya’s silver necklace – were always in sight. “These are subtle things that you keep in mind,” advises Gill.

To capture both the scope and sentiment, Gill filmed Prophecy on the ARRI ALEXA 35. “I didn’t want to use the same camera and lens Greig Fraser used on Dune,” he explains, wanting to evoke and pay tribute to his work without copying it outright. “It’s out of respect, to say, ‘Okay, we’re staying in our lane.’”

He instead opted for vintage anamorphic lenses, which offered a slightly wider shot as well as a ‘gorgeous softness’, preserving the cinematic style of the series.

“It’s important, especially in a big series like this, to create an epic journey that’s also intimate,” he summarises.

Like most modern sci-fi sagas, Prophecy incorporated some VFX, although Gill asserts that ‘probably 80%’ of the series was caught solely in camera. When effects were added in post, they were generally little details like the thinking machines or spaceships rather than entire backgrounds. Unlike in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which premiered on Disney+ last year, Gill didn’t use an LED volume on Dune: Prophecy.

His experiences on The Borgias and Blade Runner 2049 – serving in the second unit on the latter – also prepared him for life on a large set. “Of course, the first time is super stressful because it’s big and overwhelming,” he admits. Now, “I hope they’re going to call me for bigger stuff because I love the scope. It’s like a huge Lego puzzle, or a playground!” 

Dune: Prophecy is now streaming on Max (US) or Sky and NOW (UK)

This story appears in the January 2025 issue of Definition

Nine-inch tales: Brave Creatures

July 21st, 2023

World leading VFX specialist Adam Valdez explains how he filmed nine-inch creatures for a...

Special (effects) agent

November 1st, 2022

Bond turned 60 last month. To celebrate, Definition asked Chris Corbould OBE – the...

The Burning Girls: The heat is on

May 26th, 2023

Cinematographer behind the eagerly anticipated series The Burning Girls talks VFX, screens and night...

Mo-Sys Announces New StarTrackers

July 19th, 2022

Mo-Sys Engineering has announced plans to introduce two new StarTracker products together with an...

Newsletter

Subscribe to the Definition newsletter to get the latest issue and more delivered to your inbox.

You may opt-out at any time. Privacy Policy.