Where does Hero go to up their glamour quotient? India.

For Hero’s Glamour–a popular motorbike in the traffic-cluttered cities of India–the company chose cinematographer Paramvir Singh to shoot their latest ad. The DP is a graduate of the Film & Television Institute of India, and also a former creative in advertising.

Stephen Windon, ACS is best known for some of the most widely seen images depicting World War II in HBO’s The Pacific. Windon shared credit with Remi Adefarasin, BSC on the miniseries, and his work on the episode “Okinawa” earned an ASC Outstanding Achievement Award, as well as an EMMY® nomination. His credits include two films in the Fast and Furious franchise, as well as Deep Blue Sea and The Patriot, among others.

In shooting The Pacific, Windon was focused on honesty and believability, down to the beads of sweat on a malaria-stricken soldier’s face. This time around, Windon is back in war mode, and while G.I. Joe: Retaliation leaves a bit more room for dramatization and even playfulness, the early talks with director Jon M. Chu and producers Herb Gains and Lorenzo di Bonaventura were centered around creating a realistic look on which to base the action and adventure.

The filmmaking team of Lana and Andy Wachowski is best known for writing and directing The Matrix trilogy. The visual and verbal ideas in those films have become part of a zeitgeist, had a lasting effect on cinematography, and, not incidentally, brought in upwards of $1.5 billion at the box office.

The Wachowskis cannot be faulted for resting on their laurels. Their subsequent project is the colossally ambitious Cloud Atlas, which is based on David Mitchell’s complex, best-selling 2004 novel.

Down by the Mississippi River, if you take 4x4 trucks deep into the woods on what barely qualifies as a “road,” and then switch to utility terrain vehicles, you reach a deer camp. Next, continuing on foot, there is a large, old tree that happens to have a 35-foot, 1960s-era cabin cruiser wedged 30 feet up in its canopy. This location was dubbed “Boat-in-Tree,” and this was the trek that cast and crew — with equipment — made on a daily basis for director Jeff Nichols’ latest film Mud.

“We found locations that were hard to get to,” admits director of photography Adam Stone, “but when you see them on film, they are just gorgeous. It sets the movie apart.”

Based on the novel “Before I Die” by Jenny Downham, Now is Good tells the story of Tessa, a 17-year-old girl dying of Leukemia. With only months left to live, Tessa (Dakota Fanning) becomes determined to live every moment, and sets out to fulfill a bucket list that includes all the experiences a normal teenager would have; including losing her virginity and taking drugs. Falling in love with her new neighbor Adam (Jeremy Irvine) wasn’t part of the plan, but it does prove to be her most exhilarating experience of all.

Blueprint Pictures brought director and writer Ol Parker and cinematographer Erik Wilson together to tell Tessa’s story on the big screen. “I was brought into the project somewhat late in the game, but I connected with Ol right away, and loved the script,” notes Wilson. “The decision to shoot on film had already been made, which I was very happy to hear. The movie is a performance driven piece with a very strong script, and I have always felt that the etiquette of film lends itself to drama.”