The Invite: Newport-Berra trades the shot list for a glossary
Cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra told ShotDeck that he and director Olivia Wilde realized early in prep for The Invite that neither of them wanted to shot-list. With four actors in one apartment set and pages being rewritten at the end of rehearsal days, they talked about what each scene meant and built a glossary instead: what focal lengths convey what feelings, what a high angle says versus a low one, what it means to be frontal on someone versus in profile.
The glossary turned emotion into frames. When Seth Rogen's character felt helpless or out of the loop, Newport-Berra said they shot him with a lot of negative space and looked down on him. For the opening argument between Rogen and Wilde, they never put the two in the same frame; when they do share one, it is a reflection and they look in opposite directions. Only after blocking a scene, and checking it through mirrors and windows, did he quickly write a shot list on his phone.
The set itself pushed the same discipline. Production designer Jade Healy gave him doors, windows and a shaftway to shoot through, and although the set could have had flyaway walls, he said they treated it like a location and leaned into the obstructions. There is little camera movement, a few dollies, a Steadicam shot or two and a couple of zooms, so composition did the storytelling. He still pushed hard for coverage, sometimes a close-up for a single punctuating line, and aimed for an epic emotional journey through the contrast of a big wide against a small close-up.
Go deeper on Kingdom of Dreams
- → EP 225: Eric Kissack on long takes in The Studio
- → EP 237: Julie Berghoff on designing The Studio
- → EP 97: Ed Moore on lighting Hijack
We have not sat with Adam Newport-Berra yet. Go deeper with the editor and production designer of The Studio, which he also shot, and a DP who lit a thriller trapped in one confined space.
Headline inspired by reporting at ShotDeck (Ben Oliphint interviewing Adam Newport-Berra, Nov 5, 2026). Full article remains on their site; this page is our craft lens and episode guide. Read the source at ShotDeck ↗