SHOOTING ON, IN AND UNDER WATER: JAMES KNIEST ON “THE DEVIL’S MOUTH”

Could you please tell us about yourself James?

 My name is James Kniest. I have been a full time cinematographer for almost 20 years. I shoot commercials, episodic TV and feature films. I have shot a lot of genre type movies and love shooting dark content. I got into filmmaking to do underwater and nature documentaries but quickly fell in love with “painting with light”. This changed my career path as I gravitated more towards commercial cinematography and narrative storytelling. Although, my experience studying underwater filmmaking remains a part of my ethos as I call the water my church and my therapist.

 

Do you have a specific project in mind to want to talk about ?

This is in regards to a movie I shot recently in Thailand. It is a shark movie called “The Devil’s Mouth”. It releases on Amazon Prime on July 29, 2026. It was produced by Lion’s Gate and Thunder Road. It stars Lana Condor, Kathryn Newton and Gavin Casalegno.

 

How did you actually get onboard?

 I got involved with “The Devil’s Mouth” when I saw the director Jeff Wadlow became attached. I worked with Jeff many years previously on a couple commercials. We had a great experience then and stayed in-touch. We met over Zoom and talked a lot about working in, on and under the water and how we would structure what could be a pretty arduous undertaking. I had shot some lengthy underwater sequences fairly recently for “American Horror Story”, “The Rookie” and “The Haunting of Bly Manor”. I was able to curate a water-specific reel quickly to show case this work and was of course very motivated to work abroad in Thailand. 

 

Regarding camera and lenses, do you usually have a go-to package? How did you make your choice for this specific project?

My camera of choice is usually the Sony Venice. And I always like to carry the Angénieux Optimo 12x. I prefer to shoot full frame and I always try to set the B-camera up with an Angénieux zoom. The specific zoom depends on the environment and the shooting style and the type of sets we are shooting, but I think it is important that the B or C camera has the option to re-frame both during and in-between takes for a variety of shots in the edit. Before Full Frame was so prevalent, I always carried the Legacy Series zooms. Now shooting almost always Full Frame, the Optimo Ultra Compact zoom series has special place in my heart. I find that all of the Angénieux zooms miraculously partner well with almost any prime lens set I shoot on , but with the vast focal ranges and fast apertures, they really help in efficient storytelling. For running and gunning and 2nd unit, gimbal and camera housings, the EZ series continues to prove to be invaluable with their lightweight robust build, excellent image quality and fast aperture. 

 

Did you have specific artistic guidelines for “The Devil’s Mouth” on this project?  Did you have any constraints or specific requirements?

For “The Devil’s Mouth” there were a few issues to deal with in terms of lenses.

At least 90% of the film was to be shot on, in or under the water, both at sea and in real rivers and caves. So that meant we needed robust reliable glass that was complementary to the young stars aesthetically, lightweight, would hold up to the elements and fast enough for low light. We would also need a solid very long zoom for remote locations to reach for the action while staying out of the way of the other cameras. We had four cameras rolling constantly, with two in water housings, one mostly on a TechnoCrane and one long lens.

 

One of the most important factors to consider was that each of the characters would be wearing headlamps while swimming under water and in the dark caves. This meant that lens flare was a huge issue to contend with.

We also needed zooms in the water housings because lens changes take a long time, as we need to bring the housing to the surface, dry it off, remove the lens port etc. It’s a lengthy process and every time the camera housing gets opened, you increase the chance of a technical issue.

After testing a lot of lenses, both primes and zooms, I found the EZ zooms configured for full frame gave us the most flexibility with size, weight, speed and to my surprise, handled the lens flare from the headlamps the best. We dedicated an EZ-1 and an EZ-2 to each water housed camera and the two cameras would also share an EZ-3 lens. The EZ-3 proved to be very valuable for long lens shots from the water level both with handheld in the water and on a slider rig we built with the camera underslung just above the surface.

 

You mentioned using Angénieux lenses, which ones and in which format configuration?

Besides a couple super wide angle shots on a 12mm or 14mm prime, we used Angenieux zooms for the entirety of the film. The configurations were the following:

4 Sony Venice 2 (2 with rialto modes), 2 of which were pretty much dedicated to water housings. 1 house was a HydroFlex remote AquaCam Mk5. The other was a Nauticam Universal Digital System. The HydroFlex was paired with the TechnoCrane and Hydrohead for water shots or on sicks in the water with the Hydrohead and had either the EZ-1 or EZ-2. The Nauticam was designated our “free swim” camera and would work in a number of fashions from underwater to split levels. It had an EZ-1 and EZ-2 available at all times. For longer shots the two water cameras shared the EZ-3. For non-wet water shots, the TechnoCrane wore either of the Optimo Ultra zooms lenses. And for the 4th camera that roamed around, and especially in the wild, it wore the Optimo Ultra 12x. Despite its large size, I love this lens. It creates beautiful images, rendering gorgeous skin tones, and the focal length flexibility allows for so much freedom and variety.  For instance, we shot a whole day of river kayaking. In one run past the camera positions, I could shoot a wide group shot for ten seconds. Then zoom into to do a close up and follow a character for a minute and then hand off to another, reframe for a wide angle pass by, and then zoom into a small detail of what’s happening in the story. You get a lot of coverage this way and your actors are not forced to do many takes of something physical and potentially exhausting or dangerous like running a kayak down the river.

 

Are there some particularities of these lenses that you enjoyed specifically? Or any feedback to you would like to mention? 

Maybe redundant, but to recap, I love this family of lenses. They are sharp but pleasing and render skin beautifully. They are robust and built well. They have the best and largest focal length range. They are fast. They handle flare well. The Optimo Ultra 12x allows you to be very efficient when doing stunts and work in the wild. Also, something to note…when traveling throughout the world, the Angénieux zooms are common at most rental houses so it’s comforting to know you will have proven, reliable tools at your fingertips across the globe.

 

As a cinematographer but also as a person with the very human aspect of it, how would you qualify your experience over “The Devil’s Mouth?” 

I had one of my best filmmaking experiences on “The Devil’s Mouth”. The locations were stunning, the actors were superb and incredibly hardworking, the Thai crew was phenomenal. They are exceptionally talented, well trained, tirelessly hardworking and very kind and supportive. The culture in Thailand is eye opening, peaceful, calm, respectful and of course the food is great. 

 

Regarding the team involved on this project, would you like to share about your teammates? 

I only brought one of my regular crew with me. I met all new crew in Thailand. They have a very robust film community there. All of the technicians I worked with were very good. They went out of their way to find solutions to problems before I even knew there was a problem. They do this every day and with a huge smile, unending gratitude and a joyous spirit. I never ever saw one crew member unhappy to be on set no matter how tough it was, how hard it was raining or how late at night.

 

Lastly, do you have any interesting anecdotic story about this project that you would like to share with us? 

We did a lot of things slightly outside of the box. For instance, we made our own underwater lights. The Thai people are very ingenious and crafty and they love to solve problems. We did have some crazy weather while at sea on a barge with a 38’ TechnoCrane. We ended up beaching several of our 35 boats to wait out the squall. I hope to shoot in Thailand again; it was a lovely experience all around.

 

Credits

Lions gate Film,

Living Films (the Thai service company),

Jeff Wadlow (Director),

Chris Lowenstein (Living Films),

Obb Siricharoenjit (Living Films),

PRODUCTION MANAGER  :Padchar “Boom” Kongsillawat My saving grace …

Rattakarn: Owner of  Lifeboatcamera, super helpful

Gear Head … camera rental in Bangkok.