For cinematographer Ivana Dzhanovska, some of cinema’s most powerful moments begin when very little appears to be happening.

It is an instinct particularly suited to CALIBRATION, the psychological futuristic drama directed by Serani Hunyi, which begins principal photography in Prague this November.

Dzhanovska comes to cinematography through analog photography, a medium that remains an important part of her creative life. But where photography offered intimacy, cinema offered collaboration.

“Photography is deeply personal and intimate,” she explains, “while cinematography gives me the chance to do what I do best while contributing to something bigger.”

Rather than imposing a recognisable visual signature on every project, Dzhanovska describes herself as something of a “chameleon”, allowing each story to determine its own cinematographic language.

There are, however, recurring instincts.

She is drawn towards symbolism, visual metaphor and subtle storytelling rather than images designed simply to attract attention.

That affinity became immediately apparent when she read CALIBRATION.

“I got excited because I knew it was a story I could tell well,” she says. “It relies heavily on unspoken tension and subtle psychological shifts, which plays perfectly into the kind of visual storytelling I tend to be drawn to.”

WHEN NOTHING HAPPENS — AND EVERYTHING CHANGES

CALIBRATION is built around psychological pressure rather than conventional action. Much of its tension exists inside Freya’s perception of the world around her.

For Dzhanovska, that restraint creates opportunity.

“When there’s no action to hide behind, we can build immense unease just by leaving a bit too much empty space in a frame, or by holding a still shot a few seconds longer than feels comfortable.”

Camera placement becomes psychological rather than merely observational.

Dzhanovska plans to use frames within frames, architectural lines, and physical barriers to create a sense of containment around the characters.

“Characters can seem pressured by lines, enclosed within visual boxes,” she explains.

Stillness itself becomes relative.

“It is often felt the most when it appears right after a more dynamic sequence.”

That philosophy closely aligns with Serani Hunyi’s directing approach: restrained performance, controlled frames, and tension created through what an audience senses rather than what it is explicitly told.

“We’re very much on the same page about the visual language of the film,” Dzhanovska says. “Serani came in with a strong vision for it, and I completely understand why and where it’s coming from.”

The two agreed early that CALIBRATION should feel “restrained, quiet but charged with tension,” with low-key lighting forming part of that language.

“My task is to employ my powers to realise this vision to its full potential.”

PRAGUE, 2040

There is another visual challenge.

CALIBRATION takes place in Prague in 2040, but this is deliberately not the gleaming, technologically spectacular future familiar from conventional science fiction.

It is recognisably Prague.

Something has simply shifted.

“Prague is a city mostly used in period films rather than ones set in the future,” Dzhanovska says. “Our version of the future will rely heavily on specific, often brutalist locations with a subtle post-communist aftertaste.”

Those environments will help create a more graphic visual language: angular compositions, pronounced architectural lines, and stronger contrast.

But perhaps most interesting is Dzhanovska’s idea of decomposition — deliberately disturbing the expected balance of an image.

A frame might be cut somewhere that instinctively feels “wrong”. A composition might be subtly weighted away from where the audience expects it to sit.

Nothing overtly announces danger.

The image simply stops feeling entirely comfortable.

It is exactly the territory CALIBRATION occupies: a familiar world in which something is fractionally, persistently out of alignment.

CALIBRATION Through the Lens: Cinematographer Ivana Dzhanovska on Creating a Future World

THE DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE

At the emotional centre of CALIBRATION is the relationship between Freya and her wife, Hannah.

For Dzhanovska, the evolution of that relationship can happen almost imperceptibly within the composition itself.

“When a relationship is healthy, the pair appears in the same frame, composed in a way that makes them look united by the background where they appear as one whole, with minimal distance between them.”

Then the geometry begins to change.

“As the emotional distance grows, so does the visual space between them, along with the objects or lines that physically separate them.”

Eventually, even the grammar of their conversations can shift.

Two people who once occupied the same image may increasingly exist in separate frames.

The audience may feel the relationship changing before consciously identifying why.

That is particularly important in a film where perception itself cannot always be trusted.

Dzhanovska intends to allow the visual clues surrounding Freya’s experience to evolve alongside changes in her internal world, subtly questioning how closely what we are seeing corresponds with objective reality.

She is especially interested in exploring something even broader:

“How different characters view the exact same world from their own unique perspectives.”

AN ALL-FEMALE CAMERA ENVIRONMENT

CALIBRATION is being produced with an all-female crew — something that carries particular significance for Dzhanovska in a camera department, traditionally one of the more male-dominated areas of filmmaking.

While she stresses that most of her professional collaborations have been positive, she has also encountered something many women working in technical film roles will recognise.

“I’ve been in situations where my capabilities were questioned simply because I look like a ‘little girl’.”

On CALIBRATION, that particular dynamic disappears.

“I’m excited to be part of an all-female crew because this element of underestimation won’t be present in any way, and that’s incredibly empowering to me.”

She is equally curious about another aspect of the production: the integration of AI into the filmmaking process and how those tools can work alongside traditional cinematography within an independent production.

“I’m very excited to see how AI can be applied to a project of this scale, and how that integrates with cinematography and the workflow in general.”

WHAT THE AUDIENCE FEELS

Ultimately, Dzhanovska’s ambition for CALIBRATION is not for audiences to leave the film simply talking about beautiful shots.

She wants the cinematography to have worked on them almost invisibly.

“My purpose is to translate feelings and meaning into images. What can be understood from the image does not need to be explained in dialogue, and what can be felt doesn’t need to be said out loud.”

“I want the audience to fully immerse themselves in the world of CALIBRATION.”

It is perhaps the most appropriate visual philosophy for a film in which the smallest changes may ultimately prove the most consequential.

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CALIBRATION is produced by Serani Studio (Prague), in association with Bottomline AI (France)