For the Amazon’s series honored with the TV Premiere Audience Award at SXSW 2025 Yamit Shimonovitz used Zeis Supreme Primes and Batis lenses and Sony Venice II and FX3 to achieve her goal.

Directed by Jody McVeigh-Schultz, Spy High investigates a chilling real-life surveillance scandal in a Philadelphia high school. As a filmmaker and parent, Shimonovitz was immediately drawn to the story. “I have two sons who have received laptops from their school,” she said. “I always remind them that nothing they do on those devices is private. I am happy to be part of shedding light on the potential for harm through this story.”

In Spy High, when a student’s family kicks off a lawsuit against the public school district, it exposes not only the edifice of government overreach, but the dangerous biases displayed in the students most keenly targeted. Spy High moves between interviews with the key characters involved in the 2010 scandal and gripping recreations that evolve with the story.

For documentary cinematographer Yamit Shimonovitz (Let Us Prey: A Ministry of Scandals, Candace Parker: Unapologetic, and The Goop Lab) each project offers a chance to craft a distinctive visual language. Sky High presented the ideal stage for her to explore that goal. Shimonovitz  made  use of bold stylistic contrasts to tell the true story of surveillance overreach in a Philadelphia high school. She turned to Zeiss Supreme Primes and Batis lenses with Sony Venice II and FX3 respectively to achieve a duality of elevated documentary imagery and raw recreations.

Here is the whole story, shared by Zeiss, about the project:

The filmmakers help create gravitas and emotional impact by utilizing polished B-roll and atmospheric shots that provide context for each character and story beat. Shimonovitz chose Zeiss Supreme Primes to create this elevated aesthetic. “The Supremes have this beautiful contrast and flare quality I love—great blacks and gorgeous out-of-focus roll-off,” she said. “You can see in the trailer how we move the camera around the room, for instance over items a desk to create a beautiful ripple of new information. That was our high-gloss, intentional look.”

Counterbalancing this stylized B-roll are uncanny, security-style recreations, that graphically depict the invasion of student privacy. While these sequences look realistic enough to have been pulled straight from surveillance archives, in fact the aesthetic was cleverly crafted with Batis lenses and a unique DIY solution. “I wanted the security footage to feel legit, with natural reflections and light aberrations,” Shimonovitz explained. “I took a clear plastic dome, rigged it with hardware, and attached it to a camera arm on the Sony FX3. Positioning it slightly away from the Batis lens created ambient reflections of the lights, and rooms. It helped sell the look.”

The Zeiss Batis’ fast aperture and reliable autofocus made it an ideal choice for this unconventional rig. “Batis lenses are fast, beautiful, and have great autofocus—especially when paired with Sony’s Monitor & Control App. I could operate everything remotely. It was fast, flexible, and let me capture scenes that felt real and gritty.”

The Zeiss combo establish a unique double look that stitches together purposefully with the interview footage to introduce the show’s primary characters. Shimonovitz shot the interviews using Angénieux zooms in a three-camera setup designed for a layered perspective–a wide, a close and a high-angle C-cam that also recalls a security camera POV. “Once we start shooting an interview, I do my best not to change or adjust anything,” she noted. “It’s about maintaining the emotional flow.”

Beyond the gear and setups, what lingers for Shimonovitz are the people. Spy High features complicated characters–some of the protagonists aren’t the most likeable while others are absolutely heartbreaking. The cinematographer recalls one participant that left a lasting impression, a young man named Kieran who had been a victim of the school’s overreach. “We recreated his bedroom as a set, and he brought down all his academic awards—it was incredibly touching,” she recalled. “That kind of access and vulnerability—that’s what stays with me.”

Yamit Shimonovitz continues to innovate with every project. Now she evens owns her own set of Zeiss Batis lenses, adding a new tool of flexible creativity to her kit. “Even when they’re not my A-cam lenses, the Batis are incredible for second-unit, B-roll, driving shots, and on the Ronin.”

The2025 Spy High debut was a hit with SXSW audiences, earning the filmmakers a TV Premiere Audience Award. The show is available to watch now on Amazon Prime.