Based out of Los Angeles, California, Cinematographer Edward J. Pei, ASC (filmography) believes that collaboration is essential to the success of a project. He enthusiastically supports a director’s vision and uses light to bring integrity to the story.
Cinemagraphic Style
Panoramas, Vistas, and Landscapes
Westerns are a part of the American narrative. The mini-series Streets of Laredo and Dead Man’s Walk, based on the books by Larry McMurtry, showcase a masterful treatment of the great American West.
The sweeping African savannah is the background to the Touchstone film, Primeval, lensed in South Africa. This story about a legendary 25-foot crocodile terrorizing the locals is packed with action and special effects.
Photography Sells the Story
Glossy, Glitzy, Glam – AJ & the Queen takes the viewer on a journey through the sparkling, campy and eccentric world of the drag artist.
Edgy Crime Drama – The Beast reveals dark secrets about a veteran F.B.I. Agent who is assigned a new partner recruited as a double agent to investigate his controversial techniques bringing criminals to justice.
Eerie Fantasy – The SyFy production of Dominion filmed in South Africa is set in a world where the archangel Gabriel is waging war against mankind.
Gritty, Sinister – Alien Invasion is a story of survival in a post-apocalyptic world thrown into darkness by invading extraterrestrials.
Moody, Grungy – Goliath explores the theme of redemption for a down and out alcoholic lawyer.
Slick, Gritty – Justified is a modern western about a U.S. Marshall wielding his own brand of justice in the rural Appalachian coal mining towns of Kentucky.
Romantic, Exotic – Filmed in Shanghai and the Chinese countryside, Smile, is a touching story about physical and personal transformation.
Period: Pre-Civil War, Post-Civil War, Post-WWII
Pre-Civil War: Feast of All Saints depicts the dazzling and oppressed world of gens de couleur libre (the Free People of Color) in New Orleans during the nineteenth century.
Post-Civil War: The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All is the life story told in flashbacks of ninety-nine-year-old Lucy Marsden who at the age of fourteen married a fifty-year-old Confederate veteran of the Civil War and bore nine children.
1940’s: Set in 1946, Agent Carter is based on the Marvel Comics character Peggy Carter. Rooted in post-war culture, the show’s aesthetic style is a defining factor in the photography.