Cinematographer Jules O’Loughlin used innovative grip clouds and light progression techniques to film the challenging Dawn Beach sequence in Season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters. In a recent interview with Temple of Geek, he breaks down the technical secrets behind capturing the perfect dawn look on the shores of Vancouver.
The new season is based on Rick Riordan’s second book, The Sea of Monsters. It follows Percy Jackson one year after the events of the first season as he discovers Camp Half-Blood is under siege. Alongside Annabeth and his new cyclops brother, Tyson, Percy must venture into the deadly Sea of Monsters to find a missing Grover and save the camp. O’Loughlin expressed his excitement for the scale of the project, stating, “Percy Jackson is this massive kind of landscape in which to play as a cinematographer. It’s a big show, and it’s a really interesting show.”
The series stars Walker Scobell (Percy), Leah Sava Jeffries (Annabeth), and Aryan Simhadri (Grover). It was created by Rick Riordan and Jon Steinberg, with Dan Shotz and James Bobin among the executive producers.
Managing Natural Environments on a Vancouver Beach
One of the most complex lighting tasks in Season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians involved a sequence where Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson leave Camp Half-Blood and head toward the ship, the Princess Andromeda. To maintain the narrative flow, cinematographer Jules O’Loughlin had to carefully manage a progression of light that spanned several distinct environments. The scene begins at night at the camp, moves to a pre-dawn look as Percy travels through the forest, and eventually hits the beach just as dawn arrives. Reflecting on the effort required to synchronize these shifts, O’Loughlin noted, “through somewhat luck and through experience and expertise, we’re able to pull off that sequence in so far as a progression of light over the course of it.”
Controlling the Sun
Shooting a consistent “dawn” look over the course of three to four days on a Vancouver beach presented a significant challenge. Because the team could not have hard, direct light on the set, they had to find ways to hide the sun once it rose. O’Loughlin relied on a mix of gray Vancouver skies and technical equipment to ensure the light remained soft and consistent with the early morning atmosphere. As O’Loughlin explained, “it was really challenging pulling off a dawn look because I had to control direct sun… I can’t have hard light on the set. It’s got to be soft overhead light.”
Utilizing “Grip Clouds”
To effectively block out harsh sunlight, the production utilized specialized technology known as grip clouds. These are large, mattress-shaped helium balloons that float above the filming location. By attaching black material to the balloons, the crew could cut all direct light from reaching the actors, maintaining the soft overhead glow required for the dawn sequence. O’Loughlin described these tools as “big balloons, they kind of shape like mattresses and they’re full of helium… You can put a black material on, and it’ll cut all direct light underneath.”
The Season 2 finale of Percy Jackson and the Olympians premiered on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, on Disney+ and Hulu. All episodes of Season 2 are now available to stream, with Season 3 already confirmed to be coming soon.
