16:9 framing

[Guest dbledwn11]

Hi. I'm soon to shoot a 16mm short with an Arri SR2 and really keen to shoot in 16:9. now obviously this won't be true 16:9, but rather I'll have to mask off whilst shooting and then use matte bars in post.

 

i've had a few suggestions so far - mask a filter? mask something in the eyepiece? use a video assist and mask the screen? what sort of video assist would i be after. i've been told LCD isn't too good for exterior work because of glare and also i have an incredibly small budget. so small i'm ashamed.

 

also i've attached a diagram for to make another suggestion clearer. i'm sure u see what i'm getting at.

 

as i see it to try and frame with the hypothetical red lines would be harder, but allow a greater margin of error for framing top and bottom since the image can be moved around a fair bit within the 16:9 area. although whether it stays constant throughout the entire shot is more difficult to assess.

 

wheras with the blue bars at least there is a constat reference point i.e the top blue line, but the downside being there is less room for error at the top.

 

hope this makes sense.

 

Edited February 8, 2006 by dbledwn11

[Tim Carroll]

If I understand your drawing properly, i.e. putting framing lines with the two red lines, as in taking some off the top and some off the bottom, or framing with the blue lines, as in taking it all off of the bottom, there is no contest. Frame off the red lines.

 

When shooting with an Arriflex SR that is regular 16 (SR1 or SR2, makes no difference), we always tape off the fibre optics screen. But we own the camera and if you are renting, and don't know the camera real well and are not comfortable removing the fibre optics screen, then I would not do that.

 

If you are renting the camera, see if the rental house has a fibre optics screen with the marking already on it. It is a very simple thing for the camera tech at the rental house to pop one screen out and pop the other in, and they should not charge you for the service.

 

-Tim

[Robert Hughes]

Why aren't you shooting Super 16?

[stephen lamb]

Hi,

I shot a short film this past fall using an SR1. I used those red lines as guides and we matted the image in post. For shots where i had missed the mark a bit, it was a breeze to adjust the image up and down a bit. Agreed though with the previous post, how come not super 16? for our shoot we simply had no access to one at all, and our showcasing venue (not theatrical) didn't absolutely require that extra negative space, so we were ok losing a bit of negative to get the aspect ratio we wanted. good luck!

Steve

[Stuart Brereton]

I would use the red lines in your diagram for a center extraction of 1.85:1. Although using the top line has its' benefits, it does mean that you are using more of the edges of the lens (where a lot of the aberrations are) and not the center (the good part). It also means that any zooms you do will be off-centered as well, although this may be a non-issue for you.

 

If you're going to a tape finish, you should transfer the whole R16 neg without letterboxing to give yourself the maximum flexibility for reframing in post. Once you've got your picture locked, and any re-racking done, you can letterbox it to whatever aspect ratio you like.