David Mullen question?

[Michael Ryan]

Hello David and others who may know,

 

 

I have a Canon 814XLS Super 8 camera and I want to put a widescreen mask on the front of the lens. This mask will give the look of 2.35:1. It won't be exact, but it's a test. I'm going to black out the top and bottom of a Cokin square filter (so it will have a roughly 2.35:1 aspect ratio).

 

Will this cause the image to have less resolution? Anything else I should know?

 

I'm editing the footage in Final Cut. I know I could put the mask in during the editing stage, but here is why I'm not. For me, I find it very hard to frame (for widescreen) when you are looking thru the viewfinder and you are seeing the 1.33:1 aspect raito.

 

I know that when I get the footage back from the lab the edge of the mask is going to be soft, that's OK. I'll use Final Cut to put the sharp black edge over the in camera mask.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

Mike

[timHealy]

I'm not Dvaid but doesn't that camera have a zoom lens? So you would have to have a differnet "mask" or guide for differnent focal lengths.

 

Unless some super 8 camera offers a ground glass that scope frameline can be added to, or has a video tap that a frame line may be aded to a monitor, you may just have to do the best you can and add the scope in FCP where you can also reframe vertically.

 

Good luck.

 

Best

 

Tim

 

 

PS way back in film school I shot a scope S8 movie utilizing a projection anamorphic lens. I mounted it anyway I could and bascially shot through two lenses. Technically not the best thing to do, but I did a test and got it to work. My instructor liked the hutzpah. The film was OK, but heck I was learning.

[David Mullen ASC]

You can't really put a mask in front of the lens because it will be affected by focal length and f-stop used and will never be sharp-edged enough. You'd have to either hard matte the camera gate or projector gate if you wanted an on-screen 2.35 matte for projection of the original Super-8.

[Raffinator]

I have a Canon 814XLS Super 8 camera and I want to put a widescreen mask on the front of the lens.

Thoughts?

Mike

 

Might it be possible to mask the viewfinder/diopter? That way, you won't be interefering with the zoom problem or affecting the lens performance in any way, and you would still be able to approximate the framing for your desired aspect ratio. It might not be exact, but you could then add the mask in post and not be restricted.

 

Just a thought.

 

Raffi

Edited February 28, 2006 by Raffi Kondy

[Brant Collins]

Post is the easiest way,you can change the offset in FCP and even change the scale of the clip to frame the shot how ever you want.