Mattes in front of the lens

[Chris Walters]

For the shots that are looking through binoculars or a sniper viewing sight is that something that is done on the lens at all or is it all done in post. If it is in post is there anything in front of the lens that acts as a guide for the operator for framing?

 

Chris Walters

[Matthew W. Phillips]

It can be done both ways, but the better way is the Matte since you can be guided by sight instead of guesswork. Not saying there isnt a way to do it easily in Post, but I cant imagine it could be easier than using a Matte.

[David Mullen ASC]

You'd think the operating would be simple -- point the camera at what the character would be looking at, dead-center. You don't really "compose" a true POV shot.

 

I heard that Panavision has a rifle scope attachment to create that sniper/hunter POV effect, though that's not a binocular effect.

[Michael Nash]

You can really only use mattes in front of the lens with wide focal lengths. Longer focal lengths throw the matte edges too far out of focus to be useful, and it's usually impractical to put a small enough matte far enough away from the lens to create a convincing effect. So for long-lens effects like binoculars or scopes, you're better off doing it in post (or with "real" optics, like the rifle scope David mentioned).

 

Also with mattes in front of the lens you need to watch out that you're not creating a "waterhouse stop," or essentially a second iris in front of the lens. On video you'd see the light loss right away, but on film you might not know how much the matte is "irising down" your image.

 

Framing is not a problem as long as the operator has an idea of what the final comp will look like, which is usually just a center-weighted image anyway. Most groundglasses and video viewfinders have center crosshairs for this sort thing.

[Matt Kelly]

Are you talking about Panavision's Hylen? I finally played with that thing at Panafest recently. It's.... like a giant dreamcast controller. The most entertaining part was the miniature bong that they had made for some film as an ECU shot of bubbles. To be honest, I'd love to say it's a bunch of overpriced uselessness because it's all very easy to do in post, BUT in terms of having the creative control about it on set, it's an interesting idea. But the SLR groundglasses were pretty nifty because it's an actual optic effect. They used that in Deathproof I think... looked cool. :D

Edited November 9, 2007 by Matt Kelly

[David Mullen ASC]

Are you talking about Panavision's Hylen?

 

No, something different.

[Michael Nash]

http://www.hylensystem.com/