Excessive motion blur?

[Guest Sean McVeigh]

I'm shooting a couple of clips for a 35mm short over the next day or two, and I was wondering if anyone has any insight to offer on this....

I'd like to try and get what I can only describe as an excessive motion blur effect... I'm planning on cranking down to around 4-6fps to get the motion blur, and then stretching out (duplicating frames) in port to get back to 24fps.

I guess I'm just polling to see if anyone else has done something like this, or if there may be a better way to achieve the look I'm after.. perhaps shooting normal speed and then frame-blending in post?

 

I believe the Kaiser Soze backstory from The Usual Suspects may have used a similar effect, but I haven't watched it lately to verify... the scene where he kills his family... again, I'm only going from memory here, but I believe that is the type of feel I want to portray in this scene.

 

Comments? You think it'll work?

 

-Sean

[Alessandro Machi]

I'm shooting a couple of clips for a 35mm short over the next day or two, and I was wondering if anyone has any insight to offer on this....

I'd like to try and get what I can only describe as an excessive motion blur effect... I'm planning on cranking down to around 4-6fps to get the motion blur, and then stretching out (duplicating frames) in port to get back to 24fps.

I guess I'm just polling to see if anyone else has done something like this, or if there may be a better way to achieve the look I'm after.. perhaps shooting normal speed and then frame-blending in post?

 

I believe the Kaiser Soze backstory from The Usual Suspects may have used a similar effect, but I haven't watched it lately to verify... the scene where he kills his family... again, I'm only going from memory here, but I believe that is the type of feel I want to portray in this scene.

 

Comments?  You think it'll work?

 

-Sean

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

This technique was very popular for music videos 10-15 years ago and still is popular. You still have to figure out what shutter speed you will be using and if you are going with wide angle or telephoto shots, both of which can affect the effect you desire and the shutter speed you will choose.

 

It's times like this a super-8 camera with a 4-6 frame FPS can come in handy. Do a same day super-8 processing at Yale Labs in North Hollywood with a one light "film test" transfer to video and you can see what the effect will look like before you shoot it on 35mm.

 

Your processing charge for one roll of super-8 film would be around $15.00 plus I think it's $25.00 for the transfer, add in $15.00 for the cartridge of film and for $55.00 dollars you have a bonafide film test, (although you will have to find a camera).

 

The problem is trying to figure out which super-8 camera would most match the effect as you plan on shooting it in 35mm. Yale may actually have a super-8 camera for rent. The Beaulieu 4008 camera has a 2 frame and a 4 and a 9 frame speed setting.

 

The Eumig 800 series of cameras hase an intervalometer that tops out around 4-5 frames per second (and you can vary the shutter via the FPS choices) plus a regular speed function of 9 frames per second, (and you can also vary the shutter speed for this setting also). I can't offhand recall what Super-8 cameras actually have a 6 frames per second option.

 

Another option is use the "digital gain" option on many video cameras. This feature actually mimics slower shutter settings and can produce a certain range of frames per second complete with motion blur and probably there is a frames per second option near what you are looking for.

[Keith Mottram]

the other method is to shoot as normal and add the motion blur in post a plugin like RS Motion Blur (discreet/ shake/ AFX) will give you the option of adding as much motion blur as you like and the quality of a plugin such as this will give you a really natural result. I've used it to add motion blur on composite shots where natural motion blur would have mucked up the keying. its also really usefull on post produced speed ramps.

 

Keith

[oscar jimenez]

Hi, I have done excesive "blur" f/s by shooting at 6 fps, afterwards you may do a test at xnsfer facility by 6 fps, 8 o 12 fps. I have never re=transferred at 24 fps back again for this purposes.

Oscar

[David Mullen ASC]

Hi, I have done excesive "blur" f/s by shooting at 6 fps, afterwards you may do a test at xnsfer facility by 6 fps, 8 o 12 fps. I have never re=transferred at 24 fps back again for this purposes.

Oscar

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Lowering the frame rate is the only way of getting long exposure times per frame, and so you either have to play back the footage at that frame rate or repeat frames to return the speed to normal, lest it look sped-up at 24 fps.

 

Besides "Usual Suspects", you see a lot of this in "Chungking Express" by War Kong Wai. There's one shot in "Saving Private Ryan" that did this (Hank's POV while deafened seeing the man pick up his own arm). And the second half of the first battle in "Gladiator" did this when they lost the daylight and were unable to keep shooting at 24 fps with a closed-down shutter, so they went the opposite direction and shot at a low frame rate with a normal 180 degree shutter.

[Nate Yolles]

Is this also what they did on "The Last Samurai" for the flashback-like sequences? For instance towards the beginning the samurai fighting the tiger.

[Guest Sean McVeigh]

Lots of helpful hints here. Thanks guys.

 

I'm going to shoot this afternoon probably down around 6fps and quadruple up the frames in post. I think I'll also shoot up around 50fps and see if slow-mo looks interesting on this subject. (An axe being yanked out of a snow-covered woodblock on one take, and then later returned to the block bloody.. splattering the snow with red goodness).

 

For what it's worth, this is just taking the place of a camera test anyway... I need to check and make sure things are in working order before shooting in January... makes sense to shoot some footage that I can use later instead of the dog running around the christmas tree or something equally bland :)

 

Thanks for the tip on RS Motion Blur in Shake, Keith -- I'll have to check that out as well.

 

Cheers,

Sean