Focus

[Miguel Angel]

Although I haven't been in the cinema business for as long as you all (probably Greg and Stuart were pulling focus and lighting when I was playing with the GI Joes) I miss those days of people knowing their craft too, on both sides tho!

 

From a cinematographer who doesn't know anything about contrast ratios (for example) to an actor who doesn't hit any marks ever or a steadicam who doesn't hit the marks either.

 

I think we are all old - fashioned!

 

The Preston Light ranger looks interesting! I will google it!

 

Albion

Regarding the 1000mm, I fell in love with it the minute I saw it.

 

It is the following one:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1086799-REG/canon_0438c001_cine_servo_50_1000mm_t5_0_8_9_with.html

 

It has an internal 1.5X extender and we added a 2X extender as well so we had a 3000mm shooting at 5K HD on the Epic.

The shots were exactly as you described them, the cars coming to camera and seeing the heatwaves.

 

It was my first time pulling focus surprisingly I kept the cars focused for the major part of the takes ha!

There is one thing that annoyed me a bit which is something that I don't know if happens with the Optimo and such.

 

With the 3000mm and the cars still it was very difficult to get the image absolutely focused because there was this heatwave from the ground which made things a bit soft.

 

We shot a couple of takes through the day in 2K HD so we got a 6000mm, just for the crack! The operator was focusing those ones tho.

 

Surprisingly it is very small and very light, lighter than the Optimo anyway and 1/4 shorter if I remember correctly.

 

In the car commercials I usually work on we have at least three cameras:

A) Russian Arm with a lightweight zoom, the Alura is in all of them lately.

B) Camera on tripod / slider with a long lens, usually the Optimo with a 2X extender.

C) Hand - held camera for run and gun, it usually gets a 100 Macro too so the dop can get nice shoots in the interior.

D) Bunch of cameras (Blackmagic / Canon / Etc) to rig on the cars.

 

I never used a lens so long before but we usually get those kind of shoots in a minor scale.

Now with the 1000.. well, it seems to me that if I ever get to a point where I shoot car commercials I will bring it with me always.

 

 

On the other hand, the "bokeh" wasn't very interesting.

 

Have a good day all!

[Albion Hockney]

would be really interested to see those shots when the project releases Miguel. Donno if I have ever seen anything other then a bird shot at 3000mm haha.

 

didn't know about that lens. F8.9 is a little tough! but at 1000mm I'd take it.

[Gregory Irwin]

 

that said I think it is just one style and it is important to note that the more contemporary ideas of having less perfect marks and more organic blocking is also equally as valid and some truly amazing work has come out of this way of film making that would not have been possible if more traditional techniques were necessary.

I actually agree with you even at the risk of sounding like a hypocrite. There is something special about the impromptu. But it does come at the price of polished precision. Maybe that's ok.

 

G

[Albion Hockney]

I actually agree with you even at the risk of sounding like a hypocrite. There is something special about the impromptu. But it does come at the price of polished precision. Maybe that's ok.

 

G

At the risk of taking this topic on a tangent...

 

I think its important for all those in the bussiness to remember the part of this that art and not just craft. I find most AC's are "old minded" in that they get annoyed when you do things that are in percise and that push on the traditonal craft. Many AC's are rolling there eyes even if they don't physically do it everytime you say your not going to get proper marks. The reason I work with those who I do is generally because they have an interest in the result I am trying to get and not just in making prefectly sharp pictures. That said I do listen to them and want to hear there opinion, but I don't want to always be at odds, the goal should be to understand eachother and make the best product.

[Justin Hayward]

I find most AC's are "old minded" in that they get annoyed when you do things that are in percise and that push on the traditonal craft. Many AC's are rolling there eyes even if they don't physically do it everytime you say your not going to get proper marks.

 

I find most AC's I work with are on board for anything as long as I'm articulate and prove to be competent. If I decide against traditional blocking with marks, they will be okay as long as I understand everything might not land perfectly sharp... which I do.

 

Of course they could be snickering behind my back ;)

[Satsuki Murashige]

With all due respect Sat, please make sure that I'm present when you explain to Christian Bale or Tom Cruise that they must wear a sensor in their hair. Better yet, explain that to their personal hair and wig people!! That should be very entertaining!!! Good luck with that! ;)

 

G

Hah, not me! I like my job, thank you very much! ??

 

Seriously though, it's just another tool to be used as needed. Just like motion capture suits, tracking markers, wireless mic packs, and other tools that actors have had to put up with over the years to get the shot. If someone comes up with a shot where it's actually necessary, then it'll happen.

 

Btw, I had no idea you were Mr. Fraker's AC! I only had the pleasure of speaking with him once, but he was a very gracious gentleman. I wish I had gotten the chance to spend more time listening to him.

[Stuart Brereton]

 

having less perfect marks and more organic blocking is also equally as valid

Wait until you're on a show with an ensemble cast, and scenes with 6 or 8 actors in them, and see how far you get with 'Organic blocking'.

 

There's a big difference between allowing actors the freedom to improvise, and being forced to accommodate their movements because they cannot hit a mark.

[Stuart Brereton]

Actually, I'd go a bit further, and say that the major factor here is not so much actors that can't hit marks, it's the lack of any coherent blocking. There are many inexperienced or incompetent directors out there these days, who have no idea how to block a scene. As a result, they just let the actors roam free. The result is often a complete mess which requires masses of unnecessary coverage in order to have a scene which cuts.

 

in my experience, most actors like to be directed, not just in their performance, but in the technical aspects of blocking and positioning. On a recent movie, I had the lead actress thank me for running a start/stop rehearsal for marks. She was so used to it being a free-for-all, that actually being told where to stand was a welcome relief.

 

One final point on improvisation. The correct place for it is in rehearsal. I've had actors ask me where they can or can't go on the set, and my response is usually "Go anywhere you want in rehearsal." Once they've figured out where they want to be, I ask them to stick to it. Sadly, rehearsals seem to be going the same way as blocking.

[Gregory Irwin]

At the risk of taking this topic on a tangent...

 

I think its important for all those in the bussiness to remember the part of this that art and not just craft. I find most AC's are "old minded" in that they get annoyed when you do things that are in percise and that push on the traditonal craft. Many AC's are rolling there eyes even if they don't physically do it everytime you say your not going to get proper marks. The reason I work with those who I do is generally because they have an interest in the result I am trying to get and not just in making prefectly sharp pictures. That said I do listen to them and want to hear there opinion, but I don't want to always be at odds, the goal should be to understand eachother and make the best product.

You and Stuart both have excellent points here. Focus is simply another aide to telling the story. It's all about the story. As a veteran Focus Puller, like all Focus Pullers, we have a no tolerance bench mark. We strive constantly for perfection. But it's not all about that and we must maintain an open mind and be willing to take those risks for the story. That said, there is a caveat to this. And that is that the "creative" people who have set those parameters must be willing to accept what comes with that style: Imperfection.

 

When I work with David O. Russell, Christopher Nolan and Danny Boyle, who are all proponents of no marks and let the actors have an open pallet when it comes to blocking, they understand the consequences of shooting free form hand held and/or steadicam at a T2. Especially with the 65mm IMAX, hand held with no rehearsals. They embrace the imperfections. But there are directors (and DPs) out there who haven't a clue that they are asking me to defy physical optics. Please don't misunderstand me. I absolutely LOVE to not know what the shot is till we have shot it. I love the challenge and knowing that I have an innate ability to make good focus decisions on the fly. That's invigorating. But like the rest of us, I am human and mistakes will happen. So, when those in charge who insist on the situation and do not appreciate the challenges, I will go out of my way to instill a measure of control in order to protect myself AND the movie. I have met those on both sides who respect the challenges and who are ignorant to the compromises.

 

G

[Phil Rhodes]

Practically everything I ever shoot, at least the stuff that's drama, is chaotically imprecise by the sort of standards we're discussing here. This is the principal reason low budget stuff has such an enormous shooting ratio. We know full well that two thirds of it will be unusable. It's only a problem when you end up working with people who don't understand that.

 

P

[Gregory Irwin]

 

Two thirds??? And I'm getting down on myself when I don't hit better than 85-90%!

 

G

Edited May 11, 2015 by Gregory Irwin

[Phil Rhodes]

...well, exactly. Yes, most of filmmaking really is that crap.

 

P

[Tyler Purcell]

Yep. It's so sad watching dailies for modern narrative features. They roll the camera for everything and MOST of it's totally unusable.

 

Because I grew up shooting film, I only start capturing when there is something worth capturing! I hate watching dailies, I wanna sit down and start editing when the shoot is done, not spend weeks logging the footage. Sometimes even on bigger shoots, I'll edit right on set the night after photography is done. This way I understand what I've got and know where to go the next day. This is the ONE big advantage with shooting digitally, but it's only good if you have very little material to go through.

[Stuart Brereton]

I find most AC's are "old minded" in that they get annoyed when you do things that are in percise

Albion, it's not being 'old minded', it's about being allowed to perform your job without one arm (figuratively) tied behind your back. In an industry where you are constantly judged on results, without regard for circumstance, blown focus can get you fired very quickly. Unfortunately, there are all too few directors of the kind Greg works with that understand the burden they are placing on their focus pullers. As an AC you should understand that.

[Rakesh Malik]

in my experience, most actors like to be directed, not just in their performance, but in the technical aspects of blocking and positioning. On a recent movie, I had the lead actress thank me for running a start/stop rehearsal for marks. She was so used to it being a free-for-all, that actually being told where to stand was a welcome relief.

 

 

On a feature film that I was shooting we ran into a situation where we were filming a scene that was very important from both a story and emotional point of view... and we hadn't rehearsed that one scene, mainly because it was, time wise, a small scene, in spite of being rather tense. It wasn't until we got the blocking figured out that the actors and the director were able to make it come together, and then I was able to figure out how to compose the shots to support the intended tension we wanted.

 

It really helps to underscore the value of blocking; it's not "just" for storytelling!

[Rakesh Malik]

Practically everything I ever shoot, at least the stuff that's drama, is chaotically imprecise by the sort of standards we're discussing here. This is the principal reason low budget stuff has such an enormous shooting ratio. We know full well that two thirds of it will be unusable. It's only a problem when you end up working with people who don't understand that.

 

P

 

Our shooting ratios tend to be fairly high, but most of the time it's from how many takes we use when it really matters... and most of the time, if we need a lot of takes, it's because either the focus puller (usually also the operator due to the crew size) missed focus, an actor missed a mark and the framing ended up off, or there was a plane/truck/other noise we couldn't plan for stomping on actors' lines... which usually happened when everything else was spot on, naturally.

 

Most of our actors have been good about hitting marks, which has been a big help. I compose shots pretty carefully and try to use the entire frame as much as possible, so with tight closeups, the actors have to be pretty spot on for the shots to work the way we want.

[Miguel Angel]

One of the times I have been amazed the most by blocking was while working on Biutiful with those two magnificent filmmakers, Rodrigo Prieto and Alejandro.

 

There was a complicated scene in a bedroom where Marambra (the female character) is with Tito (the male character).

Tito is laying on the bed and Marambra starts dancing around.

 

It was a very simple scene but fairly complicated because they wanted to shoot the dancing in just one shoot and that involved plenty of things moving (camera crew / lights..) while Rodrigo was moving with the camera.. well, they got it and when we saw the pre - editing of the scene the following day Iñarritu told us: I used two different takes here, can you spot the cut?

 

We weren't able! Everything was so carefully planned and composed that take after take the actors, Rodrigo and Jose Luis (the marvelous gaffer) were doing the same things at the same moment.

 

I also think that actors like being told where they can go or how tight or wide is a shoot, at the end of the day, it is their performance and they need to know if they are going to be seen properly or not!

 

Have a good day!