shutter angle

[Guest mnpd]

Could somebody tell me what effect the shutter angle has on an image ?

 

many Thanks

 

Tony :)

[John Pytlak RIP]

Could somebody tell me what effect the shutter angle has on an image ?

 

many Thanks

 

Tony :)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

In simple terms, the shutter angle is directly related to the exposure time of each frame. A longer exposure time gives more "motion blur", a very short exposure time gives an image with less motion blur, but may be perceived as more "strobey".

 

For a 180 degree shutter opening at 24 frames per second, the exposure time of each frame may be calculated:

 

(180/360) x (1/24) = 1/48 second

 

If you are panning, or have action in the scene, whatever movement there is in 1/48 second will show as a blur in the image. Most people are very used to the motion blur of film shot at 24fps and a shutter opening near 180 degrees, and perceive other exposure times as somewhat "unnatural" or "disconcerting", e.g., when used for effect in "Saving Private Ryan" or "The Gladiator".

[Guest mnpd]

In simple terms, the shutter angle is directly related to the exposure time of each frame.  A longer exposure time gives more "motion blur", a very short exposure time gives an image with less motion blur, but may be perceived as more "strobey".

 

For a 180 degree shutter opening at 24 frames per second, the exposure time of each frame may be calculated:

 

(180/360) x (1/24) = 1/48 second

 

If you are panning, or have action in the scene, whatever movement there is in 1/48 second will show as a blur in the image.  Most people are very used to the motion blur of film shot at 24fps and a shutter opening near 180 degrees, and perceive other exposure times as somewhat "unnatural" or "disconcerting", e.g., when used for effect in "Saving Private Ryan" or "The Gladiator".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Thanks John :)

[Dimitrios Koukas]

In simple terms, the shutter angle is directly related to the exposure time of each frame.  A longer exposure time gives more "motion blur", a very short exposure time gives an image with less motion blur, but may be perceived as more "strobey".

 

For a 180 degree shutter opening at 24 frames per second, the exposure time of each frame may be calculated:

 

(180/360) x (1/24) = 1/48 second

 

If you are panning, or have action in the scene, whatever movement there is in 1/48 second will show as a blur in the image.  Most people are very used to the motion blur of film shot at 24fps and a shutter opening near 180 degrees, and perceive other exposure times as somewhat "unnatural" or "disconcerting", e.g., when used for effect in "Saving Private Ryan" or "The Gladiator".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Also there is a relation to the direction of pan,

so there is a bigger issue when you re panning opposite the subjects direction.

One thing to do, is to shoot with a bigger frame rate like 50 fps or 35fps, when u are having for example a train moving close to your lens and towards left side of your frame.

If it doesn't make sense, cause of my lack of explainning things, I could try more if you have any questions.

Dimitrios Koukas

[Francis Kuhn]

In addition to the staccato "Private Ryan" effects created by narrower-than-normal shutter angles, there is another cool use for shutter angle adjustment. When shooting subjects a that are not moving, say a locked-off shot of a car parked on a dry lake in the desert, you can sometimes vary the shutter angle to allow for more (or less) exposure time to be given to each frame. It might allow you to get to the particular t-stop for the look you desire.

 

Lets say your film stock is 250 ASA and you're shooting the new Sweet Crude Black H3.5 Hummer in bright sunlight at high noon. (I know--you're thinking, "High noon light on sheet metal?" But in case you haven't noticed, Ugly is the new Beautiful in automotive this season.)

 

A straight meter reading says t45 at 24fps, but you want to get to t8 to get a shallower depth-of-field. So you put, lets say, a neutral density 0.9 (minus 3 stops) filter on and now you can shoot at t16, but you're still two stops away from the magic t8. If you're out of neutral density, you could decrease the film's exposure time by two stops by increasing the camera's frame rate by four times to 92fps, but say the particular camera you're using won't go past 50fps even with a full wind on the spring. But if the camera's shutter is adjustable, you could instead narrow the shutter from the normal 180 degrees to just 45 degrees. This narrow 45-degree angle will cut the amount of time the film gets hit by the blazing desert sun by two stops: 90 degrees being half of 180 (there's one stop) and 45 is half of 90 (there's the second stop). So you can now open up to t8 on the lens and go crack open a cold one with the client while your First shoots that overpriced soccer-mom-hauling gas-guzzler.

 

Since the shot is locked off and in theory nothing is moving, you wouldn't notice the narrow shutter effect. But watch out if you have palm fronds blowing around in the background! Of course, you could always say that you planned the freaky background motion all along. Maybe the creatives will buy it. "He a genius--we have to shoot the entire campaign at 45-degrees!"

 

Just wait. . .someone's gonna try it.