Michael Townley

1 hour ago, Tyler Purcell said:

Right, open matte, 2.40:1 aspect ratio ground glass. Anamorphic is a "process" not an aspect ratio. There are MANY wide screen aspect ratios not just 2.40:1. 

I called Arri and they basically told me my options are to shoot 3 perf with spherical but they said I would need to use ground glass that fits for the lenses im using which would be 16x9. or shooting 4 perf with anamorphic lenses for 2.40. 

If I shoot 3 perf with spherical, how would I go about getting frame lines to frame for 2.40?

9 minutes ago, Tyler Purcell said:

3 perf with 1.3x anamorphic lenses is pretty straight forward. Hawk makes them and they're kinda tricky to test, but Vantage (in the US) will ship them to ya no problem. They're excellent lenses, but expensive to rent. 2x anamorphic would be for 4 perf and that's of course an added cost. You'll save quite a bit of money with 3 perf and 1.3x anamorphic. I personally would simply shoot spherical and matte the top and bottom to your finished aspect ratio, thats the simplest way AND you get all that extra room incase you want to reframe. 

Thanks Tyler. So I wouldn’t hard matte in camera? But I would still get ground glass to frame for anamorphic? 

Thanks for the reply’s. I’m still a bit confused on a few things. 

what steps would need to be taken for shooting 3perf with spherical but framing for 2.40?

I can also rent 1.8x anamorphics, has any used these?

thanks

Thanks dom, That makes sense. So I would really only use spherical lenses for 3 perf? 
 

Would it make more sense/more cost effective to shoot 3perf with spherical and frame for 2.40?

If shooting 4perf with anamorphic what ground glass would I request? I would assume I need an anamorphic optic viewfinder to de squeeze the image in my diopter. 
 

I'm shooting a short on a Arricam LT/cooke Anamorphics with Kodak 5222 stock. Trying to weigh the pros/cons of 3perf vs 4perf.

We plan on processing @ Kodak lab. 

I know we will save about 25% runtime on the stock by going 3perf as well as a lower cost of scans. But since we are shooting anamorphic glass, will we need to blow up for the ana squeeze anyways?

Thanks

Shooting on a set that has four rooms, radius is 10-12ft max. so figure set has a diameter of 24ft. Is there dolly track that will allow me to make a 30'-35ft move? I know eight of the matthews 8ft 45deg track will give me a 20' circle, but I need more depth. Photo below is a better understanding of the set.

The light is clearly rotating in a circle above them, it doesn't switch direction but comes from behind and then around in front because the actor is standing in the center of the ring and the light is angled inward.

Thanks David. I realize its on a rotating motor above of some sort, at an angle. I guess I was just curious, when the light is behind them, they must dim it fully as to not silhouette the talent, and then bring it back up when it gets to like a 45Deg behind talent. Im curious as to how they were able to match the dolly in and the light rotations for every actor. Because they would need to match the frames with each talent at the right moment the light and frame is correct.

Anyone happen to know or an educated guess as to how they lit this? Seems to be a revolving light but the rotations and the spotlight doesn't seem to match the shadows.

http://www.amc.com/shows/the-walking-dead/video-extras/trailer-shadows-the-walking-dead-season-6-premiere


I can see there is a lot of post work done to it with the transitions.Look at the way the light is hitting the talent. Its at an angle on some sort of motor device. But if you watch close, the light illuminates the right side of the subject first, then washes over them from left to right. if this was done by just rotating a light on a wheel, it would illuminate left to right. Am I wrong?

Have a commercial shoot coming up next week that involves shooting a game of chess. Director wants the chess set to appear as if its in a large room and the board and pieces are 2-3ft tall. I've done quite a bit of research regarding DOF being very important when shooting scaled objects.

Does anyone have any advice/ tips as to what I can do differently, avoid, ect???

My Plan:

They are building a custom chess set/board that will be slightly larger than a normal set. The set will be on a table top that is the exact dimension as the board.

-I suggested to build 3 wall flats that will sit about 5-6ft back from the chess table (the walls will be movable so we can adjust accordingly) The walls will be 4ft wide and 6ft tall.

-I will be lighting mostly from overhead with a few sources from the sides.

-there will be a slight haze over set.

-a hand model will be moving the pieces as we go through the scenes. the shots will be a mix of closeups, slo mo, overhead, sweeps.

I will be shooting on a RED EPIC. I thought it best to have the camera on a Chapman Dolly the entire day to save time of setups.

My Questions:

-What is the best way to approach lens choices for shooting miniatures?

-How much light do we really need if I plan on shooting at say an f16 (Is there correct math for choosing the best aperture when shooting miniatures to get the correct DOF?)

-Will the walls act as a proper background for this project, making it feel as if we are in a giant room?

-Will the chess pieces look bigger than average?

Looking forward to hearing your advice and answers.

M