Ryan Jim Rector

What kind of look are you hoping to achieve with anamorphic photography? What aspects from your research have led you to the conclusion of anamorphic?

 

If it's just the aspect ratio, then you're better off shooting spherical (normal) and cropping in.

 

As a note for anamorphic, there are two types of "squeeze" factors: 2x and 1.3x. These squeeze factors are entirely dependent on the aspect ratio of the medium.

 

2x is used for a 4:3 aspect ratio sensors/film (such as 4perf film)

 

1.3x is used for 16:9 aspect ratio sensors/film.

 

That being said, using a 2x anamorphic lens on a 16:9 sensor won't work very well. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it essentially crops the image.

 

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Let's go back to the reasons for shooting anamorphic. What characteristics of anamorphic are you looking for? If it's the oval bokeh, then your only option is of course anamorphic or an adapter, but if it's these, then you can fake them in camera:

• Streaky lens flares can be created with fishing line across the lens
• Aspect ratio can be created by cropping the 16:9 image
• Shallow depth of field can be created with shooting wide open

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As a general aesthetic for science fiction, what sells SciFi is YOUR interpretation of what the future will LOOK like and how it is different from today's look (this is also assuming it takes place in the future). On the whole, it's usually a cleaner, sharper, and more clear future. But, ask yourself what does the story call for? What kind of world is this SciFi tale taking place in? Light is usually decided by what is natural in the environment (ie: window light for Vermeer). What environment are these characters in? Ask these questions and the answers will help you figure out how to do it.

 

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If I were you, I'd go with the CP.2's. Excellent glass and perfectly designed for the F3.

Hey AJ thanks for the quick and very detailed response! For the look I'm trying to achieve - especially with the Anamaorphic lens - is the expansion of the space (for a lack of a better term). It makes the setting much larger than it is and creates good spacing between the foreground and background; at least much better than a non-anamorphic lens. I also would like to achieve the oval bokeh look at least in the faces, it creates this look of surrealism in facial features. I know JJ. Abrams used it a lot in the latest Star Trek movies as well as Riddley Scott in Alien. one of the charters in this tale is a synthetic android and i wanted to recreate that look on the character.

But you are right about the 2x squeeze on a 16:9 censor, you basically end up having to chop off the sides of your frame.

As for your tips, I think they're really solid advice. I'm pretty sure i'll be going the CP.2's and going with a wide open lens and then crop the 16:9 image in post. But I did not know the one about the fishing line, it sounds pretty cool and will have to try doing that in an upcoming camera test.

Thanks again for all your tips and Advice, really appreciate it.

All the best,

- Ry

Hi Everyone,

I am a beginner Director of Photography and I'm still learning the camera side to things as a DOP. I'm much stronger on the lighting side than the camera side and need a little advise. I'm shooting a science-fiction story in the near future and I've done some research on lens and how to sell the Sci-fi look, and the thing that keeps popping up is Anamorphic lens.

I have little understanding of how Anamorphic lenses work and will be shooting this project on the Sony F3 - From what I've gathered the chip sensor can't do Anamorphic with out a converter lens, but I heard those lessen the quality and aren't the same as the real deal. I've been watching a ton of interviews of cinematographers and they say to go with a wide Anamorphic lens and shoot everything crisp - even my professors say the same. So my question is, what is a great alternative option to a Anamorphic lens for the Sony F3?

P.s. The lenses that come with the Camera from the school's rental house is a set of prime lenes (35mm, 50mm, 85mm) and Zeiss CP.2 Lenes (18mm, 25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm). We are allowed to go to other rental houses but the budget is limited to around $1500 (not confirmed yet, but roughly around that).

P.s.s. Also - last note - any additional tips on shooting and lighting Science-Fiction would be much appreciated.

All the best.

Urgent,

How do I ground a light for safety when next to water I.e grounding a power to a fire hydrant. I'm filming in a pool today with some powerful lights and I don't know how to ground them. I tried google but was not getting the right thing. I know you must ground it to metal or a pipe with flowing water with a clamp or something if I'm not mistaken but I don't know how.

Please help in dire need!

Hi I'm a DOP on a commercial that revolves around superheroes and one of them uses this frost/freezing power. Now I've figured out how to light it and the look I'm going for but I don't know how to properly cue it.

I'm using the OK Tire winter tire commercial as an example of what I'm trying to do - Start in regular Tungsten lighting in an office than to the freeze effect where the lighting switches to the freezing light (for lack of a better term). I want it to be a smooth transition where everything is practical and then enhanced with CGI. I really want to avoid cutting to another shot for the effect to work. Like in the OK Tire commercial I want it to be one shot - at least for the lighting switch. but when I was doing this my self I got two very different colour temperatures and it just didn't look good. the before and after were great but the transition was really bad and that is what I'm really struggling with. Any help on this would be amazing

I've attached the photo and the link of the example I'm talking about.

Ryan, when you say 'aquatic themes' do you mean you need to shoot some underwater material? If that's the case, then I'd suggest steering towards whatever system you can find a good local underwater setup/operator for, that way everything will match better.

 

As far as operation goes, the Alexa is basically the simplest to use (by a considerable margin), so if you're not particularly familiar with the other offerings, I think that's the most idiotproof option to save you from yourself. :)

 

They all spit out pretty pictures though, so I wouldn't stress too much about image quality - even the little F3 can become an imaging beast if you pair it with a 4:4:4 recorder like the PIX-E5 or Odyssey7Q.

Yes and No,

There is a match cut of a man falling in a chair to him diving backwards into water. so for the aquatic themes i wanted to use a lot of rich blues, such as a steel blue for daylight and so on... but I would love it if when the diver dives back we follow into water, but I'm not sure about that because there are a lot of risks.

and yes I'm familiar with the F3 and Pix but our executives are pushing for the Alexa. which ultimately i think is the best option just wanted to get a decent comparison .

Thank You all this was all very helpful, I feel like my best option is to go with the Alexa or the Alexa mini (if i have the option). from what I've gathered its the easiest set up and the read out seems to be much high with prores options. It's really intimidating to go into a new camera with limited experience. but once again the Alexa seems to be the best route. I'd love to try the Scarlett but unfortunately it's not 100% up to me to decide and the Scarlett didn't get the approval.

Hi, I am a DoP on an upcoming shoot for a pair of commercials but I'm having a little trouble deciding the camera. I'm more on the lighting side than camera so I'm not to sure about which cameras are better than others.

I was looking at a few but other than staring at the specs i didn't really get much information.

I was looking at the Alexa, Alexa Mini, Red Weapon, Red Scarlet, Sony F3 (I've had experience with very minimal).

the commercials aren't highly complicated but one of them deals with aquatic themes and the other superhero FX (such as laser beams and freezing) do any of theses cameras have a better read out in colours, which has the best mobility, do any have any serious problems, and your personal choice or opinion?

once again I'm not really up on camera side of things so any information will help!

Thanks

As you can see, both movies mixed the red with some white fill so that it didn't get too overbearing and soft.

 

Is this submarine contemporary? Period? Futuristic?

 

I've found that it's a good idea to see some red light sources in the set to justify all the red light you add, so you have to figure out what sort of red practicals look correct for your set -- red LED strips, red fluorescent tubes, red tungsten light bulbs, red compact flo bulbs, etc. Generally red party gel works fine for matching those.

Thanks David,

its is contemporary to some extent. its also a bit imaginative while carrying realistic qualities. And what you said makes total sense, there are some emergency red lights as well as looking to get red incandescent bulbs for trouble lights

I would suggest looking at 'Crimson Tide' and 'The Hunt for Red October' for ideas as well. The former in particular uses a lot of haze, very saturated primary colors, practical lighting from instrument panels, and shallow depth of field which seem to get progressively more dramatic throughout the film.

Also thank you Satsuki,

I too was thinking of having a mid-shallow depth of field and progressively getting shallower

Thanks you guys, was really insight full.

Hi,

I have to light a submarine that goes under attack from a sea creature, I want to want to replicate the intense red lighting similar to Das Boot and Wrath of Khan (I've attached photos to show what I'm talking about). I recently acquired a few 789 Blood Red lee filter gels to replicate the look. but not really sure the best way to go about it. I have access to some 4K HMI's, 2K Arri Fresnel, and 2K Mole Richardson scooped soft lights. I also have a few Arri 650's and 300's for extra fill or spotting.

the set is in a studio, roughly 8x16

I'd like to also create a mid range depth of field, I'm using old school Christmas lights on the control panel to give the controls colour, but want them out of focus enough to not be able to tell they are Christmas lights but enough to see the emitting light. If anyone has any tips on this it would be appreciated as well.

Thanks so much!