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2 Questions


DavidSloan

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Hey guys! Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.

 

I have two questions for you, today:

 

1) I just got a gig to DP a short and the director was very specific about wanting Christopher Doyle's Falling Angels look. For those who have seen it, what advice could you give me? I watched it twice, last night and I noticed that he over exposes people's faces by 2 stops, at least. He also puts the fish eye lens right up to their face. Usually there are several over exposed practicals, prominently in the frame. And of course the Flos are never corrected. Is there anything else I should pay attention to? Does he manipulate the image in other ways...filters?

 

2) The director was very specific about a shot where an actor points a gun at someone, on the beach. It's a low angle pointing up at the actor and he wants the beaming sun just behind the actor. Is there any advice you can give me on achieving this shot? I've seen something similar in Minority Report where Cruise's face blocks the sun and as soon as he moves a little the whole frame is just blown out. Should I try a fast stock for this; filters?

 

Thanks, a lot!

 

:ph34r:

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"Fallen Angels" was shot on 35mm Fuji F-250T pushed a couple of stops, a favorite technique of his. But if you are shooting 16mm instead of 35mm, you have to take this into account. Maybe try using a 100T film pushed instead.

 

You don't need fast film to blow-out the sun pointing into the lens -- the sun is bright enough even on slower film if you point the camera right at it. You expose for the shade, position the figure against the sun and have them block the sun and then move to get the flare. "Monority Report" used a net diffusion filter to exaggerate the flare. You can try this (but risk seeing the net pattern when the sun hits it -- and make sure you are shooting at a wide aperture to reduce depth of field) but it may be safer to use glass diffusion like ProMist.

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Thanks a lot, David. This is extremely helpful.

 

If we cannot afford to push the stock, is there anything else I can try that will help to get us in the ball park of the look without pushing?

 

Also, I'm not sure I understand the reason for wanting the limited depth of field on the sun shot...can you elaborate a bit? I'll do a stock test with the ProMist and let you know how the results turned out.

 

Thanks, again.

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With too much depth of field you run the risk of the net itself starting to come into focus. It ends up looking like you're shooting through a chain-link fence! So when you use nets you try to shoot at wide apertures to make sure the net pattern blurs out nicely. Front-mounted nets come into focus more easily than rear-mounted nets, but even rear-mounted nets can become visible at higher apertures.

 

If your project is for video finish, you can always manipulate contrast and color saturation in telecine instead of by pushing the film. Slight lens diffusion will help practicals and highlights blow out a little bit.

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David Mullen

You can try this (but risk seeing the net pattern when the sun hits it -- and make sure you are shooting at a wide aperture to reduce depth of field)

 

 

Michael Nash

With too much depth of field you run the risk of the net itself starting to come into focus. It ends up looking like you're shooting through a chain-link fence!

 

There are some really unfortunate moments in Ossie Morris' otherwise delicious looking Fiddler on the Roof that reveal the net as mentioned here. Ooh I'm cruel- hope Ossie isn't reading :unsure:

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Thanks, a lot Michael. To be honest I'm never crazy about a director saying: "Make it look like this guy's work." But hell at least I'm shooting, and learning. I'll let you guys know how it turns out. I should be dping 3 shorts in the next two months..hopefully I can get a video to steam so you can guys can tear me apart!

 

:)

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