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Director's viewfinder


Thomas Luca

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First timer posting here, I chose this section because i felt a DP could help me better. As the old saying goes for directors, get in good with your DP, and you got it made. What I'm wondering is, is it really neccessary to have and use a directors viewfinder on set even if you know camera moves, lenses, aspect ratio, etc.? Or if a director can clearly communicate with his or her dp. If so, I have my eye set on a Alan Gordon Mark Vb or pocket mini.

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I will often hand my viewfinder over to the director and they wind up keeping it all day so, I totally recommend getting your own. It's much easier when the director can find the shot they're after and say, "Yup, over here. On a ....50."

 

Just makes it much easier all around. I like a pocket mini cause they're lightweight, cheap and it's always on. No batteries, charging, etc. For tech scouts, I'll usually use a camera as it's easier to storyboard a scene and put the images together later for reference.

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Heh, really? Yeah I can imagine that going on. No scouting with a finder, just my eyes and intuition. Well, I appreciate your advice Michael, Thank you. It looks like Ill get the Alan Gordon pocket mini then. Hey, Happy New Year if I don't hear from you again.

I will often hand my viewfinder over to the director and they wind up keeping it all day so, I totally recommend getting your own. It's much easier when the director can find the shot they're after and say, "Yup, over here. On a ....50."

 

Just makes it much easier all around. I like a pocket mini cause they're lightweight, cheap and it's always on. No batteries, charging, etc. For tech scouts, I'll usually use a camera as it's easier to storyboard a scene and put the images together later for reference.

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Finders are very useful, particularly for setting marks for a dolly move. On set, I usually use a lens finder (actual camera lens on the finder). On location, I use the viewfinder apps for mobile devices, the one caveat being that an iPhone lens is about 25mm (in Super-35 equivalency) unless you get some sort of wide-angle attachment.

 

I also use my APS-C still camera as a finder on scouts because the view is similar to Super-35 and I can zoom out to 16mm if I need to.

 

Finders are useful on scouts because sometimes it is necessary to show the director that in order to get the wide shot they are describing, they might need a very short focal length.

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For me, maybe because I'm a little precious with composition, a finder that takes the camera lenses is *essential* for marking the position of virtually every shot in the film. I also use the dolly a lot, and not using the finder to mark 1,2, 3, etc. position before laying track would be a giant mistake.

 

I think most people are much less rigid in their approach, but this is what works for me!

Edited by Jarin Blaschke
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