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Framing shots


Benji Wade

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I've always assumed that DP's are just carrying lenses around with them, but are they actually range finders? I'm referring to when a DP walks around in preproduction framing in shots through what appears to be an ordinary lens.

 

It seems like a great idea, and it's something I'd like to do when coming up with storyboards and shot lists. Any help in this regard would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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Many people use small viewfinders which are basically a tube that one can extend and retract in order to see the limits of the frame any given lens would produce. They can be very useful for location scouting, since one gets an idea what lenses one could use.

 

However on the shoot itself I much prefer to use a director's finder where one can fit the lens on, since that way one gets a precise feeling for the characteristics of the lens and how it works for the shot.

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hi

 

what thay use is the director view finder.

 

ram

 

 

Hi,

 

In the past I used a director's finde, but now often I use a Nikon D70. The chip size is almost the same as a S35 Frame, so the focal length is the same. I have to judge the top and bottom lines myself.

 

Stephen

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I've always assumed that DP's are just carrying lenses around with them, but are they actually range finders? I'm referring to when a DP walks around in preproduction framing in shots through what appears to be an ordinary lens.

 

It seems like a great idea, and it's something I'd like to do when coming up with storyboards and shot lists. Any help in this regard would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

One old technic is to make a frame with your both hands , palms straith and fingers closed with only the thumbs open and their tips connected.When u bring your palms near your eye, it's a wide-angle, when u move it away, u 's going for the telephoto.

But it need some experience though, no focal lenghts displayed! :)

Dimitrios Koukas

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One old technic is to make a frame with your both hands , palms straith and fingers closed with only the thumbs open and their tips connected.When u bring your palms near your eye, it's a wide-angle, when u move it away, u 's going for the telephoto.

But it need some experience though, no focal lenghts displayed! :)

Dimitrios Koukas

 

After seeing how much money people want for viewfinders, I couldn't agree more!

 

Lo-fi tech is sometimes best. B)

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One old technic is to make a frame with your both hands , palms straith and fingers closed with only the thumbs open and their tips connected.When u bring your palms near your eye, it's a wide-angle, when u move it away, u 's going for the telephoto.

But it need some experience though, no focal lenghts displayed! :)

Dimitrios Koukas

 

Hi,

 

Its not that difficult!

Take a piece of black cardboard. Cut a hole the size of the film frame your using. S35mm/35mm/S16/S8 (all formats work)

 

Hold the frame 20mm from your eye and you will see the coverage of a 20mm lens. 50mm away is a 50mm lens and 100mm equals a 100mm lens!

 

Cheers,

 

Stephen

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Hi,

 

Its not that difficult!

Take a piece of black cardboard. Cut a hole the size of the film frame your using. S35mm/35mm/S16/S8 (all formats work)

 

Hold the frame 20mm from your eye and you will see the coverage of a 20mm lens. 50mm away is a 50mm lens and 100mm equals a 100mm lens!

 

Cheers,

 

Stephen

 

That's exactly what I'm going to do. :lol:

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Hi,

 

Its not that difficult!

Take a piece of black cardboard. Cut a hole the size of the film frame your using. S35mm/35mm/S16/S8 (all formats work)

 

Hold the frame 20mm from your eye and you will see the coverage of a 20mm lens. 50mm away is a 50mm lens and 100mm equals a 100mm lens!

 

Cheers,

 

Stephen

 

 

you can find ones already made from plastic cost 15$

 

ram

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I'm a fan of the little director's finders, once you get used to using one it becomes frustrating not to have it with you. There's no denying they're expensive though, I just went out and dropped $300 I don't really have on a Kish finder. My favorite thing about them is that it makes it easy to confer with the director and talk about ideas quickly without dragging the camera around behind you, you can show each other different ideas. I think of it like a sketch pad.

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I'm a fan of the little director's finders, once you get used to using one it becomes frustrating not to have it with you. There's no denying they're expensive though, I just went out and dropped $300 I don't really have on a Kish finder. My favorite thing about them is that it makes it easy to confer with the director and talk about ideas quickly without dragging the camera around behind you, you can show each other different ideas. I think of it like a sketch pad.

 

Well...

I remembered once a director that she wanted me to see thru her viewfinder, and she was hoolding it there 'till i put my eye to see it too, but as u can all understand it was moved everytime, so we never had a refference,

I believe a digital stilll camera is the best, for previwing and also display to others what you want, or how is it going to be.

Dimitrios Koukas

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Well, I have a point and click digital still camera.

 

Its focal length range is 7.8mm to 23.4mm - how do I make sense of that focal length compared to an Arri SR1 or SR2, which is what I will eventually be shooting with?

 

Thanks!

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I bought mine from Filmtools, I got the the Standard size not the Micro. I've been using it on set for the last two days and it's been nice to have, makes things move faster for me.

 

As Dimitrios points out, it's hard to hold it in position and hand it off back and forth with the director, so what I do is show the director where my feet are planted and describe what's on the edges of the frame. One of the nice side effects is that you end up having to describe your reasons for setting a frame early on, rather than realizing that you and the director want two different things as you're framing up and about to roll.

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