T436 - Fall 2007 - Week 10

Announcements/Reality check

• I’m extremely pleased with how every seems to be working together so well. Producers do need to secure talent much earlier. I've notices some last minute pleas for talent. If you need any help at all please ask. The earlier the better. I want all of our productions to be successful. Now is the time to edit these. Hopefully we can see some rough edits this week and next. Producers- remember to follow through with this stage and make sure all credits are
• Don't hand me anything until Wednesday. I'm still looking over last week's Journals and Production Reports
• Mini production meeting - Last week was Micro-Sleep and Gotta Get Out of This Place. This week is Unusual World and Ghostly. Next week is Henry Immortal and Soul Roulette. (Is all peachy?) Question for Joshua: Is it necessary that the character be Japanese? We have many Korean grad students.
• Tech issues
• Look at some of our clips
• Quiz next week: Cumulative. Also add Video & HD, Advanced Optics & Tech issues chapters.

 

Please come to lab every Wednesday. Even if your shoot is on the weekend.

Tech Issues

Shooting outdoors? Perhaps a “sunset on the beach” scene. Maybe you want to make sure the sun is behind some trees, how long the shadows are, or simply how much daylight you have.

For simple length of the day (sunrise/sunset), you can refer to an astronomic almanac. There are also a number of websites that track celestial or heavenly bodies. (Not Angelina Jolie!) Remember that you need to have this figured out weeks, months, or maybe a year ahead of time.

For the angle of the sun’s shadow you need to know the latitute and time of occurance.

You are on a remote beach preparing for the “big sunset scene” and have a huge crew and expensive cameras. You need to know exactly where the sun will be at a given point in time. A good map along with some skill will tell you where you are (latitude/longitude). A GPS unit is quite helpful as well. Even if you know exactly where you are, you need a good compass and the magnetic variation (declination) to determine the position of the celestial body.

Azimuth = angle of object in relation to a compass point (0-359 degrees)
Altitude = angle above horizon

A sextant can help determine the precise altitude.

Lighting Issues

While both tungsten & discharge lights run on alternating current, only the HMI and fluorescent fixtures will cause flicker problems.

All HMIs and fluorescents flicker- it’s just not noticeable to the human eye.
If the frame rate of the flicker is timed in sync with the camera (shooting NTSC in the US under fluorescent fixtures operating at 60 Hz), then at least the output is consistent.

But if you go to Europe with an NTSC camera (60 Hz field rate) and shoot under their fluorescent figures operating at 50 Hz, the relationship of the shutter and light output will fluctuate.

An HMI light that works fine with 29.97 (NTSC) might flicker when shooting at 24p. Most have switches that let you vary the crystal controlling the frequency.

Filming Monitors

CRT computer monitors will often roll since their scan rate is not necessarily 60 Hz. (LCD monitors have more persistence, so the roll is not noticeable.)

Professional video cameras have a variable scan or clear scan mode. This allows the operator to reduce the frequency of the sampling by fractional amounts so the roll can be minimized.

Similarly, NTSC TV monitors shot with film (or at 24p) will exhibit similar rolling.

Usually TV monitors will appear brighter and bluer when captured on video. While it’s sometimes possible to adjust the hue and brightness to make them more acceptable, often an orange gel is used to both warm the color and stop the brightness down.

Keys

Luminance keys – uses brightness (luminance)
Chroma keys – uses color
Difference keys – uses software to figure out the difference by before and after shots

Lighting for chromakeys

• Must be uniform
• Must be shot clean (no diffusion filters, etc.)
• Backlights often used with opposite color from key to help reduce spill and increase keying ability

 

Controlling light

(review ways to control lighting)

Strobes

Are sometime used in cinematography and provide the following benefits:

• Light cooler (they produce much less heat)
• Can produce sharper images (even if the camera is running at 24 fps, the strobe can give it a practical exposure of 1/100,000 of a second
• Provide enough lighting for high-speed photography

 

The exposure must be carefully calculated.

High Speed Photography

The exposure must also be carefully considered. A faster shutter speed requires you to change accordingly on your light meter. You can plug the frame rate into your light meter or do the math yourself.

Modulation Transfer Function (MTF)

The measure of a system to produce fine detail. Lenses often have an MTF figure.

Special Effects

• Smoke – Real smoke is hazardous to your health. Brown talks about “cracker smoke” produced by forcing air through fine oil.
• TV & fireplace “flicker” – Can use a flicker box
• Day for night – Sometime shot at midday to reduce shadows. Can use filters.
• Moonlight – Generally blue
• Water – Use the real thing when possible (a shallow pan with a PA disturbing it)
• Rain – Should be backlit. Need to protect gear.
• Time lapse – Light can vary immensely. Can be done with still cameras. The Corpse Bride was shot with a Canon digital still SLR.
• Time slicing (many nice pictures of rigs in book)

 

 

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