From American Cinematographer, Psycho Killer by Andrew O. Thompson (June 1999)
Much of The Summer of Sam transpires during the sweltering summer of 1977. As a result, Lee wanted the imagery to indicate the intense heat of a New York city summer—which, as any resident of the Big Apple knows, is marked by a muggy, humidity-filled atmosphere. As a visual guide, Lee asked Kuras to view his 1989 film Do the Right Thing (photographed by Ernest Dickerson, ASC). Kuras also watched Natural Born Killers and two versions of the Jack the Ripper story as a primer on serial-killer films. After conducting several tests on emulsions and exposures, Kuras opted to use antique suede filters in front of the lens during day shooting. This tactic lent the colors a more monochromatic look, as well as a period Seventies feel.
"Spike wanted a ’hot’ look, so I tried to give him as many hard backlight and sidelight edges as possible. Those [highlights] had to hug the edge of the frame. I also advised the grips not to dull down the cars or do wetdowns so that the kicks, highlights and glares would play as much as possible, and so the streets would have a blown-out look. While we were shooting, the weather changed quite a bit from hour to hour—in the morning we would have sunshine, and in the afternoon it would cloud over and sometimes rain. Trying to keep consistency throughout a scene was difficult without a lot of available room to put lights or Condors out of shot. We were often on a dead-end street, and we sometimes were backed up right to its end."
- Ellen Kuras, ASC
To convey the sense of humidity and atmosphere at night, Kuras employed pre-exposure flashing. During preproduction, she experimented with filters and a Lightflex, but found the effect somewhat confining.
"The Lightflex gave a haze to the film that was very similar to New York’s hot, humid nights, during which the blacks aren’t really quite black. However, we would have faced the problem of double reflections from headlights playing off the filters in front of the lens. We often had cars driving straight at camera, so I would have had a lot of double lights going through frame. We sandwiched filters as much as we could, and used a tilting matte box, but we just couldn’t avoid the reflections in certain situations because the camera was moving so much. Flashing was a viable way to achieve the same effect while keeping the image clear of double reflections."
- Ellen Kuras, ASC
I read, discuss, and discover new things about cinematography everyday. Most of it, I consider incredibly interesting. Everyday I will share one of those things, maybe more if I have time.
Showing posts with label filtration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label filtration. Show all posts
24.7.09
Jim Frazier: Frazier Lens Swivil Tip and Image Rotator
From American Cinematographer, Seeing is Believing by Christopher Probst (February 1999)
Perhaps the most useful aspect of the Frazier lens is its dual swivel-tip design, which allows for unlimited 360-degree global orientation of the taking lenses. Simply put, the lens can be pointed in any direction, even back at the camera operator. The swivel tip incorporates heavy-duty bearings, which make the system extremely rugged and mechanically precise, and consists of two right-angle pivot points which can be turned independently and continuously in either direction. Internally, the image is relayed through the swivel via a mirror and an amici roof-edge prism.
"On any piece of optics with a roof-edge. The roof has to be made very accurately. Otherwise, you can end up with a double image on the film. The roof angle should be 90 degree plus or minus three seconds of arc, which is very small. Normally, these types of prisms are used in binoculars and other types of instruments that are used by eye. And the eye is actually quite forgiving. In the case of the Frazier lens, however, the amici's roof-edge images to film, so it has to be very accurate...
...There are obvious situations in tabletop work where it can be a difficult matter to even look through the viewfinder. But with the swivel tip, it's easy to leave the camera in a conventional setup and put the lens where you need it. Additionally, if you imagine the lens to be like your hand and arm, you can get the lens wherever you can put your hand. I've seen some extra-ordinary things done with the lens just for the comfort of the cameraman!
You also have added freedom in that the camera itself doesn't have to be level. For example, you can even get a level image if the camera is turned on its side under a car, simply by adjusting the image rotator. This system was designed to free up the difficult aspects of cinematography that are either too expensive or time-consuming. You don't want to have a jackhammer cutting holes in the floor to get a lens in a certain position. You can also save the costs of renting additional equipment like Panatates, dutch heads, low-angle prisms and hotheads. I have gotten reports back from other cinematographers that by using the Frazier lens, they've been able to literally chop days off their shooting schedules...
...Rotating an image with a prism is not a new thing. But by putting that function in this system with its large depth of field and a fully adjustable swivel tip, you create a new range of options. The image rotator is actually what is called a pechan prism. A pechan prism is common in other optical instruments, but in this case it had to be made to very tight tolerances. One reason for that, of course, is image quality, but another is that we have to keep the boresight constant. If you rotate the prism, you don't want the picture to spiral around too much...
...Every lens has to have some sort of filtering capability. However, if you put a filter in front of the Frazier's taking lens, you have to be careful about dust. I'm talking about things like tiny carpet filaments flying in the air that are attracted to the glass due to static charge. Therefore, with the Frazier lens, the best place to put a filter is inside the system, within the relay optics. The Frazier's filter slot is also a sealed unit — there are two glass windows inside to prevent dust from traveling up or down the tube — so you can have dust go into the filter compartment without producing spots on the film."
-Iain Neil (Then Panavision Executive VP of R&D/Optics)
15.7.09
Jean-Marc Fabre: Lengthy Sunset Scene
From American Cinematographer, Sword Pen & Family by Eric Rudolph (October 1998)
Trying to capture the setting sun in a series of shots that included dialogue was, of course, a challenge for Fabre. Additionally, the crew had only a few hours spread over two days to shoot the scenes. Only a third of the scene used real sunsets; the rest was re-created with gelled lights and filtration.
"When Channe was in the house putting on the record, it was actually raining. To simulate the setting sun, I used a 6K HMI outside with a 1/2 orange gel. I cheated by closing a curtain on the window. When the characters are on the porch, the sunset you see through the windows is real. Naturally, the sunset did not last nearly long enough for the dialogue scenes, so for those we used gelled lights and an orange lens filter. The orange filter was also used for the film's final shot."
- Jean-Marc Fabre
Trying to capture the setting sun in a series of shots that included dialogue was, of course, a challenge for Fabre. Additionally, the crew had only a few hours spread over two days to shoot the scenes. Only a third of the scene used real sunsets; the rest was re-created with gelled lights and filtration.
"When Channe was in the house putting on the record, it was actually raining. To simulate the setting sun, I used a 6K HMI outside with a 1/2 orange gel. I cheated by closing a curtain on the window. When the characters are on the porch, the sunset you see through the windows is real. Naturally, the sunset did not last nearly long enough for the dialogue scenes, so for those we used gelled lights and an orange lens filter. The orange filter was also used for the film's final shot."
- Jean-Marc Fabre
13.7.09
Jean Yves Escoffier: Filtration vs Gels
From American Cinematographer, Card Sharks by Jean Oppenheimer (October 1998)
Whereas many cinematographers would turn to filters to achieve a warm feel, Escoffier prefers gels.
"We did it all in the lighting. Jean Yves uses theatrical gels extensively, as opposed to the normal, color-temperatured correction. If you have a white light and you make it a bit warmer or cooler, that is a color-temperature correction. If you use a theatrical gel, which is a color, then that is coloring the light."
- Scott Ramsey, Gaffer for Escoffier
Whereas many cinematographers would turn to filters to achieve a warm feel, Escoffier prefers gels.
"We did it all in the lighting. Jean Yves uses theatrical gels extensively, as opposed to the normal, color-temperatured correction. If you have a white light and you make it a bit warmer or cooler, that is a color-temperature correction. If you use a theatrical gel, which is a color, then that is coloring the light."
- Scott Ramsey, Gaffer for Escoffier
"There is a tension between opposite colors. And when actors go from one area to another, it's as if they're crossing into a different world."
- Jean Yves Escoffier
12.5.09
Robert Surtees: Black & White Filtration
From American Cinematographer, Photography for The Last Picture Show interview by Herb A. Lightman (Jan. 1972)
Your exteriors had a dark, brooding quality and very rich skies, which indicates that you must have made extensive use of filtration. Isn't that so?
"Yes. I went back to the old black-and-white Western style of photography, which isn't done anymore, where you have 20 or 30 filters for different types of scenes, as called for. To say how and where you use each filter would be misleading, because you could give the same set of filters to a different cameraman and he would get a different result. In using filters, you sometimes under-expose of overexpose on purpose to get a particular effect. You might use heavy contrast filters-- even as high as a 25 red or a 21 orange-- in your long shots to make the sky darker, but this also corrects everything else in the scene. The whites become whiter; the darks become darker. When you move in for the close-ups, it's a good idea to change to something like the old Aero-2 filter, which gives you more control. Or, if you still have to use the heavy contrast red or orange filter, you balance the lighting by eye through the camera. When you look up, it doesn't look like you have any light on the subject at all, but you're photographing what you see through the filter. If you're stuck using a red filter on a close-up, the face will go chalky where the sun hits it, so, by artificially lighting it, you work it over so the skin doesn't look chalky. You first knock down the sunlight by putting a net up to shade the face, and you then balance your light while looking through the camera. I think that one of the reasons why I was asked to photograph this picture is that not many fellows are shooting in black-and-white anymore, and I'm one of the few left over from the old black-and-white days. You know, what they need now are 21 year old cameramen who have 60 years of experience."
-Robert Surtees, ASC
Your exteriors had a dark, brooding quality and very rich skies, which indicates that you must have made extensive use of filtration. Isn't that so?
"Yes. I went back to the old black-and-white Western style of photography, which isn't done anymore, where you have 20 or 30 filters for different types of scenes, as called for. To say how and where you use each filter would be misleading, because you could give the same set of filters to a different cameraman and he would get a different result. In using filters, you sometimes under-expose of overexpose on purpose to get a particular effect. You might use heavy contrast filters-- even as high as a 25 red or a 21 orange-- in your long shots to make the sky darker, but this also corrects everything else in the scene. The whites become whiter; the darks become darker. When you move in for the close-ups, it's a good idea to change to something like the old Aero-2 filter, which gives you more control. Or, if you still have to use the heavy contrast red or orange filter, you balance the lighting by eye through the camera. When you look up, it doesn't look like you have any light on the subject at all, but you're photographing what you see through the filter. If you're stuck using a red filter on a close-up, the face will go chalky where the sun hits it, so, by artificially lighting it, you work it over so the skin doesn't look chalky. You first knock down the sunlight by putting a net up to shade the face, and you then balance your light while looking through the camera. I think that one of the reasons why I was asked to photograph this picture is that not many fellows are shooting in black-and-white anymore, and I'm one of the few left over from the old black-and-white days. You know, what they need now are 21 year old cameramen who have 60 years of experience."
-Robert Surtees, ASC
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