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Can someone explain this?

E

Elmakai

This is not a very clear example, but if you know the film well enough look at 2:03 and 2:40 (when zooming into the guy's face):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU3wPWYV6HQ

I've seen this technique done in a lot of movies such as Gladiator and 300 but I can't pinpoint what it is. To me, it looks like they filmed in a higher frame rate, then slowed down the movie to normal speed. So the effect is that movement is in real time (not time remapped, i.e., slow motion), but there is a "choppiness" to it, like there are missing frames. Can anyone tell me what this technique is?
 
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There is the narrow shutter angle, which sharpens each frame with a lot less motion blur. I think this is what you are kind of referring to, at least in the GLADIATOR and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN examples this is true. In both of those movies, but NOT in the MATRIX example, they also did a form of "step printing" which is where they slowed the footage down, but not in the conventional frame blending way that is the default of our software. They actually just duplicated every single frame. Watch your DVD's of these shots and step through them. Each frame is repeated exactly twice to achieve this affect, along with the sharp shutter angle that gives each frame a stutter look. This kind of slow mo is posterized time, or time-stretched-withouth-frameblend method.

I've not been able to emulate this in post, but I also haven't tried that hard because I haven't had a need to do this.

Looking into it more.
 
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I've read a few times that the goal was to recreate the problems that combat camera men had with concussive forces interfering with the film traveling through the camera, at least for the D-Day scene.

Interesting, but long article here that talks a little bit about the photography:

Another camera technique they applied was using 90-degree shutters, or even 45-degree shutters for many of the battle sequences, as opposed to today's standard of 180-degree shutters. Kaminski clarifies, "In this way, we attained a certain staccato in the actors' movements and a certain crispness in the explosions, which makes them slightly more realistic."
Click to expand...

http://www.sproe.com/s/spr.html

Fascinating that Kaminski used lenses stripped of coating to invite more softness and color aberration from the lenses. Doesn't help the OP, but from an academic standpoint very interesting.
 
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sonnyboo said:
There is the narrow shutter angle, which sharpens each frame with a lot less motion blur. I think this is what you are kind of referring to, at least in the GLADIATOR and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN examples this is true. In both of those movies, but NOT in the MATRIX example, they also did a form of "step printing" which is where they slowed the footage down, but not in the conventional frame blending way that is the default of our software. They actually just duplicated every single frame. Watch your DVD's of these shots and step through them. Each frame is repeated exactly twice to achieve this affect, along with the sharp shutter angle that gives each frame a stutter look. This kind of slow mo is posterized time, or time-stretched-withouth-frameblend method.

I've not been able to emulate this in post, but I also haven't tried that hard because I haven't had a need to do this.

Looking into it more.
Click to expand...

What you said sounds right, based on what I'm seeing. Good to know, thanks!
 
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I did an experiment with the filter POSTERIZE TIME and it was the staccato non-frame blended slow motion that is exactly what they did in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and GLADIATOR. Funnily enough, I've spent years trying to figure this out and today, doing some research, it took me about 3 minutes to do it. I took a clip, used the usual SPEED down to 50% and then applied the POSTERIZE TIME filter and told it to be about 12 frames per second and OUILA! I achieved this coveted effect look.

Of course, if the footage had been shot with the narrow shutter angle, it would have been exactly what everyone is talking about.
 
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