When you track forward or backward with one, wouldn't the slider be seen in the shot? I watched some youtube tutorials and couldn't see that it was, but it just seems it would be and there is some sort of catch. I will want to buy a slider if not though.
Question about how a slider works.
- Thread starter harmonica44
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It depends on the lens. On most lenses, your focal length will look past the end of the slider. On an extreme wide you might catch it.
Well I keep hearing I should use prime lenses, cause they produce a better image. This is what photography buffs have been telling me, and a lot of major motion pictures are shot on them, so there must be reason. But on primes, they don't zoom. So is a slider out of the question with primes?
... Are you suggesting the way to pull off a slider shot is to zoom whilst sliding to keeo the slider out of shot...? Would that not defeat the purpose, or at the very least give you a completely different looking shot to the standard slider shot you're apparently looking for..?
A zoom is essentially a kit of primes bundled into one lens. If you stick on a 50mm prime, you likely won't see the slider (depending on how far in front of the camera it is), especially if you're angled slightly up. If you stick on an 18mm, you likely will see the end of the slider, though again if your shot is angled up, you could frame the slider out of the shot if you really needed to have an 18mm lens on.
FWIW, I shot a really long dolly-in on a low-budget short film quite a while ago now, we were shooting S16 and were using roughly a 10mm lens IIRC. I had a dolly grip pushing me along, and to ensure that I got the framing that was wanted, as well as keeping the dolly out of shot, I reframed slightly about halfway or so down the track so I kept the thing framed as the Director wanted, especially towards the end but also never saw the track. You could only tell there's a slight tilt down if you were really looking for it, and either way it wasn't a distracting tilt that would look out of place anyway.
A zoom is essentially a kit of primes bundled into one lens. If you stick on a 50mm prime, you likely won't see the slider (depending on how far in front of the camera it is), especially if you're angled slightly up. If you stick on an 18mm, you likely will see the end of the slider, though again if your shot is angled up, you could frame the slider out of the shot if you really needed to have an 18mm lens on.
FWIW, I shot a really long dolly-in on a low-budget short film quite a while ago now, we were shooting S16 and were using roughly a 10mm lens IIRC. I had a dolly grip pushing me along, and to ensure that I got the framing that was wanted, as well as keeping the dolly out of shot, I reframed slightly about halfway or so down the track so I kept the thing framed as the Director wanted, especially towards the end but also never saw the track. You could only tell there's a slight tilt down if you were really looking for it, and either way it wasn't a distracting tilt that would look out of place anyway.
Just because primes don't zoom and has a fixed focal length doesn't mean they don't have different focal lengths. Like Jax said, a prime might catch the slider, but a normal or telephoto promote won't. Especially on your crop sensor camera. Stick a 50mm or 85mm and you'll be golden. You can most likely get away with a 24mm or 28mm too, just experiment to be sure.
Now, I know you've been looking at crazy wide angles trying to get every single thing in the frame in focus at once, so if that's the case here then no a 12m probably won't work. But you can still slide horizontally and produce stellar images with a wide angle lens on a slider.
Now, I know you've been looking at crazy wide angles trying to get every single thing in the frame in focus at once, so if that's the case here then no a 12m probably won't work. But you can still slide horizontally and produce stellar images with a wide angle lens on a slider.
Oh ya I see. Well some of the shots will have to be a short focal length cause of tight spaces. Short like maybe 15mm. But if the slider does not work for that, I guess I could devise a DIY method, or another type of sliding gear, wear nothing can be seen in front. I don't need everything in focus for these shots, and just get as much as I can.
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Cracker Funk used a slider on his feature atop some theatre seats, and you could see the track in the shot but I think he used After Effects to remove it, maybe? I'm not sure; this was a couple of years ago.
Well, there's a trick to this. If you slide forward or backwards on a say 14mm, of course your slider will be in shot. Bit of logical thinking tells you, that the higher you mount your camera on your slider, the slider will disappear after a while.
For timelapse, I use a Manfrotto Magic Arm on my Pocket Dolly to give it loads of height, so I can slide forward or backwards..
For timelapse, I use a Manfrotto Magic Arm on my Pocket Dolly to give it loads of height, so I can slide forward or backwards..
Okay thanks. One of the main shots I wanted to get a slider for, was when a character is on his knees with his head pressed up against the wall. I want to point the camera at him from the floor's point of view, and slide up the the wall, towards his face, with the wall in the shot. But I guess you need something else, other than a slider for that. What would you use if the wall was too rough?
Some sliders have cables/pullies/counter weights for vertical movement, that's tr kind you want for that shot. A lens at any distance that can frame the actor's entire face will catch the wall too. You will however have a lot more parallax (seeing foregrouf move faster than bg) with a wider lens up close which would amp up the shot IMO. Cool idea.
My zoom lens does not zoom back far enough. It only goes to 18mm, and I will need something like 10 at least I think.
What lens did they use for this scene, if you fast forward to 3:34 in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKZR...0.0.0.136.136.0j1.1.0...0.0...1ac.cwxLuz22yF0
That's the distance I want from the actor, to the floor, but with a slider along the wall, or something to slide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKZR...0.0.0.136.136.0j1.1.0...0.0...1ac.cwxLuz22yF0
That's the distance I want from the actor, to the floor, but with a slider along the wall, or something to slide.
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If you have a smooth, automated zoom (as well as a focus puller), you could get an interesting effect doing a dolly zoom a bit non-traditionally (both pushing in)...
Could be interesting, the closer you get to him, the more the room seems to encroach. Probably not what you're going for, though.
Could be interesting, the closer you get to him, the more the room seems to encroach. Probably not what you're going for, though.
NBC Universal seems to have blocked the posting of their copyrighted material online. That is blocked too. Watch a bunch of BTS from every DVD you can get hold of. Look at the distance from camera to subject... or, as always recommended, do some tests. 18mm @ 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20 meters... change the zoom setting to about 35, repeat, 50 repeat, 85 repeat, 150, repeat... all the way out to the longest setting on your lens... then take a screenshot of each of them (you'll know which is which because you'll slate them with a piece of paper or a chalk board that shows the particular settings/distances), make a grid that displays the differences. Put it in a binder and use it when planning shots.
Yeah I've done tests with my 18mm and I see the distortion. Well basically if someone is on their hands or knees and you point the camera up at them from the floor, you will have distortion. With an 18mm lens you can't see the persons arms, only their head. In order to see the arms you need a 10, but even the actor's face is almost too close for what I want. So 10mm is the bare maximum probably.
How do you get a shot like that with no barrel distortion? You probably have to dig a whole in the floor, or get the actor higher, but the audience may notice, that the actor is all of a sudden higher, than the floor, depending on how the room looks, and if a continuity flaw would be noticeable. Like if something is on the wall in one shot, and all of a sudden it's lower, in the shot from the floor, etc.
How do you get a shot like that with no barrel distortion? You probably have to dig a whole in the floor, or get the actor higher, but the audience may notice, that the actor is all of a sudden higher, than the floor, depending on how the room looks, and if a continuity flaw would be noticeable. Like if something is on the wall in one shot, and all of a sudden it's lower, in the shot from the floor, etc.