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Question about pulling focus.

H

harmonica44

I tried some night video shooting outdoors, but I find it difficult to pull focus. Not that it's a camera problem, it's a problem with my eyesight, and my eyes cannot see what is in focus so much in shadowy environments, compared to much brighter ones. Especially when you want to do a lot of camera movement in your shots at night. I noticed my eyes can focus much easier in brighter light. I had an eye test before and I have 20/16 vision, so nothing is wrong with my eyes per say. Is their anything I can do to become a better focus puller in lower light, shadowy environments, or any tips that could help?

Thanks.
 
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Okay thanks, I took a look at monitors at the store already, and was thinking of ordering a Marshall, as long as it can hook onto the Canon T2i DSLR, on top, and be moved around securely. Are these LCD view finders like a larger glass scope to look through as what they seem to be, or is there something else to them?

Thanks.
 
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The skilled 1st AC does not need a monitor. They pull focus based on distance.
The subject is 6 feet away, they pull focus to 6 feet. Subject is 3 feet and walks
to 5? They pull focus from 3 to 5 as the subject moves.

It's one hell of a skill. I marvel at the ones who can do that with a 6 to 8 inch
depth of focus. It's an amazing things to see.
 
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Oh I forgot, I was also thinking of getting this contraption I saw a DP use I worked with. He turned his focus ring by attaching a wire to it, with the other end of the wire attached to a button. He was using it on his DIY steadicam, with the button attached to the handle bar.

What do you call this contraption, or is it a good option for guerilla shooting do you think?
 
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harmonica44 said:
Oh I forgot, I was also thinking of getting this contraption I saw a DP use I worked with. He turned his focus ring by attaching a wire to it, with the other end of the wire attached to a button. He was using it on his DIY steadicam, with the button attached to the handle bar.

What do you call this contraption, or is it a good option for guerilla shooting do you think?
Click to expand...

Sounds like a wireless follow focus with RedRock's thumb wheel:

http://store.redrockmicro.com/Catalog/microRemote-Bundles/microRemote-ENG-bundle

Priced at probably as much as what your camera/lens package is worth.

Honestly though, no matter how tech the device is you have for adjusting the focus, it doesn't change the fact that you need specific skills to be able to see/judge that focus. There's no point giving a $12,000 Preston setup to a kid at film school who's mostly interested in editing, as they'll be able to pull focus no better than yourself. Similarly, a highly experienced Focus Puller will be able to pull focus on a $100 Follow focus (or even - god forbid - without a follow focus, and straight off the lens), better than that kid will.
 
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That's true. I wouldn't call it wireless, as there was a wire attached to it, and the wire ran from the follow focus, down to the arm of the steadicam, and it turned the follow focus electrically, by the press of a button, that, sent a signal through the wire, to the follow focus. So their was a wire.

But I could practice with just a follow focus alone. Only thing is, is that if I am not on a tripod or dolly and using a shoulder rig, sometimes I cannot do the correct camera movement and focus at the same time. I will keep practicing. He also had a shoulder rig, and would put strap the button, around one of the handle bars, of the rig, then focus by pushing the button, while holding the bar.

Rigs like DIY steadicams and shoulder rigs, require the operator to use both hands to hold them properly. Is thier a rig or system I can make or buy that I only have to use one hand to hold it, in order for it to work, so the other hand is free to pull focus directly on a follow focus?
 
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I use a 7" tablet with DSLRcontroller installed used as an external monitor.

You don't get peaking, but you do get an inexpensive monitor with very good resolution.
 
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Okay thanks. I am trying to get better at this pulling focus thing. Especially at night when depth of field is shallow. I want to do it while running so I can use to shooting running sequences. I tried running past parking meters trying to focus from one to the other while moving fast, past them each.

It's very difficult cause I have motion blur in my own eyes from the running, while looking at the screen, but I will keep trying. Is this the best way to focus while running, just keep doing it till you get it, or is there anything I could be doing better, other than just doing that for running and action shots?

Thanks.
 
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directorik said:
The skilled 1st AC does not need a monitor. They pull focus based on distance.
The subject is 6 feet away, they pull focus to 6 feet. Subject is 3 feet and walks
to 5? They pull focus from 3 to 5 as the subject moves.

It's one hell of a skill. I marvel at the ones who can do that with a 6 to 8 inch
depth of focus. It's an amazing things to see.
Click to expand...


NPR had a good feature the other day on focus pullers. It's true, they develop the ability to quickly judge distance. I'd always thought that meant they could say, "Subject is 8 feet from camera", however is actually more like "subject is 7 feet 9 inches from camera." Literally down to the inch.

Us mortals can be just as good though, we just need a tape measure! Bet those focus pullers can't do metric. I can!
 
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