Should I CANCEL tomorrow's shoot!?

H

harmonica44

I took on directing and starring in a project that is short, one scene, and one day of shooting left. Only four shots left actually. I and the others are scheduled to resume tomorrow morning, but the focus puller had to leave town on a family emergency.

The person letting us use the location is being kind of cranky and says we can only have one more day. All I need is probably not more than 3 hours likely, but wonder if it's worth risking that one day chance with no one experienced in it. I want to do it tomorrow cause the weather predictions say, that the conditions will likely match. I need it sunny, but it's been raining a lot lately, and can only do it Saturdays. The actors are all only available next Sat, but not after. So if I don't do it tomorrow, I risk not finishing likely cause of how the weather's been.

One guy said he's willing to do it but he has no experience in that area. Other options might include using a camcorder with an autofocus maybe, but has no manual exposure control, so I would have to correct it in post to match the previous shot DSLR footage. It's either that, or the one guy, or risk waiting till next Saturday only, which could turn out to be a greater risk. I'd do it myself but I am already acting in the scene as well.

It's only four shots left, three of them are still, and one the camera moves. Any thoughts? Thanks.
 
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As in move forward on a dolly, or just move forward in general? For a dolly shot you're more likely to need a focus puller, but for moving forward for a second shot, wouldn't you just reset yoru focus mark..?

Also, a zoom is not moving the camera at all, so you don't need to change focus. Therefore, you could perform the zoom yourself, as long as the camera is remaining still.
 
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You actually don't need a focus puller for a zoom, just for the move forward :) Two different things (moving forward is a truck, zooming in is a zoom).

I had an actor shave his beard, I had to make a beard for him to finish... went to the local costume shop and learned to make a realistic fake beard using crepe hair and spirit gum... the kind of fake beard that you apply as a full beard, then trim the way you want it to look... took about 2 hours to apply, but it looks nearly the same between shots... he had to shave for a job interview.
 
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jax_rox said:
Also, a zoom is not moving the camera at all, so you don't need to change focus. Therefore, you could perform the zoom yourself, as long as the camera is remaining still.
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Budget lenses (usually) won't hold focus through a zoom like expensive broadcast or cinema zooms. Zoom in on a cheap DSLR kit lens, set focus, then zoom out and the shot will (very often, but there are probably exceptions) go soft.

At least this has been my experience with (several) kit lenses on shoots. YMMV.
 
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David.rhsc said:
Budget lenses (usually) won't hold focus through a zoom like expensive broadcast or cinema zooms. Zoom in on a cheap DSLR kit lens, set focus, then zoom out and the shot will (very often, but there are probably exceptions) go soft.

At least this has been my experience with (several) kit lenses on shoots. YMMV.
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Is that an issue with the zoom itself, and not the FFD? Either way, it's going to be hard to compensate for unless you're pulling focus yourself (as the operator). Standard DSLR lenses are hard enough to pull focus on without trying to compensate for shifts in the lens or FFD issues.
Most of my experience with DSLRs consists of more expensive primes which are the worst to pull focus with to begin with. It makes me happy when DPs on EF-mounts decide to use CP.2s
 
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jax_rox said:
Is that an issue with the zoom itself, and not the FFD? Either way, it's going to be hard to compensate for unless you're pulling focus yourself (as the operator). Standard DSLR lenses are hard enough to pull focus on without trying to compensate for shifts in the lens or FFD issues.
Most of my experience with DSLRs consists of more expensive primes which are the worst to pull focus with to begin with. It makes me happy when DPs on EF-mounts decide to use CP.2s
Click to expand...

Not really certain. FFD could be the issue, but I've have heard (but never experienced) that the "budget" lenses on 1/2" or 1/3" CMOS broadcast cameras exhibit a similar issue. I always just chalked it up to budget glass. the 70-200 L series canon zoom is one that stands out in my mind as being solid enough through the range to zoom in, set focus, and go back to the shot. Short of that I don't trust them to hold.

Agreed on pulling focus on EF lenses in general. Between the lack of mechanical focus, the lack of hard stops, and the very short focus throw diameter, and inability to adjust backfocus it can be a nightmare.

I do like the CP.2s and anything with a Dulcos mod though. And beyond excited about the new Canon cinema primes. I worry about wear and tear on an EF mount with glass that heavy, but if it works with very long pro photography lenses (300mm canon L and longer) then the weight is probably less of an issue than I perceive. Still would trust a PL mount to hold up better under field conditions though.
 
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If the focus (function of distance) doesn't hold through a zoom, your back focus is off on your lens and needs be set. It's a PITA to do and get right though and could make the problem worse if done wrong. Back focus is the relationship of the back of the lens to the capture plane (film or CCD/CMOS). If it's too far forward or back or skewed, the physics start to stack up against you as you're zooming.
 
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Okay thanks. I actually was not able to salvage much of the new shot footage cause it didn't match weather wise, but I used coverage from the previous shoots and put the dialogue over top of it. And funny thing is, this edit turned out just as good or perhaps even better than what I had in mind originally! Funny how that works :)
 
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