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Sun Glasses and boom op refelctions
- Thread starter mrpink89
- Start date
We have. The first couple of our shorts the lead wore sunglasses. The next several he didn't 
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.You can try blurring just the glasses too, but darkening is probably your best bet. Or tracking another image entirely. We've played with reflections on purpose in glasses before and added stuff to them.
Ask a neutral party if it bothers them. Do they even see the problem? Based on what they say, reassess whether it's worth fixing.
If you decide to fix it, the previous posters are correct. Try these solutions and stop when it's fixed:
1) Roto each lens. - often, a single roto-shape, blurred, and tracked to the glasses will suffice.
2) Gamma the lens darker to blend the boom operator into the reflection.
3) Blur the lenses, a little, and composite a sharp version of the highlights (only) back on-top-of the comp.
Messing with white/black point, or adding too much blur, or tracking in a still image, will often result in a composite that looks worse the original photography.
If you decide to fix it, the previous posters are correct. Try these solutions and stop when it's fixed:
1) Roto each lens. - often, a single roto-shape, blurred, and tracked to the glasses will suffice.
2) Gamma the lens darker to blend the boom operator into the reflection.
3) Blur the lenses, a little, and composite a sharp version of the highlights (only) back on-top-of the comp.
Messing with white/black point, or adding too much blur, or tracking in a still image, will often result in a composite that looks worse the original photography.
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Kryon makes a spray that's good to keep on hand for this kind of thing - won't help you with the existing shots, but for the future it's easier to use it on set than having to fix it in post.
Krylon Dulling Spray
Krylon Dulling Spray
IMO you should never really have an actor wearing sunglasses for extended periods of time on screen. It causes problems like you are having and the audience can't see their eyes which is a big part of interactions and what not.
Erroneous reflections appear briefly in all kinds of films, and all budget levels. Obviously, you want to avoid seeing a grip reflected in a mirror while your stars are in the middle of a love scene, but it happens. Unfortunately, ubiquitous computer-based tools have created this notion that every single mistake be painted-out, lest it shatter the audience's suspension of disbelief.
But while we are on the subject, here's my favorite in-shot mistake in a big budget film. What's yours?
But while we are on the subject, here's my favorite in-shot mistake in a big budget film. What's yours?