What's this called

S

SDBenassi

I'm shooting a short film on 16mm BW film and am looking for one of those tools you use to find what focal distance you want to shoot a scene with. It's like a 'focal-finder' or something. Does any body know what they're called? Are they still in production or has digital made them obsolete? Do they help you see what a scene will see in black and white also?
 
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The other thing to keep in mind is that you could (should) plot out all your shots for the film prior to being on set. If you diagram it from an overhead view you can use a protractor to figure out what lens you need for a particular shot. Of course that means that your diagrams have to be drawn to scale, but if you bring a tape measure and pad of paper along on a location scout you can jot down the dimensions of each area.

I believe this is covered in Film Directing: Shot by Shot, but it's been a while since I've read it so I can't say for sure if it's in there or not. ;)
 
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My reasoning for wanting a Directors Viewfinder is that the viewfinder on the camera is limited from 20mm to 100mm, but I plan on using lenses wider than 20mm, hence the neeed for an extra viewfinder. Plus it lets me scope a shot without having to carry the whole camera with me every time I change an angle. How would one use tape measure instead? And why would one cut a hole in a board and use that? Sure, you can crop between a close up and a wider long shot, but its not going to tell you the size of the lens you need.. Am I dropping another rabbit in the tank?.. All newbies must suffer!
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OK, the reason this became thread about tape measures is because you asked about the focal distance, not the focal length. May seem like a minor point but the focal distance is the distance between the focal point of the camera and the thing you wish to be in focus. The best way to determine that is by using a tape measure. The focal length is about the actual type of lens you're using.

What you wanted, was something to tell you which of your primes to use to get a particular framing... which is what your Director's Viewfinder will do for you. The piece of cardboard is a great tool, because it allows you to frame a shot without moving the camera... and you're right it won't tell you which of your primes you need to get that exact framing at the distance you are from the subject. But, most indies are using cameras with zoom lens rather than primes so they don't need to know that information... they just figure out their framing, move the camera and sort everything else out in camera. The same is true of a more experienced DOP or director using primes... they look at the shot and experience tells them that they'll need lens "X" instead of lens "Y."

One of the problems with directors who rely too heavily on the Director's viewfinder, is they often end up shooting films that are hard to cut, because they let the viewfinder dictate the lens choices. An experienced director will often sit with their DOP and decide on three prime lenses, which are going to give this particular project a distinctive look... they then plan the shots around those lenses rather than having every prime in the kit on the camera at some point in the film. Personally I like to delegate lens choices to my DOP... I show him the framing I want, he places the camera and whips out his tape measure. Job done.

And don't worry about tossing bunnies into the sharks here... providing you've got a sense of humour, we're like those crap sharks in finding Nemo... newbies are friends, not food...
 
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