Cinematography-Theory-And-Practice

Figure 13.25. (left) A scene shotthrough glasswith no polarizer.(Photo courtesy of Tiffen.)Figure 13.26. (right) With a polarizer— in this case the Tiffen UltraPol.(Photo courtesy of Tiffen.)generator (for more on flicker, see the chapter Technical Issues). Typicallythe director or DP will a concept of a look for the project andthen they will discuss it, look at examples, and talk about how toapply to the film. Visual examples are important for this; many DPsand directors keep books of photos and other references.As with most issues in art, it is, of course, not nearly that simple.You can make a film at magic hour, or use long lenses or bleachbypass,and there is a good chance that your project will look nothinglike those films. These are just examples; this applies to all techniquesand methods of visual production, and post-production aswell. The reason is that these simple techniques are not magic bullets.Obviously, there are many variables within each technique that haveto be juggled and fine-tuned to achieve the desired look. Sometimesit is a question of budget, equipment, time, crew, weather, or otherfactors, but this is not the point. If you educate yourself in the techniques,test, and experiment and bring all the forces to bear, you canget them right. The real issue is that these methods must be used incoordination with all the other visual elements of the production.These factors include:The point is that you have to think globally when you consider thevisual style of your production — every choice becomes part of themix that determines the overall look, and that look is itself a key elementin the overall storytelling, emotional impact, and final successof your project. Thinking globally means you also need to consultwith the production designer, wardrobe designer and the editor.Table 13.6. Filter factors and exposurecompensation for neutral densityfilters.PERCENTAGEOFTRANSMISSIONEXPOSUREINCREASEIN STOPSFILTERFILTERFACTOR0.1 80 1-1/4 1/30.2 63 1 1/2 2/30.3 50 2 10.4 40 2 1/2 1 1/30.5 32 3 1 2/30.6 25 4 20.7 20 5 2 1/30.8 16 6 2 2/30.9 13 8 31.0 10 10 3 1/32.0 1 100 6 2/33.0 0.1 1000 10 1/34.0 0.01 10000 1385 N3 32 3 1 2/385N6 16 6 2 2/386N9 9 11 3 2/3image control265