Cinematography-Theory-And-Practice

Figure 13.27. (top) Scene with nofilter. (Photo courtesy of Tiffen.)Figure 13.28. (bottom) With aneutral density filter for the sky.Although a polarizer might haveachieved most of the same effect,there are two important differences:the effect of the polarizer woulddepend on the angle relative to thesun and it would have also haveeliminated the reflections on thewater, which are an important partof the image. (Photo courtesy ofTiffen.)Figure 13.29. (above, right) For thismusic video shot, we used a combinationof techniques. A very light neton the lens and double printing overa defocused black-and-white dupeto desaturate and soften withoutgetting mushy. (Photo by author.)IMAGE CONTROL WITH THE CAMERAFrame RateThe speed at which the film runs through the camera also has a greateffect on our perception of the shot. Since film is almost alwaysprojected or transferred to video at 24 fps, running the camera at ahigher speed will slow the action down and running at a lower thannormal frame rate will speed the action up.High-speed filming generally produces an image with a dreamlikeeffect. Low-speed filming, which speeds the action up, is most oftenused for a comedy effect. Low-speed filming can result in a subtleemphasis of a movement when the frame rate is from 26 to 28 fps.Scorsese used this very effectively in some of the fight scenes inRaging Bull; at times the camera was running at as much as 120 fps. Ithas always been possible to change the frame rate during a shot, butnow many cameras can automatically compensate exposure with theaperture or shutter, thus making ramping during the shot far easier.Some people, however, prefer to do the entire shot high-speed anddo the slower parts in post, thus giving them more control of thetiming. Arriflex, Panavision, and Photo-Sonics make a number ofhigh-speed cameras for these types of shots. In HD video, the Phantomcamera can go as high as 1500 fps, and many HD cameras can goas high as 120 fps. These are discussed in the chapter Technical Issues.Both high-speed and low-speed frame rates are available on some(not all) HD video cameras. If you plan to do any off-speed framesrates, be sure that the camera you will be using is capable of doingthe frame rates you are planning on using.Slow-Speed BlurThere is a special case of off-speed filming that produces a very dramatic,blurring effect that is often used in commercials and occasionallyin narrative films. The effect is achieved by running the cameraslower than usual, such as 12 fps, 6 fps or even 4 fps and then transferringto video at the same rate. The effect is blurring, but the actionruns at normal speed. It looks very much like it is slowed down, butit isn’t (Figure 13.30). The reason it works is that when the camerais run at a very low-speed, the shutter is open for a much longerthan normal time. Shooting at 6 fps makes each frame approximately1/12th of a second.cinematography266