POSTS
Cinematic focusing with digital video cameras
By hisham
Digital video is great, but not so great when you compare it to actual film.
Perhaps the most interesting attribute of actual 16mm and 35mm film cameras (and some high-end digital video cameras) such as those from Arri and Panavision is the shallow depth of field (DOF.) Shallow DOF basically means there is less distance in focus between the subject and the area in front and behind the subject, allowing for selective focusing. Video on the other hand has deeper depth of field, which makes selective focusing almost impossible.
Shallow DOF is what contributes greatly to film’s surreal, dreamy look as oppossed to video’s “reality” look. Next time you’re watching a movie, focus on the focusing (no pun intended.) You’ll come to see that video is great for news footage, but film’s shallow DOF is what you need to do justice to a screenplay. It’s been said that focus is 50% of telling a story on the screen.
For instance, a shoot of an actor’s head is in focus, while a computer monitor on his desk in the background (or foreground) is out of focus, or fuzzy (the level and look of fuzziness is usually referred to as bokeh, a Japanese word.)
Is there a way to achieve 35mm shallow depth of field using our measly 1/4″ or 1/2″ CCD video cameras? Well, with a bit of optical trickery, one can attach a 35mm lens and utilize it’s shallow DOF property. It’s not perfect, but the results can make quite a difference to your next low budget film project.
Based on a design by Richard Mellor, I’ve built a 35mm DOF adapter. It’s static; no moving parts. The photo above is my fourth prototype. Here’s also test footage from my previous, third prototype. Both adapters use a Nikon f1.8 35mm SLR camera lens and are attached to a Panasonic GS300 1/4″ 3CCD DV camera. Time permitting, I’ll do another post about the parts and the build process for my fourth prototype.
Shallow depth of field is only one aspect of cinematic filmmaking. One shouldn’t forget the importance of higher resolution (1/4″ – 1/2″ CCD cameras lack a lot of detail,) aspect ratio, lighting, shot selection, color correction, editing, sound and of course, a great story to tell!
35mm adapters including mine are far from perfect in terms of image quality and operation. Nevertheless, having shallow DOF does give a sense of actual filmmaking, and brings footage that bit closer to cinematic work.