So after studying the Dexter sequence I mentioned last post and mulling over my idea some more I decided I should get to doing some shooting. My idea is kind of difficult to storyboard for because it is going to involve quite a heavy amount of trial and error/experimentation. The ambient nature of the piece and the overall feeling I want it to have I feel lends itself to a more unstructured and sporadic shoot and edit. With that being said I did want to test some ideas and concepts before the actual shoot just so I wasn't going in completely cold and had a bit of a leg to stand on.
One effect I had been wanting to try out for a long time was DIY macro techniques. It is something I had seen documented on the internet for a long time but had never really seen any real filming done with the technique to a high standard. I wanted to test the concept and see what I could achieve with it.
The technique can be achieved through an array of methods. The least costly and most user friendly way I had seen it achieved was by simply holding a lens up the wrong way around in front of the lens you have attached to the camera. You put both lenses to infinite focus and touch the front rings of both lenses to one another. Then hey presto! Easy, cheap and interestingly stylised macro photography!
I experimented for a while with which lenses to use but eventually settled on my pair of Helios 44M lenses. They are both old film lenses which means that they are small and easy to hold. They also have large apertures which is good because it seemed as though I was loosing some light in the process. They also have a very unique look to the bokeh (which is the reason that I bought them). They tend to bend the bokeh into a circular form and sharpen it somewhat. Here's an example:
As you can see the lens created a really interesting, distorted bokeh field that creates a circular pattern. I love the look of this lens for that exact reason and as I am going for quite a stylised, anarchic look to the shoot I thought it to be a perfect lens for the job.
So with all that established I got the lenses prepared and got to shooting whatever I could see in macro. I then edited it together briefly to some music I wrote for a friends film and this is the outcome:
Along with the macro effect I also wanted to test the look of harshly contrasted, black and white footage as that is a look I am strongly considering. I only had an hour or so to practice the technique, get some shots and edit it so there isn't much. But I think that was I was able to get it really cool. It's interesting and an awesome aesthetic to include in my ident. I am really happy with how it all came together.
The things that became apparent to me were that stability could be an issue (as there is no stabilisation in the lenses and quite a substantial zoom level), the focal plane is veritably microscopic and you need to get really close to the subject to get it in focus which makes it likely you'll get your own shadow in the shot. All of these things are minor hiccups though and the effect itself looks incredible I think. The way it morphed the tea leaves in the third shot and made them appear alive and other worldly was really interesting I think. It is definitely something I am going to use in my piece.
The colour wasn't exactly what I wanted. I didn't have time to take lighting into consideration and so everything was weirdly exposed I also graded it quickly in Premiere Pro which is never going to yield professional results. It is cool though. I'm still undecided as to whether to go with the gritty black and white or stick to full colour. I think I may have to decide that later on. For reference here is a before and after comparison:
The things that became apparent to me were that stability could be an issue (as there is no stabilisation in the lenses and quite a substantial zoom level), the focal plane is veritably microscopic and you need to get really close to the subject to get it in focus which makes it likely you'll get your own shadow in the shot. All of these things are minor hiccups though and the effect itself looks incredible I think. The way it morphed the tea leaves in the third shot and made them appear alive and other worldly was really interesting I think. It is definitely something I am going to use in my piece.
The colour wasn't exactly what I wanted. I didn't have time to take lighting into consideration and so everything was weirdly exposed I also graded it quickly in Premiere Pro which is never going to yield professional results. It is cool though. I'm still undecided as to whether to go with the gritty black and white or stick to full colour. I think I may have to decide that later on. For reference here is a before and after comparison:
Before:
After:
I do like the punchy b/w. It's gritty and interesting but I think that the colour is also important to tell the story. I may experiment with selective colour and see how I feel about that. Regardless I think that the aspect ratio bars don't work at all. They get rid of half of the frame thus destroying the circular bokeh I mentioned earlier.
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