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October 25th, 2007, 02:41 PM | #1 |
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Shallow DOF with a gel?
I know about the indietoolbox Soft Screen... but it's way over priced (in my opinion)... and I was wondering if anyone here has ever attempted to get a "shallow DOF" look on an interview or something by putting Hampshire/Hamburg Frost gels behind the subject...
Anyone think this would work? I don't have any on hand and didn't feel like ordering a roll only to have it not work... |
October 25th, 2007, 07:52 PM | #2 |
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I have used a fine black netting from a material store to knock down a background. But for most projects where I want a shallow depth of field,
I will use a Brevis 35. |
October 25th, 2007, 11:57 PM | #3 | |
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October 26th, 2007, 12:03 AM | #4 |
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I've covered doors/windows with a see through black mesh like material to knock down the light coming in. Allowed me to keep the iris open and get actual DOF control...it also served as a diffusion filter for the background a bit.
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October 26th, 2007, 10:47 AM | #5 |
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I've looked for that mesh material for a while now...where do you get it?
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October 26th, 2007, 10:49 AM | #6 | |
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I know about camera adapters and I know all the physics involved in getting a shallow DOF... I'm looking to see if this is another tool to put in my toolbox. |
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October 26th, 2007, 10:57 AM | #7 | |
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October 26th, 2007, 04:14 PM | #8 |
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Fine black netting is called bobbinette. It was recommended to me to get it at rosebrand.com. I'm guessing that you can also use mosquito netting if you buy black. You can get enough mosquito netting to cover a doorway from an online auction site for about $15. The hard part is going to be holding it taught so it doesn't fold and cause dark spots where it doubles over. I guess a door frame and gaffer's tape should work, but if you want a frame to put the net anywhere it will be a bit tricky.
Considering that to get one more f-stop of lighting requires twice the wattage, netting over a window or door is going to be a lot cheaper than doubling your lighting budget. I can't think of any other material that can go in the background that will add any diffusion at all without looking milky. Black net disappears and does cause just a bit of diffusion but you need to have it slightly out of the focus area. |
October 26th, 2007, 05:26 PM | #9 |
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I haven't tried it, but Hampshire frost has been used to soften the background in interviews by quite a few DPs. I suspect the main problem would be preventing stray light from hitting it and making sure that it's smooth, so it would need to be mounted in a frame.
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October 26th, 2007, 09:38 PM | #10 |
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Thanks Brian. I didn't think I was the only person ever to have thought of that.
Interviews are pretty much what I was thinking... You don't always have room to move the camera way back and zoom in... and still get a decent head and shoulders or even a tight 2-shot... |
October 27th, 2007, 12:38 AM | #11 |
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Fabric store, remnants...look for something with a fine-ish weave that you can still see through. I have a tent pole with screws shot through the ends of it perpendicularly...this sets into the top of 2 lighting stands (1 at either end) to make a lighting bar that can be used to hang lights, or clamp fabric/backdrops etc.
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November 2nd, 2007, 01:04 AM | #12 |
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Here's an alternative; shoot the interview against a blue/green screen, then shoot a background plate - with as much defocus as you like - and composite the two together in post. Simple.
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November 5th, 2007, 07:16 PM | #13 | |
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After watching a segment on the Digital Juice how about that: shoot against whatever you have, then shoot the background alone (do not move the camera! a remote control should be helpful) then put background shot along the main video, blur the background and combine the two. This should work for static backgrounds, though I haven't tried it yet myself. Anyone tried something like this? |
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November 20th, 2007, 02:56 PM | #14 |
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You would still have to matte out the person. And you wouldn't have a plain backdrop to make it easier.
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