Favorite Focal Lengths for Features

[Dan Blanchett]

There are many options for DPs or moviemakers to choose from when deciding which lens to use for any given shot. With the RED primes on their way, and the 18-50 zoom almost here, I wanted to start a thread where experienced professionals could chime in on what length of lens they prefer using in various situations in narrative storytelling, and why they make (or made) those choices. David Mullen, for example, commented somewhere that he tends not to use the wider lenses. Others are excited about the 15mm. What's your style?

In googling around, I came across this article which I thought was an interesting read and a good start:

http://www.cameraguild.com/technology/lens.htm

[KETCH ROSSi]

Coming from still frame shooting I like different lenses for different situations, but Primes are my favored, I tend not to use zooms at all.

In still photography the only zoom I use is the Sigma 12-24 for my Canon 1D body, is the widest lens for 35mm cameras in the EOS mount fully controlled electronicaly, I like the prespective it gives in rectilinear format but very very wiade.

I have also a large preference for the 85mm, this lens gives me controll over facials close ups with very plesant effect.

The 135mm and 200mm are to me very similar in image effect, but I favored the 135mm vs. the 200mm for people shooting, just gives me a different filling.

I could not say (and I will not) that my opinion is a professional one, I love telling stories, still or moving frames, I think my preference will not change with Cinematography, I will stay with Primes and likely I will shoot everithing with only few lenses:

A super wide angle rectilinear from 8mm to 15mm

A wide angle like the 35mm

A regular 50mm possibly but not sure

A medium telephoto like my favored 85mm

And a last but not list also the 135mm, couse is a great focal.

I do not like to shoot so much with telephotos or super telephotos lenses
and zooms take the fun out of action, I like to move constantly with the camera and the main attraction to moving frames is part do to the constant moving of the camera position via any means.

At the end if I was only allowed 3 lenses they wil be:

A super wide angle, 8mm

A medium telephoto, 85mm

A telephoto, 135mm

This is only my personal taste and opinion, nothing more, just my style of seen things and my way of telling my stories via still or moving frames.

Ciao,

KETCH ROSSI
www.KETCHFRAME.com

[Finner]

I love the Pana 40mm this lens is beautiful. I would love the chance to shoot an entire feature one day on the 40 and let all the rest of the lenses sit on the truck collecting dust. To do this the set ups would be huge and I know the chances are slim to none that I would ever get the chance but a guy can dream right.

[David Mullen ASC]

To some degree, lens choice is a practical decision based on the size of the room you are shooting in, if you want a wide shot.

Most people use the middle focal lengths -- 35mm to 85mm in the 35mm 1.85 format. In fact, a DP like Roger Deakins loves those focal lengths. I think he shot almost all of "Shawshank Redemption" on a 35mm and a 50mm.

Beyond that, some directors and DP's prefer to play with the longer lenses, above 100mm, and others like to use the shorter lenses, 27mm and wider. Just depends on your personal style and the style chosen for the project, and logistical reasons.

Most of the time, I like a scene to have a natural perspective in terms of focal length, but occasionally you want to emphasize something by jumping to a telephoto or really wide-angle lens.

[Jochen Schmidt-Hambrock]

Is there a list of the cinematography Academy Award winning filmes of the last 30 years?

Google and the Academy´s site is no help.

[Scot Olson]

Wikipedia has this list. Academy Award for Best Cinematography (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Cinematography)

[Poi Boy]

Lens choice is very personal but regardless of the lens it come down to composition.
Aloha
-A

[Ace]

Great insight From TFA:


think of the lens as defining the actor's stage. If she or he is in a close shot, the actor may be working in a stage the size of a 5-gallon aquarium. All the subtle hand motions s/he worked up won't be filmed unless they're included in the aquarium.

If s/he's in a medium shot, the stage may be the size of a telephone booth. Somehow the actor must focus his expression, speed of execution, and the relative "size" of his actions into this area.

If s/he moves too quickly, we'll both be in trouble: the actor because the moment won't be caught on film, and the operator because s/he unintentionally allowed the actor to escape from the stage. If the actor is made aware of his venue, he's better able to gauge the speed and size of his performance.

I've mentioned to actors that a full shot, one that is head to toe, or wider, really is "body" language performance because of the scale. If the actor is focused on small motion or eye movement, it won't be seen. As the actor becomes larger in frame, the acting shifts to smaller actions, the moments that define a fine performance.

When I frame a close shot, or an ECU, the action is quite literally in the eyes. And we all know the eyes are the windows to the soul. As the director of photography, I am compelled to document that soul's expression. If I don't achieve that, I feel I've failed. It's up to the director to help the actor peel away the layers to the innermost expression of the character at any given point in the script. It's up to the director of photography to stay in visual step with them both, much like a percussionist. Sometimes the shot is on the beat, sometimes it's syncopated or against the moment, on other occasions it's static to emphasize the action, yet in other instances the shot (i.e., camera) may panic in the face of a calm actor. The combinations for expression are limitless.

[Dan Blanchett]

Yeah, I thought the aquarium analogy in that article was a useful one, especially when directing an actor's performance.

And it's because lens choice is so personal (though sometimes practical) that I'm asking for people's personal preferences. It's interesting to read about.

I think the compressed look of long lenses are nice, but I will likely be using wider lenses most of the time due the tight shooting quarters I will be in and also the availability of RED's 18-50.

[Adam C Lubkin]

Barry Ackroyd, on working with Ken Loach, in the April issue of American Cinematograper:

"There is never a shot that is wider than your field of vision"..."We carry everything from a 40mm to a 200mm, but we tend to stick to five lenses: 65mm, 85mm, 100mm, 135mm and 180mm. No matter how small the interior, you only see the detail because the camera pans around it."

Apparently Loach has him take the same visual approach in all his films, so these notes should apply to My Name Is Joe and Sweet Sixteen as much as The Wind that Shakes the Barley. I just read the article last night, and found it inriguing enough that I was going to start a thread called "your favorite director's favorite focal lengths", but then I fell asleep in my clothes waiting for my daughter to get off the computer, and that was it for yesterday.

[Dan Blanchett]

I was going to start a thread called "your favorite director's favorite focal lengths"

I think that is a great idea.

[Adam C Lubkin]

I think that is a great idea.

Well, then I saw this thread and thought maybe another one would be redundant, but I guess they are somewhat different topics.

[dalemccready]

I like all sorts, but I love how "Rushmore" was shot entirely on a 27mm.
I do like the idea of maintaining one lens for a project

[David Mullen ASC]

"Bottle Rocket" was almost enirely shot on the 27mm Primo spherical lens. "Rushmore" and his other films were almost entirely shot on a 40mm Primo anamorphic lens.

[Brook Willard]

I believe the majority of Children of Men was shot on an 18mm Ultra Prime [MPs were apparently too heavy].

Perhaps somebody can help me here: There's one scene from some film I saw that's shot on a rectilinear 8mm or 10mm lens. If memory serves, the scene took place handheld in a bus. Vague, I know...

As for me, I'm addicted to medium-long zooms.