Ask David Mullen ANYTHING

[Gavin Greenwalt]

Heroes seasons 1 and 2 use a lot of shift/tilt focus as well. Not so much in season 3.

[David Mullen ASC]

I don't know about the RED doing frame rates at less than whole numbers other than 23.98 (and maybe 29.97, 59.94, but not sure.) You can vary the shutter speed though in increments that should be the right combination for 50hz or 60hz lighting at off-speeds.

[David Mullen ASC]

Panavision converted a 45mm slant-focus to anamorphic using a rear anamorphic adaptor, effectively turning it into a 90mm anamorphic. I used it in a movie named "Shadowboxer" for a number of shots, sometimes to blur parts of the frame like here:


And sometimes to create hold focus in a raking two shot like here:

[Paul Martin]

Hello Mr. Mullen and all,

I'm sorry to derail the conversation but I just quickly wanted to ask for your opinion on the Arriflex Image Stabilizer made back in the '80s. The one based on gyro-stabilized parallel mirrors which goes in front of the lens, thus causing vignetting on 35mm at focal lengths less than 75mm.

Here's a picture of it:



Does it work? I'd like to be able to hand hold, with shoulder support, a non-IS 200mm on a 5D mark II, but I'm getting too much wobble. Despite the Vistavision frame, at such a focal length I would assume the vignetting of the Arri Stabilizer would not be such a problem. However, perhaps the Arri is no match for modern Canon IS or something like a Kenyon Gyro KS-8. I've yet to hear much praise for the Arri, despite only having talked to their reps! Maybe you or someone else here has some experience with it.


Thanks for your time and expertise!

Paul Martin

[David Mullen ASC]

I never used one but a friend of mine once had one on a 16mm camera for some handheld stuff shot from a car of someone riding a motorcycle -- it did a good job in smoothing out the bounce and shake for telephoto close-up shots. Seemed a bit "swishy", hard to describe, and I'm not sure about the sharpness. Worth testing.

[Jerrod Cordell]

Hey David,

I'm shooting a music video soon and the bands want a look and feel similar to "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." They were mostly thinking of the scenes where it just looks like a flashlight following them and everything around them is in blackness. What do you think would be the best lights to use and the best way to light that?

Also, very good work on US of Tara. I saw your name in the credits and was like "Holy crap, I didn't know he was DP on that show." Very well shot. When are you guys gonna be working on production for the next season?

Thanks,
Jerrod

[David Mullen ASC]

The April 2004 issue of "American Cinematographer" covered that movie... DP Ellen Kuras said that for closer shots, they had a "clip light" attached to the camera (I guess something like a small clamp-on desk lamp / reading light) and for wider shots, they used a PARCAN (1K tungsten).

It seems to me though in post they opted for a cooler color look though, I guess in timing (considering the whole movie was shot on 500D Fuji Reala stock, daylight-balanced, that's quite a correction in post to make a tungsten spot look blue-ish. Unless they gelled their light. At least, that's how I remember the effect, that it was a blue-ish spotlight.)

--

Thanks for compliment on "Tara", it's such a simple-looking approach that I'm not sure anyone noticed the photography. We start back in August for Season Two.

[Jerrod Cordell]

I'm guessing they just used a gel over the tungsten. Could have just been more cost effective then just using an HMI or something. What do you think would be a good/cheaper alternative to the 1K?

And I can't wait to see what you guys are cooking up for Season 2.

[David Mullen ASC]

It's hard to imagine a movie light much cheaper than a 1K PARCAN -- I think it rents for $30/day at some places. It's more or less a staple in any small theater stage. A 1K Par globe in a cylindrical housing:

http://extranet.mole.com/public/inde...5-1927&id=9387

Sure, you can wrap some blackwrap around a light to create a snoot, like a 650w Tweenie or 1K Baby, it's just that a 1K PAR is such a simple and cheap light relatively speaking.

You can try a smaller light, like getting a 75w spot bulb from Home Depot, in an ordinary lamp socket. More or less the "clip-on" light Ellen Kuras was talking about. Just depends on how bright you need the light to be and how spotty you want it to be. Any light can work as long as you can narrow the beam, like with a snoot.

[XiaoSu Han]

How can they rent it for $30 USD a day?

I thought it sells for under 50 USD :)