Ask David Mullen ANYTHING

[Rick Darge]

David, have you reserved a Red?

[Shawn Nelson]

Hey David, sorry to ask you another gear question, but do you know what ringlight this is?

[David Mullen ASC]

Looks homemade, like a ring of MR16's.

No, I don't have a reservation. I'm not an equipment owner type... hasn't been necessary as a DP in my case.

If I ever go back into personal filmmaking, or have a huge windfall of money, I'd consider it.

[Panos Bournias]

Hi David I am interested in buying a set of prime S35mm lenses from Optica-Elite. The prices are reasonable and they look like a good solution for the red. I was wondering if you have ever tested these lenses or know someone else who did so. Any reviews...
Thank you
Panos

[rascom]

Hey David. This question might have been covered earlier in this thread, but do you consider it important for for over-all look and continuity of a feature (or a scene) to stay at the same focal length and f-stop, especially for cutting between master shots and close-ups so that DOF doesnt change too much. According to an interview with Darius Khondji, for each film he has shot, he has a main lens, say 27mm, that is used for most of that film. Do you think this important to a consistent perspective or do you think it is better to choose a specific lens and/or f-stop according to what the shot require?
Thanks

[David Mullen ASC]

There are no "rules" per se -- some people like the dynamic quality from jumping from extreme wide-angles to telephotos, for example. Commercials and music videos tend to do more of that. Michael Bay or James Cameron action movies.

Sticking to a limited focal length range and f-stop gives the footage a consistent tonal quality, ala "The Godfather" or other movies shot by Gordon Willis. Or look at Ozu's movies, all shot on a 50mm. It's a more restrained, elegant style.

The advantage of sticking to the same f-stop within a sequence is not just for visual consistency in depth of field (which will vary anyway by how close the subject is to the lens) but it also makes lighting continuity easier because you aren't relighting every set-up with wildly different levels. For example, if you lit a wide shot to f/2.8, you could change the key light on a close-up, but keep the f/2.8 level, and probably not have to change many of the background lights or the general fill level. However, if you lit the close-up to f/5.6, you'd have to relight the background as well, plus raise the fill light level to maintain the same contrast ratio.

[David Mullen ASC]

Hi David I am interested in buying a set of prime S35mm lenses from Optica-Elite. The prices are reasonable and they look like a good solution for the red. I was wondering if you have ever tested these lenses or know someone else who did so. Any reviews...
Thank you
Panos

I haven't used them so I can't give you any first-hand accounts, but I've heard good things about Elites generally in terms of sharpness.

[Shawn Nelson]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but what single shot of yours are you most proud of?

[David Mullen ASC]

I don't have any single shot. Many of my favorite shots have little to do with my skills, but the luck of capturing some great sky or something. Here are a few:

[Zk2007]

The advantage of sticking to the same f-stop within a sequence is not just for visual consistency in depth of field (which will vary anyway by how close the subject is to the lens) but it also makes lighting continuity easier because you aren't relighting every set-up with wildly different levels. For example, if you lit a wide shot to f/2.8, you could change the key light on a close-up, but keep the f/2.8 level, and probably not have to change many of the background lights or the general fill level. However, if you lit the close-up to f/5.6, you'd have to relight the background as well, plus raise the fill light level to maintain the same contrast ratio.

Yes, it really makes things easier and that's what I normally do when filming indoors. I guess there's little reason not to do it that way in an internal shot. With externals I can understand that playing with the iris may make thing easier sometimes, but inside I can't really think of a reason not to film in a constant T-stop.