Follow Focus tips and tricks...

D

darwinandpaine

Well-known member
I'm wondering if there are any professional focus pullers on these board that can pass on some tips and tricks to help out their newbie FF brethren (particularly those with lens adapters and very shallow depth of field)?

Other than "practice, practice, practice," I'm wondering if there are any good tips for the more complex and/or longer focus pulls needed every now and then (and I'm talking about stuff with a lot of movement --- not a simple rack focus). Multiple markings, timed movements... anything?
 
Brian,

You coming up to Burbank this weekend for the M2 thing?

There ought to be follow focuses there. If I can come, I'll bring mine just in case.
 
BigMike said:
Brian,

You coming up to Burbank this weekend for the M2 thing?

There ought to be follow focuses there. If I can come, I'll bring mine just in case.
Click to expand...

Hey Big Mike!
I can't make it -- too busy.
I have a follow focus, and I'm okay at working it -- though it is much harder with the narrow dof that the M2 gives you. I also understand that complex moves have to be rehearsed, blocked, marked, etc... I was just wondering if there are any tricks the pros use on those long/complex focus pulls. Pulling focus really is an art in-and-of itself.
 
Indeed. The Follow Focus makes the shoot much harder. You almost need that frist cameraman.
 
Tips... hmmm... You really just have to have thorough rehearsals. Make sure you get multiple marks. It also helps sometimes to calculate your range so you know just how much leway you really have. If you have a palm, download pcam and pcine to help you with the math - they make it REALLY easy. Also, it helps if you have reference marks for yourself. If a person is walking through a space- look around the space and tell yourself when they get to the first tree I should be on 2, when they get to the front of the red parked car, be at 3, etc. Hope that makes sense/helps.
 
the less you rehearse the wider lens you should shoot with so that you have more leeway when the actor doesnt hit his/her mark. If you rehearse more and can count on the marks you have the option to shoot with a longer lens
 
All the good Follow Focus Ops I know tend not to look at a monitor for previewing. They use markers as previously explained and they always watch the talent on a take because the talent sometimes either miss marks altogether or are too slow or to fast when hitting marks so a good FF knows when to adjust just by watching the action and not on a monitor and never ever setting rehersal marks in stone. As the goalposts enivetibly will move (pardon the pun).

Practice, practice and more practice.

Again the FF guys I know have been sharping for 5+ years and they have an amazing visual space/awareness.

Regards

Rich
Steadicam Owner/Operator

www.steadicams.com
 
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