Andra follow focus. Wow!

So much for "happy accidents" It seems filmmaking has become so technological and automated that it's losing much of it's organic feel. Don't get me wrong, it is a cool tool for specific times, but the human element is slowly diminishing, as is imperfection which at times can create art through mistakes, or happy accidents. Anyone that's worked with a good ac knows pulling focus is an art form in it's self. I would hate to see that disappear for convenience.
 
Samuel H said:
nice (but expensive, at $12700)
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That might be the understatement of the century. Perhaps a rental for a very specific shot, but I don't see much use otherwise.

And I think maranfilms is on to something when talking about the organic nature of film making - yeah a lot can go wrong, but sometimes happy accidents do happen. I think part of the appeal of the D16 is it's old skool grab a camera and go get some footage aesthetic.
 
If you are on a Hollywood set and you can hit your focus marks every time like Bang! dead on accurate then this thing will pay for itself in less than a weeks shooting time. Every time you don't have to do another take because of missed focus pulls is money in the bank. Or, think about how much creativity this ads to a production. How many times does a director pressed for time on a tight production schedule skip that rack focus or whatever? With this device once it's set up it doesn't slow you down at all. It's just a push of a button.

I mean sure at 12k to buy it you're not going to use it for shooting wedding videos right now but this is cutting edge. It will come down in price over time like every other piece of tech.

I think the "human element" is the director deciding what's in focus and what isn't at any given moment in the shot.
 
maranfilms said:
So much for "happy accidents" It seems filmmaking has become so technological and automated that it's losing much of it's organic feel. Don't get me wrong, it is a cool tool for specific times, but the human element is slowly diminishing, as is imperfection which at times can create art through mistakes, or happy accidents. Anyone that's worked with a good ac knows pulling focus is an art form in it's self. I would hate to see that disappear for convenience.
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Its wonderful to hear this. Thankyou.
 
Didn't tickle me....

I don't mind paying extra for organic anything...
bean counters should not come nearly that close to the creative process...

cheers,

Tye
 
Tye said:
Didn't tickle me....

I don't mind paying extra for organic anything...
bean counters should not come nearly that close to the creative process...

cheers,

Tye
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I don't get it. Isn't the idea to give the director what she wants? Isn't making the directors vision possible what "creativity" on the set is all about?

Isn't telling the director "Yes we can do that!" making it more creative, rather than telling the director sorry we don't have time or money for that shot?
 
I would rather tell the director, Sure, you can use that electronic device to pull focus, or you can use my AC who actually has a lot of insight into the process. And besides how much money and time does it take a good AC to hit marks?
 
I hate it when someone comes up with the exact same thing that I dreamt of first. Oh well...off to my next best dream. :)
 
or to a system that does the same for a tenth of the money (remember MOVI)

regarding the "human factor" discussion: I would also think that the ability to nail perfect focus in every shot is a plus
I don't think this is going to be THAT good (unless you get a transparent sensor that you can glue to your talent's forehead), but I see it as a move forward
if you want minor imperfections that make it "human", you can surely modify the system so that it can introduce them; just like 3D animators do; but you get the choice, plus the ability to work faster
 
Samuel H said:
or to a system that does the same for a tenth of the money (remember MOVI)

regarding the "human factor" discussion: I would also think that the ability to nail perfect focus in every shot is a plus
I don't think this is going to be THAT good (unless you get a transparent sensor that you can glue to your talent's forehead), but I see it as a move forward
if you want minor imperfections that make it "human", you can surely modify the system so that it can introduce them; just like 3D animators do; but you get the choice, plus the ability to work faster
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I think there are obvious limitations. If you're shooting by candle light at 1.4 and you have an eye in focus and an ear out of focus, sure this system won't be adequate. But if you're at 5.6 and your actors is walking toward the camera down a long hallway and stopping and starting again? This would be a fast set up that would nail that shot quickly and the actor wouldn't even have to hit their marks exactly. It seems like a great tool and will probably just increase with accuracy over time and future versions.
 
All good points guys, but there's so much more to pulling focus than racking between shots. Timing is everything, and that's where the human element will always win. If you read my original post, I say it's a cool machine, and would be great for certain scenarios, single operators, jibs, car chase, yeah, it's awesome for that. But if I'm on a set shooting between two actors, I want to decide where to put my focus, it could come down to a nuance an actor does spur of the moment that holds my attention when the other is talking, stuff like that. I guess I'm old school, I just hate to see something like this put people out of work. Kind of like self -check out in a grocery store:)
 
hit the button on your right hand to focus to one guy, hit the button on your left hand to focus to the other guy ---> you're much less likely to miss that nuance you're interested in

this is not better than a top-end focus puller, but it will be cheaper once the tech becomes mainstream
 
I stopped by their booth yesterday and I have to admit, I was impressed. One of the first things I asked the girl was if you could set 'offsets' for the sensor and where you really want the plane of focus. Yes you can. She had the sensor taped to the inside back of her T-shirt and had offset the plane of focus to her eyes(several inches in front of the actual sensor). I watched her walk forward and backwards and around continuously with the lens opened to T1.3 and her eyes stayed in focus.

This isn't gonna put good AC's out of work, but it does have it's uses(and limitations). Apparently they've been working on this at least two years and they said this is still a "pre-beta" version.
 
Run&Gun said:
I stopped by their booth yesterday and I have to admit, I was impressed. One of the first things I asked the girl was if you could set 'offsets' for the sensor and where you really want the plane of focus. Yes you can. She had the sensor taped to the inside back of her T-shirt and had offset the plane of focus to her eyes(several inches in front of the actual sensor). I watched her walk forward and backwards and around continuously with the lens opened to T1.3 and her eyes stayed in focus.
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nice
 
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