Help Me Cheat DOF

L

LightningFilms

Active member
Hey,

I'm shooting my first feature, "Repetition of Change" this Sunday the 20th. The scene is a therapist's session with a patient and it's being shot in a friends home office.

Here's a link to a still gallery with some screengrabs from the rehearsal.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22736728@N04/

Because the office is very small, I'm finding it difficult to get the DOF I want. I'm using an out of the box DVX100b so I'm obviously limited, but I still wanted to see if anyone can help suggest ways to cheat the DOF into making it look a little more shallow.

I've also been told my footage is too crisp and harsh. The tone of the movie is dark and depressing. Based on all the screengrabs, can anybody suggest more suitable scene settings. Shooting this Sunday and being incredibly busy, I can't afford to search the forums.

Greatly appreciate the help - and check out the website if you get a chance - http://www.repetitionofchange.com
 
Do you have a small lighting package available to you? I'd suggest eliminating all light from your sets and working your way into a lighting scheme that is more moody.

Getting your set a couple of stops under your character values can help. Working wide open, even if it means getting to the OPEN iris with the ND at 1/8 helps. Add to this the up very close and wide or very long and far cheats and you might get something more acceptable.

As an example, you have the Cutlets photo, where the character lighting is a little more interesting, but the background (kitchen cabinets) is very flat and "ambient". Daylight is great, but without really controlling it, you might suffer from shifting, uncontrolled and certainly unmotivated lighting. If you've got an F4.0 or higher, you'll not get the shallow DOF you want.

I like to approach narrative lighting based on what is happening dramatically in the context of the described location. An INT. FACTORY -- DAY can be bright and clean or dingy, moody and sourcy.

Anyway, to whatever extent possible, get the light coming through your windows under control and then add it back in. Little things like operating your fresnels without the lenses or adding 216 or bounced light can make very dramatic differences to your lighting without adding extra expense. But these decisions should be motivated by the content.

On the camera, I like the MP at -5 or -7, Cine V, Chroma +2. There are some great settings in the back of the HVX book if you can get your hands on it. Also a few threads on settings if you dig around.

e
 
Still attached

Still attached

Erik - thanks for the quick and informative feedback.

Due to the budget of the film, I'm working with (4) 500watt work lights and some diffusion fabrics I picked up from B&H, NYC.

The scenes we're shooting all are at night so lighting the room is entirely up to me. I'm finding it more and more difficult to achieve the look I want.

In rehearsal, I was able to come up with this lighting by setting them on the ground and bouncing them off the oppsite wall of the actors. Do you get dark and gleamy from this?

2185154135_68c67fc484.jpg
 
I get INT. OFFICE (or LIBRARY) -- NIGHT from that. It says "sourcy desk lamp" and it is far better than the other stills if you're looking for moody and dark.

[EDIT] It's probably the JPEG compression, but I think you should also have dropped between 1/2 and 1 full stop on your exposure there. The talent screen right is just a little hot. Just one more thing: if that is your coverage shot, and the camera is static, you might want to allow a little more of the screen left talent into the frame. If it is the single cutaway for the screen right talent, I'd swing around a little more to come over the screen left talent's shoulder. At least splitting the difference. Again, FWIW, based on the one frame you posted![EDIT]

If you're working with 500 watt "broads", which is what those Home Depot lights really are, then I would add a roll or two of BlackWrap to your kit. Without barndoors, this is the best way to really control such wide, hard fixtures. You can even fashion a snoot out of the blackwrap to create really small patterns.

Looks better!

e
 
Last edited:
I agree with overlandfilms here.
Much better.
Like he said, a little black wrap and flags to control it and maybe back it off a bit and you'll be good.
 
Shooting on Sunday - no time to order Blackwrap. Are there any other solutions that I can pick up at say...a Home Depot or Lowes?

I'm assuming it's just a plyable, heat resistant, black alluminum...
 
Heaviest aluminum foil you can find and a can of flat black barbeque paint. Unroll, paint both sides, re-roll. Not perfect, but it'll work.

e
 
Just went to the hardware store and picked up a dozen pieces of 5" x 7" alluminum step flashing and black grill paint. It's not on a roll but I can easily jury rig some barn doors.

Thanks for the DIY tip. I'm sure it will be benefical on Sunday.
 
Josh,

You say F2.8 Z80 at 8ft for closeups.

Would you be able to give me an iris/zoom/distance estimate for mediam shots and two shots?

I like to shoot handheld, never really ripped out the tripod while experimenting with DOF. I will try this. "the background is sitting there, staring you in the face."
 
Just using that as an example, the point is that "perceived" depth of field depends on the iris and the focal length (zoom), such that F2.8 zoomed in can look shallower than F1.7 zoomed out.

For your purposes, back the camera up as far as physically possible, then position the talent about halway between the camera and the background. Zoom in to get your composition/framing. That's about as good as you can do given the circumstances.
 
Yesturdays shoot went great. Took all of your advice and was able to acheive decent DOF. Previously, (pre-DVX days) I used to bang out 10+ scenes on an all day shoot. Because of the DVX, lighting setups, and makeup, I was only able to shoot 5 scenes. I was mad at first, but I'm very happy with the quality - the time we took definitely shows.

Now I have to squeeze in a few more shoot days - someone say something to make me feel better. :undecided
 
I'm glad to hear it went well. I think five scenes a day is way above average, so you're still ahead of the game. I'd love to see a still or two from the latest shoot.
 
if referring to pages of script shot: about 9-10pgs
if referring to pages of stills I shall post: probably around 10 stlls, coming soon
 
I am very intriuged to see this movie now. I really like what your doing with the youtube leaks.

I wouldnt mind seeing some stills.
 
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