Shooting entire film at 90 degree shutter angle

I

icantdotreflips

Member
I am currently in pre-production for a short film I am scheduled to shoot next week. We are shooting on the Epic which will be equipped with Leica lenses. Me and the director have recently been talking about shooting the whole film at a 90 degree shutter angle. I want to know if anyone here has an example of a short they may have shot entirely with a 90 degree shutter. Also if anyone thinks this may be a bad idea, and any reasons why.

Thank you.
 
Why did you guys decide that?

Are you going to test it first or make a decision based on what someone else thinks is a good / bad idea?
 
Besides increasing your exposure by 1/2 stop, the only impact I can think of will be more motion blur at any given frame rate. Whether that is a negative or a positive depends on your aesthetic intent.
 
Actually that's backwards. There will be less exposure and less motion blur; everything will be crisper and more staccato.
 
Barry_Green said:
Actually that's backwards. There will be less exposure and less motion blur; everything will be crisper and more staccato.
Click to expand...

?

hobbit was 270 degree shutter angle for a midway point between 24fps and 48 fps so 90 should be as David says (Razz16mm)
 
Standard shutter is 180 degrees. More degrees = more exposure. 90 degrees = 1/96 at 24fps, vs 180 degrees which gives 1/48. As compared to 1/48, the 1/96 exposure of the 90-degree shutter will cut the exposure by a full stop, and the shorter exposure time will yield less motion blur and therefore choppier, more staccato motion.
 
J Davis said:
?

hobbit was 270 degree shutter angle for a midway point between 24fps and 48 fps so 90 should be as David says (Razz16mm)
Click to expand...
The Hobbit was 270 degrees at 48 fps. That yielded an exposure time halfway between 180 degrees at 24fps (1/48) and 180 degrees at 48 fps (1/96). It was chosen so that motion would look reasonably appropriate in both 24 and 48 fps.

The Hobbit shutter works out to 135 degrees at 24fps, halfway between "normal" and the OP's proposed 90 degrees.

As for the aforementioned Miami Vice/Collateral, IIRC they were 360 degrees.

I can't think offhand of any films shot at 90 degrees. Maybe the beach-storming scene in SPR, but I think that might have been 45 degrees.
 
I'm not completely in love with this idea as it gives you no where to go. If you start at 180 and then suddenly go to a 90 degree shutter angle at a certain part of the story, it gives you a frame of reference and if anything will emphasize the change much more.

I remember seeing someone talking about the best way to make something louder. Most people would think to just turn up that sound louder until you're almost blowing out your speakers, but the real answer was to just make the sounds around it quieter....Draw the audience in a little bit, give them a frame of reference, then dramatically change it. That's what will have an effect on them.
 
RyanT said:
I'm not completely in love with this idea as it gives you no where to go. If you start at 180 and then suddenly go to a 90 degree shutter angle at a certain part of the story, it gives you a frame of reference and if anything will emphasize the change much more.

I remember seeing someone talking about the best way to make something louder. Most people would think to just turn up that sound louder until you're almost blowing out your speakers, but the real answer was to just make the sounds around it quieter....Draw the audience in a little bit, give them a frame of reference, then dramatically change it. That's what will have an effect on them.
Click to expand...

I do spoken word and teach it, this is one of the things I tell students ALL the time. Dynamics are about change, no mater what it is our brains will begin to adapt and normalize input. So changing the input in opposite directions can yield a larger difference. Relates to so many things, speed, light, sound, color, sensory input.
 
ok thanks Barry, So then unless it's for a specific look, it seems like it's of less benefit than just shooting 180 degrees.
 
Seriously, what's the basis for this decision? Not that you shouldn't do it, but why? IT'll be annoying/distracting when you do something that's decidely not trying to get attention, like just paning to the lady picking up her glass of water. audience: "Why did everything stutter when she picked up her glass of water?"
 
If you're doing it just to do it, then it's a bad idea. Decisions in filmmaking, both artistic and technical, resonate from the story and the script.
 
Sorry to revive an old thread -

But I don't understand how shutter angle has anything to do with story or script - what do you mean by that?

Thanks
J
 
Less motion blur feels choppy 'aggressive', more motion blur feels 'dreamy' (or vomit inducing depending on your personal take)

As you can see these looks may be tailored to match the story.

S
 
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