Welcome to all the new subscribers and thank you so much for 1.3k! If you have any ideas for videos you would like, leave them in a comment below. And if you have a question for the weekly Q&A, pop a 'Q' in front of your question so I know :)
Q: Hi Felicia! Great work!!! Probably a dumb question, but, how do you export Export/transcode Dailies for editorial, when you have so many different resolutions and aspect ratios with Red and ARRI? What resolution should be used for the ProRes Dailies? Is it always the same one? And, do you have to leave black bars or letterbox in some cases? I´m a little confuse about that. Thank you! This could be a nice video too, is hard to find precise information about this, I think.
Hi Agustin! This is something I've never really done before actually! I am planning on doing a video series sometime interviewing people in film about their jobs. Ive popped your question aside to maybe include in one of those videos. Just don't want to give any wrong information considering it's something I don't do. :)
Its probably too late but could you slow down a bit when explaining and make it a little more visual like when you talk 3:24 it would have been more clear had you cut to footage that shows what you are saying.
This is the real filmmaking content I wish more channels actually talked about. Why did it take me so long to find this channel, damn you RUclips algorithm. Recommending this to everyone.
Old-style film AC here. I can't imagine pulling focus by monitor. One of my methods for pulling on fast action, when I couldn't look at the focus dial - I would position my fingers at the major focus points on the dial, then feel when my fingers were passing that position. Very often laying numerous floor marks for the dolly or actor is futile, because you can't watch the actor and lens marks simultaneously. Just get the major positions and "feel" the distance between marks. Its like synchronizing your follow focus motion with the action. One memorable shoot was a car commercial in which the cars were fast driving down a runway toward camera on a long lens. I was the 2nd and sat far off on the side of the runway counting down to the 1st on a radio as the car passed successive markers on the side. It took a long time to set marks on the focus dial, but the focus was great throughout the shoot, and the 1st AC was grateful and congratulatory.
yes I pulled for 20+ years before monitors ever arrived on set. But, I find that so much today is shot, no rehearsal and improv that monitors become practical. (they have other advantages too like walk and talk 2-3 shots as one can see the "focus splits" rather than constantly calculating
Great video. I’ve been in camera dept. for about 25 years, pulling focus most of that time. Started on film with video taps and at least a little stop to work with. It seems like the concept of getting marks is a throw back to a time when there was more appreciation for the craft of getting a shot. I feel like most DP’s I work with now shoot WIDE OPEN, and you have no stop whatsoever. So even knowing or hitting a mark won’t be tack sharp. I probably sound like a grumpy old dude, but it seems like modern sets move very fast, and you pretty much have to pull off a monitor. I almost never pull a tape or disto anymore, there’s just no time allotted. At best an operator might give me a chance to get a few marks on my follow focus. It’s also funny to think that I can’t remember the last time I pulled next to camera off a studio FF.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Geoff! I totally agree with you. Things move so quickly now that it's rare to be able to get proper marks and not have to pull from a monitor. Personally I think pulling from marks and judging distances are still good skills to learn early on. Hopefully those skills don't disappear anytime soon. It's an absolute art, pulling focus.
@@flickcine For sure. Sometimes you need to advocate to get marks. I can think of a shot within the last year. Talent walking up from about 20 yards away to a close up. We gotta go go go. First couple takes the director says "it's kind of buzz-y". You think?! Then I had to insist we get marks and have someone call them out for me. I think that the unspoken attitude now it that AC's have these nice bright, sharp monitors, so just do your job and pull focus. It seems like so many situations have a dynamic camera (slider, steadicam, hand held), so marks are just kind of a starting point and you've got to be on your toes. Don't get me started with vintage glass, that's never totally sharp - ha! Great tip about peaking. It's super helpful, but can fool you. "Are you sharp"? "Looks sharp to me, but I have the peaking cranked"! Oops.
Funnest time being an ENG/doco operator, pulling your own focus as you operate, no marks, no time to prep, whilst you are also running/walking and pulling iris and zoom.... It has taught me some great muscle memory, but I'm kinda shit at pulling focus on anything else that doesn't use that muscle memory. /rant I have watched people pull off the monitor on a large commercial wondering "how do they know" thinking they must just be very expert. Turns out most of the footage was soft with just 1 sec here and there that were in focus (but it didnt matter as it was shot in slow-mo and that 1 sec was 3sec of screen time)
Over/Under or "Figure-8" also reduces the Heterodyne effect. Over/Over actually starts to create an electromagnet which can introduce hum or signal interference with Audio or Video cables. For power cables... not so much of a worry. This was in reference to the question at the end of the focus pulling video.
Having been a 1st AC for 40 years I am happy to see an advocate for using traditional focus marks, a disappearing skill, rather than working off a monitor, which is at best reactive, and not as useful as a successful method. The advent of digital filmmaking has its advantages for production, but also many disadvantages for focuspullers, the seduction of the hd monitor being only one,
Can’t change 3D space 😮 ask mansions or framers if the build by eye doubtful by time they reach opposite corner or frame it off 6” oops so yes great idea to get a reference mark to base and triangulate the newer generations like video game effect I need to do both to ensure I have idea where action supposed to be - actors not hit marks is another video alone
Got this video on my recommended feed and I'm so happy I did. Learned so much about focus pulling and the tech around these lenses that I never even thought of!
'stumbled' across this, as a budding cinematographer / operator who is crap at distance approximation. what an informative & amiable presentation style. my wife walked into the room and watched for a moment, then said "you know how you sometimes take a look at someone and within seconds know that they must be lovely?" and i absolutely agree. thank you for this. duly subscribed.
Looked up “focus pulling” because I was curious and I’d heard the term before - never done any filming, but this was very informative and easy to understand!
the problem with peaking is that, if you don't have good contrast on your supposed focus subject, you won't see peaking even if the subject is dead sharp
hey, an ENG editor here! just wanted to say this helped tremendously with learning how to AC. it's probably the hardest aspect of videography/camera work for me
Very useful for people starting 👍 In my days we had no Internet and NO MONITORS ! Video assist was B/W and just about ok for framing. We had to either measure, if there was time or eyeball it. I also used to take in consideration the aperture. If it was T8 or above on 50mm or even 85mm it wasn't as critical as at T2 obviously.
Over over adds a half twist per loop. Over under adds a half twist one way and a half twist the other way. Over under on an electrical cable that’s plugged in also removes any inductive current that otherwise would become a tiny electromagnet.
Really good video... especially the suggestion to mark the lens when there is play in the follow focus wheel. I'm using vintage Canon FD lenses... soft image, great glass.
I love your advice, I'm trying to follow all of that to my best abilities. This "pulling on the lens, looking at the action more than your monitor" way is how I learned and I love working that way, but since a few years I find the role of 1st AC being pushed further and further back and even with insisting that I'd prefer not, some DP put the focus puller so far from the action, sometimes in another room even, no rehearsals, relying only on a small wireless monitor alone in my small office while the 2nd AC takes the role of "camera protector/ relieving weight from DP" because he is in the room with the action slating. Do you also experience this shift in the practice on set? If yes how do you feel/go about it?
first time understanding how to pull focus. ive always wondered how can a CA be so precise at pulling focus when they have a trully close shot and need to focus something far away. I thought they just... pull/guess till they get there lol. this was extremely helpful thanks
Great video! I just discovered your channel you've got a new sub! I am doing my first gig as a 1st AC and i'm a bit nervous about the focus pulling aspect so this really helped. 😅I've been working as a freelance videographer for a long time so i'm used to doing everything by myself. Been graduating into larger sets. I see the key is to keep practicing!
"Q" Thank you for this! Recently I got my first gig as 1ac/focus puller/everything else. Whe were using canon photography lens and a wireless follow focus and I can properly say that I hit better mark with my hands than with the follow focus, I don't know why I just felt it more "organic" hahaha it's hard to explain. I would love to hear your opinion.
I remember my teacher telling me about an AC on NCIS when he was in his early career. The director was running through the first shot going over what would happen and said “then will have this steadicam shot with an 85mm at F1” to which the veteran AC through his hands and the air and walked of yelling “F1 on an 85? This guys insane”. I thankfully the director took the hint and changed up. That AC knew his shit and wasn’t afraid to tell the director he was mad.
Whenever im shooting between 1.4 and 2 on a long lens i do a sort of hybrid method. You look at key points in the scene ie walks or whatever, then you use the monitor to keep them sharp when you're tight on the face. Its hard to get used too, but i feel as though its the only way i can survive with those ridiculously narrow depths of field. PS. DPs are tryna kill us with all of this 1.4 shit
Hey great timing! I’m doing my first full length film as the first AC. And we were gonna be shooting on Cooks but we were getting vignetting on the Red Dragon 6k. So we decided to go with SLR style Zise Primes. Oh joy! It’s been interesting. I’m Pretty much solely having to pull from monitor. Getting distance marks have been pointless because there’s almost no marks on the lenses. 😭 Great video! Been loving your channel.
a- I've found another technique- use an sir camera to help determine distance (ie, use an old film camera with a 50mm or 135mm to determine the distance) b- looking forward to doing this on a 16mm camera...
Thank you for such an informative video as a young film student this stuff is highly valuable! I am trying to understand because I see a lot of focus pullers seemingly writing the numbers for the whole lens? As opposed to just doing a couple of marks for actors etc as you are. I am confused as to what you are meant to do? Would appreciate any help
A Leica Disto (properly used, under "normal" conditions) should be accurate to a mm or two. I have a less expensive Bosch laser "tape" that I compared with a metal measuring tape, and it was consistently accurate to 1/16 of an inch (1.59mm) from a few inches up to 20ish feet (7m). Obviously, you can't shoot the laser in an actor's eye, and maybe stuff like hair and clothing could throw off the optical measurement if it's other than solid, but generally, you should get the same measurement from a Disto as a measuring tape. What I did was to lay a tape on the floor with the end at a wall, then slid the unit along the tape taking different measurements and confirming that the laser agreed with the tape. I was surprised how well it worked considering it's measuring the time the pulse takes at the speed of light over a short distance!
Agree with you there! That's kind of what I meant by "not the most accurate" because of how you have to measure actors (without blinding them 😂) I used to measure to the cheek. But never really used a laser for focus critical closeups, much preferred a tape and gathered a range of movement. Lasers are a great and very important part of a kit!
I think your advice applies for studio sets and shoots when there's planned, rehearsed action. I work on tight, fast paced corporate film shoots and there's never time to even think about marks: look at the monitor, pull your focus and good luck with it. Once a studio-oriented AC came in, tried taking his nice measurements with his laser and metal tape and it was a disaster! Poor guy, he didn't hit a single sharp take for some of the actions. My recommendation would be, no matter how accurate you take your marks: always look at your monitor.
Q: Hi Felicia, do you have any focus pulling tips for using less professional DSLR lenses without measurements? I've only ever used the monitor to visually assess focus pulls, so I'm not sure if there's a better way to do it when you don't have anything to mark? Is there still a point to measuring the physical distance? Thanks!!
DSLR lenses aren't really designed for cinema and as such, they don't really have a lot of or very precise witness marks. Your best bet is probably using the Monitor for DSLR lenses
You say to watch the action and not the monitor, but what if your aperture is wide open and the subject leans in or moves around with exaggerated movement? We’re talking inches here, right? I ran into this issue just last night. I was operating and pulling focus so obviously my face was in the monitor. But for a focus puller, how do people keep focus while just watching the action? Especially handheld.
Q Your teaching and channel are phenomenal. Thank you. I have a more basic question about focus. I use a Sony FS700R and am beginning to manual focus. Is there an f stop that is the sweat spot for pulling focus? I understand F 1.8 is very hard to pull and F 18 has almost no pull. I was wondering if there is a certain stop that gives a good median between a shallow depth of field and everything being in focus. I shoot mostly motocross racing and try to keep one racer in focus as he is moving pretty quickly. Maybe 45 mph. Thank you kindly for a response. Cheers
Sorry for the delay! Thanks for the kind words :) I'd say about 4.0 would be a good stop. Also kind of depends on the focal length. A longer focal length will get you some shallower depth too. I don't have any experience shooting motorcross so wouldn't have much valuable advice on a stop for that sort of motion but if it was very quick I would maybe go to 5.6 or 8. Might take a little bit of testing to get the desired results! 👍
im 6ft tall. i will literally sometimes just spread my arms near the camera and use that muscle memory to help me gauge how far the subject seems to me. usually i use a laser tho yah
Thanks for answering my question! Even though I haven't really 1st AC'ed, I didn't know it was bad to rely on the monitor! I know certainly within the digital age, people start to rely on technology and less on the traditional way of doing. Will remember that if I get to that point in my career, to look at the action, thanks for the tips! :)
Im a dumb. My question is once you have a mesurment how do you know your even in focus. would aperture come into it? Then i saw the mesurment marks on the lenses. Ohhhhhhh. And i went to film school. Fml.
I just subbed because I finished The Queen's Gambit and the DP for the series was a focus puller on a lot of Spielberg projects. You can tell when watching it that he worked on camera crews because of how dynamic the shots were and a fantastic use of variable focus in scenes. I fucked up the opening shot for my first film in school on a Bolex with a prime lens on a push-in shot. Blurry AF.
thank you very much. I've been looking for video on focus pulling for a long time now. I hope you're gonna post more videos on the subject. how the understand focus plane and pull focus at right time ? of course depending on the aperture
Thanks for watching! I will attempt to maybe make more videos on focus but as it's not my job, I prefer to have experts come and explain things. The current plan is to have someone who is a professional focus puller explain the more complicated things and give their point of view :)
Hi, Felicia, thank you for the great work! Learned some focus pulling basics from your video :). I have a question. I am a small mirrorless camera user (GH5) and have a still lens that has some cinema hard stop mimic feature (Sigma 18-35mm. It has a semi-hard stop). The camera's auto-focus isn't that great and I want to start learning focus pulling. I have been debating on whether to get a passive follow focus (e.g.: Fotga DP500III with rails) or an active wireless follow focus (Tilta nano). Do you have any suggestions? Would these be overkill for a small camera system？
Got an 1st AC gig tomorrow. Gonna need to get myself a fabric measuring tape after this! This is going to help me a lot. I am relatively new to this but I have a few jobs coming up which is scary. I had an email about how they are going to do a lot of dynamic handheld shots and if I’m comfortable with that. Told them I am okay with it but if I need anything I’ll ask them. I didn’t want to undersell my abilities but I also don’t want to over compensate either. Trying not to let my imposter syndrome get the best of me but that’s the hardest part to get past. I was lucky enough to go to a high school with the technology to support me on my ventures. I’m still learning and have a long way to go but trusting myself is the first step.
Hey jo, hope you’re well and have overcome the fear or “imposter syndrome” that you were battling 8 months ago. I’m currently facing the same feeling and your comment really made me feel better. I’ve been pulling focus off & on for the past 3-4 years yet now that I’ve finally landed at commercial where I’ll be 1st with no other of my peers around to help or ask questions to, I’m kind of freaking out but knowing myself, I know that that’s the way I like to learn and actually have the information stick.
Hey, quick question about something I don’t think you explained completely in the video. At about 1m20s you mention measuring from the sensor plane, then a bit later at about 2m30 you mime measuring a distance diagonally. If you measure diagonally do you then use trigonometry to work out the focus distance? (i.e. the perpendicular distance from the sensor plane to the parallel plane that the subject is in.) Or do you just measure the perpendicular distance straight off, estimating which plane the subject is in? For example, say you’re trying to set the focus distance for a subject that is 1m in front of the camera and 2m off to the side. If you measure diagonally from the camera to the subject you’ll get about 2.2m, but the focus distance should really be only 1m. How do you work with those situations?
At 2mins 30 I'm not meant to be measuring anything, it was more an example of the type of measuring tape, not a way to measure if that makes sense. No math, there shouldn't be very much if any difference between marks from the centre of a frame and the edge of a frame however a lot of lenses are not sharp edge to edge so sometimes things may be different at the edge of frame. :) Hope this helps!
Basically to keep a subject in focus for example the subject if 6 ft away from the camera and the mark on thr cine lens has to be the same to keep things in Focus ?
@@flickcine Was pretty stunned how they create depth and get distance between objects unlike a lot of Zeiss which rather flatten the image. Maybe one day I can buy a Cooke.
It's definitely good practice to understand how to measure for marks, but with the quality of monitors today it's unrealistic to say they're not reliable to grab marks off of. I've been pulling basically 80% off only monitor for the last 4 years, and rarely is it a disadvantage. With the pace the shows I work on move at, if I pulled out a tape measure Of surely be strung up. Encourage an understanding of depth of field, because that is no doubt an essential ingredient to a successful 1st AC, but don't imply incompetence of AC's that trust their monitors. Why waste time measuring when you can look at a screen and tell if it's in focus or not?
Ah I think there might be a slight misunderstanding here. I'm not implying incompetence at all. And if that's what came across, my apologies, that was not intended. This video is for complete beginners to get them used to the methods used and I completely agree with what you're saying. What I'm saying is understanding the space is the best method to get used to and practice, because when it comes to pulling from a monitor you have that skill backing you up and can easily adapt. Maybe I didn't explain it as clearly as I could have, in the scheme of things this video is quite old, I'm getting better at presenting and RUclips isn't my full time job 😅 Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I do agree with you completely. Have a good one!
Hi Felicia ! Great Video ! I have a question. Once the distance of the subject has been measured to the phi sign on the camera with a tape, how does x mm translate to the correct dial on the lens wheel ? Or do i just wheel the dial until i find the focus and mark the dial ? Thank-you !
You can definitely just find the focus and mark the dial if you're short on time. However If you're taking measurements, there is a small line/mark on the lens that indicates the distance the lens is focused to. This mark is very likely to be on the left and right sides of the lens, sometimes that can change though. But cinema lenses have the marks on their sides. So you move the focus wheel until you're at the appropriate measurement on the lens, at this point you can also double check on a monitor to see the focus is correct, and then you mark that on your focus wheel dial. If you notice that you have definitely measured a distance, let's say 3ft. Then you've pulled the focus to the marking on the lens that says 3ft and it is still not in focus then there may be an issue with the lens so it is worth checking the measurements again to be sure then getting the lens checked over by a technician. That's all usually done during gear prep before the job though. :) Hope this answered your question!
Great video flick 😊 you have the perfect voice for tutorials 😁💯👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 can you still pull focus manually with just using the built in lens wheel or do you need to have a dedicated focus pulling device ? P.s none of your links to your other socials are working 🙃
Thanks so much for the kind words! You can but using a follow focus allows you to turn your hand less to do a longer pull if that makes sense. It's also much more comfortable! Yeaaaah I am aware, unfortunately RUclips doesn't make it easy to change links over all videos and I've got.... So many. You can find me at @flickcine on instagram. I rarely use twitter but it's the same as insta handle :)
Did anyone notice that this video was shot with autofocus and the camera hunted for a bit at some parts? Just funny to notice, not meant in a negative way :) I'm here to learn, and these are golden tips!
Thank you, great :) So, if you pull focuse... Do you watch your monitor, or do u guess the distance and watch the actor? Another question, do you put Marks on your focuse ring, with the distance range of your Lens, and aditionally marks for the Action?
You watch the monitor and the action. And not necessarily guessing distance. You would measure but then you can guess if the actor misses their mark. But if you know the measurements you took instead of turning on peaking and using the monitor only, you shouldn't have much of a hard time finding the mark :) You can definitely pre-mark your focus rings with the lens marks to suit a specific lens. You can even do one per lens. Then just use a different coloured marker to show your action.
Even though this wasn’t exactly mentioned in the video, I feel like this is a logical assumption, but is the general idea here that you should use a tape measure when working with cine lenses so that the measurement you take from the actor or object to be focused on can be then used to rotate the focus ring to the mark that denotes exactly the same distance or closest one to it, which can then be represented on the follow focus, therefore meaning the lens is in the best possible setting for spot-on critical focus, rather than just being in the ballpark? By the way, who does what in the measuring process? Does the 2nd AC hold out the tape out for the 1st, while the 1st matches the focus on the lens and marks it? This raises another question. I imagine they probably don’t present this problem given how much more expensive cine lenses generally are compared to photography lenses, but are the markings on focus rings always properly calibrated or have there been any situations where you’ve found the focus to not quite be perfectly sharp as it should be, even when you’ve exactly matched the distance and the corresponding focus marking, leading to you having to offset the focus ring to compensate? As for the follow focuses themselves, what particular models tend to be used on large productions in professional cinema rigs? I’ve also heard about cranks and whips - in what situations are these used? Since the zoom and iris rings always seem to be geared just like the focus ring is, are there instances where you would fit a follow focus to these as well so that they can be ‘pulled’ in the same manner or would they always just be rotated by hand directly? Finally, I only got to work up close with cine lenses for the first time a couple of days ago and the way the focus ring distances are marked confused me. There seemed to be two sets of markings on the barrel in opposing directions, if I recall correctly. Could you explain how focus distance should be read and whether the centreline of the barrel at the top is where the desired focus distance should be rotated to? They were all Zeiss primes, but I’m assuming this will be standard across all cine lenses. I appreciate that I’ve asked many questions there. I started out with one and than many others came to mind as I was typing! I would be very grateful for answers to any of these. Could you possibly make a video on how a 2nd AC should place marks and the conventions that go with that?
Heya Aaron! Thanks for taking the time to make a comment :) Yeah, taking measurements from the sensor plane to your subject and then moving the focus ring to that measurement is the general practice. However it is important to check that your lenses are accurate when you are doing a gear check before the job even begins. That way, you know you can trust your measurements. Ballpark measurements are great to get used to when you're doing projects with limited time to sit down and get actual marks, but you can make time to get marks without actors too, there are ways around it to be able to get the marks you need. Knowing ballpark figures is also good when the action may change mid-take and you have to freestyle a little. The markings on lenses in theory are accurate, but when you pair them with different cameras things can change slightly. Over time lenses can also become less accurate through wear and tear but that can be fixed and calibrated quite easily by pulling the lens apart and adding or removing things called shims. There can also be shims in the lens mounts of most cameras too. All this gets done in the gear check though so it shouldn't be an issue on set provided a thorough gear check was done. :) I did a video on gear checks too if you haven't seen it yet! Follow focus typically used on set would be the Arri Follow Focus. Usually the model FF-4, that one is quite common. They're beautifully smooth to use. Cranks - used when you need to make a VERY quick or longer distance pull. The crank is a right angle handle which makes it easy to pull fast and to pull a large distance without straining your hand. Whips - if you need to be further away from camera for any reason and/or not holding directly onto it so your movement or potential movement doesn't disrupt the camera movement. For example, on a dolly or easyrig. Instances where you would use the iris and zoom gears - Often you would use them with electronic gears to make a gradual iris pull if doing a tracking shot from say a dark room to harsh light outside. You can also attach motors to the zoom gear to get crash zooms or gradual zooms that are very mechanical. It's how that stereotypical Tarantino crash zoom is done and the dolly zoom move. I suppose you could do a similar thing by hand but it's almost always using geared motors. Two sets of marks? Hmmm, which lenses were these? Is it possible they were marked in ft and metres? There should be a line that doesn't move on the assistant's side (right side of the camera, typically). That is were you line up your focus marks when you pull focus. Hope this answers what you're asking! :D
Felicia Smith Thanks so much for answering my very lengthy questions. Your answers are a great insight for me. There was just one question in amongst all of that about who does what when it comes to measuring that you didn’t answer. I‘m pretty sure the lenses were Zeiss CP.2 primes, judging by photos of those models. There are markings on the very front of the barrel and then another set behind the focus gear. Is the line you’re referring to the one on the lens or on camera bodies? Speaking of lines, the two cinema cameras I have experience with, the URSA Mini and Canon C300, don’t seem to have any mark for the focus plane. Is it accurate enough to assume the start of the measuring tape should be at a depth slightly behind the sensor opening on the side in these cases? Do you think you could make a video at some point covering all that a 2nd AC needs to know about marks for blocking and focusing? Thanks very much for your video about slating. There’s really not that many comprehensive videos that I can find on here about slating that cover several different systems used in different regions in so much depth. Do you have any experience of clapper boards with timecode displays at all?
Felicia Smith Hi again, Sorry to pester you, but did you see my reply? I just had a few more questions I’m very keen to know the answer to. Thanks again for your thorough explanations!
@@aaronm9353 Aaron Martin oh my gosh! Sorry I didn't get a notification. So the 1st AC will pull the focus during a shot, the 2nd AC will assist in getting measurements if required by holding the measuring tape to the point needing to be focused on or sometimes quickly standing in for an actor. Is that what you were asking there? Hmmm CP.2 primes. From memory I believe there is another witness mark on the other side of the lens. A witness mark is the indicator of where the focus is on the lens, that's the line on the lens. So you would use the other witness mark if you need to read it from the other side of the camera... does that make sense. It's a little hard to explain without looking. The line on the camera is the sensor plane line, that's indicated by a circle with a vertical line through it and you'll find it on pretty much every camera. The ursa and the c300 should definitely have a sensor plane mark. When measuring focus the tape should be at that sensor plane mark, that would be accurate. :) As for another video, it's on the cards but not sure when I'll get that one out!
Welcome to all the new subscribers and thank you so much for 1.3k!
If you have any ideas for videos you would like, leave them in a comment below. And if you have a question for the weekly Q&A, pop a 'Q' in front of your question so I know :)
Q: Hi Felicia! Great work!!! Probably a dumb question, but, how do you export Export/transcode Dailies for editorial, when you have so many different resolutions and aspect ratios with Red and ARRI? What resolution should be used for the ProRes Dailies? Is it always the same one? And, do you have to leave black bars or letterbox in some cases? I´m a little confuse about that. Thank you! This could be a nice video too, is hard to find precise information about this, I think.
Hi Agustin! This is something I've never really done before actually! I am planning on doing a video series sometime interviewing people in film about their jobs. Ive popped your question aside to maybe include in one of those videos. Just don't want to give any wrong information considering it's something I don't do. :)
@@flickcine Thank you for the reply : )
make a vedio for how to get a prefect focus without flo (mistakes)
Its probably too late but could you slow down a bit when explaining and make it a little more visual like when you talk 3:24 it would have been more clear had you cut to footage that shows what you are saying.
This is the real filmmaking content I wish more channels actually talked about. Why did it take me so long to find this channel, damn you RUclips algorithm. Recommending this to everyone.
Thanks, Aaron! Appreciate it!
Old-style film AC here. I can't imagine pulling focus by monitor. One of my methods for pulling on fast action, when I couldn't look at the focus dial - I would position my fingers at the major focus points on the dial, then feel when my fingers were passing that position. Very often laying numerous floor marks for the dolly or actor is futile, because you can't watch the actor and lens marks simultaneously. Just get the major positions and "feel" the distance between marks. Its like synchronizing your follow focus motion with the action. One memorable shoot was a car commercial in which the cars were fast driving down a runway toward camera on a long lens. I was the 2nd and sat far off on the side of the runway counting down to the 1st on a radio as the car passed successive markers on the side. It took a long time to set marks on the focus dial, but the focus was great throughout the shoot, and the 1st AC was grateful and congratulatory.
yes I pulled for 20+ years before monitors ever arrived on set. But, I find that so much today is shot, no rehearsal and improv that monitors become practical. (they have other advantages too like walk and talk 2-3 shots as one can see the "focus splits" rather than constantly calculating
So happy you're doing this. So valuable for people like me trying to get into the camera department! cant thank you enough
You are very welcome, Jacob! Glad you're finding the videos helpful!
Great video. I’ve been in camera dept. for about 25 years, pulling focus most of that time. Started on film with video taps and at least a little stop to work with. It seems like the concept of getting marks is a throw back to a time when there was more appreciation for the craft of getting a shot. I feel like most DP’s I work with now shoot WIDE OPEN, and you have no stop whatsoever. So even knowing or hitting a mark won’t be tack sharp. I probably sound like a grumpy old dude, but it seems like modern sets move very fast, and you pretty much have to pull off a monitor. I almost never pull a tape or disto anymore, there’s just no time allotted. At best an operator might give me a chance to get a few marks on my follow focus. It’s also funny to think that I can’t remember the last time I pulled next to camera off a studio FF.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Geoff! I totally agree with you. Things move so quickly now that it's rare to be able to get proper marks and not have to pull from a monitor. Personally I think pulling from marks and judging distances are still good skills to learn early on. Hopefully those skills don't disappear anytime soon. It's an absolute art, pulling focus.
@@flickcine For sure. Sometimes you need to advocate to get marks. I can think of a shot within the last year. Talent walking up from about 20 yards away to a close up. We gotta go go go. First couple takes the director says "it's kind of buzz-y". You think?! Then I had to insist we get marks and have someone call them out for me. I think that the unspoken attitude now it that AC's have these nice bright, sharp monitors, so just do your job and pull focus. It seems like so many situations have a dynamic camera (slider, steadicam, hand held), so marks are just kind of a starting point and you've got to be on your toes. Don't get me started with vintage glass, that's never totally sharp - ha! Great tip about peaking. It's super helpful, but can fool you. "Are you sharp"? "Looks sharp to me, but I have the peaking cranked"! Oops.
Funnest time being an ENG/doco operator, pulling your own focus as you operate, no marks, no time to prep, whilst you are also running/walking and pulling iris and zoom.... It has taught me some great muscle memory, but I'm kinda shit at pulling focus on anything else that doesn't use that muscle memory. /rant
I have watched people pull off the monitor on a large commercial wondering "how do they know" thinking they must just be very expert. Turns out most of the footage was soft with just 1 sec here and there that were in focus (but it didnt matter as it was shot in slow-mo and that 1 sec was 3sec of screen time)
Ralph Wiggum: "I'm a cinnamontographer!"
😂😂😂
I've heard "Cinnamontoastology" before lol.
"Hello cinematographer Chalmers"
Over/Under or "Figure-8" also reduces the Heterodyne effect. Over/Over actually starts to create an electromagnet which can introduce hum or signal interference with Audio or Video cables. For power cables... not so much of a worry. This was in reference to the question at the end of the focus pulling video.
Having been a 1st AC for 40 years I am happy to see an advocate for using traditional focus marks, a disappearing skill, rather than working off a monitor, which is at best reactive, and not as useful as a successful method. The advent of digital filmmaking has its advantages for production, but also many disadvantages for focuspullers, the seduction of the hd monitor being only one,
Can’t change 3D space 😮 ask mansions or framers if the build by eye doubtful by time they reach opposite corner or frame it off 6” oops so yes great idea to get a reference mark to base and triangulate the newer generations like video game effect I need to do both to ensure I have idea where action supposed to be - actors not hit marks is another video alone
Got this video on my recommended feed and I'm so happy I did. Learned so much about focus pulling and the tech around these lenses that I never even thought of!
So glad you enjoyed, Greg!!
'stumbled' across this, as a budding cinematographer / operator who is crap at distance approximation. what an informative & amiable presentation style. my wife walked into the room and watched for a moment, then said "you know how you sometimes take a look at someone and within seconds know that they must be lovely?" and i absolutely agree. thank you for this. duly subscribed.
Awwww that's so nice! Thanks so much 😊
@@flickcine and now i start on the binge of all your videos. this is already great. so glad there are resources like this available.
@@halsinden 😂 enjoy!!
Looked up “focus pulling” because I was curious and I’d heard the term before - never done any filming, but this was very informative and easy to understand!
You are such a great teacher. Thanks for this amazing video, could watch you explain for hours.
the problem with peaking is that, if you don't have good contrast on your supposed focus subject, you won't see peaking even if the subject is dead sharp
hey, an ENG editor here! just wanted to say this helped tremendously with learning how to AC. it's probably the hardest aspect of videography/camera work for me
Finally, someone who has their FF knob on the right side of the camera. I always wondered why everyone has it on the left side of the camera.
I learned this from my film school, but I'm glad it's getting easier for people to simply learn!
Very useful for people starting 👍 In my days we had no Internet and NO MONITORS ! Video assist was B/W and just about ok for framing. We had to either measure, if there was time or eyeball it. I also used to take in consideration the aperture. If it was T8 or above on 50mm or even 85mm it wasn't as critical as at T2 obviously.
Over over adds a half twist per loop. Over under adds a half twist one way and a half twist the other way. Over under on an electrical cable that’s plugged in also removes any inductive current that otherwise would become a tiny electromagnet.
Hi felica....
Im very thankful to u about ur tutorial.... Thank you so much.... Keep doing these type of tutorias....🙂🙂
Really good video... especially the suggestion to mark the lens when there is play in the follow focus wheel. I'm using vintage Canon FD lenses... soft image, great glass.
Good for stills lenses too, even though many don’t have distance markers on the focus ring. Using a “hard stop” followfocus rig is important here.
I love your advice, I'm trying to follow all of that to my best abilities. This "pulling on the lens, looking at the action more than your monitor" way is how I learned and I love working that way, but since a few years I find the role of 1st AC being pushed further and further back and even with insisting that I'd prefer not, some DP put the focus puller so far from the action, sometimes in another room even, no rehearsals, relying only on a small wireless monitor alone in my small office while the 2nd AC takes the role of "camera protector/ relieving weight from DP" because he is in the room with the action slating. Do you also experience this shift in the practice on set? If yes how do you feel/go about it?
first time understanding how to pull focus. ive always wondered how can a CA be so precise at pulling focus when they have a trully close shot and need to focus something far away. I thought they just... pull/guess till they get there lol. this was extremely helpful thanks
Please make cinnamon lens a thing lol
like a t shirt or something
🤣
Great content and very nice way of presenting it! Love your way of explaining - very authentic.
Great video! I just discovered your channel you've got a new sub! I am doing my first gig as a 1st AC and i'm a bit nervous about the focus pulling aspect so this really helped. 😅I've been working as a freelance videographer for a long time so i'm used to doing everything by myself. Been graduating into larger sets. I see the key is to keep practicing!
"Q"
Thank you for this! Recently I got my first gig as 1ac/focus puller/everything else. Whe were using canon photography lens and a wireless follow focus and I can properly say that I hit better mark with my hands than with the follow focus, I don't know why I just felt it more "organic" hahaha it's hard to explain.
I would love to hear your opinion.
I remember my teacher telling me about an AC on NCIS when he was in his early career.
The director was running through the first shot going over what would happen and said “then will have this steadicam shot with an 85mm at F1” to which the veteran AC through his hands and the air and walked of yelling “F1 on an 85? This guys insane”. I thankfully the director took the hint and changed up. That AC knew his shit and wasn’t afraid to tell the director he was mad.
Love this channel - Flick rocks! Keep up the great work.
I learnt more from this than the camera assistant short course I did at AFTRS six years ago
Oh for real?! Thanks! That's quite a compliment. Glad you enjoyed the video. 😊
Helpful high level tips. The dots help!
Whenever im shooting between 1.4 and 2 on a long lens i do a sort of hybrid method. You look at key points in the scene ie walks or whatever, then you use the monitor to keep them sharp when you're tight on the face.
Its hard to get used too, but i feel as though its the only way i can survive with those ridiculously narrow depths of field.
PS. DPs are tryna kill us with all of this 1.4 shit
Hey great timing! I’m doing my first full length film as the first AC. And we were gonna be shooting on Cooks but we were getting vignetting on the Red Dragon 6k. So we decided to go with SLR style Zise Primes. Oh joy! It’s been interesting.
I’m Pretty much solely having to pull from monitor. Getting distance marks have been pointless because there’s almost no marks on the lenses. 😭
Great video! Been loving your channel.
Oh wow. Best of luck, Nick!
Felicia Smith Thanks! Gonna need it for the rest of the shoot.
@@nicklong7442 I feel the pain. I shot a Series on SLR lenses. My god it's a nightmare. Even if you set marks they're never fixed so it's pointless.
The cinnamon-tography joke started here! Way ahead of our time, flick!!!
a- I've found another technique- use an sir camera to help determine distance (ie, use an old film camera with a 50mm or 135mm to determine the distance)
b- looking forward to doing this on a 16mm camera...
Wow, the practical approach was so smart.
Great explanation...It was truly a brilliant tutorial. Thanks a lot
Thank you for such an informative video as a young film student this stuff is highly valuable! I am trying to understand because I see a lot of focus pullers seemingly writing the numbers for the whole lens? As opposed to just doing a couple of marks for actors etc as you are. I am confused as to what you are meant to do? Would appreciate any help
A Leica Disto (properly used, under "normal" conditions) should be accurate to a mm or two. I have a less expensive Bosch laser "tape" that I compared with a metal measuring tape, and it was consistently accurate to 1/16 of an inch (1.59mm) from a few inches up to 20ish feet (7m). Obviously, you can't shoot the laser in an actor's eye, and maybe stuff like hair and clothing could throw off the optical measurement if it's other than solid, but generally, you should get the same measurement from a Disto as a measuring tape. What I did was to lay a tape on the floor with the end at a wall, then slid the unit along the tape taking different measurements and confirming that the laser agreed with the tape. I was surprised how well it worked considering it's measuring the time the pulse takes at the speed of light over a short distance!
Agree with you there! That's kind of what I meant by "not the most accurate" because of how you have to measure actors (without blinding them 😂) I used to measure to the cheek. But never really used a laser for focus critical closeups, much preferred a tape and gathered a range of movement. Lasers are a great and very important part of a kit!
I think your advice applies for studio sets and shoots when there's planned, rehearsed action. I work on tight, fast paced corporate film shoots and there's never time to even think about marks: look at the monitor, pull your focus and good luck with it. Once a studio-oriented AC came in, tried taking his nice measurements with his laser and metal tape and it was a disaster! Poor guy, he didn't hit a single sharp take for some of the actions. My recommendation would be, no matter how accurate you take your marks: always look at your monitor.
Sounds like the better advice is knowing what techniques to use for the shoot you’re working on.
Q: Hi Felicia, do you have any focus pulling tips for using less professional DSLR lenses without measurements? I've only ever used the monitor to visually assess focus pulls, so I'm not sure if there's a better way to do it when you don't have anything to mark? Is there still a point to measuring the physical distance? Thanks!!
DSLR lenses aren't really designed for cinema and as such, they don't really have a lot of or very precise witness marks. Your best bet is probably using the Monitor for DSLR lenses
Great content. Thank you for putting this out there!
You say to watch the action and not the monitor, but what if your aperture is wide open and the subject leans in or moves around with exaggerated movement? We’re talking inches here, right? I ran into this issue just last night. I was operating and pulling focus so obviously my face was in the monitor. But for a focus puller, how do people keep focus while just watching the action? Especially handheld.
Q Your teaching and channel are phenomenal. Thank you. I have a more basic question about focus. I use a Sony FS700R and am beginning to manual focus. Is there an f stop that is the sweat spot for pulling focus? I understand F 1.8 is very hard to pull and F 18 has almost no pull. I was wondering if there is a certain stop that gives a good median between a shallow depth of field and everything being in focus. I shoot mostly motocross racing and try to keep one racer in focus as he is moving pretty quickly. Maybe 45 mph. Thank you kindly for a response. Cheers
Sorry for the delay!
Thanks for the kind words :)
I'd say about 4.0 would be a good stop. Also kind of depends on the focal length. A longer focal length will get you some shallower depth too.
I don't have any experience shooting motorcross so wouldn't have much valuable advice on a stop for that sort of motion but if it was very quick I would maybe go to 5.6 or 8. Might take a little bit of testing to get the desired results! 👍
Thanks for this video! Helps a lot!
Thank you Felicia, for passing some of your wisdom! Appreciate you!
im 6ft tall. i will literally sometimes just spread my arms near the camera and use that muscle memory to help me gauge how far the subject seems to me. usually i use a laser tho yah
Love this. Super helpful
Finally someone explaining it well, cheers!
Q: how do you pull long distance focus without a break? Btw. awesome video, thanks!👍
Thanks for answering my question! Even though I haven't really 1st AC'ed, I didn't know it was bad to rely on the monitor! I know certainly within the digital age, people start to rely on technology and less on the traditional way of doing. Will remember that if I get to that point in my career, to look at the action, thanks for the tips! :)
You're welcome!!
Im a dumb. My question is once you have a mesurment how do you know your even in focus. would aperture come into it?
Then i saw the mesurment marks on the lenses. Ohhhhhhh.
And i went to film school.
Fml.
Lol!! Amazing!!
Great video - thank you!
I just subbed because I finished The Queen's Gambit and the DP for the series was a focus puller on a lot of Spielberg projects. You can tell when watching it that he worked on camera crews because of how dynamic the shots were and a fantastic use of variable focus in scenes.
I fucked up the opening shot for my first film in school on a Bolex with a prime lens on a push-in shot. Blurry AF.
I've watched the first ep so far and woooow, such wonderful cinematography.
Haha, we've all been there!
thank you very much. I've been looking for video on focus pulling for a long time now. I hope you're gonna post more videos on the subject. how the understand focus plane and pull focus at right time ? of course depending on the aperture
Thanks for watching! I will attempt to maybe make more videos on focus but as it's not my job, I prefer to have experts come and explain things. The current plan is to have someone who is a professional focus puller explain the more complicated things and give their point of view :)
@@flickcine okay. I'll be waiting for that.
Super great info!
SUBSCRIBED :) Finally a nice girl in cinematography. Very nice informative presentation. Thank you
Thank you so much for sharing this！Its really useful
Your channel is so high quality! Continue please :)
Hi, Felicia, thank you for the great work! Learned some focus pulling basics from your video :). I have a question. I am a small mirrorless camera user (GH5) and have a still lens that has some cinema hard stop mimic feature (Sigma 18-35mm. It has a semi-hard stop). The camera's auto-focus isn't that great and I want to start learning focus pulling. I have been debating on whether to get a passive follow focus (e.g.: Fotga DP500III with rails) or an active wireless follow focus (Tilta nano). Do you have any suggestions? Would these be overkill for a small camera system？
Got an 1st AC gig tomorrow. Gonna need to get myself a fabric measuring tape after this! This is going to help me a lot. I am relatively new to this but I have a few jobs coming up which is scary. I had an email about how they are going to do a lot of dynamic handheld shots and if I’m comfortable with that. Told them I am okay with it but if I need anything I’ll ask them. I didn’t want to undersell my abilities but I also don’t want to over compensate either. Trying not to let my imposter syndrome get the best of me but that’s the hardest part to get past. I was lucky enough to go to a high school with the technology to support me on my ventures. I’m still learning and have a long way to go but trusting myself is the first step.
Hey jo, hope you’re well and have overcome the fear or “imposter syndrome” that you were battling 8 months ago. I’m currently facing the same feeling and your comment really made me feel better. I’ve been pulling focus off & on for the past 3-4 years yet now that I’ve finally landed at commercial where I’ll be 1st with no other of my peers around to help or ask questions to, I’m kind of freaking out but knowing myself, I know that that’s the way I like to learn and actually have the information stick.
Hey, quick question about something I don’t think you explained completely in the video.
At about 1m20s you mention measuring from the sensor plane, then a bit later at about 2m30 you mime measuring a distance diagonally.
If you measure diagonally do you then use trigonometry to work out the focus distance? (i.e. the perpendicular distance from the sensor plane to the parallel plane that the subject is in.)
Or do you just measure the perpendicular distance straight off, estimating which plane the subject is in?
For example, say you’re trying to set the focus distance for a subject that is
1m in front of the camera and 2m off to the side.
If you measure diagonally from the camera to the subject you’ll get about 2.2m, but the focus distance should really be only 1m. How do you work with those situations?
At 2mins 30 I'm not meant to be measuring anything, it was more an example of the type of measuring tape, not a way to measure if that makes sense.
No math, there shouldn't be very much if any difference between marks from the centre of a frame and the edge of a frame however a lot of lenses are not sharp edge to edge so sometimes things may be different at the edge of frame. :) Hope this helps!
How about on systems where you can change the gears. Which gives a longer throw, higher or smaller teeth count?
Once the depth of field is shallower than f1.2 on s35 on 50mm you pretty much have to pull off of the monitor
Awesome! Thank you!
This is such a cool video. Thank you for the tips. I just subbed.
Thanks so much 😊
Very interesting, thanks!!
Are there any hard and fast rules of which side the follow focus should be?
Basically to keep a subject in focus for example the subject if 6 ft away from the camera and the mark on thr cine lens has to be the same to keep things in Focus ?
Thank you! interesting, I love the jokes too, I'm a 5D camera videographer, great tips, cheers!
great insight!
Oh my ... Cooke S4. Love those. Cookes are best. Yeah, yeah, there's a lot of great lenses out there ... but Cookes are best. ;)
Agreed! Cooke's are just beautiful. ✨
@@flickcine Was pretty stunned how they create depth and get distance between objects unlike a lot of Zeiss which rather flatten the image. Maybe one day I can buy a Cooke.
It's definitely good practice to understand how to measure for marks, but with the quality of monitors today it's unrealistic to say they're not reliable to grab marks off of. I've been pulling basically 80% off only monitor for the last 4 years, and rarely is it a disadvantage. With the pace the shows I work on move at, if I pulled out a tape measure Of surely be strung up.
Encourage an understanding of depth of field, because that is no doubt an essential ingredient to a successful 1st AC, but don't imply incompetence of AC's that trust their monitors.
Why waste time measuring when you can look at a screen and tell if it's in focus or not?
Ah I think there might be a slight misunderstanding here. I'm not implying incompetence at all. And if that's what came across, my apologies, that was not intended. This video is for complete beginners to get them used to the methods used and I completely agree with what you're saying. What I'm saying is understanding the space is the best method to get used to and practice, because when it comes to pulling from a monitor you have that skill backing you up and can easily adapt. Maybe I didn't explain it as clearly as I could have, in the scheme of things this video is quite old, I'm getting better at presenting and RUclips isn't my full time job 😅
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I do agree with you completely. Have a good one!
You are a genius!!! Thanks.
Great stuff indeed thanks!
Awesome thanks!
Can you use a laser range finder for the measurement? Not sure if it’s accurate enough for this application
Hi Felicia !
Great Video ! I have a question.
Once the distance of the subject has been measured to the phi sign on the camera with a tape, how does x mm translate to the correct dial on the lens wheel ? Or do i just wheel the dial until i find the focus and mark the dial ?
Thank-you !
You can definitely just find the focus and mark the dial if you're short on time. However If you're taking measurements, there is a small line/mark on the lens that indicates the distance the lens is focused to. This mark is very likely to be on the left and right sides of the lens, sometimes that can change though. But cinema lenses have the marks on their sides. So you move the focus wheel until you're at the appropriate measurement on the lens, at this point you can also double check on a monitor to see the focus is correct, and then you mark that on your focus wheel dial.
If you notice that you have definitely measured a distance, let's say 3ft.
Then you've pulled the focus to the marking on the lens that says 3ft and it is still not in focus then there may be an issue with the lens so it is worth checking the measurements again to be sure then getting the lens checked over by a technician. That's all usually done during gear prep before the job though. :)
Hope this answered your question!
@@flickcine That was really helpful Felicia, thank-you ! :)
Great video flick 😊 you have the perfect voice for tutorials 😁💯👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
can you still pull focus manually with just using the built in lens wheel or do you need to have a dedicated focus pulling device ?
P.s none of your links to your other socials are working 🙃
Thanks so much for the kind words!
You can but using a follow focus allows you to turn your hand less to do a longer pull if that makes sense. It's also much more comfortable!
Yeaaaah I am aware, unfortunately RUclips doesn't make it easy to change links over all videos and I've got.... So many.
You can find me at @flickcine on instagram. I rarely use twitter but it's the same as insta handle :)
thanks...watching your videos in quarantine. :)
Could u make a more in depth video about pulling focus with for example a arri sxu 1 or a nucleus M?
Did anyone notice that this video was shot with autofocus and the camera hunted for a bit at some parts? Just funny to notice, not meant in a negative way :)
I'm here to learn, and these are golden tips!
It was! I had my partner helping me so we were relying on the autofocus a bit ☺️
I love learning from you. Great flow
this is great thank you
Thanks!!
By the way, Classic moment = 7:13
thanks, good information.............
No problem at all! Thanks for watching :)
Go Go Flick!!
I see this is an old video and that you're not posting as much anymore. This is still helping people though. Well me at least. Thank you.
Thank you, great :)
So, if you pull focuse... Do you watch your monitor, or do u guess the distance and watch the actor?
Another question, do you put Marks on your focuse ring, with the distance range of your Lens, and aditionally marks for the Action?
You watch the monitor and the action. And not necessarily guessing distance. You would measure but then you can guess if the actor misses their mark. But if you know the measurements you took instead of turning on peaking and using the monitor only, you shouldn't have much of a hard time finding the mark :)
You can definitely pre-mark your focus rings with the lens marks to suit a specific lens. You can even do one per lens. Then just use a different coloured marker to show your action.
@@flickcine thank you :))
Your video is so helpful
very helpfull, thank you.
Please tell me mam.. the best follow focus in low budget...
Thank you for making these
You're very welcome! 😊
Thanks Felicia! KEEP IT UP! I just volunteered to be an AC for free, i'm giving myself a crash course through your video lol!!
Nice!! All the best with your volunteer position, Mikha'el! You'll learn so much 😊 just be on the ball and show initiative and you'll be set.
Great!!
Thanks , this is good tips
Damn your channel is good and informative.
Q How long the fabric tape mesaure will be ideal?
The one that I had was 33ft ☺️ very rare that you would use it anywhere near its full extent.
Even though this wasn’t exactly mentioned in the video, I feel like this is a logical assumption, but is the general idea here that you should use a tape measure when working with cine lenses so that the measurement you take from the actor or object to be focused on can be then used to rotate the focus ring to the mark that denotes exactly the same distance or closest one to it, which can then be represented on the follow focus, therefore meaning the lens is in the best possible setting for spot-on critical focus, rather than just being in the ballpark?
By the way, who does what in the measuring process? Does the 2nd AC hold out the tape out for the 1st, while the 1st matches the focus on the lens and marks it?
This raises another question. I imagine they probably don’t present this problem given how much more expensive cine lenses generally are compared to photography lenses, but are the markings on focus rings always properly calibrated or have there been any situations where you’ve found the focus to not quite be perfectly sharp as it should be, even when you’ve exactly matched the distance and the corresponding focus marking, leading to you having to offset the focus ring to compensate?
As for the follow focuses themselves, what particular models tend to be used on large productions in professional cinema rigs? I’ve also heard about cranks and whips - in what situations are these used? Since the zoom and iris rings always seem to be geared just like the focus ring is, are there instances where you would fit a follow focus to these as well so that they can be ‘pulled’ in the same manner or would they always just be rotated by hand directly?
Finally, I only got to work up close with cine lenses for the first time a couple of days ago and the way the focus ring distances are marked confused me. There seemed to be two sets of markings on the barrel in opposing directions, if I recall correctly. Could you explain how focus distance should be read and whether the centreline of the barrel at the top is where the desired focus distance should be rotated to? They were all Zeiss primes, but I’m assuming this will be standard across all cine lenses.
I appreciate that I’ve asked many questions there. I started out with one and than many others came to mind as I was typing! I would be very grateful for answers to any of these.
Could you possibly make a video on how a 2nd AC should place marks and the conventions that go with that?
Heya Aaron!
Thanks for taking the time to make a comment :)
Yeah, taking measurements from the sensor plane to your subject and then moving the focus ring to that measurement is the general practice. However it is important to check that your lenses are accurate when you are doing a gear check before the job even begins. That way, you know you can trust your measurements.
Ballpark measurements are great to get used to when you're doing projects with limited time to sit down and get actual marks, but you can make time to get marks without actors too, there are ways around it to be able to get the marks you need. Knowing ballpark figures is also good when the action may change mid-take and you have to freestyle a little.
The markings on lenses in theory are accurate, but when you pair them with different cameras things can change slightly. Over time lenses can also become less accurate through wear and tear but that can be fixed and calibrated quite easily by pulling the lens apart and adding or removing things called shims. There can also be shims in the lens mounts of most cameras too.
All this gets done in the gear check though so it shouldn't be an issue on set provided a thorough gear check was done. :) I did a video on gear checks too if you haven't seen it yet!
Follow focus typically used on set would be the Arri Follow Focus. Usually the model FF-4, that one is quite common. They're beautifully smooth to use.
Cranks - used when you need to make a VERY quick or longer distance pull. The crank is a right angle handle which makes it easy to pull fast and to pull a large distance without straining your hand.
Whips - if you need to be further away from camera for any reason and/or not holding directly onto it so your movement or potential movement doesn't disrupt the camera movement. For example, on a dolly or easyrig.
Instances where you would use the iris and zoom gears - Often you would use them with electronic gears to make a gradual iris pull if doing a tracking shot from say a dark room to harsh light outside. You can also attach motors to the zoom gear to get crash zooms or gradual zooms that are very mechanical. It's how that stereotypical Tarantino crash zoom is done and the dolly zoom move.
I suppose you could do a similar thing by hand but it's almost always using geared motors.
Two sets of marks? Hmmm, which lenses were these? Is it possible they were marked in ft and metres?
There should be a line that doesn't move on the assistant's side (right side of the camera, typically). That is were you line up your focus marks when you pull focus.
Hope this answers what you're asking! :D
Felicia Smith Thanks so much for answering my very lengthy questions. Your answers are a great insight for me.
There was just one question in amongst all of that about who does what when it comes to measuring that you didn’t answer.
I‘m pretty sure the lenses were Zeiss CP.2 primes, judging by photos of those models. There are markings on the very front of the barrel and then another set behind the focus gear.
Is the line you’re referring to the one on the lens or on camera bodies? Speaking of lines, the two cinema cameras I have experience with, the URSA Mini and Canon C300, don’t seem to have any mark for the focus plane. Is it accurate enough to assume the start of the measuring tape should be at a depth slightly behind the sensor opening on the side in these cases?
Do you think you could make a video at some point covering all that a 2nd AC needs to know about marks for blocking and focusing? Thanks very much for your video about slating. There’s really not that many comprehensive videos that I can find on here about slating that cover several different systems used in different regions in so much depth. Do you have any experience of clapper boards with timecode displays at all?
Felicia Smith Hi again,
Sorry to pester you, but did you see my reply? I just had a few more questions I’m very keen to know the answer to.
Thanks again for your thorough explanations!
@@aaronm9353 Aaron Martin oh my gosh! Sorry I didn't get a notification. So the 1st AC will pull the focus during a shot, the 2nd AC will assist in getting measurements if required by holding the measuring tape to the point needing to be focused on or sometimes quickly standing in for an actor. Is that what you were asking there?
Hmmm CP.2 primes. From memory I believe there is another witness mark on the other side of the lens. A witness mark is the indicator of where the focus is on the lens, that's the line on the lens. So you would use the other witness mark if you need to read it from the other side of the camera... does that make sense. It's a little hard to explain without looking.
The line on the camera is the sensor plane line, that's indicated by a circle with a vertical line through it and you'll find it on pretty much every camera. The ursa and the c300 should definitely have a sensor plane mark. When measuring focus the tape should be at that sensor plane mark, that would be accurate. :)
As for another video, it's on the cards but not sure when I'll get that one out!