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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Iris pulling?

Ron Michael

Ron Michael

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I got a newbie question to cinema shooting. If they include a geared iris on cinema primes, is anyone pulling iris for effect, etc?
I don't see much literature on the subject. I know some folks are using lens motors to adjust remotely, but what do people use for manual adjustments on rigs? Thanks...
 
Yes, I guess that is my question. Do people just install another focus puller for the iris?
 
Generally iris racking is pretty minimal and meant to go unperceived. If it is a stylized rack that would be different. So without a FIZ controller one would rack the iris manually.
 
But if you mean the little saw-tooth's so you can attach a follow-focus for the Red Pro Primes, then yes, you would then need the proper gear from the follow focus maker or 3rd party - to match the lens, it's not a one for all kinda thing.
 
Often on complicated moving shots, steadicam for example, the DP will have a remote system (bartech, preston, etc.) and sit at the monitor and ride the iris. Some times the ac rides the iris. It depends on a lot of factors. It also is really up to the DPs style. Some guys will just say, "do it in post", some guys like to do it on the day. When done well you never notice it. The other reason there are gears on the iris, is for remote use on cranes etc. that way you can dial in the exposure without landing the camera.

And more to your point, manual adjustment on the lens is usually done with fingers ;-)

Nick
 
Thank you for the replies. So to iris rack, people use FFs and I assume they put them on the right side not to interfere with the follow focus controlling focus on the left? I had hoped some simple lever on mounted control to gear the iris for a pull. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Ron Michael said:
Thank you for the replies. So to iris rack, people use FFs and I assume they put them on the right side not to interfere with the follow focus controlling focus on the left? I had hoped some simple lever on mounted control to gear the iris for a pull. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

I have seen two FF3 for this reason many times.
 
Steve Marshall said:
I rarely use manual FF's on the iris, maybe on the big panavision zooms. Usually I do it by hand or, like Nick said, with a wireless FF sitting at a monitor.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I wish that were the case for me, but in the last 8 years or so I have only seen the manual versions of this - but that is just it, different strokes.
 
It would be rare to use 2 follow focuses. It is usually done with either the operator or ACs fingers when a FIZ is not used.


Ron Michael said:
Thank you for the replies. So to iris rack, people use FFs and I assume they put them on the right side not to interfere with the follow focus controlling focus on the left? I had hoped some simple lever on mounted control to gear the iris for a pull. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
 
I used to do iris racks all the time as was called for. Shot a western with people riding horses on paths under leafy trees and then coming out into a clearing. On the shaded path we wer at one stop and then as we panned with the characters to the open field we closed the iris at least two stops in order to compensate for the direct sun. We did that one by moving the follow focus off the focus ring and onto the iris gear. Totally imperceptible in the finished shot.

Some good examples you can find on Netflix are:

- Million Dollar Baby -- Opening shot of movie starts out side of building and as camera passes into doorway and inside boxng gym the iris opens several stops to compensate. It was a Steadicam shot so this was likely done with a remote iris motor such as a Preston FIZ.

- Cutter's Way -- Garden Party sequence near end of film. Character passes from outside into house and the camera views though the window. The iris opens up several stops as the character moves indoors. This was a dolly shot and appears to have been done manually it was back in 1980).

- White Nights -- Camera mounted on open jeep as it drives from inside an aircraft hangar out into hard, bright sunlight. Upon transition to exterior, the image quickly snaps down in exposure by at least three stops. This was likely NOT an iris pull but instead a manual shutter adjustment, which is something that could be done near-instantly with a lever on the rear panel of a Mitchell or Panavision camera. This film was from back in 1985 and shot by the very talented David Watkin -- amazing what trics he could elegantly use. I would bet .001% of the audience which saw this film even noticed that there was anything special about this particular shot, even if they were photographically trained.
 
Here's a relative newbie (to cinematography) question regarding pulling the iris. If it's dumb, please forgive me.

Pulling focus, to shift emphasis from a foreground subject to a background subject, is a cinematographic narrative technique which is as old as the hills; the only technical constraint on it is breathing.

I've occasionally seen another technique used, where the camera dollies out at the same time as the lens zooms in, thus keeping the subject in approximately the same position and scale in the frame but altering perspective - I think that's what you call a 'dolly zoom'?

With modern cameras like the EPIC and all-electronic lenses, it occurs to me that a similar narrative technique could be (has been?) developed, where the iris is racked quite radically, to give an extreme change in DOF and emphasise or de-emphasise the subject WRT the background, whilst the lighting appears seamless due to precisely synched changes in ISO and/or shutter speed; if the subject is relatively stationary the change in shutter shouldn't appreciably affect the image?

Is this ever done? Could it be done? It could be visually interesting but I can't think of any examples where I've seen the iris used in this way.

Mike
 
@ Mike. It could certainly be done, I've wanted to do it for a long time, never had the right shot to figure it out on. The iris rack would have to be pretty extreme. I'm thinking MCU on talent, they have the "AHa!" moment and as they realize what's going on either the background comes into focus (would be cool for a horror movie to reveal the Bad guy in the BG), or vice versa. I think you could do it with two polas for variable nd and an iris rack. Would be a fun challenge going from a 22 to a 1.4. I imagine you might have to smooth it out a little in post, but it would be fun.

Nick
 
Mike 'Fireman' Ross said:
Here's a relative newbie (to cinematography) question regarding pulling the iris. If it's dumb, please forgive me.

Pulling focus, to shift emphasis from a foreground subject to a background subject, is a cinematographic narrative technique which is as old as the hills; the only technical constraint on it is breathing.

I've occasionally seen another technique used, where the camera dollies out at the same time as the lens zooms in, thus keeping the subject in approximately the same position and scale in the frame but altering perspective - I think that's what you call a 'dolly zoom'?

With modern cameras like the EPIC and all-electronic lenses, it occurs to me that a similar narrative technique could be (has been?) developed, where the iris is racked quite radically, to give an extreme change in DOF and emphasise or de-emphasise the subject WRT the background, whilst the lighting appears seamless due to precisely synched changes in ISO and/or shutter speed; if the subject is relatively stationary the change in shutter shouldn't appreciably affect the image?

Is this ever done? Could it be done? It could be visually interesting but I can't think of any examples where I've seen the iris used in this way.

Mike
Click to expand...

this calls for an automatic shutter adjustment... like the shutter on IPhone... could be easily done ;) ...

Pat
 
This was done in "Speed Racer". That movie is so full of visual craziness that this effect was easily forgotten inside the myriad of other tricks, but it was interesting and effective.
 
I have heard the dolly zoom also called a Hitchcock zoom (due to use on Vertigo) - Hard as heck to do properly, but tons of fun when it works .. and cheesy to boot!

.. and on topic.. +1 for iris control for use on cranes.
 
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When I need an Iris pull it's usually done by hand (mine or my 1st AC) and not a FF -- Who needs another wheel in the way?
 
We used to call the dolly + zoom combo "Zolly"… I guess it wasn't just us, but it's not an officialy recognized word. :-)

As for Iris Pulling, I've been in lots of situations where it was up to the DP (via remote control), the 1st AC or the 2nd AC. If the camera is on a steadicam or on a crane, then I use the remote unit, since the Iris motor is already there. if not I usually don't bother putting a motor on the camera just because of that, and you just do it by hand directly on the iris ring on the lens. Most of the times is a quite minimal adjustment, sometimes it can be more "radical". The trick is to hide it in the right spot, and you have to take into consideration the camera movement, blocking, the geography of the place, and the way the scene is going to be edited. I've seen 4 stops Iris pulls in steadicam shots hidden so perfectly by a great DP I've worked with, that not even I can see where they are, and I was there on set :-)


Mike 'Fireman' Ross said:
where the iris is racked quite radically, to give an extreme change in DOF and emphasise or de-emphasise the subject WRT the background, whilst the lighting appears seamless due to precisely synched changes in ISO and/or shutter speed; if the subject is relatively stationary the change in shutter shouldn't appreciably affect the image? Is this ever done? Could it be done? It could be visually interesting but I can't think of any examples where I've seen the iris used in this way
Click to expand...

You can easily do it with Arri film cameras (those with electronic mirror shutter) and Arri Wireless Remote Control Units: you choose what to ramp (speed, iris, shutter) and the camera compensates automatically using one or both the other values. So if you ramp the iris, the camera can adjust the shutter accordingly, and vice-versa.
 
New Canon C300 with EF lens offers that iris can be adjusted or controlled wireless using iPad or similar tablet devices.

The EOS C300 has a Canon EF lens mount and is compatible with all of Canon's EF lenses,
including compact primes, super telephotos, specialty Tilt-Shift, Macro, fisheye zooms - over 60 in all.
It also has communication contacts built into its mount, allowing functions such as focus and iris to be adjusted via the camera controls,
or even wirelessly via the optional Canon Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E6A unit.
This offers huge potential for specialty applications where cameras must be controlled remotely such as nature documentaries or reality TV.

LINK>>>

Because of that I'm happy to have C300 with EOS EF mount ordered and of course also Scarlet-X with Ti PL + Ti EF EOS both mounts.

Hope so that REDMOTE can do the same right away on Scarlet-X (!?) or a future iPad Scarlet-X app can do similar.
 
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