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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 :)

Ask David Mullen ANYTHING

Dear David - Back again for some style advice. My next short film will be a nightmare, and so the question is: which aspect ratio best feels like a nightmare?

Searching, I found a great thread on Kubrick's use of 1.33 and 1.66 among others. So rather than go widescreen, whicih feels like a movie, I'd consider going narrower. Perhaps from all that 1.33 programming when I was a kid that feels like more of a dream than cinema aspect ratios.
 
One can argue any number of ways. Nightmares, dreams, etc. don't really have an aspect ratio, they are more like hyperreal events so in a sense, the more you forget about borders and the image seems immersive, the more you will seem to be experiencing the "reality" of the dream. But to be immersive, you are generally talking about viewing a large image. IMAX is nearly 4x3 but is very large, the extra height (since traditionally you have a lot of headroom in framing IMAX) gives you a sense of the sky looming overhead. On less large theater screens, traditionally ultra widescreen formats like Cinerama were the most immersive but that suggests a screen that gets wider for those formats compared to 1.85. But today, many screens are 1.85 or 1.90 : 1 and 2.40 movies are shown with the same width but letterboxes, sort of defeating the original purpose of Cinerama, CinemaScope, etc.

Now maybe you aren't going for an immersive effect but more of an ethereal distancing effect with a sort of tunnel vision feeling where you sense things in front of you but not around you. You could create that effect in 2.40 by letting the sides fall off into darkness, or you could use a less wide format.
 
Thanks David. I sort of had my heart set on 1.66, espeicially when I saw that The Witch was shot on it--AND I NEVER NOTICED. It was unobtrusive, but added a kind of arresting feel. Plus I don't want to give up vertical resolution (on a DSLR).

Saw you shot the Love Witch, and it looks fantabulous. I wanted to see it the moment I saw the trailer, and I didn't even know you were involved. Just awesome. Wish it was playing where I am.
 
Joe G. said:
Thanks David. I sort of had my heart set on 1.66, espeicially when I saw that The Witch was shot on it--AND I NEVER NOTICED. It was unobtrusive, but added a kind of arresting feel. Plus I don't want to give up vertical resolution (on a DSLR).

Saw you shot the Love Witch, and it looks fantabulous. I wanted to see it the moment I saw the trailer, and I didn't even know you were involved. Just awesome. Wish it was playing where I am.
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I have a soft spot for 1.66:1. I think the way you describe it in this post (and another) is exactly how I feel about it. Although I have a different background with 1.66:1 since I do, tend to watch Movies on my Laptop as well as the big screen so I see the Aspect ratio on both screens....that said I still find 1.66:1 to be nicer than 16:9 at times.
 
David Mullen ASC said:
Thanks, though I only shot the first episode.
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I've been very curious about the glass and cameras used on Designated Survivor. I really liked the look, the Pilot definitely caught me off guard, it felt A LOT more like a big budget film not just in story line but in image. What were you shooting on? I love of colors and the image....not sure if the series uses one camera or another consistantly but would really appreciate any insight! Thanks!
 
We shot the pilot of Alexas in 1080P ProRes 4444 using a set of uncoated Zeiss Master Primes subrented from ARRI UK, plus regular Master Primes and lightweight Optimo zooms. Some close-ups got Classic Soft diffusion. I'd say that the uncoated Master Primes gave any special photographic look the pilot had, mainly in terms of some odd flares. We also shot fairly wide-open at times to isolate the main character in the room. Otherwise I was trying to be fairly natural with the lighting and the color-correction.
 
Scarlet Question Media
I have a Scarlet MX will the Red one Red Drive 320g work with it?
Thank you
Scott
 
Hello David, I don't know if this topic has been covered before, but I was wondering which are your preferred anamorphic lenses when you shoot this format these days.
I've noticed that the Panavision Primo Anamorphics are not longer as popular as they used to be, at least for feature work. I believe they were your choice a few years ago when you were shooting 35mm anamorphic features.
 
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I used Primo anamorphics mainly because the cheaper but smaller C and E series were always unavailable. They are nice and contrasty and don't get too mushy wide-open compared to a C-series. But I haven't shot anamorphic in a decade. I think today, the softer and less contrasty older anamorphics seem to work well on digital cameras, whereas sometimes the softness can be too much on a 35mm movie camera. So I don't know what I'd choose today.
 
Hello David, I've been ask to shoot some chroma key of a puppet type of character, it's made of a white semi transparent plastic bag (the sort you find in supermarkets). It will show a little green through it's transparency. What should I do?
 
Enrique Blein said:
Hello David, I've been ask to shoot some chroma key of a puppet type of character, it's made of a white semi transparent plastic bag (the sort you find in supermarkets). It will show a little green through it's transparency. What should I do?
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I'd talk to your compositor. You'd think the producer and director want some transparency otherwise they wouldn't have chosen that material. If so, then perhaps a dimmer / darker green screen would be better so that you were mainly pulling a luminance key instead of a chroma key. Otherwise, if they want an opaque white, you should get the inner bag lined.
 
Hi David,

This is my very first post. Been lurking around here for quite some times. I got a question to ask, I'm shooting a teaser for my final year project soon. In the photo above is the location that we are going to shoot and it's on the 5th floor. Question, how do I light something like the picture below? I'm just gonna play with single lighting motivated by the sodium vapor-ish street lamp kinda look shining through the window but the problem is we are at the 5th floor.


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David Mullen ASC said:
I'd talk to your compositor. You'd think the producer and director want some transparency otherwise they wouldn't have chosen that material. If so, then perhaps a dimmer / darker green screen would be better so that you were mainly pulling a luminance key instead of a chroma key. Otherwise, if they want an opaque white, you should get the inner bag lined.
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Thanks for your prompt answer David. They want to combine the chroma keyed plastic bag with a real life puppet theater where the bag is the main character, and has already those semi traslucent characteristics. The screen with the chroma key is something they are adding to the normal performance of the puppet show. So I have to retain the charateristics of the bag, I was thinking of adding a second plastic bag within the main one so that is obscures even more the path of greeen.

I didn't understand the part "perhaps a dimmer / darker green screen would be better so that you were mainly pulling a luminance key instead of a chroma key", what do you mean ? If it's a luminance key, you mean an inverted matte of the WHITE bag itself so that it stands out against the green? or pulling off the green even though it's darker lit? Shooting next Wednesday, I will have a laptop on the set to try different things. It's not a "real" production, it's more like a favour for some theater friends, and incredibly, I have David Mullan as an advisor!
 
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