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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 :)

EPIC-X UPDATE

Oh. That is funny stuff Paul : )

When you consider the accuracy of modern trackers like Davinci's, it's not hard to argue that sooner or later we will see a realtime version of something like that in a camera's autofocus system working well enough for crunch time.
I'm betting on RED TEAM to get there first!
 
Jarred Land said:
Agree with you.. we are fortunate enough to work with the best 1sts on the planet, and it's incredible what these guys can do. That said.. I suck at pulling focus and need all the help I can get :)

Technology always finds a way to help out.. look at the Cinetape/ Panatape.... it is pretty hard to find a top dog AC not using one of them nowadays :)
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Not hard to find outside the US;-)
BTW, I think all serious actors should have focuschip and microport implants!
 
Jens Jakob Thorsen said:
Not hard to find outside the US;-)
BTW, I think all serious actors should have focuschip and microport implants!
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how about just one of those microchip trackers... actors are always running off to craft services and who knows where else. or maybe that's me...
 
For a Doc one-man guy like me and so many others, good autofocus and tracking via touchscreen would be a BIG help!
 
Originally Posted by Blair S. Paulsen I've often wondered if some tiny transmitter behind the earlobe could be placed on an actor as a critical focus reference...

Cheers - #19
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So weird... I made an official submission to red's suggestion/research department with a similar idea a few months back. :-)
 
Deanan said:
By the time you reduce your image to postage stamp, the circle of confusion is so gigantic that focus doesn't matter.
What Lytro's refocusing does is not so much refocusing as it's selective defocus.
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it sounds kinda wild when you put it like that, but deanan is right guys.
 
paulherrin said:
precisely. and all i'm saying is we shouldn't discriminate if our first AC decides to show up as an electronic device.
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Coming from me, this may not mean as much, but I remember David Mullen also commenting on this one time. To me, a top flight focus puller is an artist.. Nothing less. They watch the rehearsals intently, and look for not where to focus, but WHEN to focus. There are OVS two shots that are made or broken by the right focus pulling.. Actors bring a little something different to each take (The good ones) and you may rack on the reaction, but then on another take your forground speaker may slowly turn his head towards the co-star because they feel like giving the scene to them for the reaction, so the AC will pull with the speed of the turn of the head.

I have seen idiot pullers try this and ruin a take, but the masters.. they bring a whole new level to the scene.

No... These guys are artists.. They may have technical skill, but they are artists, and I am in no rush to see them replaced in any way.

Now if you are talking about ONE TYPE of focus pulling, I.E. Tracking Actor from point A to point B.. Then yeah, electronic is fine with me.. But only then.

Jay
 
Jay A. Kelley said:
Coming from me, this may not mean as much, but I remember David Mullen also commenting on this one time. To me, a top flight focus puller is an artist.. Nothing less. They watch the rehearsals intently, and look for not where to focus, but WHEN to focus. There are OVS two shots that are made or broken by the right focus pulling.. Actors bring a little something different to each take (The good ones) and you may rack on the reaction, but then on another take your forground speaker may slowly turn his head towards the co-star because they feel like giving the scene to them for the reaction, so the AC will pull with the speed of the turn of the head.

I have seen idiot pullers try this and ruin a take, but the masters.. they bring a whole new level to the scene.

No... These guys are artists.. They may have technical skill, but they are artists, and I am in no rush to see them replaced in any way.

Now if you are talking about ONE TYPE of focus pulling, I.E. Tracking Actor from point A to point B.. Then yeah, electronic is fine with me.. But only then.

Jay
Click to expand...
Agree 100%. It's amazing to see really good 1STs do their thing. Definitely an art.

Obviously having electronic assists is good to have in one's arsenal for the times it's needed, so bring on whatever advances in that technology is possible.
 
Jay A. Kelley said:
Coming from me, this may not mean as much, but I remember David Mullen also commenting on this one time. To me, a top flight focus puller is an artist.. Nothing less. They watch the rehearsals intently, and look for not where to focus, but WHEN to focus. There are OVS two shots that are made or broken by the right focus pulling.. Actors bring a little something different to each take (The good ones) and you may rack on the reaction, but then on another take your forground speaker may slowly turn his head towards the co-star because they feel like giving the scene to them for the reaction, so the AC will pull with the speed of the turn of the head.

I have seen idiot pullers try this and ruin a take, but the masters.. they bring a whole new level to the scene.

No... These guys are artists.. They may have technical skill, but they are artists, and I am in no rush to see them replaced in any way.

Now if you are talking about ONE TYPE of focus pulling, I.E. Tracking Actor from point A to point B.. Then yeah, electronic is fine with me.. But only then.

Jay
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No argument with what Jay said, but it triggers a thought about what's coming. That is, the Monstro sensor. I can see a time (in my own movie-making) when using a camera with the much larger sensor, I will be able to shoot a scene from a pull-back position and edit out different parts of the image to convey wide-shot/close-up shot of two different principals. In this case, an electronic focusing device should work great because the scene will need depth-of-field in order to zero in on different portions of the scene and shallow depth focus will not be required.

I'm not sure if I will be able to do this with Epic because I will shoot everything as if it will someday be displayed in 4k and too much uprezzing may be needed on say a 1/3 panel of a shot. But Monstro... that should allow a scene to be quartered and still be good for 4k viewing.
 
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Blair S. Paulsen said:
I've often wondered if some tiny transmitter behind the earlobe could be placed on an actor as a critical focus reference...

Cheers - #19
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hehe.. blair, this is awesome..I had the EXACT same idea yesterday night. . . :) transmitter, earlobe... and no, I didn't read your post :)
I was already poking around to find some type of transmitter that could make this work. ;)
since facial recognition can't always be used this is also great for almost every moving object.. it would often even be sufficient to carry something around in the pocket,
if these transmitters need to be larger.

who knows, maybe RED has something up their sleeve ;)

cheers!
 
What I think is being forgotten here is that the vast majority of us aren't working on big budget films with A-list "hit their marks every time" talent. For those of us working with good actors who just happen to have a bit more inherent variability than your average machine, a workable autofocus system would be an incredible aid to production. I really like that "behind the earlobe" suggestion. That's a device just crying for invention. Go to it guys! I'll be the first in line.

:-)

Stephen
 
Hehe... I pulled focus on a short film less than 2 weeks ago. It had been a while and that made me realize a couple things:

1> I'm so out of practice. If you don't practice your craft, you will suck at it.

2> It's important for the AC to see a rehearsal or at least understand the shot at hand. We were flying fast and furious, so it took at least one take or two, much of the time, to know for sure what was going to happen.

3> Did I mention that I was out of practice? I had no feel for where focus was on the lens or FF wheel, while watching the talent move. On the bright side of it, there were several takes where I was sure I totally blew it, but it came out fine. :) Likewise, there were takes where the focus was fine, but the timing of the pulls leaves something to be desired.
 
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