how to achieve 'ghosting' double image with shutter

[axel ebermann]

Hey guys,

I have an upcoming shoot, where they want to achieve some 'ghosting' /
double image, motion blur effect in-camera.

According to (my) theory the best way of approaching this is to set the shutter at 360 degrees.

Did a quick test - does some blurring - but not quite what they have in mind I think.

I would quite frankly do this in post - is there any way to achieve that look in-camera ?

(see still)

thanks

axel

 

[John Tissavary]

I personally believe is best achieved in post. It's very easy to do there, and doesn't lock you into any particular shutter angle which could be otherwise limiting.

 

[Keith_D]

+1 for post.

 

[axel ebermann]

thanks guys. that is what I told them all along.

double up the image, delay by two frames and adjust opacity....

but they WANT to do it in camera so badly

 

[Jake Bastian]

You can get a similar effect when you stack too many filters in front of the lens. I wonder if there's some way to place a hot mirror filter or two within the stack to get your desired reflection... I only have one hot mirror here or I'd test.

 

[axel ebermann]

I think what they are looking for is more of a 'ghosting' trail image than actually
a double image as in a reflection...

 

[Jake Bastian]

That makes more sense, although I don't think that's an in-camera possibility.

 

[CK Olsen]

It IS possible in camera, with a combination of hot lights and a synced flash/strobe system...
You'll need to set a Long exposure , plus setup a balanced strobe timed with the shutter. With a properly setup system you can get several images in a single pass per frame - or 1 crisp image, laid over a blurred frame, or even multiple images with varying degrees of opacity... But this is approach should ONLY be taken when you have LOTS of time on set to experiment, because it will look wrong until it's right, and you Never can predict how long that experimentation will take.

 

[CK Olsen]

And while the long exposure + strobe might be an option, I would also suggest doing it in post... HOWEVER... if you are using EPIC, you could also do some tests using +6 HDRx... the A and B track should be significantly different shutter speeds this way, so if composited rather than joined, you might have more info to play with if doing it in post.
-CK

 

[Philip Powell]

I like the look of using the stop motion settings inside Red. It may not work for you, depending on your needs. It's very streaky looking, but again by setting up a long expourse you can get some fairly nice looking effects. Enable stop motion, and set a long exposure (1 sec) walk throuh the frame and check out your monitor. Experiment.

 

[Marc Wielage]

thanks guys. that is what I told them all along. Double up the image, delay by two frames and adjust opacity.... but they WANT to do it in camera so badly

The problem with doing it in-camera is that you can't reduce it later on -- you're stuck with it forever. I think you're much wiser shooting it straight and then varying the delay/smearing/whatever effect in post. There's a dozen different ways to do this; I like the idea of an after image that kind of trails off and evaporates, which would be something done in Shake or After Effects or a similar outboard VFX tool.

For music videos in the bad old days, I'd occasionally talk the client into just using massive amounts of real-time noise reduction, which would basically do the same kind of thing. But we always laid down two passes -- one unaffected, one processed -- so they could mix and match. Sometimes, they used combinations of both, using different degrees of opacity as a key or dissolve. But I wouldn't bake something like this in permanently to the original footage.