Mattebox filters

[Jon Chema]

Hey guys,

I worked on a shoot in New York last weekend and noticed that an aweful lot of attention was placed on Mattebox filters. We were using a Red One as well as Arri 416 so both film and digital were utilized. Can someone please explain why filters are so important and then what the most common types of filters are and what they are used for?

I'd greatly appreciate it!

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Well, they are a key element in controlling how light enters your lens, such as tonal control, color, softness, etc. ND filters can knock your stop down by set amounts, polarizers can help tame reflections and get nice skies, hot mirrors can tame IR pollution, warming filters can warm up the colors in a scene, etc. Even with a RAW camera such as RED filtering is absolutely necessary. The type of mattebox can have an affect as well because they offer various #s of stages, and accessories. For example in some situations a 2 stage mattebox will not cover your needs if you need to use 3 filters. All of these considerations are very important in determining the look of the footage. I suggest reading a lot about filtering and what is available. It will take your shooting to a whole new level for sure.

 

[Jon Chema]

Awesome. What does a IR or hot mirror filter do? Also, how often are classic focus filters used on closeups? I'm familier with ND and Polarizer filters but not the other ones out there. Obviously, a warming filter is self explanatory. Could you guys give me some scenarios in which certain filters would be used? ie.) closeups, wide shots, action shots, etc.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

The thought behind the hot mirror is that it will reflect IR light waves, which if allowed to pass could cause contamination of your image such as black fabrics having a magenta/purplish tone. Soft FX filters can diffuse your image which can be helpful for closeups of actresses when you don't want every pour/detail on their face to show. 4K is amazing and the sharpness and incredible resolution are often welcomed things, but there are times when an actress will just look better with some softening.

As important as ND filters are, the ND grads can sometimes be even more important because they will allow you to control just certain portions of the image. For example, you may wish to to just control the brightness of the sky but want to leave everything else alone. An ND grad can be very effective and some DPs even have a variety of grads they have had painted for certain shapes, looks.

Coral filters can help warm skin tones, help you match various lighting conditions, etc.

Then you have a variety of color filters that will give your scene a particular mood.

With the RED, another set of filters you may want to get familiar with are the CTB filters. These can balance tungsten lighting to daylight and come in various strengths. This can be effective in getting the color temperature closer to Red's native 5000K.

It's also important to know what order to place your filters. For example, a hot mirror has to always be the first in line, with ND's, polarizers, etc stacked behind.

Experiment with filters. Get to know what they can do, how they can affect your images and you'll then be able to use them as technical and creative tools in your arsenal.