Miniatures Shoot

[James Alan McAleer]

Hi All,

I'm shooting a short film commissioned by the UKFC in stages over the coming months, the first shoot is scheduled for May.
Due to both artistic AND budgetary requirements, the complex special effects film will be shot using almost no CGI, and will use practical miniature sets and props.
The scenario depicts man sized insects roaming through a city. (please see attached concept art)
The insects will be real (!)

I wanted to open my methodology to the group, and see if you have any suggestions or advice to offer- this is my first attempt at shooting miniatures.

The scale models are being built by a professional model maker, from a mixture of materials that are heat resistant, and non-lethal to the insects. These models will be mounted around the operator (me), and, with the camera at 'street level' for the most part, on a slide plate.

The set will be lit from above by a number of 1.5 HMI's with a muslin diffuser (also acting as a 'cage to keep the insect in) as well as a in vision moveable 2.5k HMI to act as the sun. I also intend to fog the atmosphere, and use lens flare to hide the sky, probably using blue streak filters to enhance the anamorphic effect.

I will use the ARRI master macro lens, set at T22 to achieve the large DoF I need.

Any advice on keeping the camera cool in this enclosure? Does anyone know of any macro lenses capable of closing down past T22?

I'm going to test a basic scale model down at ARRI in the UK next month with this set up, but any advice I can get before I test would be a great help!

Thanks in advance,

James McAleer
Cinematographer
STEADI-RED Ltd UK

 

[Charles Angus]

I have never used the Frazier system (and it sounds impossible), but Panavision seems to be backing it:

http://www.panavision.com/product_detail.php?maincat=1&cat=217&id=86&node=c0,c49,c50,c87,c90

Could be worth giving them a call, maybe get a demo?

Advice: shoot very wide angle.

 

[James Alan McAleer]

Thanks Charles,

It does sound impossible!;


"Panavision/Frazier Lens System
Extremely versatile lens system with built-in deep field capability, panning, dutch head movements, image rotation/derotation (as per Panatate®), low mode positioning for ground shots. System allows macro objects and distant objects (even at infinity) to be simultaneously held in focus for unusual shots. Internally takes up to three 40.5 type glass filters (or gels) or one manually rotatable 40.5 type glass pola filter. Also, image quality matches Panavision Primo Prime® and Zoom lenses for intercutting of shots. Covers Super 35mm format. Maximum aperture is T7.1 with any lens used."

Anyone know how this works? (regarding DoF) I surely will give them a call for a demo- the snorkel cam aspects could also be very useful to the project.

Cheers!
James McAleer
Cinematographer
STEADI-RED Ltd UK

 

[Charles Angus]

The only thing I can think of is that they offer a tilt/shift lens in the package, but they're really unclear if that's what they mean.

 

[Matt W.]

I've heard rumors it's based on a mechanism similar to the mini35 (except in reverse), with a ground glass you can rotate for tilt/shift effects. But I'm sure it's much more complicated and nightmarish than that.

I believe in the ASC article on the Island, the great action director Michael Bay mentioned that the Frazier system (which they used for some plan shots) caused more light loss than advertised and caused unacceptable vignetting, which ILM had to fix in post. But they shot in anamorphic, so I'm not sure if that was the problem--I know they used a lot of custom anamorphic lenses on that movie and I'm not sure if they modified the Frazier system, too, with a rear element or something. The red at 2.35 super35 might be fine. But it doesn't sound like a very affordable or practical option, anyway.

To be honest, I wouldn't use a red on that project in the first place. First of all, it's big and takes big lenses. Secondly, you'll get substantial diffraction at t22, totally outweighing the resolution advantages of 4k. And the red doesn't do slow motion in 4k--and you'll need slow motion to shoot miniatures.

The primary issue with giant insects is that the ants from "Them!" or something couldn't support their own weight, not even close. Animals need increasingly thick legs (relative to their overall size) as they scale up. Giant insects would collapse immediately in real life.

This also means that insect motion doesn't look very convincing scaled up. Generally, you want to shoot in slow motion when you shoot miniatures; I think the rule is to increase the frame rate proportionally to the square root of the denominator of the scale (1/16th scale would be shot at 96fps; 1/25th scale at 120fps), but I'm not sure as I've never shot miniatures. A pterodactyl would flap its wings much slower than a fly, etc., though, so at least test this out so it "looks right" at the frame rate you choose--it would never be remotely physically possible so ultimately giant insect motion is a subjective judgement call. But the guideline I offer above is the best starting place, I believe. 24fps played back at 24fps will not look "giant" at all.

The other issue is focal length. You want to use really wide angle lenses to simulate normal focal lengths; I'm not sure of the conversion factor relative to model scale, though. So that buys you a little bit of stop (because the depth of field will seem pretty deep with a wider lens), but then shooting in slow motion cancels that out so you still need a lot of light. I'd just put the lights super close to the set (inverse square and all) and shoot using a 2/3'' camera with very wide rectilinear lenses at t8 or t11. I think you'll be surprised how bright a big HMI is when it's up so close. But at that point I'd be worried about cooking the talent, so maybe replace those smaller HMIs with big kino banks directly above the muslin and test the fully-lit set with thermometers against the safe temperature for insect habitation...

Edit: Or build the set outdoors with a butterfly above it and shoot during the day.

 

[James Alan McAleer]

teaser trailer

teaser trailer

Hello all,

So.. we went ahead and shot most of the feature version anyway. Well it seemed rude not to. (!)

Should be out next year, -but in the meantime, I'll be giving away the commissioned short- here's a trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp88zfYo9zY

cheers! J