Slo/mo shooting

[Leo Ticheli]

If you own the camera, you need to get some hands-on work with an experienced VariCam assistant. If you are renting, the rental house should give you a lot more information.

For the most film-like effect, start with a 180

[Robin Probyn]

Thanks Leo

I dont own one,I have a digibeta 790Ws,but I like the varicam,and as Iam asked more to shoot HD,the camera would be an option to buy,had been thinking of the Sony 750P,ofcourse the varicam would be useful as I could shoot also other rates eg 30/24,but I think its a bit more expensive.
My problem is Iam in Tokyo and my Japanese isnt really up to scratch when talking with video engineers,and they often tend to go by the manual here,in all respects 😉
So I think info from this forum is a good way to go,I can go to the rental house anytime to have a play also.

What about 60fps,or a very quick run through about shutter degrees?

Thanks again

[Dale Mccready]

I’ve also been turning the shutter off when shooting at 50FPS lately, as it saves lighting up a stop, or opening the lens a stop, and in theory should provide the same motion blur as footage shot at 180degrees and 25FPS.

Weirdly, I found that (again perceptions based on previous viewer experience) where I liked the look, people were disappointed that it didn’t look as detailed as slow-motion that they had seen on film. I guess having something move in slow motion is interesting enough that people want to be able to see it more clearly, and so now I shoot with a more traditional 180 degree shutter and 50FPS, and I open up the lens to compensate. This gives a crisper, more detailed look.

I like the motion blurred look though at 50FPS, and opening the shutter completely is something that a film camera can’t do at all, so it’s nice to provide a new look.

As Leo recommends though…test, test, test. Find the look that you prefer, everyone has different opinions (as we have seen earlier on the forum) and you’ll more thoroughly understand the tool in the process.

[Robin Probyn]

Hi Dale

I can go to the rental house to play around,but they wont let me out with the frame converter all day to do as I wish,unfortunately!
So as with 16mm 180 degree is a pretty safe setting.What is the effect of say a 250 degree shutter over a 180,ofcourse you have to open the iris,but apart from exposure would it be any different,shooting at 25 or 30 not highspeed.

Are there some general rules regarding shutter angles ,I read somewhere that a higher shutter degree meant more strobing,I guess this meant at non highspeed sttings.Have you ever shot at 29.97 in Oz? I was told 216 shutter would get rid of the filcker from 50htz flories?

Thanks again

[Dale Mccready]

when you go from 180 degrees to 250 or so, you are widening the shutter (in physical terms on a film camera, electronically it is a gate circuit) and so are letting more light through to the film/sensor, exposing for longer. So you would close the iris a little in this case. Going from 180 and tightening or closing the shutter to 90 degrees you would need to open up the iris. rememener that 180 degrees and 24FPS is 1/48th of a second, closing to 90 degrees becomes 1/96th. (I’m used to using 172.8 degrees, so someone correct me if thats wrong). So a shorter exposure, requiring more light.

As to the flicker, we don’t often shoot for NTSC directly here, and if we are shooting for the US, such as for Xena or Hercules (I’m from New Zealand) we shot at 24.

But the math for the flicker isn’t terribly difficult, check out the red Samuelson’s camera manual. It has the equations in it.

With the Varicam you have the fortunate ability of being able to see the flicker on a monitor, so you’ll be able to find a flicker free window by adjusting the shutter as you change frame rates. The recent shoot at 18FPS I did created flicker and so I changed the shutter down to 131.0 degrees, which made it disappear. No thats a great feature of digital photgraphy!

[Dale Mccready]

Oh sorry, I didn’t really answer your main question:

Opening the shutter to 250 or so would create a longer exposure, leading to more motion blur. Opening all the way to 360degrees (switching the shutter off effectively) creates a very blurred look. When I first saw this it took me a moment to realise that I wasn’t looking at something in slow-motion. But it was in sync. An interesting look for an effect. I always wanted to use it for something, but the opportunity hasn’t come up yet and I have noticed that until directors are more used to seeing these effects, they aren’t included in their toolset, and so take some persuasion to try them out. I think it would look great for a fight scene, where someone ‘s arm swings around. it would streak nicely.

Dale

[Robin Probyn]

Thanks again for the answers.One thing though,when I turn the shutter off,at the switch in the front,I get more exposure,what is the effective shutter angle when you switch it off completely.Why do you use 172.8 ? at 24 fps

Ever come across Jeremy Pollard cameraman from your neck of the woods

Thanks

Robin

[Dale Mccready]

we use 172.8 when shooting at 25FPS here for our power frequency.

Switching the shutter off is effectively selecting 360?

[Robin Probyn]

But when I switch off the shutter function I dont see this blurred effect in the eye piece ? as you described when using 360 degree shutter.

Sorry if Iam being thick here!

Thanks

[Dale Mccready]

Do you see the image brighten when you switch off the shutter? If the shutter was on and set to 180? then it should brighten by a stop when switched off. This should give you the visual cue that it is now at 360?. You will need to see something move in shot to really get a feel for it.