Depth of Field

So you have your camera at hand...

But now that you have decided not to use the automatic settings or the default lens, what choices need to be made? I will discuss one of them; depth of field.

Depth of field relates to the compression of the front-to-back distance in your image. The larger the perceived distance, the larger the depth of field. A long lens tends to give a larger depth of field. A short lens or wide lens does the opposite.

I found a useful demonstration of this on Understanding Depth of Field ...


The above image is that of table, whereas halfway into the distance the image is sharpest. Compare the sharpness of the glass in the front with that in the middle for example.

Using depth of field effectively can change the perception of the viewer, thus assisting in telling a story. Examples are pictures that at first sight look like miniatures, but are a result of what is called tilt-photography.



Example of a tilt-photograph using depth of field by The Bitter*Girls

An in-depth (no joke ;o) explanation of tilt photography is available at Photo.net.

16 millimeter filming

You haven't made a film, until you filmed on film.

That was the outset of my first experience with filming on 16 millimeter film in a KODAK competition.

So WHY is filming on real film so 'cool', compared to filming on video? Here's what the experts say:

For the record:
"If what you want to shoot is precious to you, try to shoot it on film. If it is to "practice", shoot it on (video)tape. Most people advise beginners to shoot on digi, to save the money. I say, if you are drawn to film, you will be looking at it again at the end of your life, and it will look the same as the day after you shot it." - cineman at http://www.cineman.co.uk/film.html

For cost-savings:
"Try to shoot on film.. It may not be as bad [in cost] as you think. You can always borrow the camera free (any major equipment house will lend cameras to students), you can do a deal with Kodak and a deal with the lab. All these people really try to help students for good sound business reasons, as well as the fact they are all nice guys. Don't forget your costs are the same once that image is on tape." - cineman at http://www.cineman.co.uk/film.html

For looks:
"Neither is better, but they are different. Most people prefer the “look” of film, for it’s grain, it’s texture and it’s tactile qualities. But if you need to shoot a lot of material (like interviews) then (digital) video might be a better option. Again, it depends on the kind of magnification that you will be subjecting the image to: if you end up viewing your film on a video/DVD player then the 8mm footage would not be as “different” as would be the case if you are final viewing on 35mm or 16mm. Don’t forget also that digital video can mean a host of things, from very low-end consumer formats to very high-end Panavision/Sony 24P." - cineman at http://www.cineman.co.uk/film.html

Being offered 10 minutes worth of film recording stock by KODAK, we've been filming on film. 10 minutes of film correspond to ca 400 feet (120 meters) of filmroll. A professional filmmaker will be charged about 12 pence per 1 foot of 16 millimeter film stock, whereas a student gets it at a discount for 8 pence.



The film is called 8, 16 or 35 millimeter depending on the width of the filmstrip.

8 millimeter film strip, each image in an aspect ratio of 4(width):3(height)	16 millimeter film strip, each image in an aspect ratio of 4(width):3(height)	super 16 millimeter filmstrip, each image in an aspect ratio of 16(width):9(height) called anamorphic or widescreen	35 millimeter film strip, the wider the more image, hence sharpness and cost.

We filmed on 16 mill. with aspect ratio 3:4, but will end up with widescreen therefore cropping the image. In order to not loose vital information in our image, we made sure we had abundant 'space' on the top and bottom part when recording.

Cropping 3:4 to get 9:16 (widescreen)

Stickfigures

All art including human beings can be downsized to the plain and simple stickfigure. If drawing a storyboard for a movie, an animation for a comic book, or designing your Christmas card for Santa, you can start with a simple shape.

Stickfigure 1 This is the basic stickfigure. You can see the head, torso, arms and legs. You can't do much with this one, except practising the proportions of these body parts	Stickfigure 2 With this version you can do something more. You get to decide the proportions of the arm- and leg-parts.	Stickfigure 3 Now this must be the most advanced stickfigure there is: I bet you never saw any kid draw it this way! Added are the width of shoulders and pelvis.

Simple to Advanced Stickfigure
(source http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/farp/figure/williamlibodyconstruction.html)

The basics of a good stickfigure is that it is anatomically correct. It has a head, arms, legs, and a spine in the right proportions. Only then can we as a viewer relate to its emotions and behaviour.

A wonderful example of how a simple stickfigure can tell a compelling story is shown below.

Paper Wars by Ed Skudder

I will use stickfigures for drawing storyboards and visualizing ideas I have for movies.

I hope to show you some examples during my Christmas break.

Try if you can draw Santa as a stickfigure, or perhaps your cat or next door neighbour and see what great story there is to tell.