Great post on the challenges of contrast and real-world shooting!
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BTW Jon--you said a few posts back that you tend not to focus live. Presumably you aren't shooting narrative...?!
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Sorry, that was misleading. I meant that I tend not to focus on the fly from the LCD or monitor. Low contrast styles can make focusing on the fly a challenge.
Typically, I set focus points with the 10x setting, put bits of tape on the follow focus, and pull focus blind. We don't have cine lenses, so we don't do it with a tape measure. The risk with Cinestyle is that the camera op might not be able to tell when the focus puller buzzes focus (especially with the 5D2 in SD), so I am now in the habit of reviewing all footage closely (in HD) to verify clean focus.
FWIW, I used to be 1st AC while my son was the op, but he's since moved to LA where he's completed one Indie feature (as key grip) and is now assisting on another. Now I'm framing the shots and teaching others how to pull focus. Pulling focus is critical but single-minded. It's also pass-fail. I enjoyed the simplicity of it. Framing requires a lot more awareness and managing many things at one time - camera movement through space (Kessler Pocket Jib on tracks), tracking the talent, keeping the horizon level (shoulder rig), watching for buzzed focus, keeping a light touch to avoid vibrations but being aggressive enough to stay with the action. It's a much more creative endeavor than focus pulling. Unfortunately, my ability to see shortcomings is way ahead of my skill level!
August 4th, 2011, 10:59 AM
