experimenting with tilt shift lens in a short film production

8/7/2019 Experimenting with tilt shift lens in a short film production

1/38

INTRODUCTION


2/38

MOTIVATION

The motive behind the following work is to provide a better understanding of tilt-shift lens

and the effects achieved with these lenses. This report also deals with complete production

process involved in making a short film called FIRST JOB; part of which was shot with tilt-

shift lens.

STRUCTURE OF THESIS

Section Principles of tilt-shift Photography takes you through the fundamentals and history of

tilt- shift photography. Chapter Tilt-shift lens explains in detail the construction and principle

behind each movement of a tilt-shift lens. This chapter is followed by effects achieved with

tilt-shift lens were a detail description about miniature faking and selective focus achieved

using tilt-shift is communicated. The second part of this thesis report starts with the next

chapter called Production. The main scope of this chapter is to explain the processes involved

in making a short film, from the stage of development to the post production of the film. The

chapter Discussion follows and here the result and drawbacks experienced during the time of

production is explained. The summary of the findings of the whole project is mentioned in

the chapter Conclusion. References lists all the papers and materials used to complete this

project. Chapter Appendix contains all the necessary documents belonging to the practical

part of this paper. It includes the pre production paper works like the script, storyboard and

photography plan and a DVD of the final short film FIRST JOB.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors Prof. Dipl.-Anim. Peter Kaboth

and Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Guido Falkemeier for their encouragement and extensive support

throughout this project. Secondly, I would like to extend my gratitude to all my crew


3/38

members who had to work hard in difficult conditions and extra long hours to make this

project a reality. My family and friends, who showed great passion in this work, supported

me with money and opportunity to make this project a great success. THANK YOU ALL.

Finally, I would like to thank all those people who provided a helping hand whenever needed

and help complete this project in time.


4/38

PRINCIPLES OF TILT-SHIFT PHOTOGRAPHY


5/38

The Photography which involves the movement of lens plane in relation to the image plane in

small and medium cameras is referred to as Tilt- Shift photography. This field of

photography got famous in the modern era because of the miniature faking stimulated by the

tilt movement of the lens. These miniature faking images are often called Tilt- Shift effect as

it is generated using Tilt-Shift lenses. The term Tilt- Shift is also used sometimes for images

which contain miniature faking effect which are produced using effects in digital post

processing.

The History of tilt- shift photography could be dated back to the days of view camera. The

View camera consists of a light sealed flexible bellows which connect two standards which

hold the lens plane and the film plane. Since bellow is flexible, both the lens plane and the

film plane could be moved. The movements associated with the lens plane of a view camera

are:

Rise/Fall: The movement where the lens plane is moved vertically in a line parallel to the

film plane.

Shift: The movement where the lens plane is moved left or right from its normal position.

Tilt: The rotation of the axis of the lens plane forward or backward in respect to the film

plane is called Tilt.

Swing: The rotation of the axis of the lens plane side to side in respect to the film plane is

called Swing.

In the modern digital era of photography, these movements can be achieved to an extend

using the Tilt-Shift lenses.


6/38

TILT- SHIFT LENS


7/38

A Tilt- Shift Lens could be described as a lens which has two movements which respectively

allows the axis of the lens plane to be rotated and moved parallel in respect to the film

(sensor) plane. The first 35 mm SLR camera lens which offered only a shift movement was

produced by Nikon in 1961

(http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/technology/nikkor/n17_e.htm.) In the modern

days of photography, the tilt-shift lens is produced by most of the famous manufacturers of

photography equipments. Even though tilt-shift lens are relatively new development in the

photographic world, tilt- shift lens doesnt offer auto focus feature and zoom feature unlike

the modern camera lens. Today, Canon which brought out the very first tilt- shift lens into the

market in the year 1973 produces 4 different focal length tilt-shift lenses (17mm, 24mm,

45mm, and 90mm).

CONSTRUCTION

Like all other camera lens tilt-shift lens also have an aperture ring and a focus ring. In

addition to these, tilt-shift lens has a big knob and a small knob to engage the tilt function and

to lock the tilt function of the lens respectively. Similarly another big knob and small knob

for the shift function is also present in the lens. The line increments to show the degree of

movement for both tilt and shift functions are also marked on the lens. Another important part

of the tilt-shift lens is the rotation lever or the revolving lever. This helps to rotate the lens

and thereby altering the angle of either tilt or shift. Most of the tilt-shift lens can be rotated 90

degrees left and 90 degrees right in 30 degree increments.

THETILTFUNCTION

In a tilt- shift lens, the forward and backward rotation of the lens is called tilt. When the tilt

mechanism is engaged, it allows the user to control the overall sharpness of an image in a

different way compared to any other conventional lenses. The tilt feature in these lenses
http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/technology/nikkor/n17_e.htmhttp://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/technology/nikkor/n17_e.htmhttp://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/technology/nikkor/n17_e.htmhttp://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/technology/nikkor/n17_e.htm


8/38

changes the angle of the lens in relation to the image plane. This gives the user the freedom to

have selective focus on the imaging subject especially the ones which are in oblique angles.

As a result, at right aperture the foreground and the background which are at different

distance from the camera can attain sharpness; if the foreground is brought into focus first

and the lens is tilted till the background also get in focus. So when the tilt function is engaged

the photographer gets an additional means to control the depth of field of an image. But while

using the tilt feature of a tilt- shift lens the shape of the depth of field changes. It acquires a

wedge shape with its apex near to the camera. The depth of field at the apex is zero and it

increases with the distance from the camera.[1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt-

shift_photography]. The selective focus attained using tilt function often helps in stimulating

miniature faking scenes from real life situations.

Principle behind the tilt function

With a conventional lens, sharp focus can be obtained only in a single plane. This is because;

the image plane, the lens plane and the plane of focus are all parallel to each other and

perpendicular to the lens axis. This simply means that the objects at equal distance from the

camera will always be in focus. But in a tilt-shift lens when the tilt function is engaged, the

lens plane is tilted in relation to the image plane. In this case the plane of focus will also be at

an angle to the image plane in such a way that, if these planes are extended they will all

intersect at the same point. This means that the objects that are at different distance from the

camera but still lying in this angular plane can attain sharp focus. This is based on the theory

called the Scheimpflug principle. The Scheimpflug principle is a geometric rule that

describes the orientation of the plane of focus of an optical system (such as a camera) when
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt-shift_photographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt-shift_photographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt-shift_photographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt-shift_photographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt-shift_photography


9/38

the lens plane is not parallel to the image plane [2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheimpflug_principle].

Based on the Scheimpflug principle, when the plane of focus is altered by tilting the lens

plane in respect to the image plane a considerable change is brought to the shape of the depth

of field. The depth of field acquires a wedge shape with the apex formed at the plane of focus

rotation axis (figure 5 in Scheimpflug principle Wikipedia) and broadening when it moves

away from the plane of focus rotation axis.

SHIFT FUNCTION

The function in the tilt- shift lens which allows the lens to move parallel to the image plane is

called the shift. On engaging the shift movement the lenss center of perspective no longer

correspond to the images center of perspective. The shift movement has two main uses in

still photography. It helps to change the perspective and expand the angle of view (using

multiple images).

Principle behind Shift function

The reason why cameras with the circular lens produces a rectangular photograph gives the

basics of the shift feature of a tilt and shift lens. The lens always gives a circular image. This

is called the imaging circle. But the sensor/film of the camera always uses the central

rectangular crop of this imaging circle. In most of the ordinary camera lens the imaging circle

is generally designed to extend just beyond what is required by the sensor/film. But the tilt-

shift lens comes with a larger imaging circle. This allows the photographer to shift the

rectangular crop needed for the sensor/film within this imaging circle.


10/38

The shift function in a tilt-shift lens helps in controlling the perspective of an imaging

subject. When an image is taken with the camera directly in line with the horizon the vertical

lines of the subject which are parallel to each other will remain parallel in the output. But

when the camera is not in line with the horizon or when the camera is pointed up or down in

an angle these parallel lines converge. This is because the distance from the image plane to

one side of the subject is changed compared to the other side. This effect is known as

keystoning [3 http://www.redbubble.com/people/peterh111/journal/5713153-an-

introduction-to-tilt-shift-photography].With the shift feature engaged, the camera can capture

an image which lies either above or below the horizon with the center of the imaging circle

still lying on or near the horizon. This affects the perspective of the image. ( image from

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/tilt-shift-lenses1.htm)

The second use of shift function in a tilt shift lens is mainly useful in still photography to

attain a panorama image. The modern day tilt shift lens can be shifted to about 11.5 mm in

each direction in relation to the camera sensor. This means that a photographer can take a

panorama image without moving the optical center of the camera lens and therefore avoid

using a panoramic head to prevent parallax error.

ROTATIONFUNCTION

The tilt-shift lens can be rotated in total of a 180 degree in 30 degree increments. The

rotation function helps to rotate the lens while both tilt and shift functions are engaged. Based

on the tilt or shift function whichever is engaged, the rotation function has a completely

different effect on the image.

On engaging the tilt function and changing the rotation of the lens at the same time result in

the change of angle of the focal plane in relation to the sensor/film. This could be useful


11/38

when the foreground subject is at an angle from the camera and the full length of the

background subject need to be also in focus, then using a tilt-shift lens and tilting the lens and

then rotating the lens to move the tilt to match the angle of the foreground subject could give

the desire result. It also allows determining the direction of selective focus of an image that

is, if the focus should run horizontally or vertically. (Give the image of the international

office here blur on sides and blur on top and bottom )

When the shift function is engaged and the rotation of the lens is changed at the same time

the captured area of the total scene in front of the lens is moved by increments. This feature is

better explained in the figure[1] [image from

http://www.redbubble.com/people/peterh111/journal/5713153-an-introduction-to-tilt-shift-

photography]. The figure [1] was shot with a wide angle tilt-shift lens through the complete

180 degree range at 30 degree increments. At each rotation three images where taken in three

different shift positions. The final 21 separate photographs where then merged into one image

in Adobe Photoshop.
http://www.redbubble.com/people/peterh111/journal/5713153-an-introduction-to-tilt-shift-photographyhttp://www.redbubble.com/people/peterh111/journal/5713153-an-introduction-to-tilt-shift-photographyhttp://www.redbubble.com/people/peterh111/journal/5713153-an-introduction-to-tilt-shift-photographyhttp://www.redbubble.com/people/peterh111/journal/5713153-an-introduction-to-tilt-shift-photographyhttp://www.redbubble.com/people/peterh111/journal/5713153-an-introduction-to-tilt-shift-photography


12/38

EFFECTS ACHIEVED WITH TILT SHIFT LENS


13/38

MINIATURE FAKING

Miniature faking is a process in which a photograph of a life-size location or object is made

to look like a photograph of a miniature scale model. [4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_faking]. This is an effect somewhat similar to the

shallow depth of field normally encountered in macro photography of miniature subjects

helps in the illusion of miniature faking. This is achieved by applying selective focus to

certain part of the image using optics or applying blur to some part of the image with the help

of digital post processing. The tilt Shift lens of systems are generally used to get the effect

of miniature faking, for this reason this effect is also referred to as Tilt-Shift effect.

HOW TO ACHIEVE MINIATURE FAKING

It is important to note that the point of view (high angle), the composition and focal length all

contribute in bringing this fake miniature look. The still pictures and motion pictures follow

same procedures to achieve miniature faking. The possibilities are to use a tilt-shift optical

while capturing the images or use a digital post processing to achieve the same effect. If the

result from the optical and simple digital post processing to achieve miniature faking is to be

compared there is a whole lot of difference between the outputs. To mention, the blur which

is a huge factor in giving the illusion of the miniature faking is smoother when shot with a tilt

function engaged optical. But in a digital postproduction the gradient factor of the blur is not

that smooth and sometimes the starting point of the blur is visible in the image. But more

advance digital post processing techniques are available today which could help in producing

results which cannot be achieved using a tilt- shift lens, especially in the area of motion

pictures. Both optical and digital post processing are explained in detail in the coming

chapters. (give chapter numbers).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_fakinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_fakinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_faking


14/38

Some other techniques which would help to sell the illusion of the miniature images

irrespective of the method used to acquire the image (optical or digital post processing) are

increasing the contrast and the saturation of the picture and increasing or adding the darker or

harder shadows to the imaging subject. The increase in the contrast and the saturation bring in

the feeling that the imaging subject is made of materials like plastic which generally comes in

strong colors. The images of real miniature subjects tend to cast hard shadows; the

stimulation of hard shadows in the miniature fake images possibly increases the illusion that

the imaging subject is a real miniature.

OPTICAL

To achieve miniature faking optically a tilt shift lens is used in medium or small camera

formats and a Tilt- shift system or a Tilt- shift lens can be used in achieving the effect in

motion pictures. A view camera can be also produce the same result. When the plane of focus

is rotated using in a way that the imaging subject plane doesnt coincide with the lens plane

and the film plane at the same point, then a small part of the subject can be brought into

focus. This principle is sometimes referred to as Anti-Scheimpflug even though it depends on

the Scheimpflug principle.[5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheimpflug_principle].( image

from the arri manual working example chapter )

When capturing subjects like a toy with a normal lens, the foreground and the background

relative to the imaging subject blurs out. This helps in isolating the imaging subject. This

shallow focus technique causes the illusion of miniature faking. But it is not possible to

achieve same control over focus while shooting a life sized object like a building with a

normal lens. Tilt- Shift lens has a wedge shaped depth of field which is narrower near to the

camera and broader as it moves away. This means if an image is captured from a high ground

with the lens tilt engaged, focus volume can form a narrow beam. This will result in the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheimpflug_principlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheimpflug_principlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheimpflug_principle


15/38

foreground and background of the imaging subject to be blurry. Figure [2

http://cow.mooh.org/projects/tiltshift/howdoesitwork.html] explains the same. The size of the

depth of field wedge can be changed by engaging the tilt in different degrees or based on the

tilt of the camera as a whole. Composition plays an important role in tilt-shift miniature

faking images because the tendency to only have a small area of focal volume is high. So the

imaging subjects have be carefully positioned in this area. The shift function of the tilt- shift

lens could be helpful for the above purpose. The focal length of the lens also helps in

bringing this miniature illusion. The imaging subjects captured with wider or short lens from

a distant are small compared to the same imaging subject captured with a long lens from the

same distance in the image. This means when the tilt function is engaged the illusion of the

miniature effect will be more since the imaging subject doesnt fill the whole frame of the

image.

DIGITAL POST PROCESSING

Digital post processing for achieving miniature fake images could be explained as the way by

which image editing software like Adobe Photoshop are used to add blur on top and bottom

of the image, leaving the subject to be sharp. The images taken with a short focal length lens

and from a elevated position will produce a miniature fake image from a full scale filmed

subjects. In video production this can be obtained by either using digital post processing

software like after effects or by doing the process called Smallgantics. It is a digital post

production using artificial depth planes that accurately simulates miniature depth of field on

images of full sized subjects. In live action footage eight artificial depth planes or z buffering

layers are created on frame by frame bases resulting in a black and white matte sequence.

These matte sequences are drawn over each object in the scene and z-plane focus parameters

are applied. These depth mattes are later blended together with various degree of blur to

create an effect of shallow depth of field. This was created and developed by director Jim L


16/38

Clarkand used in the music video Harrowdown Hill by Thom Yorke for the first time.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallgantics].

SELECTIVE FOCUS

Selective focus is usually used to direct the viewers attention to a particular area in the frame

by defocusing the other parts. This could be done using a normal lens. But the effect achieved

using a tilt engaged lens is different from the effect achieved with a normal lens. In a normal

lens the plane of focus and depth of field are perpendicular to the line of sight. But in a tilt-

shift lens, with tilt engaged the plane of focus can even be parallel to the line of sight and the

depth of field can be very narrow but possibly extended to infinity. This is having the

advantage that the subjects at largely different distances from the camera can be brought into

focus. This also means that a selective focus could be provided for subjects which are at the

same distance from the camera. Since engaging the tilt affects both depth of field and plane

of focus at the same time, there are chances that not all desired points pass through the plane

of focus when using a large degree of tilt. It is not a problem if only one point has to be in

focus at a time. But if two or more points at different distance from the camera have to be

sharp, both these points should pass through the plane of focus. This is hard to achieve if the

tilt is also used to control the depth of field in the same scene.

TILT-SHIFT IN MOTION PICTURES

The ability to have selective focus is the reason why Tilt- shift photography is commonly

used in motion pictures. The Arri professional motion- picture company is the main providers

of Tilt- Shift lens for the motion picture industries. They offer tilt focus lenses in various

focal lengths. Arri also has a Tilt- Shift System which comprises of a bellow and a set of lens

with larger image circle. This system helps in achieving both tilt and shift function similar to


17/38

the one available in a 35 mm small format camera tilt shift lens. Selective focus using Tilt

function of tilt-shift photography has appeared in major Hollywood productions like Minority

Report (2002). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt-shift_photography)


18/38

THE PRODUCTION


19/38

DEVELOPMENT

Any creative activity start with the glint called idea. An idea could come from anywhere,

from books, from experiences, people who you see every day or even from your curiosities.

One such curiosity that helps in developing the short film first job isthe figure The Death

and the world after human dies. While studying how different cultures have pictured The

Death over the years many questions came up.

If a so called figure The Death exists,what kind of person would he be?

Will he be subjected to changes over the time?

Will he modernize himself and the world he is ruling?

Obviously there are no definite answers for these questions and it will always stay as

curiosities. But these questions lead to the development of the character Death and later on

help us in developing a full story which could be made into a short film.

STORY

Conceptualization of the short film begins with three elements. First element is the character

the death who is very keen follower of the modern technologies and progresses in the

world, Second element is an image film or corporate video and the third element is a

character, who is a young media producer who is responsible to make the image film. Putting

all this elements together help produce the final story for this short film.

Synopsis

Patricia, a young media graduate goes to meet her first ever client. As she arrives at the given

address, strangeness sweeps over. Young, brave but uncertain Patricia decides to face the

strangeness around her until she meets a well dress, well spoken man. He introduces himself

as the death to Patricia and requests her to help him in making an image film for the


20/38

corporation. She accepts the offer and makes the image film for the corporation. But Patricia

didnt know that she had to give her life so that she could make this image film for the Death.

Recognizing this Patricia gets angry and sad. The death releases that he has done something

wrong to her and start feeling sorry for her. To make up for his mistake, the death offers to

grant a wish for Patricia.

CHARACTER DESIGN

The Death

The movies and books has always portrayed the figure the death and the world he is in as

dark. In this short film, conventional looks of the death and his surroundings was

completely avoided instead he is placed in an environment which is full of white and he is

dressed up like an executive of a corporation. The character itself is modern, up to date

person who uses modern technologies and a person who appreciates changes. He is old in

appearance and has a captivating voice. He is also kind, wise and straightforward in nature.

To keep the superior nature of the character, some supernatural movements were also planned

to the characters behavior.

(Davids photo)

Patricia

To have a good chemistry between character the death and the media producer, the story

demanded for the character of media producer to be a female. The character Patricia is young,

pretty and recently graduated in the field of media. She is a very enthusiastic and bold girl

who is willing to take any daring challenges to prove her talents. She takes her work seriously

but still playful in nature. She records the important moments of her life into her personal

camcorder as a form of dairy. She is casually dressed in jeans, pull over and sneakers shoes.

(nadine photo)


21/38

PRE PRODUCTION

This production being a student production in a limited budget everything had to be planned

to the very minute detail. The whole process of production had to be finished in two months.

Even before the story and script was fixed the time frame for the shooting were fixed. This

was necessary because of lot of different reasons like availability of the equipments, dates of

the actors, weather etc. Once the script was ready the shooting plan was made and it was

decided that the whole shooting will require four days in total. To determine the degree of

details that has to be put into the logistics and planning of this production, the script

underwent the process of break down. One of the first things which were intensively dealt

was getting a Coffin for the climax scene. Since it was a limited budget production buying a

Coffin was never possible. A coffin warehouse agreed to provide us with one, but the

transportation of the coffin from the warehouse was difficult as we didnt have any big

vehicles. The budget didnt allow the production to rent a truck. So we had to approach

another funeral service near to the location. They offered to provide us with the coffin as well

as transportation of the coffin to the location we wanted. One another challenge in the

logistics was getting the Dry Icefor creating a surreal environment for the deaths place. It

was difficult because no one has worked with or has experience handling dry ice. We never

know the after effects of using dry ice in the production. Since dry ice is receptive to warm

temperature and since a large area had to be filled with smoke, it was difficult to estimate the

amount of dry ice required for two days of shooting. The only way to find out the answer for

all this doubts was to buy it and take the risk to use it while shooting. Throughout the

planning stage of this production many such challenges had to be faced. Arranging

transportation for the equipments and the crew, finding a warm place to rest for the crew

during the outdoor shooting, catering for the production, providing accommodation for the

actors, getting flower arrangements for the climax scene are some of the challenges


22/38

encountered during this production. The solution for all of the above are easy but it becomes

difficult when you have limitations. Due to the low budget scenario most of the above

mentioned things had to be made available for free or in exchange of the enterprises logo or

name in the credits.

STORYBOARDING

An important part of any audio- visual production is storyboarding. It replicates the directors

visual about the story into illustrations. A story board also helps in understanding the visual

impacts of each scene in detail. When the script of this short film was finalized it was

illustrated into a storyboard with the help of story board artist. Every scene was drawn in its

full essence so that the story could be told well in the final audio visual piece. The story

board also helps in making many important decisions regarding the cinematography of this

audio visual production. It also guided the production team to estimate the props and other

elements required in the set to make the scene look more beautiful.

(put the picture of the first scene of patricia walking)

LOCATIONS

The story for this short film demanded for four major set ups or locations. The majority of the

story happens in the world of the character death, which is a white surrounding. This set up

was build in the Media Production studio of Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe. Second in the

location list was a door which will take the character Patricia into the world of death. The

door should be old and wooden with no glasses around it to avoid photographic difficulties.

The opening of the film and flashback scene in the middle of the story required a normal

European street and its surrounding. Even though this could be shot in two different

locations, to reduce the logistics troubles it was decided that it will be shot in the same


23/38

location. The selection of this location was complicated as number of factors has to be

fulfilled to make it the ideal location. The road has to be available for shooting without

constant interception from the traffic; availability of the electricity to light up the location and

the architecture in the background has to be similar to the background architecture of the door

location to develop a sense of continuity. Fourth and the final location was a church, which

would stage the resurrection of the character Patricia. The church needed to be old and

traditional in style to enhance the visual impact of the climax scene.

To reduce the cost of production it was decided that every location chosen will be in the city

of Lemgo, Germany.

(pictures of the location)

AUDIO-VISUAL PRODUCTION

Reality of any production starts when it reaches the audio- visual production stage. The pros

and cons of the pre production work will be clearly visible during this stage of the

production. Everything has to go as planned as an extra shooting day was nearly impossible

because of the dates of the actors and the limitation in the budget. Only way to do this was to

follow the production schedule strictly.

According to the production schedule prepared during the pre production, only 4 days was

available for shooting. Two days for the studio location, one day for the street and door

location and one day for the climax scene in the church. All the necessary elements like the

availability of the actors, logistics, catering, equipments, and budget needed for the shooting

to happen smoothly had to come together at one place at this point of time. A plan A and

Plan B for almost every scenario of this production was prepared just to make sure that an

alternative was always available. This helped us to tackle any unexpected situation that


24/38

happened during the process of filming and to finish the whole shooting process as planned in

the production schedule.

THEFILMING

The outdoor shooting is always based on the weather forecast .Initially rainy weather was

expected on the day planned to shoot the outdoor scenes. The production was prepared with

tents and protective covers for the equipment and a warm dry room for the crew to rest near

to the location. But it turned out to be a nice weather for shooting without any hindrance from

rain. The order of the shots to be filmed on a particular day was planned based on the

complexity of the shot and amount of time required to set up for that particular shot. The

crew was scheduled to arrive at the location early morning so the set will be ready before the

scheduled time of the actor.

The first thing to be filmed was the car crash shot in the flashback scene. As mentioned above

this shot was chosen because of its complex nature. This had to be later composited in the

post production and had to be shot with a green screen. (picture of the green screen set up).

This shot was followed by the other shot to be finished in that particular location before

moving to the door location. This whole scene was challenging for the crew because of

number of reasons: Some of the shots required a handheld camera look and a special rig hand

to be made up at the set to support the smooth handling of the camera. The weather was cold

but the crew had to shoot most of the scenes without wearing a jacket or shoe as it causes

problem for the audio recording. As the crew moved to the next location to continue shooting

for the door scene the whole process was already behind schedule and we had to face the

problem with the lights. This problem had to be confronted by pumping in artificial lights.

But ultimately the production team had to improvise at the set to complete the particular

scene successfully.


25/38

The second shooting day was used to finish the climax scene of the movie. The location had

to be prepared. The production team had to recreate an environment of a funeral service in

the church with flower arrangements candles etc. The church had to be also light up to the

situation. The scene demanded for a crowd dressed in black to mourn in front of Patricias

coffin and the extra actors was schedule to come to the church around noon. Opposite to our

expectation only a few number of people came to act as extras. But a plan B was already

developed long before for such a situation. All the crew members were asked to dress in

black on this particular shooting day so we could use them as extra actors if needed. This

decision helps us to complete the scene in a very decent way without losing the aesthetics of

the scene.

The next two days of the shooting was scheduled for shooting the scenes in the deaths place.

This was planned in the studios. To create the white surrounding there was two options either

shoot everything in green screen and then composite it or shoot everything in white. There

are drawbacks for both options. If you shoot everything in green screen, in the post

production stage the materials has to go through a long process of compositing and since the

team had to meet a deadline that option was avoided. In this circumstance shooting with a

white background was the best option. The drawback for this option was that the edges of the

room will be visible in the wide shots. But this was manageable either by over exposing the

white during the shooting or by doing some correction to the white in the background at the

post production stage. Three scenes had to be shot in this set up and all the master shots of

these scenes required dry ice to boost up the surreal environment of this place. For most of

the shots in this location, the camera was supported by a tripod stand and in some cases; dolly

movement with the help of a skater was used.


26/38

Photography

For capturing the moments in this film cameras like Panasonic HVX200 with a P+S adapter,

Sony EX3 and Canon 5D Mark II was considered. Ultimately the camera team decided to

shoot with Canon 5D Mark II. Compared to the other cameras mentioned above Canon 5D

Mark II provide a full HD image resolution and produces an amazing result in low lights

situations. This camera also provided us with flexibility to use a wide range of still

photography lens ranging from 16mm fisheye lens to an 85mm tilt-shift lens. Deciding for

Canon 5D as the camera for this production also resulted in some challenges. The camera

doesnt provide a viewfinder and as well as a HD out to an external monitor. This means that

following the focus had to be done without any proper references. Using of still lens made

pulling focus even harder as the distance between two focus marks in a still photography

lenses are smaller compared to the one in a prime lens used in a film production.

Photography plans for each location was made prior to the shooting days. To do this a detail

study of the location was done and the reference images for the location helped the camera

team to decide on the camera position necessary for each shot. One whole day was

completely shot outdoor but in two different locations. It was important to maintain a

constant direction of light as it was an outdoor situation. At the first location, the introduction

of the film and flashback was shot with the help of direct sunlight. In some particular

situation like a close up a small day light kino flo light set was used. But as we get to the

second location for the day the sun had already gone down. So to match the pervious location

2.5 KW HMI lamps (Hydrargyrum medium-arc iodide) were used as the key light. To do the

detail lighting at the second location day light kino flo were used. All other locations where

interior which means more detail care had to be taken in lighting up the location. The

challenge at the church location was to cut out the natural light from the sun and use HMI

lamps, day light kino flo to create a light scenario to suit the situation. Majority of this movie


27/38

happen in the white environment. To create this white environment bright lights where

pumped into a white curtain. The white in the background was burn out for the very simple

reason of avoiding any shadows on the white curtain caused by the winkles in it. This lighting

was done using the studio lights available at the studio. In the studio the white balance of the

camera was switched to 3200K because the studio lights used to light up the white curtain

was all tungsten lamps. A decent distance was kept between the placement of the actors and

the white curtain to avoid the interfering of the lights used for actors with the white curtain

lighting. Arri tungsten light kits and Dedo lights were used to light up the actors.

Using Tilt-Shift Lens

During the pre production stage of this production there were thought of using a miniature

faking in this short film. An elevated position is required to achieve this effect. The budget,

time and logistics didnt allow the production to go in favor of miniature faking. So this idea

was discarded. The choice of lenses is usually done at the location and one such decision was

to use tilt-shit lens to do selective focus on the crowds reaction in the climax scene. This shot

was a dolly travel from right to left. As the camera team had to reproduce the feeling of a

large crowd with a minimum number of people in the crowd, the team had to use a long lens.

The choice of lens was 85mm. The people were seated in rows in the church benches this

would mean that if we use a normal 85mm lens there is a possibility that the people sitting the

last rows could fall in the out of focus region. Also racking the focus only allows us to switch

focus between people at different distance from the camera. This was not an appropriate

option. So it was decided that an 85mm tilt-shift lens will be used to capture this moment.

Since the lens was tilted we were able to acquire a wedge shaped depth of field. This means

that two people sitting in two different rows of benches and who are at different distance

from the camera were in focus. As this was a dolly travel shot from right to left and

simultaneously the focus was also racked, we were able to move the focus in an arc shape.


28/38

POST PRODUCTION

The post production for this film was divided into editing, audio design and color grading.

EDITING

Editing bring meaning to the film. Each frame added or subtracted directly or indirectly

effects the emotion of the film. Even though the scenes are planned before there is more than

one way to stitch the shots together in the editing. The editor takes his chance to play around

with the given footages to find new combination for the shots to solve a particular scene so

that it add more emotions to the whole film and the viewer get more connected to the

characters. Editing process gives a whole new dimension to the film. Editing also helps in

covering up some mistakes which went unnoticed during the time of shooting.

Once the shooting was over, all the footages where logged into the editing software. The first

preference for editing software was always Apple Final Cut Pro because of its user friendly

interface. Final cut pro also offer a better workflow with the footages shot in Canon 5D mark

II. The selected footages where first categorized based on the scene and put into different

folders or bins. This was done to make the editing process organized. The audio which was

recorded separately was also brought into the final cut project and stored into the respective

scene folder or bin. The first step in the editing process was to sync all the audio which was

recorded separately with the video files. During shooting all the shots were numbered and

had a slate at the beginning of the shot, this was done so that the audio could be synced later

in the editing process. To sync the audio, three methods where used: The first one is the

merge clip option available in final cut. A In point was made in the video track at the moment

of the clap of the slate and another In point was made at the highest peak in the audio file,

both these files were then selected and with the help of merge clip option available in final

cut they were merged to form a completely new independent clip. The second option was


29/38

merging the clip by looking at it. Both the video and audio files were placed in the timeline

and a marker was placed exactly at the clap of the slate in the video track and the audio

waveform was used to finding the highest sound peak in the audio track and a marker was

placed at the exact point. These marker were later aligned together to get a perfectly synced

audio. For the footages which didnt had a slate, the audio was synced using PluralEyes; a

synchronizing plug-in for Final cut pro. Once all the necessary clips were synchronized the

actual editing commenced. Each scene was edited separately in a separate project sequence.

This allowed us to have different versions of the same scene. Each version was edited in a

different phase and different style. This was helpful in analyzing the different possibilities

available to make the final edit. Since there are scenes which required garbage masking,

compositing as well as tracking in Adobe after effects, the edit was made with the raw

footage first to determine the flow of the film and to finalize the length of the film. The

footage which was garbage masked was later put over the existing raw footage.

AUDIO DESIGN

Sound plays an important part in making the movie look real. The best option for sound is to

record the sound in the set with the atmosphere sounds than reproducing everything in the

studio. In this film the sound and music plays an important role as story happens in two

different worlds; the reality and the afterlife world. To illuminate the strangeness in the white

environment, strange but less obvious sounds had to be chosen. Most of the dialogues were

recorded at the same take as the video. Some dialogues had to be recorded separately as there

were other noises disturbing the proper clean recording. When the video edit reached its final

edit, it was export for audio processing. The sound engineer then went through the clean up

process for all the sounds which was synced to the video. Sound effects were added to

wherever it was necessary especially to the transitions from one scene to the other. In the


30/38

final mixdown the music and ambiance sound was added to increase the beauty of the

storytelling.

COLOR GRADING

Simultaneously with the audio design color grading was also in progress. Color correction is

the process of enhancing the colors of the motion picture

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_grading). Final cut pro offers the flexibility to send the

project sequence to the color correcting software called Color. There are two basic steps

involved in color correction, the primary and the secondary color correction. The primary

color correction is done to balance the colors of the whole. This can be controlled by

balancing the intensities of red green and blue and the gamma. The colors at mid-tones

(grey), shadows (blacks) and highlights (white) are altered individually to get the desired

look. So this process could also be called a three way color correcting. The secondary color

correction is generally done to balance the luminance, the saturation and the hue in the

picture. The secondary color correction is done to adjust the values in a narrow range without

having much effect on the rest of the image. The color correcting software coloralso

provides the power of putting masks, matte and power windows into the images. In this way

the colorist have the freedom to isolate color enhancement in a particular portion of the image

without affecting the rest of the image.

Once the image are color processed, it is taken back to final cut pro to do the final

adjustments like applying transitions and other required video filters. This is rendered out to

desire file formats together with the final mix of the audio.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_gradinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_gradinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_gradinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_grading


31/38

DISCUSSION


32/38

The whole project was completed in a time span of 70 days. There were many new learning

experiences during the course of this project. The work done in each stage of the project

directly affected the work in the next stages which followed.

In the pre production stage every single detail was carefully planned to get a better result

during the time of shooting. Nevertheless all the plans never work perfectly. When

production schedule was prepared it was decided to have four shooting days. The lack of

budget and the time issues was the reason to cut short the shooting days. During the audio

visual production this resulted in really long working hours for the crew so that the story

could be said in a good way.

The successful testing of a tilt- shift lens in a motion picture was the highlight of the audio

visual production stage. A selective focus effect achieved by tilt-shit lens was applied to a

crowd reaction shot in the climax scene of this film. Even though this is barely noticeable for

a normal viewer this shot have its own quality when compared to the other shots in the film.

Nevertheless, the production team had to face lot of challenges during the audio visual

production. The first in the list was when the production team had to recreate light situations

to match the previous locations. This was a really challenging and learning experience for

most of the crew members as most of them still media students. The unexpected situation of

half of the crew getting sick added extra pressure to the production and altered the schedule

in a high degree. The crew present in the set had to do multiple tasks to achieve the target.

This adversely affected the quality of work. On the third day of shooting when the white

environment was pictured the production had to cope with more challenges. The inexperience

of not working with dry ice was clearly evident in some of the master shots. We had to break

up long shots into shorter ones as the smoke tends to disappear in the middle of the take. Dry


33/38

ice also produces lot of noise that the audio couldnt be recorded at the same time as the

video was recorded. Instead it was recorded separately. This consumed a lot of time. The

team had to create a feeling of a big white environment with a comparatively small place.

This was really demanding task especially because the shooting doesnt happen in the

chronological order as it will appear in the final version of the film. The sense of direction

was difficult to estimate and sometimes the whole set had to be rotated so that the shooting

direction matches to the shot before in the final edited version of the film. Despite of all this

difficulties and challenges, every scene and shot required to make this film complete was

successfully finished in four shooting days as per the plan.

As mentioned above work in each stage makes way for the following stage. The challenges

and difficulties faced in the audio visual production directly affected the flexibility and time

plan of the post production processes. Many unnoticed problems during the production were

clearly visible in the post production stage. One such problem which is still not solved is the

problem with the rolling shutter effect of Canon 5D. Rolling shutter is a method used by the

cameras to acquire the images in which each parts of the frame is not recorded at a single

point of time, but intend by scanning across the frame either vertically or horizontally. This

effect made some of the shots wobble unnaturally. It was tried to fix with an Adobe after

effect plug in called rolling shutter but it was not able to give a 100 percentage solution for

these shots. Regardless of all these issues the editing was successfully completed in the given

time to produce the final version of the film.


34/38

CONCLUSION


35/38

The main aim of this project was to successfully complete a short film and to test the

effect of using tilt- shift lens in a scene. The first part of this thesis paper helps

understand the fundamental of tilt shift photography and tilt- shift lens. The

understanding of the lens construction and the principle on which these lenses are

made helps to achieve better result while in use. In addition, knowing the different

effect achieved with the help of tiltshift could be brought into use in any production to

captivate the audiences attention. The second part of this paper deals with the whole

process of film making. Each film is different from one another. So the process of making

it is also different. Each stages involved in the production process is explained with

utmost precision for a better understanding of the film making process. It is clear from

the above chapters that film making requires a great deal of time and organization. But

the significance of this project is the pace at which this project got completed. A normal

short film of this length will require a four to five months time for its completion but

this project was completed in almost half the time without compromising on the quality

of the production. All measures were taken to make this scenario close to reality and as

professional as it can be. High end techniques like green screen compositing, usage of

tilt-shift lens and fish eye lens, usage of dry ice to create a floating smoke in the floor,

motion tracking, all were part of this project.

Throughout the whole process lot of challenges had to be encountered and lots of

mistakes were made. All these challenges had to be faced and all the mistakes had to be

accepted so that, possible remedies for these mistakes can to be found to create the best

result achievable. The final video was rendered out and made into a DVD.


36/38

REFERENCES


37/38

PAPERS

1.Focusing the Tilt-Shift lens an article by David Summerhayes2.Using blur to affect perceived distance and size by Robert t. Held

University of California, San Francisco and University of California, Berkeley

and Emily A. Cooper, James F. Obrien, and Martin S. Banks

WEB

1.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_camera2.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_faking3.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt-shift_photography4.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallgantics5.www.redbubble.com/people/peterh111/journal/5713153-an-

introduction-to-tilt-shift-photography

6.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheimpflug_principle7.www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/tilt-shift-lenses1.htm8.www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/tilt-shift-lenses2.htm9.maltaannon.com/articles/after-effects/tilt-shift10.www.visualphotoguide.com/tilt-shift-photoshop-tutorial-how-to-make-

fake-miniature-scenes

11.www.snipe.net/2009/01/tilt-shift-photography12.cow.mooh.org/projects/tiltshift/howdoesitwork.html13.www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/canon_24_3p5_tse_c10/page5.asp14.www.andreasoverland.no/articles/tiltshift15.www.journalofvision.org/content/10/10/26.full#intro16.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt_and_shift_lens17.imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/technology/nikkor/n17_1_e.htm18.www.optoiq.com/index/display/article-display/254651/articles/vision-

systems-design/volume-11/issue-5/features/product-focus/shift-tilt-

lenses-bring-new-perspectives.html

19.japanorama.co.uk/2010/09/09/fake-miniaturisers-fake-tilt-shift20.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_shutter


38/38

APPENDIX

experimenting with tilt shift lens in a short film production

Documents