A follow focus is a combination of gears and a focal knob that allows the camera person or the focus grip to pull focus without having to touch the lens barrel and risk shaking the shot. (Picture courtesy of Redrock Micro)
14.
If you’re going to want to ‘Rack Focus’ (change focus in mid-shot), seriously consider getting a follow focus. A follow focus is a combination of a dial that mounts to the side of the camera and a gear wheel that fits around the lens you’re using. When you rotate the dial, the gear attached to the dial rotates the geared lens. This means you can focus the lens without having to rotate the barrel of the lens with your hand, which helps prevent camera shake. We used the Redrock microFollowFocus which was a big help, along with some of their ‘whips’, which are flexible handles that allow you to adjust the focus from a distance.
Always make sure to have a decent number of lighting options when shooting with 35mm lens adapters. We finessed daylight by adding to it with some of Rosco's High Output LitePads.
15.
Make sure you have a decent number of options for lighting. When we shot The Message, we took along our ARRI 300/650 Fresnel Combo Kit (which is balanced to 3200K), some Rosco LitePad HO LCD lights (which are balanced for 6000K, which is a bit cooler than normal 5600K daylight), and some bounce cards (to reflect additional ambient light onto the subject). Most people tend to not realize that 35mm lens adapters can reduce the amount of effective light you can use by as much as 1 to 3 F/Stops. (And if you’re using them with HD cameras, which require even more light, the effect is further magnified.) As such, you will have to pump out enough light to compensate. (If you don’t have powerful enough lights to light up an entire scene, consider having more intimate shots where you can get your lights closer to your talent. This increases the effective brightness of your lights radically.)
An articulated boom pole is a great piece of equipment if you can afford it on a shoot that uses 35mm lens adapters, as it will allow the camera man to rest the butt of the pole on the ground while keeping it aimed at the talent.
16.
If at all possible, get a well-made boom pole for recording audio. While this may seem like a common sense thing for anyone to do with any sort of video or film shoot, it’s even more important with a 35mm lens adapter. Because you’re essentially dealing with two disparate systems in the lens adapter setup, most people will take longer to set up shots, especially if it’s a shot that requires a rack or follow focus. While you can definitely make some through our how-to guides, you will find that you get a sturdier construction that is lighter and easier to manage from a professional audio company. If you can use an articulated boom pole, it’s even easier. (An articulated boom pole has a ‘butt’ that rests on the ground while in use, so that the boom pole operator’s arms don’t get tired.) We used the K-Tek KA-113CCR Articulated Boom Pole and got really good results.
17.
When it comes to post, consider a visual noise-minimizing plugin like DE:Noise. Because of synthetic grain of the ground glass elements, we found that there was a decent amount of noise in the final footage of The Message. Of course, the fact that we shot with the SD DVX100B made the noise more noticeable. (A similar shoot that one of our filmmakers did with the HVX200 yielded much less noticeable noise because the grains of the glass were smaller pieces of the HD recording space than they were in our SD recording space.) While film has noticeable grain, it was a little more excessive than I was happy with, so I ran it through DE:Noise and was pretty pleased with the results.
18.
Consider a post-production color scheme to finish off your film. Programs like Magic Bullet’s Looks or even NewBlueFX Video Essentials can create post-production color looks that can make your film look much more professional. We used Magic Bullet Looks to get a slightly more dreamy film look for the heroine of the film and a slightly more contrasty film feel for the hero. (Just remember that, when you’re creating a final color look, a little color grading goes a long way! Nothing can damage your film’s look quicker than going too hog-wild with some of these effects.)
Hopefully this article gave you some ideas about how to avoid potholes and have a successful shoot when it comes to shooting your next film with a 35mm lens adapter.
If you want to see some of the film adapters, equipment, and accessories that we’ve reviewed at MFM, be sure to check out our Equipment Reviews Section. (And for more information about some of the post-production software we’ve reviewed, like DE:Noise, Magic Bullet Looks, and Video Essentials, just check out our Software Review Section.)
The
director of two feature length films and half a dozen short films,
Jeremy Hanke
founded Microfilmmaker Magazine to help all no-budget filmmakers make
better films. His first book on low-budget special effects techniques, GreenScreen Made Easy, (which he co-wrote with Michele Yamazaki) was released by MWP to very favorable reviews. He's curently working on the sci-fi film franchise, World of Depleted through Depleted: Day 419 and the feature film, Depleted.
