Many filmmakers will have common debates, discussions and/or arguments about how to approach key visuals or key shots in pre-production planning. As when it comes down to making the shot list, you'll need to decide on your shooting techniques and visual goals. Do you use a single zoom lens or a Prime lens set? Do you shoot a scene at 24p or 60p?, or Do you shoot 4K to better crop shots in an edit which make better visual effects? For my short 'Coffee Machine' I had to answer these questions in one way or another, and I ultimately swinged towards doing it the practical way rather than 'fixing it in post' (A saying I'm sure many Filmmakers have heard and have subsequently groaned at) and I'll tell you for why.
Firstly, an argument should be made for the capabilities of editing software, as of course without this software a majority of modern filmmaking would not be possible. Even so, this article talks about how these editing softwares replicate camera movements in comparison to the planned and done-on-set practical efforts. Essential viewing is seen below, as this article will also break down my testing method, experimental findings and how I applied them for this project.
Watched it? Great! So as you could see, the editing of the short tries to play around with tempo with quick cut edits contrasted to slower and more boring shots in a very Edgar Wright sort of fashion. With those more boring shots were easier to plan and shoot, the pre-production effort was really invested into testing out various settings for crash zoom shots as that was where the visual comedy and the inspiration was overall.
Doing it on the other hand was complicated to comprehend with the equipment I had, so I naturally turned to planning a test before trying to research post production methods on YouTube. In researching my inspiration for this idea, I felt quickly limited by the fact that those sort of zooms were achieved with specialist parfocal zoom lenses (a lens which keeps its focus throughout its focal range), and that I only had a kit lens Leica 12-60mm as a viable option for this project. Even so, in using that same lens for well over a year, I had a good measure of what it was capable of for photography but not necessarily for cinematography. Of course, the only way to find out its possibilities in that area was to test it, and the resulting test can be seen below.
On initial impressions I was a bit underwhelmed, because I was trying to chase a style I knew I could not exactly replicate but so desperately wanted to. While I was happy with the results because I was learning a new technique, the results felt a bit goldilocks as there was always a camera shake, or a focus breathe or a focal lens pull done at different speeds. I then decided to try the effect in Motion and Final Cut Pro X, and became much more happy with the practical results because of those imperfections. Granted I am by no means a skilful editor, but the differences were night and day by the time it came to shot listing the final project for a shoot day. By that time I doubled down on practicing this shot technique, but even then I wasn't done.
Even with my practice, I was still a victim of style chasing; as the final shots used were still sped up and cut down in post, and while I still like it upon reflection it is much more blink and you'll miss it in comparison to the way Hot Fuzz or Django Unchained use that technique. I was more so a victim of style chasing, because I had not thought of a post-production strategy at all. While that doesn't sound like a problem, I quickly learnt that this a style that needs to be planned out throughly through all three stages and that I only had two pieces of the puzzle was trying to make the third fit. As a result, the sound design actually feels more important to the flow of the piece then I anticipated; because while my visual edit was done, it didn't necessarily feel quick and slow like I wanted it to be.
Overall, I am happy with 'Coffee Machine' and especially with the way I developed it myself. In a sense also, I have learnt more from the ordeal of testing and development in this project than I have in some of my university projects where I had access to professional gear. As such, it reminded me how important some elements of cinematography are, and how important it is to learn those elements. Yes an editor, sound designer and colour grader can make your visuals look good and coherent, but the job of the cinematographer is to sell their authenticity and it is much harder to do that when you rely on a VFX artist to create your dolly zooms, crash zooms and tracking shots rather than taking the time to do those moves on set.
Comments