During PDL you see many many lense flares that are intentional. But in other movies a lense flare just happens allot of times.
My question is, "How does PDL create the lense flares?"
And... "How does he control them with the varying precision in many of the shots?"
If I knew the method I could use them in my own work.
thanks
chris
I imagine most were done in post.....for instance.....even Photoshop has a lens flare filter.....imagine what they are using...
i'm about a bamillion percent certain they weren't done in post.
Quote from: picolas.i'm about a bamillion percent certain they weren't done in post.
why so sure?...is there an article or something I don't know about?...or just plain proof that I have been shadowed from?
I dont think of any of them are done in post. Many reasons I think this, one piece of evidence is this... As Barry and Lena are walking while the camera follows from behind to our right we see the faint light of a car passing and then the lense flares up a bright blue then subsides as the car passes. Small little details like this, gives you the idea that these were not done in post. Any other ideazz?
chris
1 more thing, did you guyz notice we all joined on Jan 8th... lol
dont you have to have a bit of light directed at the camera at an angle? is it when light bounces off the lens?
jan 8 me too.... this is some FREAKY SHIT HERE
Quote from: ThecowgoooesmoooAs Barry and Lena are walking while the camera follows from behind to our right we see the faint light of a car passing and then the lense flares up a bright blue then subsides as the car passes.
Is this the one prior to the holding-hands, Iris wipe. Because that one is damn great. Very...Sci-Fi.
I think a lot of them were probably happy accidents, and maybe some of them were like the bump during the phone call -- an accident that was fine tuned. It's easy to get lens flares, but it's a little harder to get them to work so well with your story. They're one of my favorite things about PDL.
Quote from: cecil b. dementedjan 8 me too.... this is some FREAKY SHIT HERE
that's when they sent out the email to old C&C members. not so freaky really.
allow me to rephrase then:
Quote from: cecil b. demented[sarcasm]jan 8 me too.... this is some FREAKY SHIT HERE[/sarcasm]
Id like to make subtle mention to me joining the PTanderson board exactly a year ago today.... you may all attack now
If you point the camera towards the sun or a light you get a lens flare, dont you? So if you want to get an intentional lens flare just have the actor walk towards the sun and have the camera behind him i guess.
First these are not "happy accidents" and these were not done in post.
This was strictly Paul Thomas Anderson taking care with every shot and basically painting the film with lights just out of frame...
Although I don't know the actual way that paul, elswit, and the LD carried out these flares, i assume its some type of controlled elipsoidal of some sort at an extreme angle to the lens that because of the characteristics of an anamorphic lens this light is distorted and and major chromatic abration is taking place thus the spectrum of light is captured by the film.
so...it's just a well planned out shot that perfectly dissolves into JB's art??
yes, actually.
Quote from: aclockworkjjso...it's just a well planned out shot that perfectly dissolves into JB's art??
I guess im not sure what you are refering to.. I explained the flares.. not JB's art.. I don't remember some of those lens flares "perfectly" disolving into JB's art... In fact.. I think the only time that the art interacts with the film is the in and out of "Somewhere in Utah... D&D Mattress Man" and then the Ext shot of D&D Mattress storefront.
Very cool. This man never ceases to amaze me.
ilm
Quote from: Single-serving Friendilm
too little, too late.
life's story.
Quote from: Single-serving Friendlife's story.
Oh. Now that's very funny.
All the time they spent making this movie, I think Paul would have insisted the flares happen for real.
There's much to be said for the flare effect in Adobe Premiere, however... if the project is low-budget, or filming is more or less gorilla style, it's a perfectly viable option.
Are lens flares generally blue like in PDL? I can only seem to remember seeing blue ones in other films as well.
For those that don't remember, Magnolia had similar lens flares also... the scenes that come to mind were at Frank's seminars...
Nick
Quote from: RaviAre lens flares generally blue like in PDL? I can only seem to remember seeing blue ones in other films as well.
depends on the color of your source light....
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Egads! Emily's got the rage!
Quote from: aclockworkjjQuote from: RaviAre lens flares generally blue like in PDL? I can only seem to remember seeing blue ones in other films as well.
depends on the color of your source light....
It also depends on the filters on the camera, and the film stock you're using. Film stock that is tungsten balanced usually produces that blue lens flare when exposed to natural light.
Nick
Quote from: TheVoiceOfNickQuote from: aclockworkjjQuote from: RaviAre lens flares generally blue like in PDL? I can only seem to remember seeing blue ones in other films as well.
depends on the color of your source light....
It also depends on the filters on the camera, and the film stock you're using. Film stock that is tungsten balanced usually produces that blue lens flare when exposed to natural light.
Nick
Very true.....and color temp.
On subject...kinda....but speaking of neat colors....I have this idea of shooting a film crossed processed......this may not even be possible, ....but along the lines of photography, I used to shoot a lot of slide film, develop and process it as if it were print film.... and the colors and saturation are just crazy....and to make a film with this same look has always been something I have wanted to do.....
...the principles seem like they are there, but like I said...I dunno if it's even possible.
Quote from: aclockworkjjQuote from: TheVoiceOfNickQuote from: aclockworkjjQuote from: RaviAre lens flares generally blue like in PDL? I can only seem to remember seeing blue ones in other films as well.
depends on the color of your source light....
It also depends on the filters on the camera, and the film stock you're using. Film stock that is tungsten balanced usually produces that blue lens flare when exposed to natural light.
Nick
Very true.....and color temp.
On subject...kinda....but speaking of neat colors....I have this idea of shooting a film crossed processed......this may not even be possible, ....but along the lines of photography, I used to shoot a lot of slide film, develop and process it as if it were print film.... and the colors and saturation are just crazy....and to make a film with this same look has always been something I have wanted to do.....
...the principles seem like they are there, but like I said...I dunno if it's even possible.
This is very possible, but very expensive... have you ever shot on film before? It's a pain in the ass and very expensive... your best bet would be to shoot digitally and do color work on it in post.
Nick
Films are shot crossed processed all the time (okay, maybe not ALL the time), it's almost overdone.
but you have to know what you're doing because it's a pain in the ass.
I've never shot reel film cross processed, but plenty of stills and you have almost zero latitude to work with.
like this look...
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the lens flares we see in Punch Drunk Love are typical of anamorphic lenses. I've heard PTA say somewhere (earlier commentary maybe?) that he loves the blue flares you get that are characteristic of anamorphic lenses.
I'm not a cinematographer, but as I know a little about that stuff. anamorphic lenses are wider than normal lenses and allow a wider frame to be put on film. Paul has shot his last 3 (maybe all of them) in anamophic. flares occur in all lenses, different lenses cause different flares.
in the old school of filmmaking, flares were an absolute no-no. many directors today embrace them. Soderberg loves them too. my favorite flare (at the risk of sounding completely geeky) is one in Out of Sight where a flare (not anamorphic) follows Clooney across a parking lot (after he leaves a bank). check it.
just thought I'd jump in...
Quote from: xclarkthe lens flares we see in Punch Drunk Love are typical of anamorphic lenses. I've heard PTA say somewhere (earlier commentary maybe?) that he loves the blue flares you get that are characteristic of anamorphic lenses.
I'm not a cinematographer, but as I know a little about that stuff. anamorphic lenses are wider than normal lenses and allow a wider frame to be put on film. Paul has shot his last 3 (maybe all of them) in anamophic. flares occur in all lenses, different lenses cause different flares.
in the old school of filmmaking, flares were an absolute no-no. many directors today embrace them. Soderberg loves them too. my favorite flare (at the risk of sounding completely geeky) is one in Out of Sight where a flare (not anamorphic) follows Clooney across a parking lot (after he leaves a bank). check it.
just thought I'd jump in...
I explained most of this a couple a posts ago.. and the lens isn't wider.. its how it puts it on the film.. Its able to use the whole film cell instead of if you were hard matting or soft matting.. it puts the image tall and skinny on the film and then is later stretched for the 2.35 effect.
yeah
For me, the PDL lens flares and scopitones (right word?) are both part of one mostly visual aesthetic PTA chose for the film. Barry's world is a jumble of bewildering light and color before and after Lena; her appearance makes that bewilderment into something wonderful. Lights burst forth in the frame; the sun blinds us and Barry as he steps out of the garage door; the car accident is a whirl of carnival light; Lena's apartment complex is a bright, neon maze; much the same is the supermarket, with patches of green Healthy Choice, red dressed girls, and cans of soup that blur as they pass by.....; notice also that Barry's confrontation with the Mattress Man occurs in perhaps the film's darkest space, both characters in virtual silhouette and contrast that with the carnivalesque silhouettes of Barry, Lena, and the passersby in Hawaii (in the first, the characters are cutouts in a blinding gorgeous scene; in the second, the characters blend into a dark back room).
I know next to nothing about the text behind said lens flare, so I just thought I'd help make the case for why they may have been put there.... Argue or add to it at will.....
Fuck, that was almost poetic.
So, how's the mayo?
its pretty easy to creat lens flare -- they probly had a small zip light standing by -- all you have to do is shine a light at the lens -- you can see it being done in some of the shots -- for instance the shot when they are walking down the hallway and holding hands & the blue light whizzes throught the hallway like tinkerbell -- look frame right, outside the window; in the bushes -- you can see the scource light panning across the frame -- all they did was have an HMI standing by and when they walked by they panned it into the lens to get the desired effect. its a pretty easy process. every time you set up a lighting scenario you will ahve lens flares -- so pta left them there, instead of putting up flags to "correct the error" -- he uses what some consider an error as a stylistic choice.
There is a lack of post in this type of movie according to me. I remarked to one of my friends how many reflections there were in the movie and how I've never caught the camera in them. He said "yeah, they probably take that out with computers afterwards!" Naw, I think it's just PTA gettin' his mad skills goin'. Plus the lens flare just rules when ignored as "being in the way" and just seen as "one of those things that happens."