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Any such filters

A

Asad J

Hi everyone!

I'm about to pose what might seem a silly question. I, like most indie filmmakers with no money for the top tier stuff, usually crop my 1920x1080 footage in post to make it 2.35:1 . It usually works well, but it would be nice to be able to see the letterboxed shot while I'm filming.

It might be a stupid, or worse yet, rudimentary question, but are there any filters that can be put on lenses to have the letterboxing be seen and achieved while in production, so that we can avoid losing out on any part of the footage that accidentally falls behind the letterboxed portion when we put it in in post. With closeups, no matter how careful I and my team is, we have had issues where we've lost out on the merits of our compositions because something integral ends up hiding behind the letterboxes. If we could see the letterbox while taking the shots, we'd surely be able to factor it in better.

Anyone know if there is such a thing? Many thanks!
 
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Asad J said:
Hi everyone!

I'm about to pose what might seem a silly question. I, like most indie filmmakers with no money for the top tier stuff, usually crop my 1920x1080 footage in post to make it 2.35:1 . It usually works well, but it would be nice to be able to see the letterboxed shot while I'm filming.

It might be a stupid, or worse yet, rudimentary question, but are there any filters that can be put on lenses to have the letterboxing be seen and achieved while in production, so that we can avoid losing out on any part of the footage that accidentally falls behind the letterboxed portion when we put it in in post. With closeups, no matter how careful I and my team is, we have had issues where we've lost out on the merits of our compositions because something integral ends up hiding behind the letterboxes. If we could see the letterbox while taking the shots, we'd surely be able to factor it in better.

Anyone know if there is such a thing? Many thanks!
Click to expand...

I found this
http://news.doddleme.com/news-room/new-lens-filter-mimics-anamorphic-lens-style/
But it seems like it only works on prime lenses. But seems pretty effective.

I'm assuming you're not using canons as you'd be able to use magic lantern. We used Nikons in my last shoot, and if you go back to my atomos video at around 3:50, you'll see how we achieved this by taping up the screen. I taped up the monitors for myself, and the videographers taped up their atomos, after going through several measurement tests. So look for the footage at 3:50, and you'll see what I'm talking about

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qAIx78RQes
 
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I'm no expert either, but wouldn't putting something on the end of the lens, be risky, since it can turn, if you don't put it on exactly right, and then it could result on the letterbox, not being straight when shooting?
 
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What camera are you using?
Some have the option to enable guidelines so you can see where the frame ends.
Or use tape like suggested, on the viewfinder side of the camera.
This way you still have vertical resolution to reframe a bit, if you want to :)
 
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WhiteOpus said:
magic lantern has a letterbox overlay setting, and i believe there are multiple aspect ratios it can set to.
Click to expand...

Magic Lantern can overlay any .BMP image; you just have to save them to your SD card. It comes with 2.4:1 pre-loaded. If you want any other aspect ratio, say 1.85:1, you'd have to load that on there yourself. Not a huge issue though; you just save it to the root of your card and ML will find it.

All of this is null and void though, if the OP isn't using a Canon.

If you're not using a Canon, taping the monitor with masking tape is probably the best bet.
 
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Thanks you guys.

Im on a sony Nex Fs100u, so no magic lantern for me. I reckon the taping is the way to go, though its surprising to me that noones come upmwith a letterboxing filter despite indie filmmakers cropping footage all the time. I reckon canons do have a huge user base so magic lantern does offset that. Anyway, thanks so much. Here I go putting tapes on my 3 monitors. :)
 
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Asad J said:
Thanks you guys.

Im on a sony Nex Fs100u, so no magic lantern for me. I reckon the taping is the way to go, though its surprising to me that noones come upmwith a letterboxing filter despite indie filmmakers cropping footage all the time. I reckon canons do have a huge user base so magic lantern does offset that. Anyway, thanks so much. Here I go putting tapes on my 3 monitors. :)
Click to expand...

So, I just Googled "FS100 aspect ratio":

For convenient framing, the camera offers a variety of LCD markers including center, aspect ratio (4:3, 13:9, 14:9, 15:9, 1.66:1, 1.85:1 and 2.35:1), safety zone, guide frame, and others.
Click to expand...
 
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Thanks chilipie... =) The camera's on its way. I'm expecting it in a few days so I couldn't have known, but I suppose the answer was just an apt google search away. Thanks for pointing it out =)
 
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Thank you. Mad Hatter and Walter. I'm sorry I misled anyone. English isn't my first language, and at times, even after all these years, a hiccup or two happens. But I'll take that GFPL.

Nevertheless, the original post was not about aspect ratio markings but a filter, which I'd have still liked to own if it had existed, since I don't believe markings on a camera will travel to the monitors. But I guess it doesn't. So no harm no foul.
 
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I expect that you can send the info on the viewfinder with the image to the external monitor.
As long as you don't record that signal it's fine.
If you want to record it with an external recorder, you'll need to send a clean output (images and sound only, no overlay), otherwise you'll have a video with all the info (aperture, battery, markers , etc).
 
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