The most common use of a telephoto lens in film production is for close-ups, as a slight telephoto effect is pleasing on the face by “flattening” or compressing facial features. Is This the Greatest Real-Time Single-Take Feature Ever? It may come across harshly, but I was searching for what people are using -today-. I'd hope that you'd focus on people who want to learn the craft, not people reliving their younger years. August 24, 2016 at 1:24AM, Edited August 24, 1:24AM. So it would be imho very interesting, what all these filmmakers use as angle of view for specific shots and what their distance to the objects filmed is. however, the focal length itself still maintains its emotional impact in terms of image compression regardless of format. > For cinema, a super 35 sensor is "full frame", for that format. The longer the focal length, the narrower the angle of view and the greater the magnification. In other words, Ozu's 50mm view celebrates realism despite it being stylized, whereas Anderson's wide-angle anamorphic view is stylized because he is critical of the artificial, Philosophical musings aside, it's super interesting to learn about which filmmakers gave preferential treatment to certain focal lengths. With that razor-thin depth of field, if your subject moves even an inch, they’ll be out of focus. The benefit of having to change lenses between shots is that you become very much aware of the differences between focal lengths and will start to be able to see in your head (before a shot), which lens will work the best. 28mm lens becomes a “normal lens with a focal length equivalent to 56mm but not 48mm on a Micro Four Thirds camera body…. Do things look cramped? Wide angle lenses minimize the out of focus areas, and normal and telephoto lenses exaggerate it. Is it because they just like the look? They ensure a low level of distortions and aberrations. >>> so it makes sense that he would use 50mm lenses for entire films since the 50mm (as well as the 35mm) is often considered to resemble the focal length of the human eye. , and in particular, the Focus Peaking mode can help keep things sharp. Like Joss Whedon, Chad Stahelski/David Leitch, Anthony & Joe Russo. Likewise, cinematographer Yasujiro Ozu shot Jim Jarmusch’s 1986 black and white art film Down by Law with only a 50mm lens. However, the cinematographer on Down by Law was the late Robby Muller. So when a DP asks for a 50mm they mean a 50mm and they see exactly what they expect to see on a Super 35 frame. Its fast f-stop can make for really stunning close-ups when used in one- and two-shots of people, and it’s the one lens that can most easily give your video a professional look. You have entered an incorrect email address! If the scene calls for 51mm or 48mm, you can do that, and you can also zoom in or out while you’re filming. Some filmmakers eliminate all that worry by sticking to the most extreme of basics. Does having the mother of the bride in the background help tell your story? How does the background look? Some lenses are extreme and they’re usually called “super” lenses — super wide lenses show an unusually wide area and are useful for both sweeping vistas but also in very tight spaces, like a car, or an elevator. Lens focal lengths are largely meaningless unless you also know the the actual camera format the lens is going to be used with. In this video, wolfcrow's Sareesh Sudhakaran shares the preferred focal lengths and lenses of 19 of our most beloved filmmakers, including Kubrick, Scorsese, Ozu, Spielberg, and Kurosawa. The benefit of having to change lenses between shots is that you become very much aware of the differences between focal lengths and will start to be able to see in your head (before a shot), which lens will work the best. If this is specified, the size of the sensor/film is irrelevant (and the aspect ratio is defined too). Partner with us to reach an enthusiastic audience of students, enthusiasts and professional videographers and filmmakers. 600mm is great if you’re photographing small passerine birds (blue tits, coal tits, sparrows etc). Micro Four Thirds cameras, for example, have a crop factor of 2x, which means that the focal length of a lens is effectively doubled when you use it on a Micro Four Thirds camera body. Filmmakers who are used to working within a Super 35 world have certain visual expectation of the image that, say, a 50mm lens will produce on an S35 frame with regard to magnification and horizontal angle of view. The shorter the focal length, the wider the angle of view and the smaller the magnification. Depends on the cinema format. Get her in the frame! 35mm cameras have been around since the 1930s and we’ve gotten very used to talking about lenses in their relationship to 35mm film, but not all cameras are the same.