Image Processing Reference
In-Depth Information
Remember to ease out your final movements when your human subject
comes to rest or is at the end of the journey. I also want to remind you to think
about controlled animated movements that the human subject might display,
like looking left and right frame to frame, smiling, maybe waving a hand, or
some other expression that might relate directly to the journey be traveled.
The final note I want to relay is that there are endless variations on this
exercise. If you refer to Mike Jittlov's
Wizard of Speed and Time
, you will see
a wonderful film partly based on this concept and done in a very inventive
way. One more element can be added for a more advanced production: the
element of blur. If you can find or build a moving unit (it could be the back
of a pickup truck—use extreme caution working in the back of a truck—or
a dolly or some sort of rolling platform) that could hold you, your camera/
tripod setup and laptop
and
your human subject, then you can get the blur
you need. Your camera and human subject always are lined up with the
proper distance to each other on the moving platform, so you need not
constantly monitor that relationship, and you can move them both together
by moving the moving platform. To get blur, which might be very effective
if your character is supposed to be racing through an environment, you
need a longer shutter exposure like 1 second. This may require that you stop
down the camera lens to f-22 if you are shooting outside. You can also use
ND (neutral density) filters to knock down the exposure. Someone else must
concentrate on moving the platform with you and your subject on it as
you shoot the camera. You can adjust your human subject; and on a coordinated
count, you need to move your platform and simultaneously shoot the camera
shutter at 1 second. Your subject stays in focus because he or she moves
exactly the same distance and way the camera moves (since they are on the
platform together), but the background blurs because the relationship of
the camera and background shifts during the 1-second exposure. This takes
some practice and careful control, but it can be very effective. It is even more
important to give some life to your character with this effect, so it feels like the
subject is active and full of energy while racing through the scene.
If you want to shoot a night scene, you can use a flash-pop or a quick
on-and-off light on your subject, while keeping your shutter open for a
longer period of time, so any moving background elements can blur. This
would take a little testing to get the right exposures but could elicit some
really exciting results.
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