EMC/JOUR 3000 Lecture 1 - The Technical Dimension

EMC / JOUR 3000 INTRO TO MOTION

PICTURES

Edward Bowen

Lecture One - The Technical Dimension, Part 1

Technology of Motion PicturesCamera Obscura• Take a big box into the sunlight. • Get inside. • Cut a small hole in one side. • Stand clear. • On the side opposite the hole you will see an image

(reversed and upside down) of what's outside. • You are in a camera obscura. • Put a piece of film where the image is and expose it. • You are now in a camera.

Technology of Motion PicturesCamera Obscura



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuJ_Jd6Qgyo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuJ_Jd6Qgyo

Technology of Motion PicturesPersistence of VisionThe concept that the eye retains one image just long

enough to blend it with a following image. This permits a sequence of still pictures to appear as

one continuous action. Physiologists and neurologists have developed

revised theories for how we perceive motion.The theory of “persistence of vision” still retains

popular acceptance.

Technology of Motion PicturesPersistence of Vision

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3veFqnnob0A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3veFqnnob0A

Technology of Motion PicturesApparent Motion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ulQ_vaBM0Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ulQ_vaBM0Q

Technology of Motion PicturesFilmOne medium on which motion picture images are

recorded

Technology of Motion PicturesFilmOne medium on which motion picture images are

recorded.Film is composed of many layers, two of which are • a base, and• emulsion.

Technology of Motion PicturesFilm Base – Cellulose, a synthetic plastic invented

around 1870.• Cellulose Nitrate, or Nitrate Film• Cellulose Acetate, or Safety Film

Technology of Motion PicturesFilm Base• Cellulose Nitrate, or Nitrate Film• Unstable• Highly flammable

Technology of Motion PicturesFilm Base• Cellulose Nitrate, or Nitrate Film• Unstable• Highly flammable• Made illegal in 1949

Technology of Motion PicturesFilm Base• Cellulose Nitrate, or Nitrate Film• Unstable• Highly flammable• Made illegal in 1949

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhiwKnZlW1c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhiwKnZlW1c

Technology of Motion PicturesFilm is not a permanent medium.

About 80% of films made before 1920 no longer exist.

About 50% of films made before 1950 no longer exist.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xVK_qhXkKE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xVK_qhXkKE


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oift1b_CwX4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oift1b_CwX4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN1_zEjOQ6o



“Frankenstein” (1910)



Technology of Motion PicturesFilm EmulsionThe layer of photo-sensitive chemicals that coats the

film base

Technology of Motion PicturesFilm EmulsionThe layer of photo-sensitive chemicals that coats the

film base

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fvkbpaNA14

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fvkbpaNA14

Technology of Motion PicturesFilm EmulsionThe layer of photo-sensitive chemicals (silver halide)

that coats the film base

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ5bf_GEW_o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ5bf_GEW_o

Technology of Motion PicturesFilm Emulsion• Black and White – A single chemical layer renders

only shades from black to white

Technology of Motion PicturesFilm Emulsion• Black and White

Technology of Motion PicturesFilm Emulsion• Black and White• Color – Comprised of three layers of emulsion:

yellow, magenta, and cyan. Combined they render full color

Technology of Motion PicturesFilm Emulsion• Black and White• Color

Film Emulsion• Black and White• Color

Technology of Motion Pictures

Technology of Motion PicturesFilm Emulsion• Black and White• Color

Technology of Motion PicturesFilm Emulsion• Black and White• Color – Hand Coloring

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkT54BetFBI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p94yQ8cvTHg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkT54BetFBI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p94yQ8cvTHg

Film Emulsion• Black and White• Color -Tinting


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoe7noZkLlI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoe7noZkLlI

Film Emulsion• Black and White• Color – Two tone Technicolor


Film Emulsion• Black and White• Color – Two tone Technicolor


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seEchnfpdyc

Warm

Color - Temperature

Warm

Color - Temperature

Warm

Color - Temperature

Warm

Color - Temperature

Cool

Color - Temperature

Cool

Color - Temperature

Cool

Color - Temperature

Color - Temperature

Color - Temperature

Color - Saturation

Film Emulsion• Black and White• Color • Grain – Visibility of individual particles of

chemical coating


Film Emulsion• Black and White• Color • Grain


Film Emulsion• Black and White• Color • Grain


Film Emulsion• Black and White• Color • Grain • Contrast – The relationship of the brightest and

darkest parts of an image. HIGH CONTRAST evidences extremes between bright and dark elements. LOW CONTRAST evidences little difference in brightness among the elements.


Light - Contrast

Low High

Light - Contrast

Low High

Light - Contrast

Low High

Light - Contrast

Low High

Light - Contrast

Low High

Light - Contrast

Low High

Light - Contrast

Low High

Light - Contrast

Low High

Film Emulsion• Black and White• Color • Grain • Contrast• Light Sensitivity - Each emulsion type has a

different sensitivity to light. A fast film requires little light for proper exposure. A slow film (like early Technicolor) requires a great amount of light. Light sensitivity is referred to as the film speed or exposure index (abbreviated EI or ASA or ISO).


Film Emulsion - “Pi” (1998) Darren Aronofsky


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aulRoQTK5HY

Film Emulsion - “Pi” (1998) Darren Aronofsky


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aulRoQTK5HY

Film Emulsion

• Exposure. A measure of the amount of light admitted by the lens to create an image on the film.

• Proper exposure. A picture that looks acceptably “normal” or the special effect desired. Exposure is controlled on a camera by “f” stops.

• Underexposure. An underexposed image is dark. Purposeful underexposure can create day for night.

• Overexposure. An overexposed image is washed out or transparent.


Film Emulsion

• Exposure


Over Exposed

Properly Exposed

Under Exposed

Film Types

Film (raw) stock. A combination of a film base and an emulsion that has not been exposed.


Film TypesNegative. A film emulsion in which light values are

reversed in order to permit positive prints to be made. Motion picture film, like most photographic film processes, uses a negative image that is then printed to form a positive image. The negative allows many good copies to be printed.


Film TypesReversal. In reversal stock, the negative is

physically joined to a positive. After the negative prints to the positive, the negative emulsion is removed, leaving a positive print (but no negative). This film type was used largely in amateur filmmaking in which it was assumed that there would be demand for only a single positive.


Technology of Motion PicturesHD Digital VideoAnother medium on which motion picture images

are recorded.


are recorded.Digital cinematography cameras capture images

using CMOS or CCD sensors.


are recorded.Digital cinematography cameras capture images

using CMOS or CCD sensors. Information is stored on magnetic tape or as digital

files onto random-access media like optical discs, hard disk drives or flash memory-based digital “magazines.”


are recorded.

Technology of Motion PicturesHD Digital Video – “Vidocq” (2001)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkUvp9JFMS8

Technology of Motion PicturesHD Digital Video – “Russian Ark” (2002)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J--TDEHizVA

Technology of Motion PicturesHD Digital Video – “Star Wars: Attack of the

Clones” (2002)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Byb2cHTMStg

Technology of Motion PicturesFrame. A single photograph in a series that

comprise a motion image.

Technology of Motion PicturesAspect ratio: The relationship of the width of the image to the height of the image.

Standard or Academy ratio (4 X 3 or 1.33:1). In adopting the 35 mm format early filmmakers established the standard aspect ratio as a classical rectangle with a ratio of four units of width to three units of height. Thus if the projected image is twenty feet wide it will be fifteen feet high.

Technology of Motion PicturesAspect ratio: The relationship of the width of the image to the height of the image.Widescreen (1.66:1;1.85:1; 2.35:1). Over the years many filmmakers (Lumière, Griffith, Gance, etc.) experimented with the widescreen. Gance’s system, for example, employed three regular-sized screens, producing an effective aspect ratio of 3.99:1. Efforts to introduce widescreen technology were not successful until the 1950s when cinema tried to counter program against television. Some of the 1950s widescreens had a ratio of as much as 2.66:1 (CinemaScope). An image 26.6 feet wide and ten feet tall made for some strange closeups! The American standard widescreen ratio was finally set at 1.85:1. (The European standard widescreen ratio is 1:66:1.) Wider ratios are available through the use of anamorphic lens systems (2:35:1) and 70 mm film (2.2:1). IMAX and movie rides are another matter, with domed and curved screens that defy the application of a simple aspect ratio.

Technology of Motion PicturesAspect Ratios

Technology of Motion PicturesAspect Ratios – 1.33:1 or 4 3 Academy Ratio

Technology of Motion PicturesAspect Ratios – 1.66:1 European and British Standard Widescreen

Technology of Motion PicturesAspect Ratios – 1.85:1 Standard Widescreen

Technology of Motion PicturesAspect Ratios – 2:35:1 Anamorphic of Super 35mm Widescreen

Fred Waller – Inventor; Oversaw the photographic research and special effects department for Paramount Studios.


Fred Waller – Akwa Skees


Fred Waller – Director


Fred Waller – Director


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7653085842645884021#

Fred Waller – 360 Degree Still Camera


Fred Waller – Waller Gunnery Trainer


Fred Waller – Cinerama (2.60:1)






IMAX – 1.36:1Standard IMAX screen is 22 × 16.1 m (72 × 52.8 ft)


Technology of Motion PicturesHD TV – 16x9 or 1.77:1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqwCQQ4qIXw

3D - Creating the illusion of depth by photographing two images simultaneously, one for the viewer’s right eye and one for the left, then projecting or displaying them in such a fashion that each eye sees only one of the images. The brain then “thinks” it sees three dimensions.


3D


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmuuThydmZQ

Speed

• The number of frames that pass through the camera of projector or display device per second

• Frames per second (FPS)


Speed

• The number of frames that pass through the camera or projector or display device per second

• Frames per second (FPS)• Normal speed – Both the camera and the projector

or display device run at the same number of frames per second.


Speed

• Slow motion – The camera runs FASTER than the projector or display device. For example, the camera runs at 60 fps, but the projector runs at the standard 24 fps, making action slower. Also referred to as overcranking (production) and time stretching (post production). Time stretching is created by removing frames from already recorded footage.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJMxGFco57Y

Speed

• Slow motion – “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5GDcs8i2ng

Speed

• Slow motion – “Reservoir Dogs” (1992)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qBWc8FCEEM

Speed

• Slow motion – “Face/Off” (1997)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d37lLPjr1fw

Speed

• Fast motion – The camera runs SLOWER than the projector or display device. For example, the camera runs at 16 fps, but the projector runs at the standard 24 fps, making action faster. Also referred to as undercranking (production) and time stretching (post production). Time stretching is created by removing frames from already recorded footage.


Speed

• Fast motion - “Koyaanisqatsi” (1982)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6pVLQAY1HM

Speed

• Ramping – Changing speeds rapidly within a single shot.


Speed

• Ramping – “Sherlock Holmes” (2009)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug15jIs1nus

Speed

• Ramping – “Watchmen” (2009)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Afk_onUh_s

Speed

• Reverse motion – The action moves backwards.• “Spin” (2005) Jamin Winans


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP59tQf_njc

Speed

• Time Lapse – Super fast motion created by taking single frames of an object over time, compressing minutes, hours, days, weeks or years.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnbMYzdjuBs

Speed

• Stop Motion – Single frame photography used to animate objects. Effect that makes the animation of drawings (cartoons) and inanimate objects (i.e. Claymation) possible.


http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/12/31/50-incredible-stop-motion-videos/

Speed

• Stop Motion


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5QWUA17lwM

Speed

• Stop Motion – “Jason and the Argonauts” (1963)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NQ2GPoZ_j4

Speed

• Stop Motion – “Jason and the Argonauts” (1963)


http://www.rayharryhausen.com/index.php

Ray Harryhausen

Speed • Stop Motion – “Neighbors” Norman McLaren (1952)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZt_d_4OV-Q

Speed • Stop Motion – “Her Morning Elegance” Oren Lavie (2009)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY

Speed • Stop Motion – “End Love” OK Go (2010)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2fpgpanZAw

Speed

• Bullet Time – Time is slowed or frozen selectively for the characters and the environment, but not for certain characters or the camera, which move through the environment in real time. First popularized in “The Matrix” (1999).


http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BulletTime

Speed

• Bullet Time – “The Matrix” (1999).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNrSNcaYiZg

Speed

• Bullet Time – “The Matrix” (1999).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KtghA0rkDY

Speed • Bullet Time – CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2010)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9qjdUlRs7Y

Time - “10 Minutes” (1994)


http://vimeo.com/2455660

Art & Photos

EMC/JOUR 3000 Lecture 1 - The Technical Dimension