PHOTOGRAPHY -11
Filters for special effects
Literally a craze of sorts pervaded the South Indian
Film Industry around 1980- a period vivid for a boom in colour movies , punctuated
by a free trade among select Nations for film stock, processing machines which
eliminated the the state of keeping one’s fingers crossed , having sent the film for processing/ printing to
Chennai/ Bombay /Calcutta /Bangalore and one or two stations deep down South.
The whole work was a guarded secret that heavily leaned on Darkroom technology
and Technicians. When the trade got relaxed from the shackles of manual skill,
thanks to some mechanized processing systems that could handle a larger number
of films through a series of systematic treatments in sequence under
appropriate temperature regimes. Per working sessions 15-20 film rolls would
emerge –thoroughly processed and fit for printing in the immediate follow-up
session. Still, it needed a well-trained technician or two to print the frames
on a long tape-like paper stock , bulk processed and handed over in a few
hours. SO, STILL PHOTOGRAPHY witnessed a surge in sale/use of photo
consumables,film, paper, albums, gift mounts and similar articles. Thus , special effect filters gained
attention and demand among amateurs who by then had a fair idea of SLR Photography.
SPECIAL EFFECTS
Honestly, all special effects are just artificial
exaggerations , baffling the viewer of some ‘mesmerising trick’. Some optical
accessory mounted on to a camera can alter the components in a scene to have
been ‘re-done’ as verbatim repeats making it look out of the world. Often
prism-like cuts on a glass generate similar images with in a frame. On
Printing, all of them occur in a page –as if they were individually brought
out.
GRADED FILTERS
These have been in wider use among cinematographers
than among still photographers. These have gradations of a tinge progressively
increasing from one end to the other. The ‘on screen’ effect was, the scene would reveal progresive shift in
colour density-blue/ green / red , just to enhance the romantic element of the
scene.
STAR EFFECT
Among all workers a general desire is to bringoff
sparkle from any pointed light source like the oil wick lamp.In order that the
light source ‘throws up’ a sparkle, a glass fiter with lines crossing each
other was used in the name of star filter, At all intersections of lines, the
burning lamp forms a star like sparkle , making the picture quite enjoyable
LENS MASK
Lens masks are half circles of opaque material like
plastic or fibre, so as to shield the camera lens from light. As a result, only
half of the frame in a film receives light and the other half remains fit for
another image registering. This is the basic strategy in bringing out pictures
with the same person presented side by side –as if two members were picturised
together;this feature was widely exploited in movies to portray an actor –as
playing different roles. [popular as double role or double act in Indian par
lance] However, in order that twin images are registered in a frame or on a stretch of film, the camera ought to stay
‘rock steady’ with no shift in position. Several criteria determine the success
of exposures .
1 Camera stays ‘anchored’
2 lens mask is precisely shifted to throw open the
hidden half.
3. the person’captured’ makes self distinct by dress
or hair style to make self look radically distinct in the 2 halves.
4 LIGHT in the 2 halves shall be uniform to pass off
as a single exposure.
OTHER REQUIREMENTS.
Old cameras had no barriers to carry out 2 or more
exposures on the same frame. This resulted in mutiple [unintended]exposures on
a frame ruining all pictures. Places of tourist interest were lost from photos
by inadvertent multiple exposures.
Later versions of Camera had fool-proof impediments to
compel moving the film to next frame before the next exposure. It saved all images
from inept practices; but it also prevented attempts of double exposure tricks
even for advanced wokers.
Some manufacturers [Leitz- LEICA] brought out camera designs that would permit
a second exposure by a special button which would help our retrieving the used
frame back to the exposure gate by winding a reverse gear. The design was so
perfect that the exact limits of the frame
were held in precise spots to avoid displacement between exposures. It
was a boon to still photography.
Cine cameras have aways had sensible designs to recall
‘already shot footages ‘ for a second exposure to register twin roles of the
same person. It was facilitated by a counter [with frames precisely numbered]
that can be kept track of. The technician notes the frame number to recall the
film back to that numberfor a second exposure. All movements of frames –forward
or backward was precise and fool proof
to eliminate any watage of film stok.
Cine-Wizard A Vincent had devised an altogether
distinct style of registering twin images of the same actor on the same film stretches. He developed a special
strategy called LIGHTING MASK, meaning the two halves were held in dark
alternately by precisely lighting one half each time.His work in
UTHAMAPUTHTHIRAN using lighting mask was unpecedented and also it eliminated a
faint median line marking the two halves in twin exposure shots noticeable in
many movies of that era. He also has the credit ‘out of box thinking’ by
choosing to shoot against orange backdrops in place of traditinal grey
background.
To Continue … K.Raman
We were wondering those days that how same actor in two different dresses appear in a single frame. Now only we come to know the effect of lens mask.
ReplyDeleteVenkataraman
Amazing
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