Televisual article - Live sport: The beautiful game

Live sport is increasingly turning to cinematic cameras usually seen on a film set to add emotion and drama. But blending those shots with rest of the action is no easy feat.

Broadcast, Cinefade, Education, Variable Depth of field, Variable ND filterOliver Janesh ChristiansenJanuary 11, 2023live sport, broadcast, Cinefade, television, football, Televisual magazine, variable ND filterComment

Fade the Flames by Karim Hussain CSC - Canadian Cinematographer magazine article

My relationship with the Cinefade system began a while before I even knew it existed. While prepping director Brandon Cronenberg’s 2020 feature Possessor, we had a crazy idea that we had never seen done before. When the character of Vos (Andrea Riseborough) would jump in and out of possessing someone, the world around her would start blurry in shallow depth of field, then sharpen up in focus, revealing her surroundings. Effectively a depth of field rack in shot while maintaining a single focal plane, without affecting the lighting.

Cinefade, Cinematography, Director of Photography, Education, Filmmaking, Film Production, Variable Depth of field, Variable ND filterOliver Janesh ChristiansenMay 29, 2022Canadian Cinematographer magazine, Karim Hussain CSC, depth of field, article, publication, Cinefade, Firestarter Comment

Anatomy of a Scandal - Flashbacks with Cinefade

Shooting on Sony Venice Cameras at 6K 17:9 with the new large format Leitz Prime lenses, the Cinefade enables Director of Photography Balazs Bolygo BSC, HSC to transition from a very shallow depth of field at T1.8 to a deep depth of field at around T8, a Cinefade of more than 4 stops. In the end, two distinct scenes made it into the final cut…

BTS, Camera Assistant, Cinefade, Cinematography, Director of Photography, Film Production, Filmmaking, Hire, Variable Depth of fieldOliver Janesh ChristiansenMay 16, 2022TV series, Cinefade, cinematography, variable depth of field, filmmaking, Netflix Comment

Behind the scenes with Shane Hurlbut ASC using Cinefade

Cinematographer Shane Hurlbut ASC gives us a behind the scenes look of his newest feature film Tall Girl 2, available to stream on Netflix now. We analyse the Cinefade scenes and get a brief insight into Hurlbut's creative process of using our novel storytelling tool.

BTS, Cinefade, Cinematography, Director of Photography, Education, Filmmaking, Variable Depth of fieldOliver Janesh ChristiansenApril 17, 2022Cinefade, depth of field, VariND, Netflix, Shane Hurlbut ASC, cinematography, variable depth of field, bokeh effect, background blur effectComment

Live sports broadcast uses Cinefade VariND for cinematic look

One of the first sports leagues to experiment with full-frame sensor cinema cameras during their live-sports broadcast productions is the Spanish professional football league La Liga and we take a look at how the Cinefade VariND helped to match the two different types of cameras and allowed the operators to quickly transition between a cinematic to a broadcast look.

Education, Cinefade, Variable Depth of field, Variable ND filter, BroadcastOliver Janesh ChristiansenApril 13, 2022broadcast, deep depth of field, exposure, VariND, Cinefade, football, LaLiga, live sportComment

Extending depth of field to achieve critical focus during tracking shot

The Cinefade variable depth of field effect is known as a creative storytelling tool that is often used as a visual effect to accentuate a particularly dramatic moment. The Cinefade system can however also be used as a practical tool to make the DP’s and AC’s job on set easier.

DP Kevin Fletcher used the Cinefade system on a complicated tracking shot to aid his 1AC in achieving critical focus. Starting on an extreme close-up, the depth of field was kept broad to increase the likelihood of maintaining perfect focus. As the camera tracked backwards to a wide shot, the Cinefade was used to imperceptibly decrease depth of field in order to maintain the shallow depth of field look and communicate the character’s sense of isolation.

BTS, Camera Assistant, Cinefade, Cinematography, Director of Photography, Education, Variable Depth of fieldOliver Janesh ChristiansenApril 23, 2021depth of field, variable, variable depth of field, focus puller, extend depth of field, practical effectComment

Das Vokabular des Films erweitert: Cinefade prägt mit variabler Tiefenschärfe »Mank« von David Fincher

David Finchers neuester Netflix-Film »Mank« ist eine Hommage an »Citizen Kane« und an Gregg Tolands Arbeit mit Tiefenschärfe in diesem Jahrhundertwerk von Orson Welles. Dazu setzt Regisseur Fincher mit seinem Kameramann Erik Messerschmidt das von Oliver Christiansen neue entwickelte System Cinefade ein – und ergänzt damit das visuelle Storytelling um ein revolutionäres, bis anhin ungesehenes kreatives Element.

BTS, Cinefade, Cinematography, Education, Variable Depth of fieldOliver Janesh ChristiansenMarch 2, 2021Mank, variable Tiefenschärfe, Schärfentiefe, Erik Messerschmidt, Filmpuls, Deutsch, Deutschland, Cinefade VerleihComment

More Like This podcast - Spotlight on ‘Mank’ featuring Erik Messerschmidt ASC

Listen to a short extract of the More Like This podcast from Netflix Queue in which cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt ASC discusses his and David Fincher's thought process behind using the Cinefade as a storytelling tool.

Cinefade, Cinematography, Director of Photography, Education, Filmmaking, Variable Depth of field, Variable ND filterOliver Janesh ChristiansenFebruary 12, 2021podcast, Netflix, Cinefade, Mank, David Fincher, Erik Messerschmidt, cinematographyComment

Cinematography of 'Mank' - How Erik Messerschmidt ASC used a variable depth of field

“We used this tool called the cmotion Cinefade. It’s a motorized variable ND filter that you sync to the iris so we could effectively pull depth of field. It’s quite extreme. You could pull five stops of depth of field. So we could go from a T8 to a 2. That thing kind of lived on the camera. There were times where we’d say, “It’s too much. Let’s look at it at a 5.6.” So you set the iris to a 5.6, the VariND compensates and now you’re looking at the same scene but with less depth of field. So, it was nice to be able to use focus and iris as a storytelling tool instead of just an exposure tool.” - Erik Messerschmidt ASC

Bruno Delbonnel on playing with depth of field

Bruno had a revelation when he realised that he is able to also play with the depth of field and change it in shot: Starting the scene with a very deep depth of field and as the scene gets more intense he is able to gradually transition to a shallow depth of field.

Cinefade, Cinematography, Director of Photography, Education, Variable Depth of field, Variable ND filterOliver Janesh ChristiansenJanuary 7, 2021depth of field, adjustable depth of field, variable depth of field, VariND, variable ND filter, Bruno Delbonnel Comment

David Fincher's 'Mank' uses Cinefade extensively

Focus and depth of field play an incredibly important role in the cinematography of ‘Mank’ and we are excited for you to see how DP Erik Messerschmidt utilised the Cinefade VariND to help craft the look.

Cinefade, Cinematography, Director of Photography, Filmmaking, Variable Depth of field, Variable ND filterOliver Janesh ChristiansenNovember 19, 2020depth of field, variable depth of field, VariND, Cinefade, David Fincher, Erik Messerschmidt, cinematography, focus, Citizen Kane, MankComment

How to adjust depth of field in film

In the past, Cinematographers have always been limited to choosing a depth of field that stays consistent throughout the shot. A variable depth of field that creates a sort of focus blur or background blur effect has vast creative applications and the potential of becoming a must-have feature for Lens Control Systems (LCS).

Cinefade, Cinematography, Education, Film Production, Filmmaking, Variable Depth of fieldOliver Janesh ChristiansenNovember 4, 2018depth of field, film, motion picture, Cinefade, variable depth of field, adjustable ND filter, adjustable depth of field Comment

Variable depth of field effect in Huawei P10 commercial

David wanted to gradually transition from a deep depth of field to a shallow depth of field in one shot to blur the background and isolate the foreground subject. This draws attention to the depth of field effect and communicates to consumers the capabilities of the P10 phone and the artistic value that the feature offers.

BTS, Cinefade, Cinematography, Director of Photography, Education, Film Production, Filmmaking, Variable Depth of fieldOliver Janesh ChristiansenNovember 2, 2018adjustable depth of field, variable depth of field, Huawei P10, iPhone X, iPhone X Max, adjust depth of field, blur background, sharp background, DP David ProcterComment

Easier focus pulls on tracking shots with Cinefade

Tracking shots at a shallow depth of field in which the camera tracks closer to the subject are notoriously hard for focus pullers to keep sharp, especially if the subject is also moving. A variable depth of field can be used to extend the depth of field when tracking towards the subject to give the focus puller a better chance of nailing critical focus.

Camera Assistant, Cinefade, Cinematography, Education, Filmmaking, Variable Depth of field, Variable ND filterOliver Janesh ChristiansenOctober 28, 2018tracking shot, practical effect, in-camera effect, variable depth of field, adjustable depth of fieldComment

Combining Cinefade with a Dolly-Zoom shot

The Cinefade shot is often compared to the Dolly Zoom shot, also known as the Vertigo effect, Trombone shot, Zolly amongst many others. Although it is technically different, the comparison refers to the narrative motivation behind applying one of the two shots in a film: Accentuating a pivotal moment in the narrative.

Cinefade, Cinematography, Education, Film Production, Filmmaking, Variable Depth of field, Variable ND filterOliver Janesh ChristiansenOctober 15, 2018Dolly-Zoom, Trombone shot, Vertigo effect, Hitchcock effect, Cinefade, Cinefade-Dolly-Zoom-shot, Motion Control rigComment

Variable ND filter for film

The cmotion Cinefade VariND is made up of a Motorised Polariser and a Static Polariser which when combined can be used as a motorised variable ND filter that is remotely controlled by a cPRO lens control system to allow for precise and fast exposure changes when the camera is inaccessible or when the creative brief calls for an exact T-stop to maintain a consistent depth-of-field, even in changing lighting conditions.

Paul Cameron ASC uses Cinefade to vary depth of field in 'The Commuter'

“Director Jaume Collet-Serra and I wanted a severe depth-of-field shift to accentuate Liam Neeson's experience - something to isolate him from his surrounding world. I was in the process of designing a system when my A-camera first AC, Dave Cozens, came upon Cinefade. It was exactly what we were looking for.”

- Paul Cameron ASC