American Cinematographer - May 2017 - 66
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Practical Optics: Introduction to Anamorphic
Vivier is seen here in an anamorphic image cropped for the 1.78:1 aspect ratio.
gated vertically. The more things are out
of focus, the more they are stretched
vertically, from Benoît standing at the
camera in A-50, to the Millennium
camera in A-100, to Adrien's face in A135, where it becomes almost abstract.
This asymmetric elongation of
soft-focus objects in the frame is a key
feature of certain anamorphic lenses.
The bokeh is an aesthetic quality that
creates a feeling and mood that is difficult to describe objectively. Look at
image A-135. To my eye, the vertical
distortion of tall soft images creates a
magical cinematic world that surrounds
Emmanuelle, but for some filmmakers
this quality may seem unnatural and
artificial.
A related cinematic artifact is the
anamorphic focus shift, which can
change an object in frame from an oval
to a circle, or the other way around.
Some filmmakers find this transformation distracting; for others it can be a
very satisfying cinematic transition
when accomplished by a talented 1st AC
like René-Pierre. This can be evaluated
in the video footage on the website.
5. Test B -
Rear vs. Front Anamorphs
The second test we shot was a
comparison of rear and front zoom
anamorphs - the optical element in the
lens that squeezes the image. With
66
May 2017
prime lenses, this component is usually
added in front of the spherical portion
of the lens. With zoom lenses, a front
attachment sometimes would result in
too large an overall lens size or would
impose other optical constraints; therefore many manufacturers place the
anamorphosizing element at the back
of an existing zoom lens - a modification that does somewhat change the
bokeh.
In our test we shot similar frames
from the same position with a 27mm
Primo and zooms with rear and front
anamorphs. The bottom image, created
by a front anamorph on the AWZ2.3,
is familiar; it has the same bokeh qualities that we saw in the first test.
The middle image with a rearanamorph ALZ11 is something else.
The luminous bokehs of the light bulbs
have a distinctive rectangular shape,
and the out-of-focus areas are closer to
spherical lenses than anamorphics.
Note that the depth of field of
the middle image is deeper than the
27mm prime lens. That is because we
chose to shoot every lens wide open, to
heighten bokehs. The ALZ11 is made
by adding an anamorphic element to
the back of a spherical SLZ11, which
opens to T2.8. The addition of the rear
element reduces the maximum aperture to T4.5.
American Cinematographer
6. Test C - Flares
Our last test explored flares. We
positioned a 200-watt Arri HMI Par
and a Donner Spotlight LED, and then
rotated each one to see what flares they
created as they shone into the camera.
Our results reflected the unpredictability of flares created by the complex
interactions of light with a lens' coating,
elements and iris.
Anamorphic lenses are subject to
flares partly because the glass in the
front element offers a target for lightbeams on the set. The anamorphic
squeeze also tends to give flares a horizontal shape. This is evident in image
A-50, which exhibits a horizontal,
purplish "blue line" that is characteristic
of the Primo anamorphic lenses.
On the spherical lenses, we found
that our lights tended to create an overall glare, with occasional flare shapes.
The anamorphic lenses tended to give
us more lines. The final image is from a
rear-anamorph zoom, with its characteristic square bokehs.
7. Anamorphic is Not
Exclusively 2.39:1
As noted earlier, 2x anamorphic
was initially created to frame a
widescreen image with a 2.35:1 aspect
ratio - later refined to 2.39:1 - which
was squeezed horizontally to fit snuggly
in the area of the projected 35mm film
print.
The advent of digital media,
however, has eliminated the traditional
space constraint of the film print, and
the use of an un-squeezing projection
lens. This means that anamorphic is no
longer necessarily tied to the 2.39:1
aspect ratio.
Today there are many examples
of anamorphic photography in television series and commercials framed in
1.78:1. Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC put
an anamorphic image in a 1.85:1 frame
for the multi-format Biutiful by
Alejandro González Iñárritu (AC Jan.
'11). In the era of digital cinema and
elastic frames, anamorphic has become
an optical system that is no longer tied
to a specific frame shape.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - May 2017
Contents
American Cinematographer - May 2017 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - May 2017 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - May 2017 - 1
American Cinematographer - May 2017 - 2
American Cinematographer - May 2017 - Contents
American Cinematographer - May 2017 - 4
American Cinematographer - May 2017 - 5
American Cinematographer - May 2017 - 6
American Cinematographer - May 2017 - 7
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American Cinematographer - May 2017 - 29A
American Cinematographer - May 2017 - 29B
American Cinematographer - May 2017 - 29C
American Cinematographer - May 2017 - 29D
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