This is a technique I've recently started to explore, which involves shooting with out attaching the lens to the camera. You hold the lens in front of your camera's sensor, moving it back and forth to adjust focus. It gives your footage some great looking practical light leaks, and some really strange focal planes. Below is a short tutorial showing how my crew is using the technique. Is any one else using lens whacking in their projects? Anybody have tips or tutorials showing how we can take this style even further???
Cinematography : Lens whacking / Free lensing by Keith Hopkins
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Pretty cool, Keith.
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Very cool effect!
Not impressive.
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Thanks for putting the video together. I enjoyed seeing the end result.
Somewhere mid 90's I think, music video editors started to include all manner of unusable footage as style: flash frames, edge fogging, and "whacking"- which was an unintended effect of swapping lenses while rolling. The positive lock of a PL mount created a distinct focus-snap when resetting; when pulling un-centering creates a soft tilt/ shit effect. In any case, it spilled into commercials, and then went away... it's back as part of the new school of filmmaking thought that says anything is good... for whatever that is worth. As a fan of the burnt-in, organic, do -it- in- camera school ( because it's how I learned ), I will say it has a decidedly smooth feel, and would be hard to replicate digitally... but it's also the shot you get, and you are married to it. Which can be a good thing. Or not.
That's interesting Royce. I didn't know the history of it