I went to the headquarters for the American Society of Cinematographers last week and picked up a filter booklet which had all of the lens filters and reflector samples to use for when I plan a shoot. I think it's a must have.
What are some of the must haves for directors and cinematographers?
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Love this, Anthony! That filter booklet sounds like such a great resource. I’m really looking forward to reading everyone’s comments and seeing what other must-haves people swear by. Thanks for starting this conversation!
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Oh how exciting! The clubhouse is amazing! I hope you were able to spend some time looking at the camera collection. Not sure if Steve Gainer may have been there but he's the curator for the collection and is an encyclopedia of information on Cinematography history.
Filters and reflectors, from my perspective as a DP, are project dependent but I lean heavily on Black Pro Mist as a base in order to create beautiful highlight blooms in camera. Different intensities of Neutral Density are great to have on hand as are circular polarizers. There are so many and they can all have their uses. Coral gives a nice warm tone where other effect filters cover a wide array.
But absolute must-haves for a DP: A good circular polarizer and a series of good ND filters. The rest are typically available for rent.
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I second the ND filters part; that's a big one. A circular polarizer is useful, but I find it not always necessary, while even indoors NDs are often very useful.
The importance of other filters varies by project, as does a good way to control lens flare. Sometimes it looks nice, but sometimes it's distracting, and flares are also a stylistic choice. Plus, it's very easy to add really beautiful and perfectly controlled lens flares in post with tools like Sapphire, but very difficult to remove a flare that turns out to be distracting.