- Have you ever tried to look up your name in Google
and seen what comes up?
It's kind of fun.
I haven't done it for a little while.
Mattie Haapoja.
(dark, intense music)
Um...
No comment.
(upbeat music)
- One of the things that people
don't really think about enough
is how much of a difference it makes what lens
you're choosing to film with
but when you're using a gimbal or a steady camera
some sort of stabilizer
and you're having movement in the shots
it matters even more which lens you use.
You can get a completely different look from using
something like this, the 24mm,
versus using something like this, which is an 85mm.
The look is completely different.
Now, typically, when you're starting out
using gimbals or steadycams,
I do recommend using a wider lens,
for a few different reasons.
First off, it's way easier to frame up your shot
when you're using a wide-angle on a gimbal,
versus something like a zoom-lens, like an 85mm.
Two, it's a little bit more versatile to use something
like a 24mm or a 35mm, because you can still
get those wide shots, and you can get the close up shots.
And then, three, is that it exaggerates
the movements a lot of times,
so you don't have to go as crazy your movements,
but you're still getting that action, that movement,
even by walking just a little bit.
But, using a lens that's a little bit more zoomed in,
like an 85mm can make for some really, really cool results.
So, why don't we compare the two?
Let's look at what kind of results do you get
out of the 24mm and then the 85mm,
and how different they are, on a gimbal, that is.
Alright, so first off, we have the classic dolly forward
and here we're just moving closer to our subject.
So we're starting out farther,
we're starting out kind of on a wide shot,
and then we're gonna walk forwards until we're on
kind of like a close-up or medium shot.
And it's crazy how different the look is,
even though the settings are completely the same.
We're at f/2.8, here, white balance,
all that stuff is exactly the same.
The look is completely different.
Right away we see that the movement with the 24mm
is a lot more exaggerated, and that's because
we don't have to walk as far of a distance to complete
this move from a wide shot to a close-up.
When I was using the 85mm I had to go like
way far out there and walk really far
to get up to that zoomed in close-up.
To get it to look like I'm moving kind of at the same speed,
I would have had to walk way faster,
or run, even, with the zoomed in lens.
And even with that the movement would
still look completely different,
which we'll get to in a little bit.
Next we can notice that with the 85mm,
you're getting way more shallow depth-of-field,
even though we're at the same aperture.
That's just the nature of things,
with a 24mm versus an 85mm.
But the whole image just looks a little bit softer and nicer
almost less contrast-y, which is really interesting.
Then of course, we get to the background,
which looks completely different.
With the 24mm, we're seeing a lot more of the background.
And then with the 85mm we're only seeing
like a tiny portion of it.
And so, of course, with the movement then
with the 24mm you're going to see
a lot more movement in the background,
versus the 85mm kind of looks like the background
stays fairly static, there's not that much movement going on
With the 85mm it almost looks more like a zoom-in
than a dolly forward, unless you're just really
focusing in on the subject,
then you can kind of see a little bit of a difference
when you're dollying forward with the 85mm.
Then let's take a look at the orbit.
So we're just circling around the subject
and I did a wide and then a little bit more of a close-up.
Again, the movement here takes way longer with the 85mm
because the orbit is way bigger,
where I'm having to go farther away from the subject
then do this really wide arc.
As opposed to the 24mm, I can be pretty close
so I don't have to move as far of a distance.
So, the movement takes a longer amount of time.
But here it's really interesting.
The background almost looks like it's
moving faster with the 85mm.
It kind of looks like it's whizzing around Matt,
as I'm orbiting around him.
This is where we get that Michael Bay effect.
It kind of makes this crazy action, chaotic look
and he did this a lot using zoom-lenses and then just
orbiting around his characters or his actors.
It really helps to add a little bit of action
with that faster whizzing around.
It kind of looks like the world
is spinning around the character.
Versus with the 24mm, it's very apparent that
we are spinning around the subject.
With the 85mm it kind of looks like
the world is spinning around the subject.
And then we have the classic leading or follow shots,
so here we're either just either
moving backwards in front of the subject
or we're following the subject.
And with the 24mm you see a lot more movement.
It looks like the character is walking and moving forwards.
Whereas the 85mm, it almost looks like Matt's just
walking in the same place,
because the background doesn't change as much.
It kind of looks static.
Just kind of looks like he's just walking there,
and he's just kind of faking it.
But it is a really nice look, also.
Especially this follow shot.
I don't know, there's just something
really, really nice about it.
It really isolates the subject
and I just love the movement.
There's kind of like an ominous feel to it.
So, really, here with lenses, like always,
there's no right or wrong, you should always be using this,
or you should always be using that.
They're just very, very different.
Not only in the typical differences between
a more zoomed in lens or a wider lens,
but also with the movement.
It makes a massive difference if you're
using a wider lens, a 24mm, or a 35mm,
or a more zoomed-in lens like a 50mm or an 85mm,
or a 135mm where you get that
crazy whizzing around the world effect.
But, in general, like I said, I would recommend
if you're starting out, to use a more wide lens,
something like a 24mm or a 16mm or a 35mm, at the very least
Just because it's a lot more forgiving.
It's easier to frame your angle.
If there's a little bit of shake while you're filming,
with an 85mm you're gonna notice that shake a lot,
even just a tiny movement, you're just like whoa whoa.
The orbiting shot is much harder on the 85mm, I'd say.
But the look is really cool, also.
So when you're starting out, I would definitely recommend
trying out a wide lens first,
And then once you get a little bit better
with a gimbal or steadycam,
then move into the move zoomed in lenses, like an 85mm.
I'd say gimbals really opened up using
lenses like an 85mm, with movement.
Before it was really hard to use something like an 85mm
when you're trying to do a moving shot,
just because you have to be so careful with the movement.
Gimbals allow you that kind of precision
or that extra stable movement that you need
for more zoomed in lens, when you're running around with it.
Alright, so there we go, I hope that helps you
kind of make your choice on which lens to use
when you're trying to do some moving shots
with a gimbal or steadycam.
For me, even, this was really eye-opening,
doing this comparison.
I haven't really ever compared them like this.
So, yeah, I learned a lot.
I hope you learned a lot, too.
(music stops abruptly)
Okay, I really need to do something about that Google Search
so I'm gonna try to make myself a Wikipedia page,
or something, I don't know.
I've already buried a lot of the Haapoja-Mattie,
MattieHaapoja, Mattie Haapoja search results,
but this is just weird, now.
I don't know what to think about this.
(giggles)
Alright, wish me luck.
(upbeat, bass-heavy pop music)