1st AC - Focus Pulling Techniques

Use these techniques to improve you focus pulling as a 1st AC.
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0:00 Intro
0:41 Deeper Stop
1:49 Focus Monitor Settings
7:24 Crazy Lighting
8:31 #1 Mistake
9:50 Muscle Memory
14:24 Using Marks
17:59 Towards and Away
20:56 Dolly/Steadi/Gimbal
22:45 Getting Marks
26:08 Outro

[@whateverjustposting]

some decent tips - i have a few to add: if possible apply a lut to your monitor, or at the very least increase the contrast if your monitor doesnt have any luts loaded. you dont ever really want to be pulling from log, as it can be kind of hard to tell if certain details are in focus. rather than using muscle memory to help with quick racks, i use my fingers as my marks. it can be uncomfortable, but its far more effective than “remembering” how my hands were positioned at each mark. you absolutely must mark the focus distances on your rings, if at all possible. you wont have time to do so each time you swap a lens, and hopefully you have rings to spare where you can mark each ring for each lens. if not, get a strip of tape that is cut to the exact length to cover the diameter of the ring, and line the ends up so that you can place the tape back over the ring in the exact same position, and rack through the entire focus throw, marking the distances on the lens on the strip of tape. when you swing a lens, swap the tape with the corresponding distance marks. as you get more experience focus pulling, you will be able to judge talent distance and use your intuition of how far the subject is to check your focus by seeing if it matches up with where you are distance wise on the lens. that way also if your monitor is acting up you arent up a creek with no possible way of focusing.

[@ghoulywood]

I always teach my 2nds who are interested in becoming 1sts to learn on a manual follow focus whenever you can. Even if you wind up using a wireless system for your entire professional career, being attached to the camera, feeling all of its subtle movements, and being right there and ready to whip your tape measure or laser out to grab distance marks builds much stronger muscle memory than relying entirely on the monitor. And sometimes wireless signals fail, and you have to be ready to pull focus on your instinct to guess distance. I also like to set marks for landmarks on a set, furniture, doorways, you get the idea. This is especially useful on longer lenses, where you may not have any frame of reference for where the subject is in relation to the rest of the environment.

[@wesleycollins5545]

Great video. The tip about switching the monitor to look for very colorful lighting is a really great tip. I was just pulling on a music video a few weeks ago and there were multiple set ups with very bright purple lighting. That mixed with a soft filter made it very hard to tell what was in focus. I’ll use your tip from now on. I think the biggest thing to know about pulling is that no one expects you to be perfect. The best thing you can do is let the DP know that you were soft on a shot and do it again, rather than just having them find out in post.

[@wesleycollins5545]

Sorry, meant to say “switching the monitor to *mono* for colorful lighting”

[@jacksingh8013]

If you make another video on First AC’s-weather it be their responsibilities, or something else-it would be cool to see you expand upon 1st Etiquette. When to ask for a stop down, when and if to say hold for focus, when to ask for marks-things like that may come in handy. Albeit, this could be a very case by case sort of thing to speak to.

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

That could be a good video. I will add it to the list.

[@DaftRebel]

What a masterclass! BIG thanks!

[@jargopapii]

This video is very helpful. Answered almost all the questions I've, I'd love to see the Focus puller series

[@kuschelmitmir8628]

Thanks for your calm but professional way to explain it. I‘m a media design student and there is a lot of pressure on my shoulders although I an just a beginner in focus pulling! Thanks for that Video, was really helpful and giving me some courage :)

[@adrienpayet]

The thumb advice is great ! Thanks ;)

[@jasonperryman6982]

Thanks for these valuable helpful tips, they will help me a lot when I do a 1st AC job in 2 days.

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

How did you do on the job? Hope it led to more work!

[@raizanong]

This will help me massively when I learn about manual focus in school. Thanks!

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

That's the best time to practice. If you need another take, ask for it. If they say no, it's on them.

[@matthewgcrosse8066]

1st AC from Ottawa, CAN here. Fantastic video!! Definitely some great tips

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

Glad it was helpful!

[@tekima.]

I need more of these tutorials!!

[@bikenejad]

Great video, thanks so much for making this! Glad to see someone else using the F-7H too. It has a great panel, but I wish they would update the UI. Feels a bit backwards coming from SmallHD, but the image is sharper and more accurate imo. Sometimes I’ll use my left thumb on the wheel as a “hard stop” for racks that need to be really fast and precise. I just place my left thumb over the witness mark, and right thumb/index finger over the marks, and just rip the wheel until a finger hits a finger. Doesn’t work for every shot, but it’s saved me on some fast 48fps+ racks. I use a few different colors of electrical tape triangles for marks instead of a pen, because they can be easily repositioned as blocking or camera position evolves.

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

TVLogic was THE focus pulling monitor for a long time until SmallHD came out with their 702 high brights. What many people don't know is that the TVLogic F-7H is even brighter and of course sharper. I've seen other 1st ACs us the tape triangles. I've always been a dry erase person. Both are good.

[@LewseeAhh]

Thanks for the tips!

[@Chijn]

Great stuff brother !

[@NimTV]

This is definitely useful for me! I ordered a focus wheel online and as soon as it arrives I’m gonna start practicing so I can get good at it

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

One thing I did as a fun little game to help me judge distance by eye was to look at some random thing in the room and guess as accurately as possible it's distance to me. Then I'd use my hard tape or laser to measure it. Even doing this for a couple hours will surprise you how quickly you can get more accurate. It can help you in a pinch if some of your gear goes down or you can't use a monitor for a specific shot.

[@NimTV]

@@FilmmakerSurvival okay I’ll keep that in minde

[@cia2928]

Wow, nice job putting this together. You presented alot of great techniques to think about. For my last film, my camera operator was always moving and used a gimbal or a steady-cam for 90% of his shots. Sometimes the actors would add some improvisation. I'm cool with that, as it can add another layer of realism. The camera operator was changing focus with those shots by touching the eyes of the speaking actor on the camera touch screen. Most of the film was shot that way and we won a few awards for cinematography. I imagine this technique would be really hard for a focus puller that has to focus on the fly. That said, I have a soft spot in my heart for focus pullers as my first few features always had dedicated focus pullers. That said, those films took a lot longer to film than more my more recents projects.

[@mylesvpolk]

Very educational video. Thank you.

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

Thanks for watching. Hopefully some big things to come this year.

[@grzegorzcaputa]

Great video!

[@akegenster]

Awesome videos. I actually use the Panasonic BT-LH910 9" as my monitor of choice with the peaking set at around 9. it has some softness i've come to like, but like most things it's just a matter of what you're used to. (One of the best 1st ACs in Israel uses the Panasonic 17"! because he prefers size to anything else.) However I do find myself gravitating towards the 703 bolt lately, partially because of its overall sexiness which makes the Panasonic 9" feel like a relic. The tip about using MONO for extreme lighting scenarios- life changer. Please make more.

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

Wow I haven't seen either of those monitors on a set in many years. Whatever works for you is best. Everyone has their preference. Barely anyone uses TVLogic anymore but I still use mine. Thanks for watching!

[@dominiccole]

This is the best video on focus pulling ever! Also I'd love a course on ACing! MZed is actually quite a nice platform for this kind of content and they currently lack a course on this topic!

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

Thank you, I appreciate that. There are more AC videos on the works.

[@user-ho8pt4cp3t]

@@FilmmakerSurvival 🤩

[@KIMCHINAM]

thanks

I think this was great video - lots of great pieces of info. I am a 1st AC from Denmark with about 5 years of experience, mostly with ARRI Alexa / Amira. A lot of what you mention is stuff that resonates, but since Denmark is a small country with generally a relaxed working culture and sets generally work a bit different, its interesting to hear your experiences. For the marks and muscle memory I usually use my thumb, index and middle finger to setup marks on the fly in a claw hold. Looking forward to see more videos from you - also kinda feeling inspired to make some of my own.

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

Hollywood can be very fast pace, especially the lower the budget. Thanks for watching!

[@professionalpotato4764]

Amazingly helpful video! Interesting tip about the towards and away speeds. I have a wedding coming up that I'll be doing full manual, feeling a lil nervous. I've done focus pulling for simple things like products and food shots, but not much for moving people. Gonna spend a few days practicing hard. Apart from the rope with tyre thing that people trained to pull focus with, are there other ways I should be practicing?

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

Honestly practice is the best thing you can do. Hone your muscle memory and hand-eye coordination. If you can, practice with the lenses you'll be use for the job. The more you do it the better you will get and it will become second nature.

[@joshcantwell3119]

Awesome video. Primarily, I live in the G&E world, and although I have had some minor experience as a cam op in my past, it's really cool to see the tricks of the trade for 1st AC's. I have total respect for what you all do. But I have a somewhat unrelated-to-this-video question, as it pertains to me. On a few instances, I've had to act as a camera grip on some productions. I wonder if you have any advice via "do's or don't's", from a 1st AC's prospective. I want to be as helpful as possible without stepping on anyone's toes. I know that the best course of action is to ask the camera department if it's okay, before I do anything. But do you have knowledge of any commonly known pet peeves with other departments acting as a camera support? Always enjoy your videos, and hope you keep the channel going!

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

Thanks for watching. Like you mention, always ask if you're unsure. If you're there to support on a handheld shot just be close to the operated and when they call cut take it off their shoulder right away. Then just return the the start position or set in on an apple box but keep a hand on it. When they are ready to roll again you can put in on the operators shoulder again. On dolly, the camera team will always take the camera off. It's ok to take the head off if you need to adjust something on the dolly or add/remove something, like a slider. Just let an AC know before you do it. If they are busy somewhere else, its not a big deal to do it anyway. If you are rolling the dolly a distance make sure the camera team knows so they can either remove camera or put a hand on it while you roll to the next area. Hope that helps!

[@abhishekgaud8490]

Hi really like your videos

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

Thanks for watching!

[@arri275555]

I am first AC and I appreciate this video 🤙🤙

[@koriowhite]

Great tips mate! Really helpful. CAn you tell me why you prefer TVlogic over SmallHD?

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

Back in the day, most people used the TVLogic 5.6 or the sony 17" or if go even more old school the panasonic 17", and then the TVLogic OLED 5.5 came out, and everyone started using that. SmallHD didn't exist then. When SmallHD came out, their first monitors sucked. The LCD panels they used were garbage and so soft. Their peaking wasn't very good either. The TVLogic 5.5 was very sharp and had great peaking. I've stuck with them over the years and still prefer my 7" TVLogic. SmallHD has improved, and the monitor to have now is their newer 13". Most 1st ACs I know use that monitor.

[@LaceyFilm]

​@@FilmmakerSurvivalthe TVLogic OLEDs never became popular with focus pullers because they were too soft and dim. The SmallHD 702 touch/Cine 7 and the TVLogic F-7H are most common here, although so many panels failing in the TVLogics has impacted their popularity.

[@thebathuman]

Is there a specific reason for using a wheel instead of a crank when pulling focus? Surely a small crank attached to the centre of the wheel would allow an infinite degree of turn without compromising comfort/positioning of the hand or the smoothness of the pull?

[@Dezbateri]

Thank you for the video. Is really helping for those that are beginning or already use focus pulling. I've noticed that the focus peaking in general is not quite reliable when camera is moving or the subject is moving, so my question is how do you deal with action shots without peaking. Sharpness is a good alternative, but how do they do it on large productions sets ?

[@LaceyFilm]

On larger productions actor and camera positions will be thoroughly marked. An experienced focus puller will use their judgement to compensate for any variation. They'll also have a cine tape or Cine RT range finder to help them judge distance.

[@Dezbateri]

@@LaceyFilm Thank you for your reply.

[@playmatee1]

is there a game for focus pullers ?

[@AnimusNitra-X]

Thanks for this interesting video. How did you keep the brightness on the same level as you changed the stop from 2 to 4? Did you put in ND filter oder did you increase the shutter?

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

I adjusted the internal ND on the camera. I may have changed the ISO as well since it was kinda dark in the room to get a little more exposure back.

[@AnimusNitra-X]

@@FilmmakerSurvival cool, thanks!

[@djrt8179]

Random question. Can you invert the push/pull of the Nucleus M? Muscle memory wise, it makes so much more sense to me to "push" for a farther focus, and "pull" for a shorter focus distance. Is this something other people do or do I just have to push through that memory barrier.

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

I would not recommend it. If you ever have to use a manual follow focus, you'd be unable to pull focus since they all work the same direction. It's not that much of a learning curve. It becomes second nature after a while and you won't even think about it. I've never met or heard of anyone reversing the motor direction to do what you mention.

[@jacksingh8013]

How much of the work that you do/have done has been Nucleas? I have one right now, but I am looking to upgrade to either and Arri or Cmotion system…but truthfully, I don’t know if I should.

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

When I am pulling focus on a job, I rarely use the Nucleus. I've used it a decent amount on small jobs but it's pretty rare. I own one for my FX6 camera package because it's very affordable and gets the job done. When I 1st AC I use either an Arri WCU-4/HI-5 or a Preston FIZ. They are considered the industry standards. I've only used c-motion a few times and it was many years ago. Only upgrade if you can afford it and are on jobs big enough that you can rent it as crew gear.

[@SeeWhatYouSee]

why there is not two different operator in camera team, one touch the camera and second who only focus focus puller work. Because if you 1 camera assist do both work it takes time to training in focus puller work.

[@NavinKumar-ge1kz]

Sir 35mm lence in how many focus zone find,50mm and 85 mm and 100 mm plz describe about focus zone with lence

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

I'm assuming you are talking about the depth of field. There are a few factors that affect this. The focal length of the lens, the aputure, and the size of the sensor/film and the distance to the subject. The longer the lens the more shallow the focus will be. Simultaneously the more wide open (lower) the stop, the more shallow it will be. The larger the format of the sensor/film, the shallower it will be. Finally, the closer the subject is the to camera the shallower the depth of field will be. This is not an easy question to answer BUT there are plenty of DOF calculator apps you can download that can help you out.

[@NathanShinholt]

I stopped watching Kenobi to watch this!

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

I totally forgot the section about using the force to pulling focus.

[@aleetee2003]

When I was a kid I thought it was just autofocus 😂

[@FilmmakerSurvival]

I think just about everyone doesn't realize that someone is keeping the image in focus. None of my family had any idea when I explained it to them. Even people that work in the industry don't realize unless they are in the camera department. The same way I have no clue how any of the dozens of departments do the amazing work that they do everyday.

[@askeen8796]

The focus breathing on that lens is crazy

[@jacksingh8013]

Sent you an Instagram dm! Could you take a look?