I’m often asked “What is the best focal length for no-budget productions?”
While there are no hard and fast rules, there are certainly some focal lengths that are more suitable than others. From a style and practical point of view.
Generally speaking, the best no-budget lenses fall into one of two categories:
- Very wide angle
- Telephoto
Wide-angle lenses are great for DIY productions. Especially between 18mm – 24mm (on Super 35mm sensor).
From a practical standpoint, they make running and shooting easy without sacrificing quality. Walking and talking shots (just as an example) will look smooth on a beautiful 18mm wide angle lens – even if shot entirely handheld. 50mm, on the other hand, requires a gimbal.
But it’s not just about the camera movement. This is also the style that wide-angle lenses provide.
Although audiences loved it, many bigger-budget productions were afraid to go too wide. Why not take advantage of the more distinctive characteristics it offers and use it as a tool to help your film stand out?
At wide angle, you can also use the same lens to shoot epic wide shots and close-ups – with a little added distortion. Both use cases will add a lot of color to your visual style while also simplifying production support.
Telephoto lenses are also often ideal for no-budget productions, for different reasons. Especially the glass range between 85 mm and 135 mm (also Super 35).
The background compression, bokeh and emotional character these lenses provide always contribute to your production value and again add a unique touch. Many low-budget filmmakers (such as the early Sadie Brothers) shot almost everything with long lenses.
Not only do they make things look more visually appealing, but they are also very practical.
You can shoot from the second floor balcony across the street. Still able to capture the action happening on the streets. All were shot from unique vantage points, but none in high traffic areas.
There’s also the issue of production design, and long takes also help. At standard focal lengths, your production design is most important—so it better be perfect.
But since the depth of field is shallow, you don’t have to worry too much if something goes wrong with the set. It’s much easier to solve or frame.
It’s worth noting that you can of course use any focal length on the DIY feature. It doesn’t have to be just wide angle or telephoto…my features disappearing boy Shot entirely with a 50mm lens, which is more of a “normal” focal length.
But the 50mm lens works for me because that’s the only lens I use. For my stories, I can’t just use extremely wide or extremely long shots.
In short – if you plan on changing lenses throughout your shoot, I generally recommend either wide angle or telephoto.
But if you choose to shoot video with a single lens, consider more standard focal lengths (such as 35mm or 50mm), which offer more versatility.
These topics are in Blueprint for No-Budget Filmmakingyou can view here.
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