How to Utilize Step Printing
Hello, and welcome to WikiHow: Step Printing.
I recently needed to use step printing for a project I was working on, and I thought I would share some of my tests to show what I learned.
This is a technique that I discovered through Wong-Kar-wai & Christopher Doyle, and it has become one of the defining techniques throughout their Hong Kong films of the 90’s and early 2000’s. The technique was appropriate for one of my recent projects because of the disorienting effect it can have.
Below is a video that demonstrates the effect vs. a normal 24fps shot.
To achieve this effect is actually pretty simple, and there are multiple ways in which it can be customized to your intention.
The only real thing you need is a camera that can shoot less than 15 fps. For my camera (Sony a7iii), there was no native 15 fps video option, so I changed the “Drive Mode” within the photo side of the camera. The Drive Mode is simply how many exposures the camera will take while holding the shutter.
Below is a video on how to find this setting on Sony DSLRs.
From the example in my video, you will see that I was “shooting” at 10 fps at a 1/8th shutter speed. I wanted to exaggerate the motion through the the slow shutter. I also altered the playback speed of the shot in Premiere to slightly slower than 24 fps. All of this could be more or less dramatic depending on the look you wish to achieve.
You could change:
Frame rate
Shutter speed
Playback speed
All of this comes together to create a very stylized look. The scarcity of frames creates a very disconnected feeling while the motion can add a sense of impressionism. Overall this is one my favorite techniques for this intention.
I hope this was helpful. Take care.
Auggie Huffman