Manipulation of Bokeh with Mattes in Motion

Artist’s Statement

I was recently shown a clip from the film “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” that included a photographic effect I had never seen before; custom bokeh.  “Bokeh” is the word used to describe the areas behind and in front of the subject that is in focus in a photo.  When points of light are out of focus, they become semi-transparent circles of light floating in space.  The result is visually pleasing and familiar.  We see it in photographs all the time.  We are accustomed to the round bokehs that result from round lenses.

In the scene from “Scott Pilgrim” there was something different about the bokehs.  I had to watch the clip a few times before I noticed it.  The bokehs were not round, but rather shaped like the letter ‘x’ in some shots and like cartoon hearts in other shots.  I tried to think of some way that this effect was possible.  I turned to Google for enlightenment.  What I found was an almost laughably simple explanation.  To create custom bokehs, you cut a hole in a piece of paper in the shape you want your bokeh to take.   Place this paper matte over the front of your camera’s lens.  It really is that simple. Here is the photo that caught my attention:

My original idea was to defy conventions of shape and create a photograph with a round frame (a departure from the traditional rectangle) utilizing a bokeh matte in the shape of a rectangle (quite opposite the usual circle or elliptical shape).  As I attempted to attach the paper matte to the lens of my camera I noticed some interesting effects produced by moving the matte back and forth in front of the lens.  I created two more mattes, one with about 50 pin-points punched in it and the other with a striped pattern across the frame.  I began to experiment with rotating these mattes in front of the lens to cause the bokeh to move.  Interestingly, the objects in focus remain where they are with no distortion.  I was playing with the effect like a child plays with a new toy.  I was having a blast!

In my finished film I used a track of music that I created years ago using a synthesizer that had a pitch-bending knob that allowed me to bend the sound in a similar way to how I distorted and bend the rays of light around and through the paper mattes in my experiment.  The music is a fitting accompaniment for the images, I think.  The film draws attention to the way light can be manipulated as it is captured.