{"id":28,"date":"2007-04-17T10:13:16","date_gmt":"2007-04-17T18:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.interactivehank.com\/blog\/?p=28"},"modified":"2025-07-22T08:05:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T16:05:54","slug":"tokyo-drifter-uses-crazy-graduated-filters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.interactivehank.com\/?p=28","title":{"rendered":"Tokyo Drifter: graduated filters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I recently watched this film “Tokyo Drifter<\/a>” out of my Netflix queue. It is a Yakuza<\/a> yarn that has many fascinating filmic attributes, of course it being a Criterion<\/a> issue, there are bound to be some cinematographically interesting elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most notable of the wide range of visual styles used include an opening sequence that looks like it was shot on high contrast black and white titling film stock, then there are the glimmers of the disco that the henchmen are always wandering through to get to the big cheeses. This crazed, psychadelically inspired Tokyo dance room always keep me wanting more, more, more. Of course I would not want to forget the full on Western bar room brawl where everything and everyone gets demolished. Then there are the multiple moments when the lead dude, a reformed Yakuza drifter named Tetsu, breaks into full song while meandering the wastelands of Japan singing and re-signing a song that sounds almost exactly like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Town Without Pity\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by Gene Pitney:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re young and so in love as we\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8And bewildered by the world we see\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8Why do people hurt us so\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8Only those in love would know\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8What a town without pity can do
If we stop to gaze upon a star\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8People talk about how bad we are\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8Ours is not an easy age\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re like tigers in a cage\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8What a town without pity can do
The young have problems, many problems\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8We need an understanding heart\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8Why don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t they help us, try and help us\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8Before this clay and granite planet falls apart
Take these eager lips and hold me fast\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m afraid this kind of joy can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t last\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8How can we keep love alive\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8How can anything survive\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8When these little minds tear you in two\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8What a town without pity can do
How can we keep love alive\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8How can anything survive\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8When these little minds tear you in two\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8What a town without pity can do
No, it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t very pretty what a town without pity<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it was not until this sequence came along that I realized I had to share this film. Out of nowhere, there is a scene that looks like a camera test for a new set of graduated filters<\/a>. Graduated filters<\/a> are a common cinemagraphic tool for controlling lights levels without changing color. There is a great description on the Wiki<\/a> page. Trail and error has helped cameramen worldwide learn that there are a number off rules, or no-nos, when using grad filters. Most are designed to not give away the fact that you are indeed doing anything to enhance or alter the shot. Things like zooming, which forces the grad filter line to move unaturally within the frame, or tilting the camera thus altering the area that has been graduated and again giving away the gag. Probably the most common no-no is using too much graduation, where the viewer clearly sees the line of the filter and the element of reality is crossed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, there is also another long held cinemtagraphic rule of thumb, and that is when you go for an effect or a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153look\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pussy foot around it, if you are going to go for it, then go for it.
Well, this sequence really goes for it with gusto, breaking every rule of graduated filtering I can think of and then some. And the coolest thing is that there is not a grad to be see in the rest of the movie, just this sequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click on the frame below and the quicktime will show up in a separate window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here<\/a> is a related page on everything you ever wanted to know about polarization of lightwaves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently watched this film “Tokyo Drifter” out of my Netflix queue. It is a Yakuza yarn that has many fascinating filmic attributes, of course it being a Criterion issue, there are bound to be some cinematographically interesting elements. Most notable of the wide range of visual styles used include…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film","category-quicktimes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.interactivehank.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.interactivehank.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.interactivehank.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.interactivehank.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.interactivehank.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.interactivehank.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1990,"href":"https:\/\/www.interactivehank.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28\/revisions\/1990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.interactivehank.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.interactivehank.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.interactivehank.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}