Super16 in 1:33:1

[James Mann]

Hello good friends.

 

I am in preproduction on a documentary style commercial. We originally thought about shooting Super16mm (mostly for its grainy textures). The piece has two different looks, both will require some tweeking in telecine but one is more textured and grainy than the other.

 

The director had originally wanted to go with 16mm but I thought it might be nice to have a neg with a little more detail (that you could maybe dumb down later) and leave the grain, mostly, to the choice of stocks.

 

But after further discussion with the director, we both came to feel that the 1.33:1 aspect ratio was more ideal than the Super16 1.66:1.

 

So then I thought to myself, "is there any advantage of shooting Super16 in this case or will the telecine blow up/push in negate the use of the larger negative?"

 

 

Thanks For Your Thoughts.

 

James

[Brian Drysdale]

You can frame the 1.33 aspect ratio using markings in your viewfinder (assuming that the ground glass in your camera has 1.33 markings - some switchable cameras have both Super 16 & regular 16mm markings) and shoot reference 1.33 frame markings for the TK to set up on.

 

However, this is the same size as the regular 16mm frame, there is no advantage in quality because you're shooting with a Super 16 gate. Switchable cameras do this all the time, they just shift the optical centre & ground glass to match the format in use at the time.

 

If you want to use 1.33, shoot regular 16mm if your camera can do so. If you want to have a black mask on either side of your 1.33 on a 16:9 you can put it in during post using either method.

[Mitch Gross]

There is one distinct advantage to shooting S-16 for 1.33 post -- reframing. All the time in transfers I have directors and clients wishing to move frames a bit to the left or right. Shooting with a little wider negative allows this. It is actually a requirement for a lot of the work I do. Yet another reason why regular 16mm cameras are gathering dust, producers would rather shoot in S-16 even for 1.33 finish.

[Thomas Cousin]

hello,

 

often, when you use a S16 ground glass for commercial work, you can have one with the 1,33 marking on the center. no need to have the mount to be recentered on standard 16. just shoot super16 and in TK you can "grab" the smaller 1,33 image in the center.

furthermore, sometimes you have a 1,33 making in the center , which is the protection for TV. it is a lot smaller in height that the "full frame". as is you can frame your project in 1,33 and use only a small portion of the neg which going to result as a grainier image. just an idea if you're looking for a grainy look.

 

thomas