Which film stock to consider

Pritesh Chheda · July 15, 2004

Hello:

We are planning to shoot a S16 feature. The entire shoot will be shot in one house. We need warm but crisp look (less grainy). The genre is Thriller where a young woman is held hostage in her own house by a possible serial killer on one stormy night. Need to create a "tense", "suspenseful" look. Any suggestions? Also, does Kodak offer free test rolls in case we need to experiment before buying in bulk. The editing will be done on final cut pro. Hopefully, the buyer will pay for the 35mm blowups.

Appreciate any input.

Pritesh

David Mullen ASC · July 15, 2004

I'm a big fan of the 200 ASA stocks in 16mm, assuming you have some lights (which you'd need to create shadows). I'd try out either 7274 (Vision 200T) or 7217 (Vision-2 200T) for starters, maybe some 7218 (Vision-2 500T) for the low-light stuff.

I'd pick a movie that has the look you describe and study it for the lighting, composition, camera movement, and editing (not to mention sound design, set dressing, etc.)

Neal Fredericks · July 15, 2004

in super 16mm i try to shoot with Kodak stocks...

don't get me wrong, I love shooting Fuji but i am less enthusiastic with their 16mm stocks specifically their 500T...

in fact a super 16mm feature i start in two weeks just switched to Kodak...the production got a better deal...shooting 79 for sure and i think we will use 46 for daylight...

the director loves Fuji but everytime we do a film in 16mm i try to go Kodak...but it is usually a budget consideration...

David Mullen ASC · July 15, 2004

Yes, I feel that Fuji sort of "rounds off" the edges of things, which is flattering to women and not a problem with 35mm generally, but with Super-16 blow-ups, you generally want the edge-sharpness of Kodak stocks. Although "Station Agent" used a lot of Fuji.

You can see some Super-16 Fuji on some TV shows like "The Division". And they are using the even-softer F400T stock, but then, they have a lot of female actresses to cater to...

Neal Fredericks · July 15, 2004

i am never happy with the results when I use the lower contrast stocks...no one else notices but i just dig the higher contrast stocks...maybe that's my thing...

david, any thoughts on this...? am i doing something wrong...? how do you appraoch lighting when you shoot with a lower contrast stock...? any other filters, gels, etc...

i did some spots for DreamWorks a while back with Michael J. Fox on Kodak 320T...they wanted him to look healthy and he did with my lighting approach, but i still think the spots would have looked better to me on 79...

David Mullen ASC · July 16, 2004

I generally like contrast so I tend to only use lower-con stocks if I plan on printing using a higher-contrast method like ENR. In that case, I'm using the lower-con stocks for the softer color palette, not the lower contrast.

I used 5277 in the past for a flashback sequence where I wanted a period look that was intercut with modern scenes shot on Fuji.

I might consider a low-con stock for high-contrast situations like harsh sunlight - the trouble is that the low-con stocks are all high-speed and thus grainier than I would like for day scenes. Now I'd probably try the slightly lower-con Vision-2 stocks like 5212 in those situations.

nykvist_fan · July 16, 2004

Pritesh,

More information would be helpful to us. Are you shooting color or B&W? I just watched a british film called The Mother shot in color Super16 and it did a great job of conveying a feeling of alienation. On the other hand, the film Eraserhead, which was shot in 35 B&W, was key to the development of the visual sensibilities of The Shining. Choosing a stock depends heavily on your projected visual style for the film.

Pritesh Chheda · July 16, 2004

Something more on the Project:

S16mm Color - Telecined and edited on Final Cut Pro - Buyer will blow up to 35 with his/her money. Cost is an issue hence 16

Similar Looking film. The only one that I feel I loved was a French Film called "Haute Tension". It was picked by Lions Gate although the visuals were a little grainy for my taste. Our film involves shooting indoor in a 2-storey house where the protag's cosy relationship with the antag (at the start she does not know that he is an antag:-)) abruptly changes for worse. Hence the mood of the visual should reflect the changes. We can hear occasional thunder outside with torrential rains. In some cases, when she opens the door, we can catch a glimpse of darkness outside and see the rain fall. The overall mood is very tense, dark, and there is a certain degree of suspense/mystery involved. Performances complemented with good visuals/lights is the key to sucess since we have severe restrictions on thye location/cast (only 3 characters). hence the drama element has to be played out very sensibly. Visually, I want it to be a treat for the audience. A treat that keeps their heart pumping and performances that capitvate the folks, infact make them beg for all of it to end.

Hope this clarifies the project and the visual set up I am looking for.

PS: I am also looking for a DP who would be interested in project like this. It is slated to go to camera in late January/early Feb. and will be shot in Austin, TX. 13 day shoot. There is very little upfront monetary compensation and the DP needs to own the S16 camera package.

nykvist_fan · July 18, 2004

Pritesh,

Speaking of Haute Tension, it was a bit grainy for my taste, as well. If you want to avoid that, you should work with something like a medium speed stock. I would check out KODAK VISION2 200T 7217, which has technology built into it suited for digital/post work, and a fairly good caliber of flesh-tones and image quality.

But, if you are going for the dark feel to it, you can't beat out high-speed stock if you can stand the side-effects. Otherwise, I am assured by a friend that the stock I mentioned has a rather fine grain.

Stick to up close, tight shooting and you can always cheat in some light somewhere.