Video to Film Transfer

[Krishna Chandar]

Good day and thank you in advance for contributing to this request. I am planning to do a low budget feature using a professional DV Cam or HD Cam and then transfer it to film. I want to some guidance on:

 

1. Whether the quality will be acceptable to view on a large screen?

2. What kind of draw backs? Any Granularity, Contrast ratio and resolution factor degradations?

3. Which existing camera's can do this job to the most acceptable form? (please give me some names/models)

4. What kind of charges to transfer the footage in north America? (would like to get it on 35mm)

5. Any films that have already been made and were successful? (Please provide some names)

 

Any other valuable advice is welcome.

 

Sincerely

Krishna

[David Mullen ASC]

That's a rather broad range, DVCAM to HDCAM. And what's "acceptable" quality is rather vague -- afterall, "Blair Witch Project" was "accepted" into theaters and did quite well at the box office.

 

Surely you've seen some of these digital movies in theaters?

 

Viper: Zodiac, Miami Vice, Collateral

F950: Sin City, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

F900 HDCAM: Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Prairie Home Companion, and many low-budget indie movies (I've shot eight HDCAM movies myself) such as Session 9, Jackpot

Varicam: Borat

 

DV: Incident at Loch Ness, Anniversary Party, many Dogma 95 movies, many low-budget indie movies like Open Water, Chuck & Buck, Inland Empire, a lot of documentaries

Hi8: Blair Witch Project

 

You need to be more specific about whether you are renting or buying a camera and how much you can afford to spend. There are too many levels of cameras to generalize about quality issues.

 

You also need to go to My Controls and change your Display Name to a real first and last name, as per the forum rules. Thanks.

 

A laser recorder transfer of a feature-length movie can be in the $50,000 range; a CRT recorder transfer is a little cheaper.

[Krishna Chandar]

Hi David:

 

Thank you for your informative response and suggestions. I would look into it soon. I will also see these films now to make a learning and assessment. I appreciate your response and thank you for your time,

 

Regards

Krishna Chandar

 

That's a rather broad range, DVCAM to HDCAM. And what's "acceptable" quality is rather vague -- afterall, "Blair Witch Project" was "accepted" into theaters and did quite well at the box office.

 

Surely you've seen some of these digital movies in theaters?

 

Viper: Zodiac, Miami Vice, Collateral

F950: Sin City, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

F900 HDCAM: Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Prairie Home Companion, and many low-budget indie movies (I've shot eight HDCAM movies myself) such as Session 9, Jackpot

Varicam: Borat

 

DV: Incident at Loch Ness, Anniversary Party, many Dogma 95 movies, many low-budget indie movies like Open Water, Chuck & Buck, Inland Empire, a lot of documentaries

Hi8: Blair Witch Project

 

You need to be more specific about whether you are renting or buying a camera and how much you can afford to spend. There are too many levels of cameras to generalize about quality issues.

 

You also need to go to My Controls and change your Display Name to a real first and last name, as per the forum rules. Thanks.

 

A laser recorder transfer of a feature-length movie can be in the $50,000 range; a CRT recorder transfer is a little cheaper.