Kodak 7212 (100T) and 85 filter on Blue Screen

[Safia M. Dirie]

When choosing film stocks for a shoot I'm DPing I wanted a slow speed that is optimal for VFX work. In the end I decided to use Kodak 7212.

 

I have suddenly realized that the three scenes that require VFX shots (i.e., plates on location therefore the subject on a stage) will require daylight because of the locations being out of doors or having many windows. I tested a variety of films, but it never dawned on me to try a daylight stock. I assumed that 7205 would have too much grain when in reality the 7217 has a weaker grain structure--and I tested that stock!

 

I have a variety of options to warm up the daylight (e.g. 85, gels, timing out blue), but I am worried about the effect this will have with the blue screen.

 

The questions:

 

1. Which method of removing blue light on location would be best to replicate when on the stage shooting blue screen?

 

2. What exactly happens to the integrity of the color on the negative if I were to time out blue light on tungsten film (this would be optimal to give me as much speed as possible)? Is there a loss in sharpness or clarity? How will this affect my DI session?

 

My cinematography teacher has us light the blue (or green) screen with blue lights to make the color more pure. I am afraid that by removing blue that I will affect the rendering of screen color too much making the keying out procedure too arduous. My teacher suggests that we follow manufacturer suggestions on the film when shooting blue screen, and to shoot everything has clean as possible for greatest match when compositing and for the blue screen.

 

Thanks for reading, and I'm looking forward to ANY and ALL suggestions!

 

--Safia