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Vistavision workflow?


Guest Glen Alexander

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It was shot on Fuji Infra-red film, which is not so easy to get processed.

He sent me a Blu-Ray a little while back. I didn't have a Blu-Ray player then, so I must dig it out and have another look at it in HD.

 

He wanted to shoot his next short on Fuji Velvia, but he said Fuji weren't interested in supplying it in "bulk", they now only supply it for stills cameras. Not sure what he's up to at the moment.

 

Glen might come across to some of you as rude and/or eccentric at times, but he knows his stuff. One of the things we were discussing is whether it would be practical to convert old pensioned-off Minilabs for short-run movie processing.

 

Once again, please don't pretend to know the lab industry. More B&W labs than not (I've only seen one that had this) DO NOT have IR sensors in their film processors. You'll want to send a test roll first, some guys load the stuff in the darkroom in a changing bag to be doubly cautious, but IR film can be handled by all machines that don't have any IR sensors, cameras, or other supplementary illumination.

 

A lot of the B&W labs or B&W sections of a lab are running older equipment anyway. The high-tech stuff goes on the E-6 or ECN machines, usually.

 

 

 

I've never heard of Fuji Infrared film, ever. Kodak just discontinued their last IR stock (no not B&W it was color) at the end of last year, and Agfa Geveart still makes one. It gets knocked off like crazy in still photogrpahy, have seen the Agfa branded I think as Rollei AND Maco. All just cut down 70mm aerial film. . .

 

 

 

If you're shooting 35mm movie film for just about anything other than cel animation, titles, timelapses (and with Vistavision this is twice as easy @ 180 feet/minute @24), he should have no problem with getting to the magic number of 5,000 feet (at least this was Kodak's magic number, whatever the length of one master roll is at FujiFilm, probably 1500m or 2000m. . .

 

 

 

I personally haven't had any experiences, positive or negative with Glen, so if you're implying, Keith, that I am being critical of him due to persoanl bias, that is not the case. I know that all is definitely not as it seems on the internets, and am only critical of the lack of footage I see.

 

Hell, I happen to know where one of the only Vistavision printers in the US is at the moment, a model formerly in use at Lucas Film Ltd., although it's an optical printer, I believe. Rob can shed more light on the subject.

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Glen knows his poop. Seriously. I admire people like Glen. Proper nutters.

 

Glen told me:

 

"Also I shot completely with Rollei infrared film with a Kodak Wratten 89B, which when you look through the lens, it is absolutely black.

That's why the sky is black and the only way to get high contrast."

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The only way to get good contrast huh ?

 

How about good focus - there is a shift due to the longer wavelengths of light hitting the film.

 

I understand he couldn't see anything in the finder, but there are both proceedural and optomechanical ways around that.

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We have Harry Walton's ( http://www.vfxmasters.com/ ) Vista Vision capable optical printer at Cinelab in Massachusetts it was at ILM in the 80's and worked on Robo-Cop and other films. We have a Vista-Vision gate for it and the printer has all of the latest optics and a computerized control system.

 

We also run 35mm B&W and there is no electronic "eye" sensor in that film processor, all mechanical.

 

-Rob-

post-15580-0-63216000-1327624775.jpg

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We have Harry Walton's ( http://www.vfxmasters.com/ ) Vista Vision capable optical printer at Cinelab in Massachusetts it was at ILM in the 80's and worked on Robo-Cop and other films. We have a Vista-Vision gate for it and the printer has all of the latest optics and a computerized control system.

 

We also run 35mm B&W and there is no electronic "eye" sensor in that film processor, all mechanical.

 

-Rob-

 

 

WOW!! Would you sell it?

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Rob :-) You found my plug!

 

Happy New Year to you and your crew, my man. How's life at the new digs?

 

 

 

 

BTW, do I remember correctly from a year and a half ago when Brad said that he bought that on eBay? If so that certainly tops my most infamous acquisition there.

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No that did not come from ebay I got it from a guy in LA that was head of post at MGM at one time, he had developed the computerized control system for the printer.

 

I should also add that he is the developer of our pin registered scanner system and that he has a Vista Vision Oxberry gate which will allow us to scan Vista at about 3600x2000.

 

-Rob-

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