Experimenting with stocks

[Sol Train Saihati]

Hello All,

 

I am DPing a scene for a short on 16mm on Monday and I am in need of advice for my stock choices. The scene is about the opposing lives of two actors playing King Lear and the action cuts between the 2, one on a stage and one at home.

 

The man on stage is a young, newcomer actor, arrogant and pompous although his performance is wooden. The man at home is an out of work older actor who was once a star but now in demand by no-one, however his performance is beautiful and touching.

 

The lighting for the younger man will be a hard spot(a bit cliched I know) following him around the stage.

 

The light for the old man will be interior night; very soft, dark and warm, perhaps candlelit and smoked. I am going for a look similar to The Road to Perdition(interiors) and the scene in Big Lebowski when the two are in front of the fireplace in Lebowski's mansion.

 

 

I would love to use a different stock for each scene to emphasise the contrast in their characters. This shoot is essentially a test for the final film so I've been given the opportunity and freedom to try new processing techniques.. I was thinking about this, stop me if I get carried away:

 

Shooting the stage scene on Kodak 7279 500, pushing one-stop and bleach bypassing for a very Harsh look.

 

Shooting the home scene on Kodak 7217 200T or 7227 320T for something very smooth with a fine grain.

 

Any thoughts? Will cutting between one and the other be too jarring? I know that The Road to Perdition interiors were shot entirely on 500T and the differences between some scenes are astounding, although it is 35mm.

[Sam Wells]

I'd think in your scheme 7217 wd be a better choice than 7277 especially in 16mm.

 

This probbly does not apply,but.. for an extended personal project of mine, my main stock has been 7245, pushed one - an almost "reversal like" look. But recently I downloaded a Quicktime of a spot shot on 5229.

 

It has a wonderful look (some of it shot ~ 2 stops under); I've been thinking it would be interesting to play the 45 and Expression off each other sometime.

 

Sometimes an abrupt 90 degree turn finds an new exciting road.

 

sometimes it lands you in a ditch in area without Verizon coverage :angry:

 

-Sam

[John Pytlak RIP]

Shooting the stage scene on Kodak 7279 500, pushing one-stop and bleach bypassing for a very Harsh look.

 

Shooting the home scene on Kodak 7217 200T or 7227 320T for something very smooth with a fine grain.

 

I think these would be on the right track. If you need the speed, Kodak VISION2 Expression 500T Color Negative Film 7229 would likewise be a good choice for the softer look.

 

Do you want your "hard" look to be gritty, or harshly sharp? Consider the 7245 with a push process and maybe bleach bypass to get harshly sharp with minimal graininess.

 

Lighting contrast and filtration can aid in getting your "look".

[Yusuf Aslanyurek]

Consider the 7245 with a push process and maybe bleach bypass to get harshly sharp with minimal graininess.

 

strange, theorycally it must be more grainy after bleach bypass isn't?

by my minitest after bypass colors losing warm tones becoming like copper.

others students got other results I dont know why. I just think bypassing is not stabilized work, it can give other results that you expected.

[John Pytlak RIP]

...others students got other results I dont know why. I just think bypassing is not stabilized work, it can give other results that you expected.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Any time you depart from the Kodak processing specifications (e.g., bleach bypass), the results ARE more unpredictable. Another example is that some cross-processed reversal films may fade rapidly unless they have a Formalin stabilizer added at the end of the ECN-2 process.

[Sol Train Saihati]

Got the results back today, interesting stuff.

 

Unfortuanately the director was'nt willing to pay the extra 16p a foot for the bleach bypass so it was all academic anyway, but thanks for the excellent advice. Pushed the 7229 2 stops and I must say I am still impressed by the versatility of this stock. The grain is not overly apparent (although until its up on a 35 foot screen its hard to tell) and the contrast is really high, deep, deep blacks and fast shadow fall off. The juxtaposition between the 7279 stock and the 7227 is absolutely noticeable, but still very subtle, perfect for the subject matter.

 

I will post up a few shots next week(Take it easy with the criticism, I'm just an amateur)!

 

Thanks again all.