Cinematography Process

manigandan srinivasan · February 23, 2011

Can some one clearly explain what are the process undertaken in cinematography

i load a stock (35mm , 0r 16mm) in camera and shoot. Now what are the process that will take place after shooting till making the first copy of your project ????

can some one explain in detail???

THANKS

Brian Drysdale · February 23, 2011

You need to use your full real name, it's one of the forum rules.

Kodak have loads of information, but here are some links.

http://www.motion.kodak.com/motion/uploadedFiles/US_plugins_acrobat_en_motion_newsletters_filmEss_17_Processing.pdf

http://www.motion.kodak.com/motion/uploadedFiles/US_plugins_acrobat_en_motion_newsletters_filmEss_19_Optical_Workflow.pdf

http://www.motion.kodak.com/motion/uploadedFiles/US_plugins_acrobat_en_motion_newsletters_filmEss_20_digital_workflow.pdf

manigandan srinivasan · February 23, 2011

manigandan is my real name sir :)

Thanks for the links ...

But,it would be use ful if some experienced technician explains it in his terms :)

Stuart Brereton · February 23, 2011

Unfortunately your question is so large in scope that it would take far too long to answer it in any detail. I would advise that you do your own research both in the archives here and using the many resources on the internet, and then ask specific questions in this forum.

manigandan srinivasan · February 26, 2011

@stuartbrereton

Sir , am jus asking the process i am not asking to explain every process in detail

like if u shoot in digital

step-1 capture the footage

step-2 edit

etc

Like that what are the steps involved while shooting in film

David Mullen ASC · February 26, 2011

Can some one clearly explain what are the process undertaken in cinematography

i load a stock (35mm , 0r 16mm) in camera and shoot. Now what are the process that will take place after shooting till making the first copy of your project ????

can some one explain in detail???

THANKS

It would take a book to explain in detail, so to shorten the answer, you need to be specific as to what the end format will be: a 35mm print with sound? An HD master? Do you want to finish photochemically or digitally? How will you be editing it?

I can tell you that the majority of features in Hollywood shot on film are finished in this way:

35mm negative is processed. Then it is transferred to video for offline editing (Avid, Final Cut Pro, etc.) Could be SD or HD video, just depends on what you want. An Edit Decision List (EDL) is created, a list of every cut by timecode & keycode. The portions of the original 35mm negative camera rolls used in the final edit are then scanned into digital files, either 4K or 2K RGB, usually as 10-bit Log DPX files. The scans are assembled to match the edit, what is called conforming. Effects shots, titles, etc. are added. The final conformed master is then color-corrected digitally, shot by shot. A color-corrected master is created. This goes through a clean-up step to remove dust, dirt, and scratches. This cleaned-up master, let's say it is a 2K RGB master in 10-bit Log DPX, becomes the basis for all further versions of the movie. One version will be a 2K DCP (Digital Cinema Package) for digital cinema release. Another version will involve recording the digital files to 35mm intermediate stock as a negative, from which prints can be made. Another version will be a 1080P video master for making broadcast TV and home video versions (actually multiple versions are made, letterboxed, panned & scanned, etc.) From the HD masters, the SD masters will be made (PAL, NTSC, etc.)

That's just one method, and I haven't even touched on sound.

manigandan srinivasan · March 1, 2011

@david mullen

Sir, thank you so much this is exactly what i asked for. . . this is more than enough information fo me to start on my research . ill read in detail and make me strong with this

but i have one more doubt sir

we shoot in raw stock then after all my post production works are over including d.i , i copy the digitised final works into film again (which we call first copy or the copy for censor which will be in film reels) to make the first copy what kind of stock we will use ????? what is the difference btwn that stock and the raw stock i use to shoot ?????

David Mullen ASC · March 1, 2011

There are two common film recorders that transfer digital files to film stock, one is the laser recorder (like the ARRILASER), the other is the CRT recorder (like a Celco).

Generally laser recorders use lab intermediate dupe stock, so you output basically a internegative/dupe negative or an interpositive, depending on what you want, whether you put a positive or a negative image onto the film stock... either way, an I.N. and an I.P. uses the same stock. If you output an internegative, you then can make regular prints off of it. If you output an interpositive, you then have to make an internegative off of it, and then make prints off of the internegative.

CRT recorders transfer onto camera negative stock, usually Kodak 50D or Fuji 64D negative.

Intermediate dupe stock has that same brick-orange color mask like negative stock has, the main difference is that it is very slow and thus very fine-grained. The gamma (contrast) should end up being similar to camera negative stock.

manigandan srinivasan · March 2, 2011

Sir does that mea u cant use the dupe stock which we use in post production to shooot the film and we cant use the shooting stock to make dupe negative correct sir ???

they both are different stocks ????

David Mullen ASC · March 2, 2011

Sir does that mea u cant use the dupe stock which we use in post production to shooot the film and we cant use the shooting stock to make dupe negative correct sir ???

they both are different stocks ????

I don't understand your question. Are you asking why you can't use lab dupe stock inside a camera? Well, first of all, it is much more expensive per foot than camera negative... second, it's something like 5 ASA... third, it has no rem jet / anti-halation backing... fourth, it's not designed to reproduce the colors of reality accurately, it's designed to copy the colors on another piece of film.

Dupe stock is made to duplicate film.

So if you finished a movie photochemically, you would either:

Camera Neg --> print stock

or

Camera Neg --> interpositive (I.P.) --> dupe negative / internegative (I.N.) --> print stock

With a laser recorder, you would record digital files to the dupe intermediate stock, usually as a negative image. So you end up with a dupe negative from which you make prints. With a CRT recorder, you would record digital files to camera negative stock, usually Kodak 50D or Fuji 64D. You'd then make prints off of that negative.