In what ways are stocks manipulated for

[Guest mknorth]

What emotional impact does using different stocks and/or post production techniques imply. For example does more grain equal more tension or more contrast equal danger. What films utalise these techniques.

[David Mullen ASC]

Are you writing a school paper?

 

What emotional impact these processes have on YOU is the real question. As the artist, you can either assign meaning to a reoccuring visual motif or rely on common associations, although these do not always carry over into all cultures.

 

A common visual association might be a cold, dreary overcast rainy day equals sadness.

 

I don't know if contrast in itself means danger or anything. Lots of dark shadows will suggest mystery and perhaps danger could be implied as lurking in those shadows. Certainly low-key (moody, shadowy, contrasty) lighting is associated with dramas, horror, etc.

 

These all can veer into the area of visual cliches though. Sometimes it's interesting to subvert expectation -- for example, creating a sense of dread on a sunny day, romance is a sad, dreary setting, etc. A classic example is a romantic meeting in David Lean's "Hobson's Choice" that takes place at a park bench with a grimy factory in the background with black smoke rising out of the stacks, and a polluted river in front.

[Guest mknorth]

I'm writing a paper on how film stocks are used in cinematography, the creative and technical reasons for using different stocks. I've read lots of technical journals but what I really need is more of an insight into what goes on in a cinematographers mind. For example in Jude, Eduardo Serra used loads of different stocks to represent what was happening in the narrative on a visual level, what leads cinematographers into making that decision? How important are film stocks?

[David Mullen ASC]

How important those decisions are depend on the cinematographer. Some are much more sensitive about these subtle variations while others want the stock to be consistent and supply the variations in other ways. Serra, for example, used many stocks on "Jude" but only two on "Girl with a Pearl Earring". Other DP's routine use one stock not only for whole movies but multiple movies -- you might find some DP who has been using only one stock for several features in a row.

 

It's hard to get too scientific about these decisions -- some of it comes down to gut feelings.

 

What I remember about "Jude" was after the opening b&w scenes, it was shot on Fuji 500T pull-processed I believe for a softer look -- but the end scenes were shot on 500 ASA Kodak stock (5298???) for a harder, cleaner look. I believe he also shot those scenes in daylight without the 85 filter and had the interpositive (?) bleach-bypassed. That's one of his pet tricks -- have select scenes treated in the intermediate stage and then cut into the dupe negative made for release printing.

 

It's obvious why his happier optimistic youth would have a warmer, softer look while his miserable life near the end would be hard and sharp -- and more blue. Plus its wintertime at the end of the movie.

[Dominic Case]

In "Hero" Chris Doyle used different stocks for different "voices" in the film, where the stocks emphasised red, green, blue, or white colours, each with its own symbolism in the film. Of course this was enhanced with set design and wardrobe, and in some cases with digital colour correction: but he started with the choice of stock and filter.

 

Post production techniques include process variations such as bleach bypass. This has been used in the negative on such films as Pitch Black, where the harsh contrast and drained colours made for a very hostile visual environment on the strange planet; and in many, many prints to give a hard, gritty look for action films going back to the Diehards with Bruce Willis and some of Mel Gibson's action films.

 

You've read "lots of technical journals". Do these include American Cinematographer? Surely you can find something there about the cinematographer's intentions to help you with your paper.

[John Pytlak RIP]

The Kodak Entertainment Imaging Website has many articles about production and the choice of film stocks and processing techniques. For example, the keywords "emotional impact" yielded 11 hits, and "mood" gave 106 !: B)

 

http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

 

(use "Search Cinematography" tool in the lower left of the home page)