help with stock, filters or telecine?

March 19, 2005

hello,

i am going to be doing a surreal short film on a train shot in super 16. i am confused about if i should go with the telecine process and also my choice of film stock. want to use striking lights like side lit for good detail. deep black shadow areas, but want to see every wrinkle on a white button shirt.

the look i am going for is basically like in Dellamorte Dellamore aka Cemetery Man by Soavi or the feel of Delicatessen or Even City of Lost Children, but not so dark as the latter film. i assume these would be contrasty stocks? this mixed with Fellini's color style would be great. i want the look of the film to have an almost hard, hot, slight glow to the lighting and a very dreamy feel to it. i also want to bring the colors out as much as possible. i DONT want a lot of grain, but DONT want a very clean look either. during the day shots i want it to have a bright dreamy glow but not new looking, very classic looking and the interiors i want contrasy, but with vibrant colors. a lot of this i know will depend on the lighting, set design, etc., but COULD YOU PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME A COUPLE OF THINGS BASED ON WHAT I HAVE EXPLAINED:

1) what film stock would you suggest and what speed?

2) if i go telecine, should i not use any filters when shooting?

3) which filters if any?

4) and lastly can i give the film the exact look and feel that i want in telecine?

clueless after gathering perhaps too much info from probably the wrong people.

Sam Wells · March 19, 2005

Honestly ? You need to hire a good Director of Photography.

Someone who can translate the ideas you have.

I know this is the "easy answer" but....

When you say things like "a bright dreamy glow but not new looking" or "i DONT want a lot of grain, but DONT want a very clean look either" this isn't something you can just get 'an answer to on the internet'

I'm all for learning by doing, but at the level of sophistication in the image you're talking about....

-Sam

Jonathan Benny · March 19, 2005

It's good to have ideas of what you want and when you talk with you dp, show him/her scenes from films that you like and remember to be open minded and ready for those ideas to expand or change as a result of the dp's input.

Based on what you want, you might want to experiment with diffusing the image at the transfer stage rather than at the camera stage. This, unfortunately, would not allow you to achieve the same look on print as on the transfer, unless you go through a digital intermediate.

If you are going to place diffusion at the transfer stage, make sure you talk to your colorist/grader about the color-saturation you want and also about the contrast - and always include your dp in those discussions.

I would not suggest using Fuji 400 or Kodak 5277 if you are going for the look you described (if I understood it correctly) especially if you are doing an optical blowup - not because they are bad stocks, but because there are other stocks out there that might take you closer to where you want to go with this. Your dp will no doubt have his/her favorite stocks and methods for achieving the look you want.

There's nothing wrong with using filtration at the camera end if you are going telecine. However, when and how you filter can be different depending on whether you know you are going to do a contact print, or if you know you are going DI, or if you know you are just transferring for broadcast.

On one of my films, I shot a 35mm 500asa stock, pushed it a stop, transferred it with diffusion in the gate and had the colorist boost the saturation a bit - the look was somewhat grainy, dreamy and clean (I know you don't want "clean" but the graininess worked nicely against that). I made extra sure to keep the highlights under control.

Just one idea. There are others...

Jonathan

Edited March 19, 2005 by Jonathan Benny