35 Blow-Up effects on Latitude

[Alejandro Wilkins]

I am going to be shooting on S16 for 35 blow-up in May and have decided to use the 7217 stock. This is the first time I will be shooting in this format and am curious about the blow-up effects. Specifically, how does the blow-up effect your latitude? I am already planning on overexposing the entire film by 1 stop and on top of that I plan on having an overexposed rim by 1 1/2 to 2 stops for day int/exts. For an idea of the look I am trying to get think of 21 Grams, though without the special processing.

 

Is this too much over exposure? My tests on regular 16 gave me bright highlights that read 3 stops over but were not fully blown. However, what I am unable to test is how the actual 35 blow-up will handle this overexposure.

 

I am also interested in everyones experiences in under exposure in 35 blow-up. Is it better to work with a lower contrast ratio?

 

Lastly, I will be shooting the opening and closing sequences of the film using 5245 (35) to contrast with the granier S16 blow-up of the rest of the film. However, a fellow DP mentioned that the new Vision2 stocks blown-up may not have too much of a noticeable difference when positioned between the 35mm sequences, especially if the film is transferred to video. Do you agree?

 

Thanks for your help,

Alejandro

 

:unsure:

[John Pytlak RIP]

Why are you overexposing the film by so much? Most of the grain and shadow detail advantage only require about 1/2 stop of extra exposure. 7217 has lots of overexposure latitude, but a negative that is 2-over will be quite "heavy" and more difficult to print or scan. Are you deliberately trying to "blow out" your highlights?

 

As good as the new Kodak VISION2 stocks are, a Super-16 blow-up will still have more grain than 35mm 5245 contact printed. 5245 is still the lowest grain film. I agree that on video, the grain differences will be less apparent than on a huge theatre screen.

 

You really need to test the effect your chosen method of "blow-up" will have on contrast. Optical printer flare varies among labs, and DI gives you flexibility to control contrast.

[David Mullen ASC]

There is a contrast build-up when doing the blow-up using an optical printer and dupe stocks (IP / IN). But a contrasty image in general will seem sharper when projected, so you don't necessarily want to shoot a flatter image.

 

There's no need to overexpose by a whole stop -- 2/3 of a stop is enough. Remember that overexposing does not reduce the size of the biggest grains in the image -- it only fills in the gaps with more of the smaller, slower grains, "tightening" up the grain structure.

[Alejandro Wilkins]

Thanks for the help. I have decided to overexpose by 2/3 stop to make sure that the grain structure is "tighter". I will also lower the amount of over exposure I intended for my highlights so they do not totally blow out.

 

Alejandro

[Jarin Blaschke]

Also remember that your 35mm sequences will have quite a different look by way of depth-of-field differences alone (presuming that you don't really stop down for these scenes).

[Alejandro Wilkins]

Also remember that your 35mm sequences will have quite a different look by way of depth-of-field

Thanks. I feel pretty confident about being able to get the separation I want from the S16.

Your comment brought up another question however. My gaffer mentioned that there is a depth of field change that occurs from the blow-up to 35. Is this true and if so, what kind of changes should I expect.

 

Alejandro

[David Mullen ASC]

He's wrong. The depth of field is in the image on the film, which you then are reproducing -- but what's in and out of focus is already exposed on the original film and does not change after that.

 

He might be referring to the fact that S16 has more depth of field than 35mm.