Chris Burke

check out www.cinelab.com, they do uncompressed 10 bit SD to hard drive in either NTSC or PAL. They do not charge extra, do great work and tk straight to a disk array then transfer to your hard drive. I have used them many times and will continue to do so. chris

If you do not need to go back to the negative, ie.....your project will live on video, then have you footage telecined directo hard drive as an uncompressed file, 10 bit if you can. www.cinelab.com does a good job of it, for no extra charge over their regular telecine rates. Many other transfer houses also do this. With this production path, you have the quality of digibeta, but don't have to rent a deck. You do, however, need a very fast system to edit the uncompressed material. Don't fret, you can still do an offline of the material. Just copy the uncompressed files into a DV timeline with a window burn, output that, edit, then conform with the uncompressed. Not all that hard, much cheaper than digibeta and better quality. do search on the boards here, this topic is often talked about. Chris

"A Mighty Wind" is S16. Guest does prefer S16 over 35. His budgets aren't the biggest and he does some camera operating himself.

What about Super 16 for the whole project or at least in the car. If you are sticking with HD I would choose the HVX 200 or the HDX 900. The later records to tape and seems to lie somewhere in between the HVX and the Varicam, in terms of quality. Good luck.

I am just doing my DI on a short that we shot with the 8653 on super 16. I was very pleased with the results. I imagine that if you had a great camera with an even better lens and the transfer was top notch, you would get stellar results. Here is an example of what we shot, it is a one light for edited, but I have seen some of my footage onlined and it was incredible. www.chrisburke.net then click on the link labled "Gates clips 2".

thanks for the info. I was referring to the scanner, a relatively new product. What do you know of that? chris

I too saw it in Boston a week ago an have just seen Casino Royale as well. I thought the print I saw was pretty beat. Bowie did the best acting I have ever seen him do. The overall look was great, very much Batman like. I thought the story is what was failing the most. All in all, a good time was had by all.

Wooo, scan some film for free ay??? The 199 version is a single film format only version, where the other 249 version I guess has it so the gates can be swapped out, like most do. S stephen, did you see footage scanned by it? If so, 35, 16, at what res?? chris

xl2 has more to offer in that the lens is interchangeable. Both will yield excellent image results. Those who state one is better than the other are only stating their opinion. Like I said, at the end of it all, the xl2 has the edge for image quality, because of the glass you can put on it. chris

From what I read on their website, it sounds almost too good to be true. 2k film scanner for $250k. I know very little about this product or the company. What are your thoughts? Is it worth it? chris :huh:

I am not sure of past models, but the Aaton Penelope promises to be very small can compact as far as pro 35mm riggs go. But then again, if has yet to be released. chris

This is great news. Where did you here or see it? I have poked around the web a bit and have not found any info. I will keep looking, just curious what your source is. Chris

Check out www.cinelab.com main page. They will do $43 per cart of either 7217 or 7218, $35 per for Black and white reversal. That includes film, processing and a best light telecine via a Rank to any format. The best option they offer is the transfer as a uncompressed Quicktime file 10 bit 4:2:2 color to hard drive. you supply the drive or you can borrow one from them. Minimum of 4 carts per order. A better deal than Pro8mm. Sure Pro8 has all the bells and whistles, but they also have very high prices, very grainy stock(usually cut down from recans and short ends) and rude customer service people. Cine on the other had offer 5 stocks( 2 negative, 3 reversal) and transfer to hard drive at no extra cost. Pro8 doesn't offer that. Justin Lovell is a great guy and offers a great service, but he is in Canada. So you have to deal with any potential hassles involved with international posting. Cinelab has the best deal going. Be sure to shoot a grey card for the best Best Light you can get. Chris

Is doing a DI on Lustre a must, because of VFX shots or some such thing? If not and you are doing so because it is all the rage (no offense intended), then perhaps you should reconsider the DI. Do you really need it? I know that in my home town of Boston, for 1 to 2 million, I can make a 35mm feature shot academy 1.85, contact print and it will look great. This is providing that there are no huge salaries or the like. You can afford to shoot film in that price range. For all the reasons you listed above and the budget you have, shoot film. Check out http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0796339/ they shot on Super 16 and are doing a 2k DI, look at the cast list. All for less money than what you have.

What is your budget? A million? More perhaps? Truly, why not shoot film, all the color bandwith you can muster and in a universal format used the world over. Crews love it. My mom loves it. Everyone loves it. It looks great. If you are entertaining the idea of shooting on a Viper with an S. Two attached, you can afford to shoot 35 or super 16 with the largest shooting ratio ever and multi cam. Truly I ask, why not? Chris PS-- I like the look of the Varicam over the Cinealta

I am sure that someone else with loads more experience than I will respond, but I'll give it a try just the same: The 35mm lenses can be used via an adapter. They are big enough and will handle the resolution just fine. But with the added cost of an adapter why not just use the digi primes? I have never used them, I shoot almost exclusively film, but I suspect that they will give you the very best image you are going to get from the camera they are attached to. This is provided that all esle is equal. Now, the cost of renting the digi primes is quite high and whether it delivers an image that is proportionately better than shooting with an HD zoom is another question entirely. If you are strapped for cash, using a zoom may be the way to go. Chris

There has been some discussion here and there about the Penlope. What it promises, 2 or 3 perf, instant mags, lower cost, etc, etc... will make shooting scope much more accessable for a lot of people. With many telecine and datacine doing 2 perf, it is going to make shooting 35mm much more common. People who were doing budgets for HD or Super 16 projects could realistically consider 2 perf. This is all specualtion, but quite probably will happen. Stock, processing and tk costs, virtually cut in half. Film will be around for a good while longer. I am seriously going to try to get to use it for a feature I am producing that is a year or two out. I am really excited too! chris

Mathew Libatique used this technique for Never Die Alone, a visually stunning piece of work. They used a 2k "digital scope" if you would to make the blow up. I have always thought that it might be a cool thing to try out on a short. Good luck and please keep us posted along the way. chris

Franka Potente has just made a silent film on Super 8. Not sure of the title, but it is getting a fare share of buzzzzz. chris

i am not sure what color temp or look you are going for, but keep in mind that halogen lights usually throw off a lot of heat and can be quite dangerous in an enclosed area. May I suggest using a LED light or flourescent light, either of which can be gelled for correction. A work light that you can pick one up most any place here in the US, not sure about India, but probably just as available. I have used a rechargable LED light bar with some diffusion many a time for car interiors. chris

We did not do a skip bleach nor have we timed the footage yet, but this is an example of the Eterna 250T with Antique Suede (don't remember which grade). We will be doing a DI, this example is a one light for editorial. Go to www.chrisburke.net and click on the "Gates Clips 2" link. Just thought I would show you what this stock looks like. I can post other examples with higher contrast if you would like. Chris

Can you shoot Super 16 or 35? You will save your self a lot of headache if you can. How will the film be finished? 16mm print, video,HD?? Use a better aquision format for the FX stuff and ask Rob at Cinelab to get you a 2k scan of those shots. Although they are not set up for 2k currently, they will be very soon, perhaps by your shoot. They can also get deals with some business partners that can deliver a 2k scan. Tell them what you intend to do and they can advise you best. Ask for Rob. Good luck. chris

what about 7266 or 7265? Less grain than 7222. Fuji B&W is hard to obtain and only available in Europe and Asia, so it would seem. I would love it if Fuji Acros was available for motion picture. Chris

I am going through a similar experience where I shot on Super 16 and have a HD master as well as Digi-Beta screeners. Many projectionist that I have spoken with say, when in doubt, go with Digi-Beta. It is a tried and true format, HDV is a consumer format that is very young. Which festival did you get into? Chris

what sort of transfer technique will you be usings? chris