Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC

The red footage looked good David! It lacked the texture and highlight detail of film but it was crisp and the best looking digital i've seen. I was hoping they were going to screen 35mm print footage, but the company only has a digital 2k projector, not a 35mm projector. So I think in the near future they will be screening 35mm print footage at Deluxe or Technicolor. I really liked the dynamic range of the raw footage and its color correction capabilities is really impressive. The footage was from a documentary in africa which showcased mostly day exterior footy and a impressive interior of an african pot maker in his house naturally lit. The day exterior footage in africa was really impressive because they were photographing dark skinned African's against bright cloudy sky's and holding detail in both. The DP who shot it said he used RED's histogram technology to judge exposures onset. One of the coolest features I learned about the camera while there was the ability to upload LUT's into the cameras software where it can store a verity of LUTs and custom LUTs. One of the rigs was owned by a really good steadicam op named Jim Van Dijk and he was raving about RED's viewfinder that he has previewed and on the waiting list to own. Apparently it was the best viewfinder he had worked ever looked through, which is strong words from a super experienced operator like Jim. All of the footage was shot on RED zooms and at one point in the night DP and Cam op Norm Li had put on one of his 16mm zooms and they changed the recording settings to 2k to see its compatibility and it looked perfect. One of the flaws in the body of the camera that I could see was that there is a back focus... but it looked like it can be well fastened into place with two allen key nubs. I had read you were in town David and was hoping to meet you there, but it sounds like DFC is going to have another get together soon. How long are you in Vancouver for?

Last Friday I went to check out the RED at an awesome new boutique DI Company here in Vancouver called Digital Film Central (http://www.digitalfilmcentral.com/). They were showing that they are ready to ingest RED's workflow and print back to film, so this was little get together with a few RED owners showing their rigs to DP's and Directors in Vancouver. They showed some RED footage from there 2k projector while grading real time on their Baselight (with Truelight color management) system. As well as RED side by side with 35mm. After that they showed a director friend and I some footage from an S16mm feature they were doing with DP David Moxness CSC (Moxy). They had scanned the S16mm neg on their Arriscan (at 2k I believe... they do 3k over sampling but I think I remember them saying that this was a 2k scan). But they had used their new grain reduction software that was produced by the company and it looked fantastic!! When asked they also could instantly bring up side by side examples of O-Neg vs grain reduction as well as 2k arriscan vs telecine (spirit or cintel) HDCAM SR workflows and the difference was huge in both instances! Specially if you look closely and magnify the image. The HDCAM SR vs 2k side by side comparisons were great... the 2k workflow’s image spoke for itself really, I knew it was better then any other workflow I have experienced in the past just from looking at it, I didn't need the side by side to compare because I’ve done a few S16mm to HDCAM SR workflows. The de-graining wasn't the usual softening of the image and then re-sharpening like all other de-graining I've seen... this was truly amazing. It looked very close to the fine grain of a 35mm negative. The ESGR some how finds the grain, and only the grain and eliminates it… things like human hair and smoke were left in the image. They gave me a DVD with some footage they had showed me last August. This is linked footage of the Grain Reduction set to 100% shot by DFC DP co-owner and inventor of the software. 480 quicktime (sorry for the watermark) (Save as) http://www.chayseirvin.com/video/centraldemo.mov 720 WMV (Save as) http://www.chayseirvin.com/video/centraldemo720.wmv To be honest, I wasn't as impressed with this footage as much as I was with what they had showed me last Friday. It had nothing to do with the footage itself, more about their being too much grain reduction and it looking a little digital. Moxy's feature was more of a 70%-80% reduction so it didn't look digital like this footy does, it looked like 35mm; I find it hard to admit because I’ve always been such a cynic when it comes to digital technology and film (I personally love grain, often times the grainier the better in my eyes), but this really did have the look and feel of a 35mm grain structure. However you have to imagine this footage and Moxy's printed back to 35mm to actually gage its power, because grain would be reapplied in the IN and composite answer print. This last Tuesday I went for a beer with Moxy and he told me all about the process, how impressed he was with DFC, and the Grain Reduction. The ESGR is applied during the scan, which takes a long time scan and process each frame... but that’s the powerful thing about a scanner like Arriscan; its not meant to be a real time telecine scanner like a Sprit or DSX Cintel... it takes its time to scan from anywhere from 6k to 2k and really examines the neg then stores that info (DPX) into DFC's RAID systems for grading. The only draw back to the workflow is knowing how much ESGR to apply because LUT's don't apply the grain of a IN or AP to the image as your grading... so its important to have tests printed to know how much ESGR you want done to your image because once its done you would have to rescan it all over again to get back to where you were. I’ve known about this company from since they moved into their new offices and started buy up some of their DI gear. I’ve been wanted to do a film out with them for years and each time I step into their offices they impress me with something new. After seeing their stuff this last Friday I’ve made it my mission to have them do my next project no matter what the cost… I would even argue shooting S16mm over S35mm just to have them do a 2k DI and not a HDCAM SR DI or optical print. They are fresh, great group of people, and innovative. They stand against two giants in this city, Technicolor and Deluxe (whom just bought Rainmaker Post and is planning to start E-Film here)... But I think Digital Film Central is defiantly the go to people for DI's here in Vancouver.

LOOKS AWESOME MATT!

They are probably thinking that its to difficult for someone to police, so they will get away with it... But little do they know that Sheriff Mullen runs these hills. I'm glad to see new posters, but they gotta get their act right. Real names is one of my favorite features on this forum.

Robert Elswit did a similar thing in Magnolia creating a separation of color by sending light through a blue bedsheet from out side and then putting 1/4 to 1/2 CTO on the practical lamps. http://www.chayseirvin.com/video/warmandcold.mov

Couldn't have said it better myself. Lots of potential tho.

That shot resembles past Malick movies but were shots like that are key for establishing the setting for the story. Something that Malick utilizes in all his projects and was utilized in Gladiator too. I try to do the same things in the urban projects that I do. I don't think that makes me a wanna be.

Totally disagree. The film was brilliant character piece about the miss truths of Jesse James and the assassination of Robert Ford. The film is filled with subtleties, for example the opening, when they talk about Jesse James's; myth and the man; it talks about a condition called granulated eyelids causing him to blink more then usual, yet at that same moment they have a shot of him not blinking once, and throughout the film his stare is one of the biggest characteristics which he uses to intimidate his own friends. Jesse James was a character under constant self strife and was dealing with a vicious bipolar version of himself known as Jesse and the husband, father, and business man. In one of the best scenes in the film between him and Charlie ford Jesse even refers to himself as Jesse in the 3rd person, as if another version of himself had controlled is actions that lead to him murdering Ed Miller. I watched the film with my father and he was disappointed as well, he couldn't grasp why jesse james let Robert kill him, but the whole film is about that. Jesse James even gives the man he doesn't trust the weapon he uses to kill him as if he was preparing the boy for the task. Andrew Dominik created a great dichotomy between jesse james and Robert ford, a character striving for all that Jesse James is to him, a myth. The contrast is so deep and can even been told through the contrast in each characters face, Jesse James's face was full of texture, while Robert Ford had a young, youthful, pastel face. I felt the the staging of the film resembled Malick but the story and the way it was told were much different. I'm helping a fellow filmmaker with an essay about the film and I'll post it when it is finished.

Just saw it, wicked cinematography by a wicked DP.

Are you just looking for Color correction? If your looking for color correction I heard of http://www.plastercitypost.com/ But I haven't worked with them or scene any of there work projected. The term DI relates to the project being printed back to film for theatrical 35mm projection, do you plan on eventually doing this?

Looks great Marc!

A mini9 with all very narrow spot bulbs would look pretty cool. Throw some atmosphere in the air and dim it up and down, pan and tilt... that would look really cool.

Robert Richardson in Wag the Dog. He walks through the frame in a production studio scene.

Awesome awesome awesome! you are a master David!

http://www.chayseirvin.com/video/Dawn.mov Days of Heaven

Go us!

Congrads Glen! All us ex 2nd unit guys were routing for you.

Deakins for Jesse James. Robert Elswit in second.

I'm really upset that Roger Deakins was nominated for No country and not for Jesse James. Explain that. The extraordinary photography in Jesse James only comes around so often. No respect.

Awesome, thanks Mitch. is DOF changed due to the anamorphic adapter?

Hey Mitch. I was considering the HPX for a project. What can you tell me about the Scan reverse function and the anamorphic adapter advertised with the product.

Robert Elswit's master piece.

It's the best movie I've ever seen... No doubt. I saw it 5 times in theaters. Most inspirational film i've ever seen. hate me if you want. could not get enough.

Awesome link Jayson. I enjoyed it a lot. The guy interviewing was a little annoying at times, but it wouldn't have felt so candid without him.

Still look amazing David! What was it like collaborating with Daniel Myrick?