A. Whitehouse

A Negative Bleach Bypass would have affected the shadows least of all. I have had similar experiences with telecine transfers which I couldn't sit in on and a use of under exposure where the footage has come back flat but it must have been quite a bit of work to grade out a bleach bypass. May I suggest it could have been the colourist looking to play it safe knowing that the transfer was being made to DVCAM? Was it a best light? Did you provide Grey cards and how were they exposed? 1/2 stop in the highlights and 2 under sounds pretty flat to me and the handleful of times Ive shot with 8683 Ive found it to have enormous latitude and a very soft and flat look. If you still have the negative can I suggest it may be worth looking at it on a light bench? Why was the decision made to bleach bypass the neg? Could the money have been spent to achieve a similar effect in your telecine session? I have never been able to convince any project to let me try bleach bypass even for a test and my local lab has always been fairly anti even the proposal (even when trying to push). I would be interested to see the results. Hope this helps, Sasha

Hey thats great news, it was never commercially available on VHS so there have been a lot of dodgy pirate copies out there and a lot of old beat up prints. I had a 5th gen vhs dub from PBS. As I understood it there was confusion about the ownership of the film and bertolucci has a belief that films don't hold meaning outside of the period of their release. New films for a new generation I guess. A true classic told/directed in an interesting and, surprisingly, never imitated style. The cinematography seems to have become the basis for the modern style of cinematography. Ive read a couple of digs relating to Storraro colour theories but I remember reading that he didnt think this film fulfilled a lot of those ideas. Truly ahead of its time. The scene in the forest with the handheld at the end is particularily striking as is the use of shadow to reflect some of the themes of the film. Fire light playing on the walls of a cave. One of my favourites. I would love to know what others think. Sasha

Hi Max, I was wondering how often many of these productions get close to shooting wide open? Although not related, I worked with the Optimo on the front of the P + S pro and was amazed how stitched up we were and how often we would reach for the superspeeds. I know how slow the system is but its amazing the difference a stop can make when you're shooting in a small room with hot lights... The other question (for everyone generally)I have is whether the red will still shoot 4K if I limit the sensor to S16 sized frame with S16 lenses? I suspect not... and if not what then would the effective resolution of that frame be? And, while Im sure that I can go and find the specs buried somewhere, I find it misleading to stack the features of the camera as though no sacrifices need be made. For instance will I be able to do this at once: Outstanding Image Quality (This term comes up a lot) Shoot 4K 4 : 4 : 4 120FPS With S16mm lenses ( and some way of monitoring sharps, would an optical finder be nice?) To a format which I will be able to watch back on set whether through the camera or through a laptop or split with support for this format the week it comes out rather than a year down the line (ala PAL support for the HVX) Reading a spec lists it would seem all of this is possible and more. I know its possible on film... "People who have backgrounds in digital media or technology, on the other hand, aren't really too surprised by or skeptical about what RED is claiming. We've been seeing rapid innovation for years, small companies that upset industries, dramatic price shifts, etc. It's just the way the industry works." I would say from my experience that most film sets Ive been on have been with some of the most bleeding edge equipment and technically proficient people Ive met. I dont think anyone in the film industry is afraid of rapid innovation and I can think of long lists of film makers who have caused industry wide upsets. I would think that the cell phone saw a more rapid uptake amongst filmmakers than almost any other industry. That was a revolution. Can I point out that the film industry is a MUCH maturer industry than both the digital media and 'technologies' industries. How many RED1 users will be happy to continue shooting once the RED2 comes out and how will that effect the rental and second hand markets. How many "DVXusers" are going to want to plonk down 18K every two years to remain "Bleeding edge". I know all these points have been made before, I dont post often, I apologize for the repetition. The HVX has proven enormously popular here in Melbourne and it has driven the prices of S16mm rentals way down. I must admit it can be hard to swallow sometimes when you're renting a 15 year old SR2 package and you just imagine how many times it must have paid itself off over the years. Im sorry; I dont post very often, I just wanted some of these questions answered. RED just seems to take so much energy out of this forum. Sasha

I have to put a vote in for both creeping terror and batman and robin. Creeping terror is really some next level poop. But really who has the time or patience to finish a film thats really awful. Imagine the films you haven't watched...

I believe the Spike Lee film "She Loves Me" was shot on a combination of S16 and 35mm. It should be at your local video store. There was a Kodak Magazine article about it a couple of years ago. It was shot by Mathew Libatique who I believe has shot a few features on S16 now. I thought it looked great, but I dont think they intercut during a scene between formats. I hope this helps...

Hideo Nakata "Ringu 2" - "Ring 2" Alfred Hitchcock "The Man who knew to much" The Spanish director of the film I cant remember the name of was involved in the remake "Vanilla Sky" Although Tobe Hooper wasnt involved I believe both Texas chainsaw massacres had the same DOP Sam Raimi "Evil dead 1" - "Evil Dead 2" theyre basically the same movie I would argue "Rambo: First Blood" - "Rambo 2" There are other hitchcock films aswell, I think this would be a very long list... Oh "Boogie nights" was remade from his own film "Superstar"

I saw a super 16mm french feature the other night called "sheitan" which was all shot on a A-Minima and it looked great. Digital post path though. Lots of television is on super-16 aswell.

Same Film makers as Waking Life. Its also been used in a few Anime that Ive seen including "Tokyo Godfathers" and "Appleseed" (The new Appleseed, not the old one). Often used to create lifelike human movement on a cartoon background or vice versa.

Lurking, safety in numbers...

I'll have a look next time Im at the rental house, which is later this week. I think the unit was made by preston but I could be seriously wrong. I will find out. We used MK2 superspeeds and since its a fairly simple piece of gear I think it will probably work with most lenses although Ive had some trouble before with wider lenses on an SR2 having their focus rings too close to the body of the camera, sometimes the lens tightening handle thing obstructs pull focus gears. Ill will find out. Sasha

Ive shot alot with an SR2 and yes there is an attatchment which will automatically turn the aperture on your lens and ramp the camera at the same time. Its designed for an SR3 but Ive used it twice now and it works with very little perceptable shift in exposure ( Although admittedly it wasn't %100 but easily gradeable I found and only to my eye I expect). I dont know the make I used but if you wish I can find out. Yes the mirror is fixed but in my experience its fixed at 180 degrees though I was shooting for PAL tv so this was what I was after, no electronic shutter unfortunately. There are also some great attatchments from the 35mm range that will work well in a SR2 like timelapse and digital tachometers, Ive done some great timelapse with an SR2. Actually from memory we may have had some problems attatching the shifting unit to do with having to shoot at 24fps but I cant really remember it was last winter since that shoot and the asst set it up. Worked out well though. Even used it on steadicam for extra effect. Hope this helps, Sasha

May I add, just briefly, that I never want to steal these films and would happily pay to watch them if available. I think that if the quality of some large budget mainstream productions was as good as some of these small indie films then perhaps the public would feel the compulsion to watch these films in theatres. I think all films should be watched in theatres, I think that is the act of going to the cinema. Participating in a film makers vision with a audience. Dare I say that one reason I think that audiences are staying away from cinemas ( I feel that possibly this year will be even lower than last year which was down from records previously as most of you will know ) is because we are failing to make and or support and distribute films that people can connect with and are relevent to their lives. I think we are particularily guilty of this in australia. I think New Zealand is beggining to get the idea with New Zealand films continually topping the box office in New Zealand. Or at least films made with a New Zealand voice like "Fastest Indian" (even though Roger Donaldson is Australian :)). Im sorry this off topic but I know that this arguement has been used for the decline of pop music sales which are blamed on a lower standard of craftmanship in Pop music, by some people atleast. If the customer feels the product has little "worth" then perhaps a free ride is to be expected? Sasha

I have been reading this site for years and this is the only post Ive felt the need to participate in. I am a downloader of internet movies. I also go to the cinema a great deal and participate in digging old films out of storage at the local film library (ACMI, Im in Melbourne). I have this to add, though I think I missed the body of the discussion. I download films that I am unable to find anywhere else. I am a huge fan of foriegn ( Japanese, Iranian and french and italian cinema) films and I use the internet as my oppurtunity to watch films I would otherwise have no chance of seeing. I know this might sound weak, but I see an awful lot of films, films that I have seen from downloading I will then go and see if it comes up in a festival. Case in point, I downloaded Ken Park when it was banned in australia and blocked from appearing in Melbourne film festival. Another example. Il Conformista, I have a VHS pirated 5 th gen dub, its appaling. I love this film, possibly my favourite. This film is entirely unavailable anywhere in any format except ancient prints. I have watched this film when screened anywhere, Ive seen ancient 16mm (Pirate copy in ACMIs possesion!) and 35mm prints. But I have still broken (or stolen) copyright of the films producers. Im not a huge fan of new american films (some I love, but you know what I mean) I watch an awful lot of foriegn language films that I have only been able to find over the internet through bit torrent or other P2P. A lot of these are new films, as another example. "Dumplings" I am a big fan of Chris Doyle and of Fruit Chan. This Film was fantastic, I didnt know whether this film would ever be available in Australia. I downloaded it. When it came up at MIFF, I went and saw it. I dont think Im unique. I think that in some ways the internet has opened up possibilities and expanded my taste while not really curbing my cinema going habits (or expenses). I will admit to watching downloaded new films that I definetly would never have seen otherwise, I mostly dont even watch all of them. For example "stealth". Perhaps some of the users and posters on this site would be surprised to know the possibilities of P2P and the access to old cinema and new hard to find foriegn cinema out there. I do think that piracy is wrong but I want to see these films in whatever format I can. A 35mm print at my local cinema is prefferable. I usually get DIVX files and the subtitles are seperate in SRT files. I miss out on surround sound which is a big downside. I work in the industry as a DOP and editor, I do not want to risk the income of many already struggling film makers, particularily here in Melbourne where it is dire. These are just my thoughts, this was my first post. Thank you, Sasha