Will Moore

Yes! Ken rocks. A few years back I was shooting a feature with a CP-16R and the timing belt went out on us and in addition to this we were beginning to have some problems with then zoom lens (forgive me lack of techical knowlege here, I am not a DP) . Anyway, our budget was under 25k and faced with a broken camera and almost no money I was sure we would not be able to finish the shoot. But I called Ken, he told me to send the camera to him and he'd, at the very least have a look at the camera and could tell us how much it was going to cost to fix. Within a day of receiving the camera Ken had fixed it and shipped it back, all for under $2,000. We spent the next three weeks shooting and never had a problem.

To follow a film post path would cost more... at least as far as I have been informed. Trust me, I'd love to... mmost - would you enjoy discussing my options over the phone and would be more than happy to discuss my budget and get your opinion as to the best work flow, picture quality-cost wise. If so, please email me at will@bandwagonfilms.com and I will respond with my phone number. I'll talk to any professional for that matter. I just want to insure the best picture quality for what I can afford. Greatly appreciative.

Little knowledge, that's why I am here... thanks. I am director-not a DP and would like to know my options before I hire a DP. I am not going to disclose the quote I received but will say the cost you gave is close. My thought was that it would be better to have a print for festival screenings than and a HD master. I love film, I think artistically it has more to offer to cinema than digital. I guess this is why I'd like to end up with a print instead of a digital master. Why do you feel that a HD master would look better than a 35mm print? Anyone else have an opinion on the subject? I actually got the idea because I love the look and feel of City of God - you hit the nail on the head David.

I just spoke with DvFilm in Austin and they recommended that I do a transfer to DVCpro HD, edit on FCP and then do a non recompressed export to a hard drive. Keep everything running at 24fps and I will be able to do a film out from the hard drive with for only a little more than it would cost me to make an HD master. If this is the case then I definitely want to have a print of the film. Are there any consequences to this workflow - like loss in picture quality?

When you don't know you just don't know. Thanks for the nugget guys. One more question: After I have my HD masters with effects - if I have the opportunity to have a film print made - would it be wise to do a film out OR have the 16mm cut and blown up? Thanks again, Will

I am in pre-production on a modern day western and have decided to shoot super 16 for the majority of the shoot along with regular 35mm for about a week. The 35mm will be used for exteriors-like shots of the countryside, establishing, blah, blah, blah ? to give the film a feeling of grandeur? while the super 16 will be used for pretty much anything involving the actors for a more intimate feel. For budgetary reasons I will not be able finish off on film but would like to keep this option open so if/when I do acquire the needed finishing funds I will be able to either to do a film out or blow up to 35mm. What I was thinking is that I could transfer ALL of my footage to HD for the masters, then down convert to DVCAM with time code for the offline edit. Then go back to the HD master for the online and final cut of the film for festival screenings. I shot my first (and only) feature on a regular 16 with a cp-16r and transferred to minidv. I then downloaded those tapes onto my mac and edited using final cut pro 3. Once finished I exported to minidv and had DVDs made from this. The end product was extremely grainy I really would like to avoid this result for the new film. For the choices that I have made and knowing that (at present) my final cut will be digital and not film ? is this the best workflow? Do I have to use HD masters in order to keep the picture quality? I have a feeling if I transfer to DVCAM for the final (digital) cut that I?ll be kicking myself because I lost picture quality along the way. I guess what I am getting at, is there a cheaper workflow without loosing picture quality?