Pritesh Chheda

David: Thanks for the posts. For a filmmaker like myself, with severe budget constraints, it all comes down to dollars and cents. We plan to shoot S16 in feb and once I add the price of S16 stock, processing, telecine, downconversion the price tags seems very hefty and almost unaffordable. The facts: For S16: Assuming I shoot at 6:1 ratio (which is extremely tight) for a 90 minute film, the cost of shoot (minus online HD editing) comes to approximately $30K (S16mm Rental = $3000 plus '18 stock at $142/roll = $7200 plus $2500 processing plus $400/hr of telecine on Spirit or Mellenium at 4:1 ratio = $15000 plus cost of D5 = $1800 + downconversion to DVCAM = $1500 : Total = 30K. For F900 HDCAM with 10:1 ratio (Rental $9000 for 15 day shoot + $2000 in tape stock/downconversion = $11K). The difference between the shooting format is tremendous and if I aspire for a traditional film look that does not require shooting in extreme conditions or needs period look, S16 would be very pricy. And not to mention the fact that I will always be stressed wether I will have enough coverage with the tight ratio or will the looks be as sharp and less grainy etc. David, this post is not directed at you and just reflects my opinion. The numbers are based on my 6-month long research and hope they help other filmmakers who are in similar boat. Just my 2 cents, Pritesh

Yeah. It is Video Post in Dallas. Bill Bennett emailed me the reasons for his preferences. I am sure he would not mind if I posted his reply for educational purposes. Below is his response: "I very much prefer the "look" of the Millennium telecine to the Spirit DataCine. The reason is the Millennium uses a flying spot scanner image sensor, and the Spirit uses a CCD array image sensor. Simply put, using the Spirit is like pointing a digital video camera at your film, where the image tends to look very digital..... yes it has the dynamic range of film, but has the "look", in terms of sharpness and smoothness, of a digital video camera. The Millennium, on the other hand, retains the smooth and subtle "contours" of the film image. AND it it able to extract more of the dynamic range of the film, in both the highlights and the shadows. I have seen this with my very own eyes, using the same piece of negative, and walking it from one machine to the other at the same facility on the same day. The DaVinci 2K Plus Color corrector that is tied to that Millennium is very good, in the hands of a competent colorist, of course."

Hello: We plan to telecine our S16mm to HD D5. One of the vendors I has the following equipments: - Millennium Machine with resolutions up to 4K and the capability to handle film formats from 8mm to 70mm, DaVinci 2K Plus Color Correction - Spirit DataCine, Pandora Pogle Color Correction with HD/SD Pixi, Philips VS4 Noise Reduction System - Cintel URSA Y-Front 4:4:4 Component Digital Telecine with TWiGi and SCAN'dAL, DaVinci Renaissance Color Corrector and Meta-Speed digital servo system The sales person prefers Millennium over Spirit. Does anyone know the difference and preferences? Why? Pritesh

David: We met in Austin at Katz with my associate producer Jenny;-) Did you get a chance to watch "The Package". Regards, Pritesh

Thanks David. The post house is recommending syncing sound for the entire S16 footage (20,000'). Not the final edited ones. I just think it's an over kill since most of that sound will be unused. Unless there is a technical reason for syncing sound for ALL the footage. Our workflow is as follows: We plan to transfer the entire S16 footage to HD D5, downconvert it to DVCAM, firewire the footage to FCP, sync production sound from DAT (time-code slated), get final cut with picture lock, add foleys and music, do studio sound mix, generate EDL and go back for online editing, lay sound, add titles, do tape-to-tape CC and get the final HD D5 copy. If there is something we missed, please advise. We are getting a great deal for HD D5 telecine. Will use Spirit 2K telecine with 16:9 ratio. Is there any advice for telecine? I am assuming it would be 1080p. Pritesh

Hello: We plan to scan our S16mm feature to HD D5 on Spirit 2K. The post house recommends that we also do the sound sync for the entire feature so the HD D5 would essentially be the master copy. The transfer ratio with sound sync is 5:1 while w/o sound is 3:1. In other words, the cost increases substantially for us. What are the pros and cons of not syncing the sound? The route we plan to take was to get the downconverted footage from DVCAM and match the sound during offline FCP editing. Please advise. Pritesh

Hello: We plan to shoot our feature on S16, telecine it to DigiBeta and miniDV or DVCAM (not decided), offline edit in Final Cut Pro and create an EDL for Online editing. My questions: 1. What kind of editing time I am looking at for Online editing? For example, as a rule of thumb, for every 1 hour of footage it take 3 hours of telecine (best light). Are there any rules for Online timing? Also, does anyone know the costs involved. Range is fine. 2. My editor prefers telecine to DVCAM (instead of miniDV) for offline editing. I guess the Final Cut Pro HD creates a more reliable EDL than miniDV. Are the cost significantly higher for DVCAM telecine? 3. How do the cost of telecine to HD-D5 compare with DigiBeta? Like every filmmaker, we aspire to get limited theatrical release and want to keep our options open for 35mm blowup. Any advise would be deeply appreciated. Also, I would like to thanks Mitch Gross for his valuable input for our project. He is a great guy! Pritesh

Mitch: Please check your email. I have not gotten any emails subsequent to August 4th, 2004 and in that one there was nothing that required my response. Best, Pritesh 512.680.9649

We plan to shoot a feature on S16mm and telecine it for editing. Just wondering what the cost would be for 35mm blowup? Any tips while shooting S16 so the 35 blowup looks very close to S16 (sharp lenses, very less grainy stock etc.)? Any literature that I can read or any shops that I can talk to? The feature will be a thriller with 99% shot in one house. Modern Film Noir. Best, P

Hello: What is the general consensus for the Arri SRII? Is it quiet enough to shoot a dialogue heavy feature in a super quiet environment? Any advices? P

Something more on the Project: S16mm Color - Telecined and edited on Final Cut Pro - Buyer will blow up to 35 with his/her money. Cost is an issue hence 16 Similar Looking film. The only one that I feel I loved was a French Film called "Haute Tension". It was picked by Lions Gate although the visuals were a little grainy for my taste. Our film involves shooting indoor in a 2-storey house where the protag's cosy relationship with the antag (at the start she does not know that he is an antag:-)) abruptly changes for worse. Hence the mood of the visual should reflect the changes. We can hear occasional thunder outside with torrential rains. In some cases, when she opens the door, we can catch a glimpse of darkness outside and see the rain fall. The overall mood is very tense, dark, and there is a certain degree of suspense/mystery involved. Performances complemented with good visuals/lights is the key to sucess since we have severe restrictions on thye location/cast (only 3 characters). hence the drama element has to be played out very sensibly. Visually, I want it to be a treat for the audience. A treat that keeps their heart pumping and performances that capitvate the folks, infact make them beg for all of it to end. Hope this clarifies the project and the visual set up I am looking for. PS: I am also looking for a DP who would be interested in project like this. It is slated to go to camera in late January/early Feb. and will be shot in Austin, TX. 13 day shoot. There is very little upfront monetary compensation and the DP needs to own the S16 camera package.

Hello: We are planning to shoot a S16 feature. The entire shoot will be shot in one house. We need warm but crisp look (less grainy). The genre is Thriller where a young woman is held hostage in her own house by a possible serial killer on one stormy night. Need to create a "tense", "suspenseful" look. Any suggestions? Also, does Kodak offer free test rolls in case we need to experiment before buying in bulk. The editing will be done on final cut pro. Hopefully, the buyer will pay for the 35mm blowups. Appreciate any input. Pritesh