James Compton

Karl, please elaborate. I am directing an action feature this spring and I'll need both models and opticals. PM me if discretion is key. Thanks.

Yeah, it was really nice to see Sho Kosugi weilding a sword again on the big screen. Back in the day, Revenge of the Ninja was my all time favorite. American Ninja was absolute garbage, though.

Tomasz, You can do it. It has been done before. check out this link : www.filmhalogenuros.cl Daniel Henriquez had Park Road Post in New Zealand scan his super 8mm negative to 2K, using a Spirit Data Cine 2K. He then printed it back to 35mm.

I saw it Sunday night and really liked it. Having grown up on real (japanese) ninja films like Shinobi No Mono and Ninja Wars - I had my reservations. The story was okay. The martial arts fighting, while not being true ninpo was entertaining anyway. I like how FX was used to illuminate flying shurikens in dark rooms. The ARRI Master primes looked smooth and sharp on the big screen. The last film I saw projected shot with them was "Body Of Lies". Karl Lindelaub did an impressive job with the fight scenes, escpecially the living room ninja battle illumnated by flashlights. Shadows almost became a character itself in this film. I like how the director played on the myth of ninjas as being otherworldy. The most impressive lighting occurs in the final 10 minutes of the film that is backlight by FLAMES!!!!! Yeah..very nice, Karl. Very nice.

Wow... I have been thinking about shooting the same kind of film for a while. Remember, the sun sets one minute earlier each day after June 21( summer solstice) and 1 minute later each day after December 21(winter solstice). Go out with a still camera and shoot cheap test of the angle of the sun in relation to objects like cars and trees. Get a hold of a color temperature meter and measure the color tepmerature- that way you can gel your fill lights to look more believeable.

There are 2 TV shows that are shot on that film stock. Numbers(whicjh has switched to digital) and Desperate Housewives. You don't HAVE to used to KODAK Scanner/Sftware but it does proved a LUT with alot of old KODAK stocks like the EXR line. Here's a quote from ASC mag online : http://www.theasc.com/magazine_dynamic/Mar...ision/page3.php "Desperate Housewives is shot on 35mm using Panaflex Platinum, Gold II and Millennium XL cameras and Primo lenses. It is framed for 4:3 and protected for 16:9 broadcast in high-definition. Peterson has used Kodak Vision2 HD Color Scan Film 5299 to film the show since the stock hit the market almost two years ago. “It’s basically [Vision2 500T] 5218 that has been optimized for telecine use,” he says. “It removes some of the color mask you don’t need for telecine, so it gives you more latitude.”

Texture. That is one vital component that cannot be duplicated in the digital intermediate. Bleach Bypass gives the footage a wonderful grain texture that cannot be faked. For good examples of this watch the movies "Lost Souls" and "Munich". The negative was bleach bypassed on certain sections of these films. Bleach bypassing the negative has a very disctintive look that is slightly different from a intermediate or print film bypass. FOTOKEM is a great lab offering that technique. DELUXE in LA offers ACE and CCE bleach bypass. ACE is the process that allows controlled levels of bypass. CCE is a higher contrast look.

You have several options if you want to attain that 80's retro look. Several key elements are WARDROBE, filmstock and LENSES. Use and old Angeniuex zoom if you can get one. Buy some KODAK 7274 or 7248 off of EBAY and do a clip test to make sure the fogging is not extreme. It may even add to that older look. Try shooting a test of 7285 and desaturate in post. Lastly regarding filmstock , try some FUJI 500D film with a polarizer. Print the film onto KODAK TELEPRINT film and THEN telecine using a CRT telecine(MILLENIUM-if you want HD or RANK for SD), but not a SPIRIT telecine. Wardrobe added to the above mentioned kungfu techniques will get you closer to your desired look.

Jean, I use chinese lanterns very often. Check these out : http://lanternlock.com/ They mount very easily to a C stand. Also when using 5500K photoflood bulbs add some 1/4 or 1/8 CTB to the OUTSIDE of the lantern to remove the slight warming effect the paper adds. You can't see it by eye but it shows up on film and video monitors.

Shoot at 24fps. It will make the lip sync parts easier. Shoot the K40 Kodachrome. The images will have nice blue-magenta color shifts. You may be pleasantly suprised.

Nice.Very nice. Thank you for that. Can you make optical reductions from 65mm to 35mm anamorphic?

There is a plugi-in for Final Cut Pro that creates DCI files : http://www.quvis.com/?Action=Products&SubAction=wraptor QuVIS Wraptor™ is a software plug-in for Apple® Compressor that adds the ability to create a professional-quality, DCI JPEG2000-encoded, AES-encrypted, MXF-wrapped, and distribution-ready Digital Cinema Package (DCP) directly from a Final Cut Studio® project. Wraptor™ dramatically reduces the cost of entry for content producers that must submit their composition in the Digital Cinema distribution format to film festivals, industry award events, Digital Cinema advertising, and other digital exhibition venues of alternative content. Corporate users of Final Cut Studio, such as motion picture studios and commercial post houses, also benefit from Wraptors low cost-of-entry by reducing the need for specialized DCP mastering equipment or third-party DCP services. With Wraptor™ and Final Cut Studio the production costs for lower-budget projects like movie shorts, movie trailers, movie teasers, advertisements, public service announcements, training videos, and most types of alternative content can be kept under control and under budget. High-quality archiving using the secure DCP architecture is achievable using Final Cut Studio and Wraptor™.

You guys should do more shopping for your post work rates. CINEFILM ( in Atlanta) can get the job done for about $500 cheaper. If you process and transfer there its cheaper, and they use a SPIRIT. : http://www.cinefilmlab.com/rates.html Also check out Paul Korver at Cinelicious : http://www.cinelicious.tv/?page_id=6 Good Luck.

Okay. I liked it because the IMAX forest fight scene and the IMAX desert segment were REALLY GOOD. You could actually see all of the fight moves. In the first film, they were out of frame and could only be "pereceived". This time, it was all there. I was glad to see Optimus finally whoop some A#@$ ! Soundwave was ALL WRONG. I mean damn, how difficult was it to slap a vocoder on his voice. The first ten minutes of the movie in Shanghai was more like G.I JOE than the upmcoming JOE movie is going to be. The 4K CGI was nice. Very photorealistic at times ( I know they're giant robots from space). Jetfire was cool, I like how they threw in the spacebridge and the matrix. There was WAAY too much human dialog. The Twins got annoying REAL FAST. Kill them off and bring back JAZZ <_< . Overall I really like it. The IMAX scenes had that wonderful 'bigness' on 35mm. I'll be watching the IMAX version this weekend. There was so much going on, I'll have to see it again.

It's 1280 x 720 but it should cut with 1080 HVX footage . It's cheap, too. Check this out : http://www.filmtools.com/vhold-contourhd-camera-1200.html Resolution Settings HD (1280x720) 30 fps SD (848x480) 60 fps (not finalized) 5 Mega-pixel CMOS Image Sensor Codec: H.264 File Type: .mov Type: Removable MicroSD (SDHC compatible) Capacity: Up to 16GB (2GB included) Average Record Time: • HD: 30min per GB • SD: 60min per GB

PULL PROCESS - not push process for bleach bypass/skip bleach. Search the archives for "Northfork". It's a movie David Mullen, ASC shot. He explains in great detail how he used the skip bleach process. Kodak Vision2 200t is already pretty flat looking( contrast). Pay close attention to wardrobe and set design. That will help dial in the look as well. I'll post some examples when I get a chance. Consider having your cut negative printed onto KODAK 2395 TELEPRINT. Have the lab run bleach bypass on THAT INSTEAD OF YOUR NEGATIVE. A non-bleach print looks different than a non-bleach negative. Be prepared to UNDEREXPOSE by about 1-1/2 to 2 stops for bleach bypass negative. To see examples of bleach bypass negative check out MUNICH (Janus Kaminsli). The scene where the bomb goes off when the main characters are in the hotel room together is skip bleach negative, as well as when the main guy is questioned by his superiors.

Michael Jackson's music videos shaped music video history. From the smoked out sets of "Beat It" to horror film look of thiller to the noir-like "The Way You Make Me Feel". Many of them introduced ground breaking special effects to the music video world such as "Black or White". As a child of the 80's , I watched those early braodcast of MTV and BET, and was spellbound. I was blown away by his performances, but I found the cinematography, direction and art design equally dope. The KING has died. Rest In Peace, Brother.

It's 35mm. ASC Mag 05/09. KODAK 5201 for exteriors and 5217,5260 and 5219 for interiors.

There was test of KODAK VISION (generation 1) and FUJI SUPER-F filmstocks in the APRIL and MAY 2000 issues of American Cinematographer. Christopher Probst did the KODAK tests and Jay Holben did the FUJI tests. Both showing pushing and pulling. Under and overexposure of all those filmstocks. Although none of those filmstocks are made anymore, it gives you a rough idea of what those different variables introudce into the mix.

Yeah, Good movie. I REALLY enjoyed it. Dan Mindel and his focus puller did a good job. Some ECU shots were a bit soft but tolerable. I'm sure ALOT is asked of the Focus puller on shoot like that with a camera that was almost always constantly moving in some way. The story moved along well. I never had a chance to get bored. Well done.

I saw the film TOKYO!, yesterday. It was thoroughly entertaining. It's three stories told by three different directors. All three stories take place in TOKYO. the first one was weird and cool in a Gondry style.The first was by Michel Gondry. Looked like 35mm 1.85 FUJI, probably 500T. The second film was mad funny. It was digital. It worked in some parts and was very ugly and distracting (but the main character was also) in others. The third story had the most impressive cinematography of them all. I really enjoyed the framing and Jun Fukumoto's lighting. The final story was shot on KODAK, maybe 5205 and 5219. I'd highly recommend this film for any one looking for something different.

http://www.cinelicious.tv/ - BUDGET 2K Transfers - PRORES 4:2:2 http://www.posthouse.com/ - RANK TURBO - PRORES 4:2:2 http://www.cinefilmlab.com/ - SPIRIT HD - PRORES 4:2:2 http://www.vta.com/contact_us.htm#top - ITK MILLENIUM - PRORES 4:2:2

Oops. I stand corrected.

Buffalo 66 was shot on KODAK 7239. It was cross processed. The DP was Lance Accord. The director wanted a vintage 'NFL highlight films' look. What type of look do you want? Vivid colors or contrasty desaturated colors ? Wardrobe and Set Design also play a major part in creating the look you want.

Here are frame grabs from 2 things that I shot on 5279. A staged baptism for a church program video and a music video. There was VERY LITTLE adjustments made to the baptism footage. The music video had the shadow detail crunched, slighty. The moves images had a nice grainy texture. http://www.flickr.com/photos/35930836@N02/3331839074/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/35930836@N02/3331839100/