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Tyler Purcell

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  1. Tyler Purcell
    Yea, but ALL OF THE FILM NEEDS TO TOUCH THE CHEMICALS AT ONCE!!! When you watch these video's and see film sticking out of the containers, you're seeing film that will look different then the pieces still in the container. Super 8 is a lot cheaper then 16mm but it's still expensive. Visit http://www.pro8mm.com/ for more on pricing and such.
  2. Tyler Purcell
    That's right, S-Log is it's own LOG curve, incompatible with every other system and looks nothing like real LOG, which even looks nothing like color negative. Pro Res XQ is the best standard recording format out there today. It actually doesn't work in REC 709, it has far more dynamic range then even the standard Pro Res codec's. I use XQ all the time, mostly to color Alexa shots. Yes, we use Log - C on the Alexa material but that's only as a precaution, rather then a pre-requisite like with MPEG formats.
  3. Tyler Purcell
    You be difficult? HA! LOL :) I'm just sayin' it ain't roses and unicorn's. Actually, I spent so much time working regular jobs, I kinda forgot about making movies and stuff. I only really got back into filmmaking a few years ago and as you well know, it takes a while to ramp things up. I've got a stack of scripts both short and features. It's just a matter of fine tuning and picking which one I'm going to make first. The problem as always is... as a freelancer, I'm always dead broke! So I can't afford to even make one of my shorts. So fundraising is the only way and you know how THAT goes. So I just do what I can, make the doughnuts and on my spare time, work on my films. I don't regret what I did at all. I've done SO MUCH living in Los Angeles, so many friggen' awesome things that a young person should be doing. If I had known about the economic down turn before it happened, if I had been smarter with my money, if I had not been out to constantly enjoy myself, things would be a lot different today. My future self's advice to my younger self would be to pursue my dreams harder and stay focused on the pie at the end of the rainbow, rather then the crumb right in front of you.
  4. Tyler Purcell
    Right, but again it exists because of the inferiority of the storage format. If the storage medium was 24 bit RAW directly off the imager with zero processing, there would be no reason for S-Log. Sony and Canon's incessant use of antiquated 8 bit 4:2:0 Rec 709 color space recording formats are EXACTLY the reason we have S-log.
  5. Tyler Purcell
    That's new... we've been talking about color all this time. If you're shooting in B&W reversal (positive image), life is a tiny bit easier. The only problem is, finding B&W reversal stock at a short-end shop like reel good film, is hard. The good news is B&W film lasts A LOT longer then color. So finding film on ebay, as long as it's been stored properly and is less then 10 years old, it should work fine. I shot two short films with 20+ year old reversal an they came out fine.
  6. Tyler Purcell
    Any left over film is either sold on ebay or sold to one of the very few buyers of re-canned stock. I gave you the information earlier on how to reach those guys (http://www.reelgoodfilm.com/) They usually charge between .15 - .25/ft for re-canned 16mm stock. Kodak charges .32/ft for NEW stock. So you do save SOME money buying re-canned. However, usually the re-can's are short ends, which are less then 400ft in most cases. Not so bad for someone breaking them down into 100ft loads. Since there isn't as much 16 being used today on bigger shows, the deals of yesteryear just don't exist anymore. I look high and low for film and when I find good deals I bounce on them.
  7. Tyler Purcell
    Ohh and BTW... 1.3x squeeze isn't too bad without an decoder. It's not like 2x where everything is crazy distorted.
  8. Tyler Purcell
    You wouldn't be able to use studio's left over film because nobody really shoots on 16mm for big movies. So that kinda scratches that idea right off the top. Short end dealers will sell you re-canned film for less then retail, sometimes a lot less if it's out of date. When you learn more about film stock color balance and ISO, you can make a judgement call on what stocks you want. Making your own color motion picture film that has the consistency of mass produced motion picture film is impossible. It's also impossible to process color motion picture film at home with the consistency of mass production. So the mere idea of "making your own stock" is kind of irrelevant, because you can't. Now if you don't mind wavy lines all over your image and density/exposure changes constantly, then you can experiment all you want. I'm just saying, you don't quite understand the science behind any of this yet.
  9. Tyler Purcell
    That's one way to look at it. I see it as a compromise for the lack of a decent recording format.
  10. Tyler Purcell
    I think as a backup plan, trade certifications are far more valuable over the long term then college will ever be. This would be something like a class A license, Microsoft/apple certification, learning a programming language, etc. I have three degree's in "artistic" fields and sure, they helped me get 9-5 jobs, but those degree's have never helped secure me a position on a film set. If you're interested in something, you should pursue it full force. If someone wants to be a cinematographer when they "grow up", they should probably attend a film school of some sort so they can experiment in the safety of peers with similar skills. I can't imagine going to college today though, it's so expensive, kids will be burdened with debt before they can even get into the job force. If I had to do it all over again, I would have been more focused on my trades and lived with an associates degree instead of going all the way. My degree from Emerson hasn't helped my career one bit. The problem is however, if you focus on your backup too much, it's nearly impossible to put the time and energy into your MAIN interest. It's hard to take time off from a good 9-5 in order to make a feature film. So it's great that you're making money, but you're just static until you have enough street cred and references, to make that leap and become freelancer full-time. Took me 14 years of being here to do it and I'm still only doing smaller jobs.
  11. Tyler Purcell
    Ok cool, good to know.
  12. Tyler Purcell
    It comes and goes so fast, if you don't catch it, you won't find it. There hasn't been much on there for months tho.
  13. Tyler Purcell
    The whole reason LOG was created is to keep a certain look from scan through projection. They wanted something that mimic's film's dynamic range and color space, to create a "digital negative". S-Log is designed to optimize the noise floor and tonal reproduction of the imager and compress it into a data packet which will work within the limited Rec 709 codec's. S-Log is a SONY format, which took off because vendors picked up on the idea to be compatible with Sony cameras. If Sony cameras recorded RAW, there would be no reason for their own S-Log system. However, until very recently, Sony cameras didn't record RAW, so it's clear their whole intention from the get go was to solve a HUGE problem their cameras had. If you have a limited dynamic range REC 709 RECORDING format, how do you squeeze high dynamic range material into it? You simply compress the dynamic range and expand it in post. Same philosophy as analog audio tape noise reduction. You will notice, S-Log is used on cameras that shoot MPEG. Cameras that DON'T shoot MPEG... Arri, RED, Blackmagic, AJA, don't have S-Log because they don't need it.
  14. Tyler Purcell
    Well, many of the top filmmakers have slept on people's couches and worked for peanuts before moving up the ladder. You can argue all you want, but unless you're rich (or have rich friends) and have immense skill, it's nearly impossible to be successful without working up the ladder. The vast majority of talent in this industry comes from bottom feeders working their way up through the ranks. As I said many times in this thread, you can do anything you want. Lightening strikes randomly and some people have very good luck. But you can't base a career off luck. Thats how you fail unfortunately.
  15. Tyler Purcell
    That's right and nowhere did I say slog is raw. The word "faux" means fake. Slog was developed specifically for cameras that don't record raw and record to rec709. If you shoot raw you don't need slog curve, it's irrelevant in fact. Ohh and we've already had discussions on cameras that need special hardware to record properly. Most people won't invest unless it's necessary. In the case of the OPs question, film has no relationship to camera raw or slog.
  16. Tyler Purcell
    I like your original idea... stick with the A7SII and FS7. LOTS of money to be saved and it allows you to run a gimbal which is a very nice thing to have. Most of the guys I work with who do commercial stuff, run the A7SII for gimbal and drone work.
  17. Tyler Purcell
    I love my 12-120, it's a great piece of glass. It's just HUGE for a BMPCC.
  18. Tyler Purcell
    Ohh no, no... extended stay are the same thing as hotels, only they have full kitchens. They're expensive, but if you're only doing a week, it's not too bad. Most places work deals for industry people who are coming to town for a job. YMCA is more like a youth hostel and no, you wouldn't want to do that. Here in California, there are a bunch of short-term rental opportunities as people leave town all the time and want to get money for their home. A lot of my friends who did the P.A. program, wound up sleeping on couches after their first week, it saves quite a bit of money.
  19. Tyler Purcell
    All of that is accurate and it's what happens to the vast majority of people who are outgoing and talented enough. I always suggest people already book the P.A. gig before they even land. Even if you have to live in an extended stay facility for the first week whilst you're working as a P.A., so be it. First week on set, you will find a place to live with someone else on set doing the same thing you are. Couch crashing after a 16hr day on set, is VERY typical. You don't even really need a vehicle at first because Uber is inexpensive and runs 24/7. Treat the first few months in L.A. as a vacation from reality, don't settle in, don't spend money on poop, just survive as long as you can. If something positive happens, like booking a long-term gig that pays well and/or finding a decent place to live for cheap, then extend your stay. You will make connections very fast and if someone likes you, they may take you under their wing. What also happens is that people MOVE here. They bring all their poop, they pay gobs of money to live somewhere nice and they simply run out of money. I ran out of money two times living here, way at the beginning, first two years sorta deal. That's because I wasn't smart, didn't have enough saved money, MOVED here instead of testing the waters first. However, the reason I moved is because I didn't want the option of going home. I wanted to stick it out for better or worse because that's how you become a better person, that's how you learn.
  20. Tyler Purcell
    Umm yes.. it is an invention of the digital age, specifically MPEG cameras. WHY? Because MPEG in of itself is a compressed color space format. It's designed to record REC 709 color space, no more. Plus, only a hand-full of them record 10 bit 4:2:2, which is still a format missing quite a bit of image data. So it's REC 709 mixed with 10 bit 4:2:2, which are actually the standards for broadcast and have nothing to do with cinema (12 bit 4:4:4) quality. In order to compress a fuller bandwidth signal into the REC 709 color space, MPEG based cameras have created a "FAUX" Raw format called S-Log. With that said, you will never recover the missing data unless you record in 4k and scale down to 2k, which fills in the missing color information, but doesn't change the bit depth. By contrast, Red, Arri and Blackmagic, record to uncompressed AND compressed RAW formats, ranging from 12 - 16 bit, depending on which flavor. Camera RAW is very unique because it takes the imager data without the Debayer layer and records it. This allows for the debayer process to be done in software, which allows FAR more control over the color correction. This is part of the reason you see almost every feature film today using RED and ARRI cameras. As a side note, the only non-RAW codec that allows full bandwidth is Pro Res XQ, which is a 12 bit 444 codec, but does the Debayer in camera. Arri and Blackmagic have focused on using this codec as an alternative to RAW. What humors me is that RED and Sony have tried to jump on the Pro Res bandwagon, but as this writing, they use Pro Res to save space, so they only have the lower-end codec's. Film negative has full dynamic range already in it. Yes, it's a bit flatter then a print for instance, but it's not like S-Log or camera RAW which can be extremely flat.
  21. Tyler Purcell
    If you need sync sound, Aaton Penelope is where I'd go. Most of the big 2 perf shows use them and even though the mag is a pain to load and only holds 400ft, it's a super light agile camera. The only down side to shooting 35mm is the cost of rental just skyrockted because no longer can you get away with camera bodies and lenses that nobody is using, like S16. With 35mm, you've gotta use 35mm glass, which is what people on digital shows use. So you'll probably get a good deal on the body, but the glass pricing will be off the chart. Abel wanted 5600/week for the complete package glass and body. That number to me seemed so astronomical, I couldn't comprehend it and forgot all about it. But if you have a budget, most shops will negotiate heavily just to get cameras into people's hands.
  22. Tyler Purcell
    I can't imagine having loose chemicals around like that in a dark room without a HUGE ventilation system. All the lab work I've done had more vents then ceiling! :)
  23. Tyler Purcell
    Actually the problem isn't even the chemicals, it's actually finding/sourcing the clear plastic base AND of course, coating it evenly. Also, there has to be a back coating as well. Then you need a perf maker which in of itself can be challenging to deal with. It's easy to whip up a batch of photographic chemicals and paint them onto glass, I've made several glass negatives in a 4x5 camera. It's a lot more difficult to make motion picture film that has to run through a camera perfectly. I will make one more note, the two youtube samples above, notice how uneven the processing is. You see the sky moving all over the place. That's what happens when you process at home in a tank. It comes out very uneven and sure there is an image, but even for a camera test, it's barely acceptable. How do you know the flicker of the poor processing, or the scratches caused by running the film back and forward, weren't caused by the camera? I have yet to see motion picture film processed at home that looked anything like it does from the lab.
  24. Tyler Purcell
    Tape a gopro to the viewfinder? Run the HDMI output to a monitor. Both hugely expensive solutions. This is yet another reason people buy better cameras that already have these things. The more you try to save money on the camera, the more you'll be spending on making it work properly.
  25. Tyler Purcell
    If you wish to project you will need to turn the negative into a positive. If you build your own transfer machine, dealing with a positive image makes life a lot easier. You can't just take a still image of a negative and magically turn it into positive. It requires color correction to do this job and substantial organization of the files, let alone all the hardware necessary to build a transfer device from scratch. If your picky, none of your plan will work. The old Russian camera doesn't have good registration or stability. The scanned images you see online, most likely fixed the issues. Even the Bolex which is known for it's stability is worse then my Aaton for instance. Processing and transferring at home are two extremely challenging tasks which require a vast amount of money in order to do it right. Plus, even if you build your own processing system and scanner, you will NEVER match the quality of a professional solution run by people who've done it their entire lives. Heck, there is even differences from lab to lab and we're talking about professionals with the right equipment. I like your enthusiasm for motion picture film, but I think you maybe are biting off a bit more then you can chew right now. You can't circumvent the money necessary to do this right, it's impossible. If you ask specific questions, I will gladly answer, but I fear you haven't yet grasped the concepts of these things yet.
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