Mate Toth

Thank You very much to all fellow DPs joined this toppic, all suggestions truly meant a great use for me! The result is absolutely stunning! The dir and prod are also very happy with it! I eventually shot the piece on 7285 (it was definitely the right choice!) and got it E6 processed at Film and Photo Lab in South Acton, London. I rated the stock on daylight 125ASA and I used HMI lights up to 12K, the only tungstan units I ended up using were the full blue corrected maxi spacelights above. I ran with 4 fstop and payed special attention on exposure (as always) keeping the stock's lattitude in mind. During the production I have learnt more than I did in film school a year! Thanks for your help again, drop me a line when you are happen to be in Hungary, I owe you guys a pint! T.Mate

Thank for your interest and for all your comments! Just to double check it; would not be the use 7285 within tunstan lighting in a studio 25ASA??? The use of 80A Kodak Wratten filter would take off 2stops as far as I know, but please correct me if I am wrong. Thanks again, Mate

This forum is fantastic, thanks for the interest and for all comments.

Thank you for your suggestions, Considering that there is no E6 processing on 7285, I will go for 7240, it is better for me in terms IE too. Could anyone explain what would be the advantages and disadvantages of having 7240 crossprocessed in compared to going for VNF1 reversal processing? I am just crazy about the look of reversal stocks now in general and would like to improve my knowledge regarding its ways of processing. Also, I have a bit of a headache with one of the scenes in the story; an aristocratic lady in full white is sitting on a sofa having a chimney sweeper (even his face is totally black) sitting on her lap and it is all happening in front a 10x10 feet light blue backdrop. On a reversal stock... I'm grateful for any advice. Thanks, Mate

Many thanks for you help David!!! Getting close to the shooting, our concept has been clearing up; We definitely find 'Singing in the rain' as the best visual refference. To me it seems that no other stocks can deliver that partical look, but reversal film and even though there is no chance for a test, think I just have to go for it and rely on my research... You are right, studying the lighting of 'Singing in the rain' I learnt that they were using hard frontal sources and also hard backlights and the scenes have an evenly lit feel, without much separation of foreground-background (assume reversal stock would not allow for more lattitude.) However, we will have two-people romantic macro scenes in a studio in front of 10x10 canvas backdroups (kitchy sunset, cloudy sky, city landscap etc). My biggest concern is now applying the appropiate hard lighting style without having the shadows on the backdrop. (Since the couple has to be pretty close to it on full shots without falling out of the set.) Especially shooting on 7285, with 25TASA. I thought of lighting fontal from above, filling from under (avoiding the thrown of shadows to the backdrop) and using very hard backlights. I would have expose for the evenly lit couples in the foreground and I would light the canvas also evenly from the side and keeping it 1 and a half, two stop under compared to the foreground. Your feedback on this concept would be more that greatly appreciated. Thanks again, Mate

Thank you David, could you please explain what E6 processing means? Since it seems I won't have the time to do tests, I also consider your suggestion on a 100ASA negative stock, having more chance to manipulate the look during telecine. I think of using a 1/2 Soft FX and grad ND filters graduated at the corners of the frame to maintain a more intimate, romantic look. Still doing research on the lighting. W'lle have two-person scenes in front of painted backdrops; I thougt of using fairly big diffused tungstan units (10K) from a distance, a space light from above and small kinos rigged by the lens through a frost frame for close ups. Any suggestion on the units and appropriate lighting style of on these early romantic musicals (An american in Paris, La chapelle) would be truly appreciated. Regards, T.Mate

Greetings fellow Cinematographers, In my upcoming project we would like to create some very thetrical like romantic, kitchy moments from a 1950?s Hollywood musical or Vaudeville theatre- Moulin Rouge. It is planned to be a studio based piece, using painted backdrops and back projection and stage tricks to create a theatrical feel. I plan to give a tableau photography feel to the piece and even though we will shoot it on S16mm (ending up with a video positive) I would go 1:2.35 cinemascope ratio to maintain the Technicolor feel. (There are no anamorhpic lenses on S16mm aren't they? So, i just thought of filming with open frame (composing on 1:2.35) and then first thing at telecine is placing the wipes on the top and bottom of the frame. Would that be a visible loss in quality especially on long shots? My considered stocks at the moment are Eastman Ektachrome Reversal 7240, 7250, Kodak Echtachrome 100ASA or perhaps Fuji Negative 125ASA with the intenton of maintaining the desired look at Telecine. In terms of lighting we plan to have significant changes in the lighting set up during takes to enhance to kitchy artificial feel, but still thinking of what light sources (and filters) to use and doing research regarding the appropriate style. Any advices, comment or suggestion on this subject and the above mentioned film stocks are greatly appreciated and a mean of great use. Thanks for your interest in advance, T.Mate