Liam Kavanagh

I’m currently outlining the cinematography aspects for our next feature film and are looking for a very cost efficient 35mm workflow. Testing is a few months away and we are simply trying to beat this thing out in theory. Our previous projects have all been photographed digitally (ex3 and Red) and are very comfortable with our post workflow on these medias. For aesthetic reasons, we have decided to go the film route. Originally we had opted for super 16mm except the film itself requires numerous motion graphic and compositing effects done in the digital intermediate and demanded a little more wiggle room from the acquisition format. The show itself will already have two cameras; the principle sync camera (super 16mm) and the phantom HD for high speed shots. Lugging a third camera (35mm) into the mix for the SFX shots is currently out of the questions. So we have decided to go with an Arricam ST configured for 2-perf acquisition as our principle camera. What we have done on past film shoots is to have the film telecined to low resolution proxy files (QT 720p) for dailies and offline editing. Once we have locked picture, we would return the EDL to the post house and then commence our 2k scan. We’d then conform the 2k files to our edits and composite/grade for the final package. I’d like to bypass the first step after processing by doing the following; Arri now has the HD-IVS video assist that can stream and playback 1080p video. While using this device to monitor shots and playback, I’d also like to capture from this source and use the captured footage as our dailies and offline proxy files. We would use the NanoFlash to capture the proxies to CF cards and then ingest them into our offline system. So instead of scanning everything in the lab, we do it on set and potentially save thousands of dollars in lab fees. Once we have picture lock, we go to the lab and have the footage we need scanned at 4k and then we finish up with our motion graphics and grading before the show is packaged. The idea dawned on me after watching some of the NAB videos for the Alexa and Penelope delta. Both camera’s can simultaneously record their uncompressed data (for online) and a compressed proxy version for offline and playback. Why can’t the same be done for a 35mm show? I’m sure someone working today has thought of this or, what I’m hoping for, already applied it to their workflow. Any feed back or alternatives would greatly be appreciated and if this topic has been covered somewhere else, please forgive me for not having the time to of searched for it. Thanks! Liam

Hello, The project we are producing is an 18minute short film photographed in super 16mm on Kodak?s 7219 stock. Savings on cost is a large factor in this production so my basic assumption for the workflow consists of the following; -Scanning the processed negative via a Quadra telecine to a DVCAM format for an offline picture edit on adobe premiere cs3. -Export EDL and return to the lab to have our 18-20 min decision scanned in high definition for online assembly and color compositing in After Effects CS3. Besides the color corrections that the picture will go through ? we have about a 30 second segment that will require heavy compositing (roto-scoping, keying and 3d modeling). Colleagues have suggested photographing the FX sequences in super35mm to have higher res footage to work with in the compositing suites ? yet others have recommended having the 16mm prints scanned at 2k to have 2048x1556 .dpx files created on an external HDD (the 35mm print would go through the same process) and should be sufficient in terms of image info for a compositor to work with. The final output will be 1080p mastered on D5 with HDCAM being the media that will be sent out to the festival circuit. 16mm originating footage doesn?t compare to 35mm in terms of resolution quality, of course, but for a project that isn?t going to finish on film... (yet will be digitally project at the festivals), I'm debating between the two choices. Costs savings is an important issue ? yet quality fortunately comes first as the VFX segments are a crucial point to the plot. What advice would you have concerning these choices for our VFX segments and the workflow in the 2k medium for a 16mm originated project? And if you see issues with the described workflow, or have worked with similar workflows in the past ? please share your advice as this is my first attempt using these methods. Thanks for reading and I apologize if perhaps this was covered in another thread. Have a great day! Liam