chris descor

Hi I posted this request in the super8 subforum, but now realise it was the wrong place to post it, since my question/request is about film stock & processing etc Does anyone have any examples of Ektachrome 100D pushed processed 1 or more stops ? i.e. shot and push processed as 200ASA, or 2 stops as 400ASA, or 3 stops as 800ASA ? in either super8mm, 16/s16mm, or 35mm (motion film). I've seen some medium format still things on flickr, but I would like it see how the ektachrome holds up on 8mm/16mm/35mm etc not still, but motion ;) I've seen a little still example/s on nanolab.com.au , but I would like to see more vids/examples. I understand grain would become more noticeable and all etc but I'm interested in how it looks when pushed processed 1,2,3 stops. I've searched youtube and vimeo , but havent found that much. thank you

Hi I would be very interested to see a side by side comparison of Fuji motion picture stocks vs Kodak stocks, so that one can see the differences. I cant do this myself unfortunately. Other would love to see such a comparison as well I'm certain. If there is a website or video/s someone could link to I'd appreciate it. Ive heard about the fuji 'look', but havent seen it for myself. I have also heard that fuji has a more limited dynamic range, thats its harder to correct underexposure/overexposure in post etc

thats absolutely visually amazing Brian! would it be possible for me to obtain such footage? i.e. like your image and the kodak-youtube kodachrome test film, of women in those costumes in that dark background, looking into the camera occasionally as if looking at the spectator directly! Could I obtain a DVD-R or download such early footage? from you or someone? for private viewing of course. I've checked all over online, youtube etc, but I see almost exclusively early colour footage of street scenes and horseies and grand homes etc which bores me tbh. the footage of the fashonable women is so striking!! that blueish-greenish AQUA light is lush!

Hello Does anyone have any examples of Ektachrome 100D pushed processed 1 or more stops ? i.e. shot and push processed as 200ASA, or 2 stops as 400ASA, or 3 stops as 800ASA ? I've seen a little example on nanolab.com.au , but I would like to see more vids/examples. I understand grain would become more noticeable and all etc but I'm interested in how it looks when pushed processed 1,2,3 stops. I've searched youtube and vimeo , but havent found that much. thank you

anymore anywhere?

I knew this was something special the moment I saw it. Hope it gets a blu-ray release soon. the single layer DVD I have is severely badly done & of low quality. there is a mention/link to a Savides interview in this thread, but its now gone. can anyone possibly refind it again? also, was there a Savides article in ACS mag about Birth when it came out ? and lastly, in the book 'New Cinematographers', is there a section on Birth/Savides ?

hmm... this is interesting. I wonder if also next year, more film cameras will be for sale/on the market. guess its time to catch some good deals. then a boom occurs a few years later when everyone says "why did we forget that technology/craftsmanship"

can you please repost the original images and the grain reduction results, as they are gone. thanks

Hello I just revisted 'Birth' on DVD. It was a single layer DVD unfortunately, so the quality was quite awful, but it was slightly upscaled as it was played on a Sony Blu-Ray player, plus my tweaking of the image properties itself. I went to see this when it came out at the cinemas in 2004 when I was younger. I remember most people hating the film. I love the film, it is extraordinary. The look and feel of the film stood out in such a perfect unobtrusive way. Glazer's previous film and work is also brilliant, but this film is just like a peak, or like turning a page to something new, foreign/alien, and close. It is also enhanced you could say by having previously seen his amazing first film 'Sexy Beast'. Both his films are polar opposites in ways and very close in other ways, to each other. But this thread I've created is for the cinematography of Birth. Harris Savides is someone I truly admire. His films are just so precise in what they are doing to me as the spectator. So, could any members here, please post your thoughts on the cinematography of 'Birth' ? I've seen tidbits of a tiny quote here and there, but thats not why I opened this thread. I would like to know, as would other readers, how Savides photographed 'Birth', in as much detail as possible. I know they push processed the film. But what else did they do to achieve the film's 'look' ? Does anyone know what film stock/s was used? if any lens filters were used? - I thought they might had used a very very faint brown tint on the film. etc What about the lighting? what lighting was used? Also, I suspect there was no or at least minimal use of what every film now days/as of the last 3-5 years shamelessly and effortlessly subject the look too; that is, digtal colour correction, namely the boring teal & orange 'expensive' palatte. But I suspect Savides treated this film photochemically, pushing the film so as to heighten the constrast if I' m not mistaken, and giving the shadows and blacks of the film Caravaggio-esque milky purples and browns. How did they light the film? What lenses were used? How was the film treated? etc Anything else related to how exactly the film has this 'look'. Any links would be very helpful. I can post screenshots for more discussion.

yes India! thank you for reminding me. I wonder what good affordable labs they have there? i'll check the kodak list.

yeah, the wrestler and hurt locker both shoot on super16. quite cool. i hope next years best picture will be 16mm or the year after that.

Like Simon Wyss said, try getting some ORWO 74 B/W 400ASA pushed +1 stop(800ASA) or +2/3rds(to 640ASA). You said wide exterior shots, with not much light. So in combination with the ORWO film, perhaps run the camera at 8fps so that the shutter is opener longer, letting in more light and use a f1.4 lens apeture opening. I'm assuming the shots you need are of the location setting and wont contain people, in which case you could run the fps-rate even slower at 2-6 fps. If people or cars are featured in the shots, then simply have them move/drive slower and shoot at 8fps. Any thoughts on this approach?

http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/sk/ac/len/page1.htm

how do you know you've spooled exactly or around 100ft ?

hello I'm interested in the near future to purchase a 35mm motion picture camera. After doing a bit of research it seems either the Konvas 1M/2M or the Eclair CM3/cameflex would be the best cameras for my budget. I'm not throwing out the idea of an Arri IIC, but I suspect they are a bit more expensive, or not? Anyway, I must say that I'm not currently looking to get a 35mm camera, yet. I've just gotten a nice H16 Bolex and am yet to shoot anythin with it. I'm still trying to figure out where to get film processed and workprints/release prints made that I can afford. Not too keen on telecine/the digital world. SO first I'm going to play and experiment with 16mm. this is a natural progression after years of having used super8. I dont make plans way ahead in advance, but do like to further my knowledge in areas I hope to get into in the coming years. Now I have read things here and there, on this forum and elsewhere about the Konvas and cameflex, that they are MOS/noisy cameras etc that the Konvas 1M/2M are clones of the cameflex. but I havent seen any discussion on which is the allround best to get. When I say best to get, I mean which out of the three is most portable, most modifiable(like if I wanted mounts modified), which can take 1000ft loads(if any can at all!), which is most reliable, which can be blimped effectively, which is best to have sync-motor/sound installed etc, which is the best value, which is simply the best! :) ??? I also dont understand this thing about the konvas motor differences, 17 or 19 ??? could someone please explain this in simple terms? Of course the year of production makes a big difference so I've read. early 90s konvas seem to be the best I presume. I'm not sure whether I would like to have a 1M with the three lens turret or the 2M with the one lens turret. I like the portability of the three lens design, like in my Bolex, where you can go out into the field with 3 lenses, as well as be in an interior. fast-paced and no mucking about with changing lenses all the time like a one lens design like the 2M. but aside from the lens design, would the 1M have any advantages, disadvantages over the 2M or cameflex or vice versa? so are Konvas cameras from the early 90s better built than the old cameflex? Its likely I would have the camera overhauled, cleaned up, possibly modified etc so that its a useable camera. Or I could just wait until something comes up on ebay, where someone else has spent the effort to do all this.(i know of the current auction of a konvas as of now-late april 2010, but i'm waiting to learn more, to make the right decision). please note that I'm a film-study student(not using film), but use film by myself, an amatuer. so a 35mm motion picture camera is something I want into the future. not RED or anything digital So please lecture me! :D thank you

I think Ilford is the best bet. IT is the Kodak tradition to kill off respected products and lose respect in the process. Ilford have made motion picture film before, and its worth a try to request 16mm/35mm MPS of their FP4 film. HOpefully reversal is possible. Is their anyone on the forum with connections to FUJIfilm ? Would (Fuji) consider putting their B/W Neopan into 16mm/35mm ? any thoughts on this? perhaps the German companies like andec and wittner will referforate neopan into super8 and 16mm and then double the prices add on tax and shippign costs and wa-la, 85 EURO for 100ft 16mm b/w/ film, lol, And lastly, what about Foma and ORWO ? ORWO do sell 100ASA and 400ASA b/w 16mm and 35mm film. What are the prices for these? i.e. how much is 100ft or 400ft of 16mm ORWO film? Any other company that can do 100ASA black/white reversal? ------ I've sent a request for FP4 in super8/16mm/35mm to Ilford, I hope more people can do the same!!!

Hello I live in Australia, I know of some film processing labs here, like Neglab for instance, and the Melbourne super8 lab, but I wanted to know about any film processing labs based in Hong Kong and/or South East Asia in general, that can process 16mm/35mm film, make workprints, and even sell film/short-ends/recans etc I'm hoping the prices will be either the same or less expensive than in Australia. And I'am taking into consideration the distance. I'm unsure if 16mm 100D Ektachrome can be processed at all in AUstralia, and if it is, probably extremely expensive. I also would like to get workprints/positive prints done, as I'm not entirely interested in having digital intermediates done or telecine etc I'm an amatuer and film-study student(but we are not using film this year, and dont get taught it now), but I shoot film for myself. I've shoot super8 and so now aquired a 16mm, and want to shoot filmstock from Kodak, Fuji and ORWO etc Negative film interests me, not only reversal, but I dont only want a telecine transfer to watch it, I want a work-print, positive made so that I can project it with my projector. I've hand processed film before, but it takes a lot of effort and is unpredictable and I want to know other means of shooting film. So, could anyone please recommend/suggest any film-processing labs as well as companies/places who sell short ends, in Hong Kong and/or South East Asia ? I've tried searching, but have only come up reallly with one place that looks very high-end and expensive. I dont exactly have lots of cash to throw around. I want to use my money wisely. It would be preferable if I didnt have to send film off to the USA to be processed and a work print made, or England for that matter, and then have to pay the stupid postage rates/prices, whereas I could use a lab closer to me, like in South East Asis, where hopefully its not as expensive and can do workprints and the postage to and from is not super-expensive. YEs I know I live in AUstralia, so I dont need to be reminded of that. thanks

Yes I have noticed this, and I thought I Was the only one. I think the Teal & Orange nonsense has stained most films made these days. I recently watched a 2007 film made, quite a low-budget, bad acting film, but visually interesting nonetheless as its made in Oregon. The whole film was ridiculously drenched in those two awful colours. I think the only film that has used the teal & orange well is Zodiac(Fincher), the colour combo both increases the mood of the whole film ,somehow allowing one to feel what it was like to live in late 60s to late 70s san francisco with the killer on the loose. it really does benfit and does it really well. I dislike digital, but I will say in Zodiac Fincher used the digital RED whatever well, really well, it does have its own texture and only FIncher knew how to accentuate it. every single film uses that poop colour combo though, to make their film look more expensive than it actually is. except filmmakers like Gus van Sant who hased used this cheap effect, look at the Chris Doyle cinematography on Paranoid Park! 400T fuji BAck the your statement/question, yes I personally have noticed this. Hannibal(2001) looks like one of the last films to have that very very nice late 90s look, very soft and pure colours, no colour correction almost. Matchstick men 2003 and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind 2002/03 seem to be some of the first of this decade to have that 2000's look. and yes it seems its because of the stupid stupid stupid digital colour correction, damn you coen brothers! o brother where art thou? is probably the first major film to get carried away with it. I love to watch films from the 90s just for the look of them. silence of the lambs is beautiful to look at, billy bathgate, thin red line etc hook is also a really good one. good will hunting as well. maybe its got to do with the filmstock chemistry changes? EXR was the main stock in the 90s right? how does it look compared to the vision stocks? - i.e. unchanged/un-coloured corrected ? since every film plays with the colours too much, I wonder how much the vision stocks look like EXR stocks without modification?

hello several years ago, I was watching TV late one night and caught the ending of a film. it might have been on TCM, but not sure. I dont remember what the name of the film was or who was in it or what it was about, but I'm quite sure it was made in the 1970s', maybe 1973. Other than the last shot of the ending of the film, I know nothing else about the movie. So, the last shot of the film or the last scene, I'm pretty sure, was set in a very cold, arctic environment, tundra-like but not flat plains, more like a hilly mountanious landscape, twilight nautical blue sky, almost night, maybe a blizzard is happening. but it wasnt just completey all white-out snow. I think all you could hear was the sound of wind/blizzard. maybe atmospheric music, but maybe not. Amongst in the landscape were 2 or 3 people/men. sort of stumbling in the snow/landscape. maybe 2 men were carrying 1 man who could no longer walk. or just 2 or 3 men stumbling/walking in this harsh earth. the title of the film might have contained something to do with the setting, so it might have contained a word like 'ice' or 'snow' etc etc Sorry, but thats all I can remember, and I would love to see this film again if only I knew what it was. I know its not much to go on. I've tried searching online for it, but havent come up with anything. Hopefully someone knows what it is. danke :)

i would love to see what the print looks like telecined digitally, as well as the original negative, and then to compare them. i've always wanted to compare them, feeling that the print would have something more in it, as its been passed through another photochemical process. if anyone has seen the Michael Moore film Fahrenheit 911 on DVD, there is a version of the DVD I've seen of it, where the transfer looks like it was done from a cinema print, as the contrast was high and POW! and the blues very lucid and nice and yeah, a few pops and clicks and a very nice look to it, as opposed to them using the raw digital data. but i think the main available DVD as seen on dvdbeaver looks like it was done from the raw digital footage and is not the version i've seen. is it possible to shoot print film in the camera? maybe for analogue visual effects things like titles etc ? isnt it around 5 ASA ? what if you push process it ? say, 2 stops, to 20 ASA or 3 stops to 40ASA ? any examples of this?

please anyone. i know of widescreen centre, bluecinetech etc, are these worth traveling to for movie cameras? maybe mac's cameras? i've been to aperture and London camera exchange but they had nothing really. mr cad's i've been to and is good but not much. any recommendations? please!

Hi I've just arrived from Australia tonight in London for a holiday. I'm only in london for a few days more, then i'm off to berlin. i'm 19 and yes, am interested in cinematography. i've shot super8 and have some cameras, but am now wanting to get into 16mm/s16mm. I know of the bolexs/beaulieu/canon/k3/arri/aaton/ etc seeing as this is a rare opportunity for me to travel to Europe, it would be great if, while I'm over here, I could look at anything to do with motion picture film cameras. I shoot film 35mm still photos already, so am interested in motion-pictures. as well as cinema of course. This may be a bit forward, but I was hoping that I could buy a 16mm camera whilst i'm in london or berlin, or at least browse any shops/stores/2nd hand etc even maybe meet one of you who can show me how to operate an arri 16mm :) I've been to MR.CAD, and so know what he has. As I'm only in london for a few more days, I doubt I'll be able to get out the city in much time. i'll be in berlin the end of this week and next. so, could any people, who live in london, berlin, europe or anywhere, can you please suggest/recommend shops/places/cinemas(not multiplex hollywood cinemas, but classic/cult/art etc), camera shops, 2nd places, places that have motion picture film, places that offer cinematography courses, cinematography museums, art/classic-cinemas etc anything to do with cinematography! please where do you recommend I check out>? thank you!!! :)

sounds good. i want to get into 16mm soon. i dont have a real big interest in shooting negative stock then getting it scanned so I can watch it on a computer or tv screen. i only really want to keep it all analouge. and it seems this is what you've done. that is; shoot negative film stock, then have it printed onto print stock so that it can be projected of course. :) one could just shoot reversal film I suppose, but shooting negative stocks opens up more experimentation. could you please post a video/clip of the print? even if filmed off a wall/diy ? could you also please explain the process of getting neg-film transferred to print stock ? the costs/price? the choice of which one(kodak or fuji or agfa ?), where to get it done etc just what is involved ?