Sol Train Saihati

I've hired out that S16 kit before, at an unbeatable price I must say. But an anamorphic kit! They say you get about three favours out of Panavision and if you have'nt made any progress by then, you've pretty much run out of grace. Its time for some grovelling. And some kind of pitch animated by caffeine I imagine. But I guess it would'nt be any fun if you did'nt have to work for it.

Hello All! I'm lighting a pretty small apartment next week, however the ceilings are very high and we are considering rigging as much as we can via a couple of polecats/mathpoles. I've never used this system for this type of rigging and am a bit concerned about the weight limits that it can take, without supplementary support from a couple of stands. Extended about ten feet, how much do you reckon they could safely hold? A 4 x 4' kino bank? A couple of Arri 650's with sofboxes? A couple of dedopars with chimera lanterns? Are there any other low cost alternatives for ceiling rigging (That dont involve drilling/bolting/screwing things into walls) that I should take into consideration?

Do any Panapeople know if this grant system extends to the UK?? Or will I have to keep begging/harrassing them unitl they lend me a dusty Panaflex for a few days?

When Bill Clinton met Nelson Mandela for the first time, there was an incredible conversation. Bill Clinton asked Nelson Mandela, "When they released you from prison, I got Chelsea up at three in the morning because I wanted have her see this. I knew it was a historic moment and I got her out of bed to see you released from prison. "As you walked across the courtyard, from the cellblock to the gate of the prison, the television cameras focused in on your face. I have never seen such anger, such animosity, and such hatred. I mean, you usually can't see that so clearly revealed. It was all over you. It was intense hatred, intense resentment. President Mandela, that is not the Nelson Mandela that I know today. Could you explain what was going on?" Nelson Mandela says, "You're the first one that brought that to my attention. I didn't know that anybody noticed that. But as they released me from the prison block and as I walked across the courtyard to the gate, I thought to myself, 'They've taken everything away from me, my family is destroyed, my cause has been crushed, my friends are dead, anything, anybody, that meant anything to me, they've destroyed it all,' and I hated them with a fiery hatred. And then God spoke to me, and said, 'Nelson, for 27 years, you were their prisoner, but you were always a free man. Don't let them make you into a free man, only to turn you into their prisoner.'"

The Fuji website has a list of all the major features recently shot on Fuji, right here. If you've got some spare cash I always like to shoot tests tho, it allows me a little more sleep at night. :blink:

I just paid the equivalent of over $1000 for 2270 feet of S16 to be developed with a one light to Mini-Dv in London, should I book my flight to NY now? What kind of rate am I looking at for a supervised transfer of the selects to Digi Beta or HD D5 in NY as opposed to London for ~ 15 mins screen time? I have already been inundated with hidden costs. :blink: Can anybody reccomend any London facilities outside of Soho Images or Technicolor for reasonably priced post work or do I really have to fly out just to prevent being royally ripped off? The pound note is pushing me around again!

Simple. Powerful.

A respected pro once told me a story about an old school cinematographer who never used a lightmeter. He would lay his hand out palm-up, bend his middle finger over and use the resulting shadow to judge the stop! Madness? Genius!

Hello all! Just finished shooting another S16 short and now I'm moving on to the wide world of telecine. Read nearly every post on here and still can't quite find the solution I'm looking for. Please let me know if this route makes any sense: 1. Develop neg & One light transfer to miniDV (~100mins footage). 2. Digitize the minidv footage to Adobe Prem Pro. 3. Edit up in Premiere and transfer the final cut (~15mins) back to MiniDV w/timecode. 4. Return to the lab with the MiniDV and EDL. 5. Grade the neccessary original footage from the neg with a colourist. 6. Transfer the final graded cut to a better format: (but which one?! (Digi Beta?)) 7. Lay the soundtrack back on to the better format. Is this a sensible workflow, or complete jibberish? Am I even on the right track here? :blink: I've transferred S16 to MiniDV before and the results have been extremely dodgy, especially on the big screen, so I'm in search of a higher quality final result. We don't have massive amounts of money to throw at this thing, but would be ecstatic with anything better than a one light to MiniDV! Aggressively pursuing my cinematographic education, (with a big thankyou to everyone on this forum) I am beginning to understand the inherent rewards of following a project through into post. In much the same way as a photographer who makes his own prints, the degree to which you can control the image after it is exposed to te negative truly has no limits. I'd hate to throw away any potential this piece has at the final hurdle; a phenomenon I continually witness in the short film world. Ultimately this film will be sent in for festival submission; what format(s) are they typically screening with these days? It would be nice to get a couple of dozen quality DVD's out too, what's the most efficient path here, bearing in mind we're on a budget? Options. Options! Options?

Isn't that Soderbergh? :P

I love that double-x pushed one stop. Gritty, Dirty and with such beautiful contrast ratios and fast shadow fall off. Even when transferred to miniDV it just looks so... Reportage. Like the front pages of a 40's newspaper. Get the content & composition right and you'll be proclaimed a genius by all! :lol:

Motorcycle diaries was partially shot on S16? I had no idea and I saw it at the UGC big screen, just shows how well it can hold up eh? Interesting that it was also a mix of 35 and 16, it cut together so well, great execution of an idea that could have gone so wrong. Does anyone know anymore about the processes they used on the S16?

Was lucky enough to have a tour from Paul Wheeler BSC, down at Panavision London. It was pretty amusing when we were sitting down having a drink in the cafe, when he turns around and says "Have a look at this" before pulling out the Genesis. After a barrage of caffeine animated questions he led us over to look at some footage in the screening room, essentially a Genesis test (or maybe sales) reel. It went a lil something like this... Two short films were screened on a 35mm projector, both shot by a world reknowed DP. In the first film, one shot was taken with a 35mm camera and the next with the Genesis. All the way through. The second film was the same as the first, however it was shot the other way around. It was like a game of spot the difference.. :blink: Sure you've got someone in the back of the room shouting out "Genesis!", "35!" (that would be me) although after a while you begin to realise the point. It will not matter, at least not at the moment, what you shoot on, as the difference in quality between 35mm and HD is quickly becoming a non-issue. It is more comparable to choosing what kind of stock to shoot on. Not better or worse, just different. Of course we came to the agreement that it will come a time where cost will be the critical factor dictating which format we use, and its a crying shame. However just just as the petrol car is still in use, so too many people will lose out if film sales begin to wane. Large companies would be cutting away far too much profit if everyone switched to digital at the same time. But I'm meandering down the wrong road, conspiracies stop here! The showreel for the Genesis was quite a revelation for me(no pun intended), and although I'm a die hard film fanatic, if the story calls for it why not use a different format? I read recently in the ASC, "Film vs. Digital? Who cares? What's the difference?" Only now has it really struck a chord. It's not even worth arguing about anymore. But I'm sure you already knew that? PS. 65mm is the only way to go. B)

Does anyone know anywhere online to download some decent neg report sheets? Tried all the major companies for dl's but no luck. Could prove very useful for the future eh? :blink:

To direct and dp? Is it ego maniacy or just another avenue to travel? The more I watch Solaris the more impressed I am with this guy's potential. Ok, Ok, I know he's working with the best Gaffers, Production Desginers, Lighting and Camera crew money can buy, but his work on Solaris still demands some respect. He seemed to get so close to re-creating what his mind envisioned, without quite going over the top in terms of style. I was particularly struck by the dream scenes, when he is back on earth. The whole world seems to have this golden, surreal tone to it? It's so soft and warm compared to the clinical, harsh cold of space. Has anyone got an idea of what filters or lighting techniques can be used to create this golden effect, its unlike anything I've seen? (Except for the Apocalypse Now Climax perhaps) I've experimented in depth with CTO and straw gels, but the skin tones always seem to take on a bit of a sickly orange hue. Post up your work, experiments and ideas! :lol:

OK! Gone out on a limb and ordered the 80D, 82A, B and C filters from panavision to use with daylight film, probably 100D. I'll post up the results at the end of the month, whatever they may be. :blink: Wish me luck!

Hello again all! I've got a super16mm shoot coming up that involves 3 dream sequences set in a forest. The idea is that the sequences start off with a heavy blue tint, which gets more subtle with each segment. The colour changes symbolise changes in the character so it's critical that we get them right. So here's my question. What is the best way to go about this potentially stylistic nightmare? I see these as my main and more simple options: 1. Go with a tungsten stock, say 100/200T shoot the grey scale with an 85B filter and then take it off? What kind of look am I likely to get, any comparisons anyone? 2. Do the same as above, but instead of using no filters to shoot, use an 81A, then 81 B then an 81C as some minor correction? 3. Shoot on daylight film and use an 80A, 80B, 80C Filter 4. As 3, maybe using the 82 Range and go the distance in post 5. If I decided to go for a bleach bypass, how would these combinations sit in the mix do you think? I'm looking for some vivid blue colouration and could probably get away with almost anything(They're dream sequences!). Although theres no way the forestry are gonna let me set up lights. Any thoughts on any of this would be a great help. I've been trying to think of films with this look, but am drawing a blank. Sleepy Hollow is in the right direction tho... and I'm shooting some of it in the same location too! Thanks as always! PS I have no colour temp meter, so we're flying blind here.

Is It! Link Does not work! Anyone??

Hi All, I've often read about Storaro's technique of using tungsten lights during daytime scenes to supplement the existing light, has anyone tried this recently? I would imagine a very warm look, but does it begin to feel totally unnatural? Anyone seen any films where this technique has obviously been used? Sounds like a cool idea to me, very much up my ally, but I dont want to be up nights worring about one more thing!

Hi all! Quick question, its probably been answered here before, but its a prelude. Why do so many cinematographers choose to use filtered tungsten stock for daylight scenes as opposed to just using daylight stock? Is the look that different, or is it just for convenience? Could it be to render a better match of stock between scenes? What is the difference on screen, supposing they are both timed to the g-scale? I know the answers are simple, but help me out here!

What do you call those poles that extend from wall to wall? They have suction pads on each end and are a consistant lifesaver in these situations. Just dont go too wide!

Got the results back today, interesting stuff. Unfortuanately the director was'nt willing to pay the extra 16p a foot for the bleach bypass so it was all academic anyway, but thanks for the excellent advice. Pushed the 7229 2 stops and I must say I am still impressed by the versatility of this stock. The grain is not overly apparent (although until its up on a 35 foot screen its hard to tell) and the contrast is really high, deep, deep blacks and fast shadow fall off. The juxtaposition between the 7279 stock and the 7227 is absolutely noticeable, but still very subtle, perfect for the subject matter. I will post up a few shots next week(Take it easy with the criticism, I'm just an amateur)! Thanks again all.

Hello All, I am DPing a scene for a short on 16mm on Monday and I am in need of advice for my stock choices. The scene is about the opposing lives of two actors playing King Lear and the action cuts between the 2, one on a stage and one at home. The man on stage is a young, newcomer actor, arrogant and pompous although his performance is wooden. The man at home is an out of work older actor who was once a star but now in demand by no-one, however his performance is beautiful and touching. The lighting for the younger man will be a hard spot(a bit cliched I know) following him around the stage. The light for the old man will be interior night; very soft, dark and warm, perhaps candlelit and smoked. I am going for a look similar to The Road to Perdition(interiors) and the scene in Big Lebowski when the two are in front of the fireplace in Lebowski's mansion. I would love to use a different stock for each scene to emphasise the contrast in their characters. This shoot is essentially a test for the final film so I've been given the opportunity and freedom to try new processing techniques.. I was thinking about this, stop me if I get carried away: Shooting the stage scene on Kodak 7279 500, pushing one-stop and bleach bypassing for a very Harsh look. Shooting the home scene on Kodak 7217 200T or 7227 320T for something very smooth with a fine grain. Any thoughts? Will cutting between one and the other be too jarring? I know that The Road to Perdition interiors were shot entirely on 500T and the differences between some scenes are astounding, although it is 35mm.