Prashantt Rai

Thanks a lot Will, for having a look at the video. And thanks for the compliments. Nothing beats magic hours :-) I guess. I agree compression issues are there because i did a basic SD telecine tx at 8 bits. Next time I am going to for a 2K scan. This was the first short I shot with my new SR3HS. pretty low budget. I worked with a small crew of 13 people, paid everybody, and finished it in 900USD. one day shoot.

Well, I am not here to debate film v/s digital. Though I can comfortably work on digital, my personal preference is Film. I just bought an Arri SR3 HS camera package from Munich and I am shooting. I like the fact that S16 is an affordable format. I can shoot experimental things. I wish I can buy a 2K digital camera but scared of investing loads of money because they get outdated in 2 years. advanced sony cine cameras costing upwards of 200,000USD were, in a year, selling for less than 10K - the same fate as of Arri 435s being sold cheap on internet. Digital/electronic repairs are expensive. Analog cameras are repaired easily. With digital there is one thing for sure - there is going to be no steadiness/constants in terms of product, softwares, codecs, & pricing. Every 3-4 years some new digital camera manufacturer will come in the market backed by quick return seeking venture capitalist and the product will suddenly lose charm because the funds for further R&D have dried up. The investors recoup their profit, and pump it in Taiwan because someone there has found a new sensor that can see as good as an eye. So, digital cinema is more like an iPhone culture these days. Whether you make films on digital or films, you as filmmaker is going to suffer. You need to have some clairvoyance to see the future. Of course digital will rule the roost but at what cost? The only beneficiaries are the investors who invest in these 'fast food' technology without any binding commitment to stay put behind a product. As an exercise you can count how many cameras came and vanished since the digital revolution began. you will be surprised. :-) Democratisation and capitalisation of Arts isn't beneficial to us filmmakers in any ways. think about it. think deeply. regards

Friedmann, thanks for sharing! man! even the second generation video looks awesome, I am dying to see how it might look on being scanned. Superb warms and reds. When is it hitting the market? regards Prashantt

Gregg, Unlike in US/UK/EU where student filmmakers are generally given heavily discounted offers, India doesn't offer much primarily because rates and services are at lower prices to begin with. in 2008 i shot a 30 min short for a USC project funded partially by SLOAN. kodak gifted 20000ft vision2. EFILM at DeLUXE did a DI process of USD73,000.00 and waived off, Skywalker did a soundmix of 200,00USD and waived off. So in west, yes there is support for students. In India, the full length feature DI can be done for less than 20,000USD. you can bargain of course for a bit more. Overall making a feature in India is cheaper than west i.e. shooting on film/celluloid. in 2007 i shot an indie feature on 35mm for 100,000USD. Labs are still on in India so dont worry. Technical support is there. Wide varieties of Cameras from Panavision to ArriIIC and Lenses are available. So, dont worry. Shoot with whatever funds you have. :-) be optimistic and surround yourself with genuine people. regards Prashantt

Hi George Its a great idea to buy Super 16 camera. They are a robust, economical, beautiful, and underrated format. I just bought an Arri SR3 High Speed package from Munich. I got lot of offers on CML-sales in feb/mar 2013. prices have gone down drastically. Someone offered an aaton xtrprod for 4500USD. lot of deals, go for it. regards Prashantt www.storyinframes.com

I suggest shoot Super16. Since most of the time it will be viewed on TV and monitors and not projected on theatre screens. So I feel the smaller format will give you better results for your money. Super 16 Vision3 stocks have improved vastly. just check their results on Vimeo and youtube. they look awesome. regards Prashantt Mumbai

Gregg, I am a hard core Indie guy. I shoot ultra low budget stuff :-) Kodak lab will charge you roughly 1300-1600 INR per 16mm 400ft can. this includes, processing, ultrasound, and leaders. Prasad is charging (kit process) INR 9.82/mtr ultrasonic, punching, leader INR 2.44/mtr telecine SD best light INR 4000/hr I just shot a short. the link is on my website. www.storyinframes.com. If you need help/advise, give a shout. cheers Prashantt 9820589784

David, good morning! Email culture in India is pretty weird. People answer phone calls promptly. :-) No labs in India does reversal process. Filmmakers sent the cans to Singapore I guess. Black and white processing is done at FTII pune. want more contact details and phone numbers of labs, contact me off list on www.storyinframes.com. scared of bots so not writing my actual id. regards Prashantt cinematographer ArriSR3HS owner

Film rocks! It's colour rendition is still the best, the tones and textures still unbeatable. The problem for film lies in distribution. Film manufacturers made money on prints; negative processing for features would be literally free say 10-20 years back. Honestly, I still like watching films in theatres on print. In digital screening there are often lot of problems - black level, heavy compression of files, etc. at least with film prints, though they were expensive but one thing was assured, in that much money you paid for the print your quality of images were assured and inbuilt. All these talks of scratches and dirts are bullshit. In Mumbai, I always saw films in theatres with pristine print quality only in smaller towns the qaulity of print suffered. Now a days, it is just the other way round - People in small towns, pay less money and watch pristine prints because they cannot afford a hefty digital projection system 'upgrade' and people in big cities have to watch compressed digital projection. not every theatre is purely 2K or the digital files originating in highres

Hi everyone, greetings! just shot an experimental short, a motivational short film on Running on S16mm. you can have a look at the link below. thanks n regards Prashantt cinematographer Mumbai