Ed Davor

Oh and the china girl? Where does she fit in? Is she used for release prints or on dailies, or maybe on intermediate stock?

What time frame is this Satsuki? They still use hand written leaders at Fotokem? Here's another question related to this. In which instances would the China girl image be used (on what kind of print, release or dailies/workprints)?

Ah I see, so this kind of leader is likely from a lab rush. So in cases when the technician used hand writing, I assume it can be done before or after printing? If the letters are white like this, then its on a blank film with black paint and then printed on print stock. And the cases where you see black letters, they did it on the print stock itself. Right?

Here's another question? What about leaders with counters and sound blip test? In which cases are/were they used? For example, when a lab gives you a daily (unless it's a video daily) does it always have this leader on it, or was it only used in the past? Also, what about prints for cinema distribution (in the past or "coming to a theater far far away from you..."), do they have counter leaders at the beginning?

In reply to Robert: I'll consider that option too, I'm just worried that there won't be a consistency between film damage on the leader and the HD footage later, but I might also consider using an "empty" film footage and superimpose it over the footage to get the scratches right. @Satsuki: That's that's just what I needed. One question though. How come I don't see the printed words "title", "roll" etc. in the example clip I posted above?I assume it's because not every leader has these lines where you can write on, and sometimes you just write on an empty piece of film?

Hi, Right now I'm working on a low budget ad (mostly done in animation, and bit of real footage) project that requires a realistic film leader effect at the beginning. I will be doing it manually using frame by frame hand painting, carefully trying to copy every artefact typical of film reel starts, like increased damage, stains, fingerprints etc. The intro cuts into some HD footage lighted and processed to look (as much as possible) like old 16mm film. I know there are many ways a reel can start, like for example a countdown leader, but what I really want to simulate is this kind of leader with letters on it. http://stock-clip.com/video/1376677-writing-on-scratched-old-black-and-white-film-leader Since I have no experience with actual motion picture film at all, can someone explain to me what the letters are? I don't just want to copy the letters from an existing reel. I want to understand what they mean so I can make my own. So in which cases would one write letters down on the beginning of a reel, and is this done on rushes or what? And what do the letters usually say? I see numbers and letters. Thanks

Hi Thanks. I suspected as much for modern lab work. When I was a teenager I had this habit of trying to guess that "color by" part at the end of the movie just by looking at the picture. I used to think I could really guess who did the developing (kind of a weird habit for a teenager right?). For example, I used to think that all Metrocolor films were kind of brownish in tone for some reason, and Technicolor always looked more saturated than Deluxe. (I'm mostly talking about 60s films here) But after many years of experience in still photography, I now believe I was imagining things.

Hi, Here is something I've been wondering lately (and I'm not a cinematographer, so I have no direct experience of this). How consistent are the results of processing in a single lab from roll to roll in major MP labs. But even more importantly, is there a difference between different labs? I assume these days things are pretty much standardized and most labs will produce same results unless something goes wrong (am I right)? I remember hearing somewhere that in the "old days" (whatever that means...what timeframe are we talking about?) labs made their own chemistry, so I assume you could get different results between technicolor London, Rome, Rank, Metro etc. Right? When I say "different" results, I mean differences in contrast, colors (I read somewhere that some labs had trouble with silver retention so it affected colors), edge effects etc. Some of the european films from 60's and 70's, don't seem to exhibit the same color fidelity as some US movies from the same time, but I suspect it has to do with bad video transfers and not with the actual film, but I have no way of knowing. Anyone have any experiences or thoughts on the matter?

Greetings, I know this is not exactly a contemporary question that might challenge a large number of modern filmmakers to answer, but I post it in hopes of finding some more experienced cinematographers that have been active in the industry in the past decades, or perhaps someone with a historic interest in old motion picture processes. Anyway, here it goes: Can someone explain the reason behind the fact that a lot of shots composed in an optical printer, like transitions, blue screen composites etc. all the way up to the time of around 80's, have a pronounced mackie line effect visible? I guess you could say that I know the basic theory behind what causes this effect; the diffusion of development inhibitors around well developed areas of the image, but I'm not sure this answers my question. Why optical effect shots? Is it because of an increased number of generations of copying? What confuses me more is the fact that some older movies feature this effect throughout the entire movie, not just in opticals. There is also sometimes a directionality present in regards to this effect. If I remember correctly, it has something to do with the movement of the film through the processing machine. To make matters more complicated. I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think I remember seeing this effect very pronounced even in the 90's at the ends of projection reels. Just before or after the switch of reels. It's like the reel is not processed evenly throughout its length. Correct me if I'm imagining this part. Any knowledge shared about this would be most welcome. Thanks