Brian Drysdale

We used a MCE 17 (if i remember correctly) motor fitted to the Bolex RX1 that had sync contacts. Basically it cut a 1000 hz tone that was recorded on a modified Tandberg 1/4". It sort of worked, but was extremely unreliable - you were lucky if it worked 50% of the time. Later, we used a hired Arri 16 BL from which we plugged the 50 HZ sync into the sync track on the Tandberg. Life then became extremely easy: we only to worry about trying to make a good film.

The answer depends if you're ever likely to need to shoot with the 16 x 9 aspect ratio. The DSR 400 only shoots 4 x 3, while the DSR 450 handles both 16 x 9 and 4 x 3. Because nearly everything is shot 16 x 9 here, people would only buy the DSR 450. So, if you were planning to get involved with a production intended for the UK that's the camera you'd buy. It's also handy if you're planning to shoot for the cinema.

I seem to recall that it cost $70,000 to put the soundtrack on "El Marahi". The $7,000 budget sounded great in the marketing, but in reality the final film cost a lot more. How much dialogue has your film ? If it's dialogue heavy, or reasonable amounts of dialogue, if you've got a $100,000 budget, shooting the sync sound with a camera designed for the job is the way to go. If it has a short lines of dialogue in the middle of action, you can get away with a lot more. I know one feature film shot on a Bolex was done this way. However, I wouldn't even try this on VHS, there are much better methods around these days. I'd spend time listening to and reading on how soundtracks are constructed. They involve extremely time consuming and detailed work and there's nothing worse than a badly dubbed film. In the 1970s and 80s they edited on film, not on VHS. On film you can lay out the tracks the same way as a a NLE does. The medium is different, but the principles are the same.

I've done this with a Bolex. However, dialogue is best shot on a camera that can take 400ft rolls, there's just too much wastage with 100 ft rolls. It's better if you can get sync sound at the time shooting, then you got a reference that the actors can listen to when looping their lines. You'll have to fine tune the timing when editing. One interesting part is that you have to build up a soundtrack from scratch - John Boorman is a big believer in this, he picked it up from the Italians. However, this involves lot of work and you'll spend more time laying the sound than actually shooting the film. Getting usable sync dialogue will cut down on the workload and may help performances from what could be an inexperienced cast. A CP16R type camera makes sense.

There is also David Samuelson's book on the Panaflex, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/024080267...5Fencoding=UTF8 Been out for a few years, but the basics are in there. Check out the International Film Workshops up in Maine.

You'd need to cost it out with your lab and it depends where you're going to be laying your tracks on the DigiBeta. Just if a lab or facility are doing the track laying and mix it could add up. It could cost more than you buying a NLE and doing it yourself. I assume you've already got the VHS kit, so you won't be paying for that.

You'd need to have burnt in time code on the VHS so you can conform your Digibeta tapes to the edit. You'd at need a 2 machine VHS editor to cut your pictures on. You'd be best not to track lay on the VHS editor, they're extremely basic and the quality is poor. Using this method, I suspect you'd be best doing the mix after the pictures are conformed, then you'll be able to spot any sync problems. However, I think your costs are going to go up when you start doing the sound.

The menus in the HDW 750 are different to those in the F900, you can't cross over the same settings. Have a look here: http://www.imagemechanic.co.uk/html/hdw-750p_.html or a full PDF at http://hammerhead.lightershade.com/uploads...guide_(PDF).pdf

The lenses in these cameras are software controlled varifocal length lenses. Does your camera give sharp pictures when you focus at the wide end of the zoom, rather than zooming to the subject set focus? There's not much you can do other than sending it for repair, these lenses aren't like the normal mechanical zooms with a back focus adjustment built into the lens.

It's tough when there's no infrastructure. However, you and fellow film makers can achieve a lot by working together, creating your own training schemes and grass roots organisations. This is what they did in Ireland - twenty five years ago there was very little, now there's a small film industry. Best of luck.

That makes a lot of sense.

To be honest, you're expecting a lot from a budget camera. Price wise you're looking at the the Sony Z1 or the JVC HD 100. The former is interlace and the latter is progressive. You should go to your local dealers, look at these cameras and test them before making any decisions. They are very different cameras. Discuss with your editor if you can handle the progressive output from the JVC. You should also factor in enough batteries. The IDX batteries (or other brands) make a lot of sense for the JVC, but they cost more. Sorry, I don't know any thing about LIBEC tripods.

HDV is pro-sumer. The Sony HVR Z1, JVC HD100 and Canon XL2 are used professionally, although the XL2 is a Mini DV camera, the XL H1 is the Canon HDV camera. Each camera fits a different niche in the market and you'd need to decide which suits you best. Price wise I suspect you'll have to rule out the XL H1. HDV picture quality when downconverted to SD is comparable with the high end DVCam cameras, some say better, but not as good as DigiBeta. You'll also need accessories to have a working camera kit.

Does the US$6000 include the lens? Quickly looking around any prices I've seen for the DSR 400 seem to be around $11,000 with a lens. You may also need a good tripod, because a DV type tripod just wouldn't handle a bigger camera and for an ad you want a high quality tripod. If your budget is $6000, you seem to be limited to buying a HDV pro-sumer camera. Unless you want to hire in a camera, HDCAM is well above your budget to purchase. You can shoot HDV and then downconvert to SD in post. You can also shoot DV on a HDV camera. The choice of camera would depend on the content and style of the ad. If you're just doing one ad, it would make more sense to hire the camera.

Depends if you've got cine style or video type lenses. With the cine style lenses you measure from the "film" plane mark on the side of camera just like film. These lenses have standard film gears on the focus and use film zoom motors rather than the built in zoom motor found on the video style. Focus on video style lenses is calibrated from the front of the lens.

A lot of the Arri 16 BLs had an external crystal sync units attached, but without this most unit of the cameras were non crystal. The later EQ? or EL? model of the Arri 16BL had built in crystal sync.

Location sound used to be recorded on 1/4" tape, mostly on a Nagra, there were mono and stereo models, usually running at 7.5 inches per second. Stellavox also made a 1/4" recorder, but these weren't so common. From the 1970's these recorders had crystal sync, although the stereo Nagra could also have time code. Sync leads were mostly gone on professional productions by the late 1970s. DAT replaced 1/4" in the 1990s. Nagras were superbly built pieces of equipment made in Switzerland that could withstand years of heavy professional use. They were either full track or two track in the case of the stereo model, so had an extremely good signal to noise ratio.

On 16mm you'd go for optical sound on the print, rather than a mag sound, since so few places are set up for magnetic sound projection. The mag striped 16mm film was mostly used for shooting news. The real quality drops comes when you go to optical sound on the 16mm print, before that the quality is pretty good on the 16mm full coat or sep mag. You can use a DAT recorder to record the sound or use a Nagra which has a standard sync system. I suspect using the DAT might be easier, since so few places are now set up for 1/4". You may have to do some calling around to find a transfer to 16mm sep mag. For the final dubbing mix you may find that you have to transfer the 16mm tracks onto a more modern digital system, because they mightn't have enough 16mm machines to run all your tracks.

Since you're in Europe, try Camera Engineeering: http://www.camera-engineering.com/ or Les Bosher: http://www.lesbosher.co.uk/

Depends on the type of shots you need and the overall style of the production. What format are you shooting in? Lipstick cameras are often used, but the MiniDv cameras are so small you could mount them inside the vehicle, however, you'd need to make sure that they're securely rigged. You can shoot with the larger DVCAM & DigiBeta cameras, they're often used handheld inside vehicles on documentaries. You can also hard mount them inside, but it's bigger operation and the angles are limited. Although, if it's a production that requires continuous coverage of action inside the vehicle you'd be better with smaller cameras.

It's common to shoot short films at 25 fps in PAL countries because most of the post production is set up for 25 fps. The only feature film people usually shoot 24 fps in the PAL countries. You really need to discuss the whole post production workflow with the people involved if you intent to shoot 24P in a PAL country, otherwise you can find yourself with big problems. You should do tests before you start the production.

Remember you'll need funds to actually make the films. You'll also need a good tripod and some basic lights. Shooting on MiniDV is a good starting point. A point to remember is that quite a lot of people own the HDV cameras, but only shoot MiniDV. If you want to shoot HDV progressive, you should also consider the JVC HD 100. The layout is similar to the high end professional cameras, so it's good camera to learn your basic skills. You can see tests comparing the two cameras in the JVC HD 100 threads.

It'll run at 24p, however, your sound will be affected because it's also running 4% slower and you may want to do a pitch change. You'd best listen to the end result, because the pitch change process isn't that good with sustained notes. There are quite a few posts on this subject in the forum.

From HDCAM it looks about the same sharpness as a S16mm blow up to 35mm without the grain. Not as good as the best systems, but it looks filmic, rather than video looking. I'd sent them an e-mail and ask them for a quote. Ask if they'll run a short test for you.

Why don't you check out using a Cinevator. You don't need a DI or sound neg, it's ideal for single prints and the print quality is good. Nordisk film post production have one in Oslo. http://www.filmteknikk.no/ By the time you buy 35mm neg stock and get a print made plus a sound neg, there mightn't be a much of a cost difference.