Sidney King

hi audris- i'm not aware of a single north american festival (major or otherwise) that only accepts 35 for exhibition; are you thinking of foreign festivals? which ones did you have in mind?

Hi Steve, well, i've been to over a dozen festivals since the spring with my feature (some projecting digitally, some off the print), and believe me projection is a big problem. Newer/smaller festivals especially are often very limited in their exhibition format options; you'll even have trouble with digiBeta, usually only the bigger/richer festivals can accomodate that due to the deck rental cost (i've seen quite a few festivals whose only exhibition formats are 35, maybe 16, DV, BetaSP, & DVD). And even the "bigger" festivals that do have higher-end projection capabilties often only have it in limited venues, so you still may end up getting booked in a small venue projecting off DVD with a low-end LCD projector while the higher-profile film gets played in the Big House. That's just the harsh reality. Festivals are still a lot of fun and worth the effort, but brace yourself for some sobering screening conditions unless you have a print (and even then the projection conditions can be spotty). I've barely seen or heard anything related to HDV projection, i think it's still a ways off. but some festivals are making strides, i just heard that the Indianapolis Int. will have as one of its venues a Landmark theater equipped with the new Sony 4K projectors. but again, even then it doesn't mean you'll get booked in that particular theater...

Thanks David. Yes, this trailer features the photogarphy more than story. You can learn more about the story (there's also a more plot-oriented trailer) at www.pearldivermovie.com And yes, that is music from "Road to Perdition," it actually sounds nothing like the film's original score. From what I understand we're safe using it for non-commercial purposes like this.

Hi All, I've been a lurker for a while on these boards, I just thought you guys might be interested in (and hopefully encouraged by) a production we pulled off last summer: namely, a micro/no-budget 35mm anamorphic feature called "Pearl Diver," shot in 17 days in northern Indiana. We shot entirely on shortends (5279), ended up with about 270 camera rolls for 60,000 ft. of film. We used a workhorse of a MovieCam Superamerica and anamorphic lenses by Joe Dunton and Co. Did a lot of daytime exteriors, some day-for-night (ended up looking great) and underwater work as well. This was all accomplished (with a very small, mostly inexperienced crew) under the supervision of a tremendous DP named John Rotan. John put together a trailer for the film I'd invite you to look at; and I hope I'm not bragging if i say the footage is gorgeous (it's his work, not mine): http://pearldivermovie.com/i/14275/PDTeaser.mp4 or if Mac users have trouble try here: http://www.rotan.com/avi-pearldiver.html anyway, I know a lot of us in the indie world struggle for ways to get powerful visuals on a tight budget, I just wanted to say I've been there and it is possible (it does call for some pretty painful cuts in other areas, though). If any of you are working with producers balking at the cost of shooting 35 or even 16, I'd be happy to talk to them for you and tell them about my experience on the film and how I believe it pays off in the long-run; I would shoot 35 again in a heartbeat, even though we didn't even have what would be considered a proper budget for a DV feature. i'd be happy to tell anyone more about the project, just drop me a line. best, sidney

just wrapping your light meter in a couple(obviously watertight) zip-loc baggies works fine for metering underwater. Did the trick for our (daytime) shoot.

Hi folks, I am a first-time director new to the boards (have been a reader for a while), and am in the middle of film finishing on a 35mm feature and had a conern i'd like some advice on. The DP and I just got back from screening the first answer print of our 35mm (anamorphic) feature at a well-respected lab in NYC. It's a fairly straight-forward project (a family drama, all shot on 5279), but it does have a significant amoung of day-for-night footage. Before the timer started the work he had a video screening session with the DP where they watched the entire film, discussed every scene, etc...and the timer had a video reference copy as well. When we screened the first answer print we saw he left several of the day-for-night scenes timed for broad daylight. There were quite a few other scenes that did not match shot-for-shot at all (some of the individual shots looked good, but there was no consistency within the scene). The DP was very upset, especially about the uncorrected day-for-night footage. This is a VERY low-budget project, and we simply can't afford doing pass after pass waiting for the timer to get things like what is day and what is night right (not to mention matching shots within scenes). But again, I am new to this, and didn't know if this is typical results for a first pass. My question is, is this par for the course for a first pass, or do I have a right to be upset? I brought up my concerns with the manager, he just said this is just a first pass and these were creative issues I needed to take up with the timer on the next pass. I explained I had already paid for a first pass (AND paid for the DP to travel to meet the timer for the first video session to get things like night and day scenes straight), and I simply did not get reasonable color correction on many crucial scenes that were left uncorrected. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! best, Sidney King Hickory, NC