Bryan Darling

What are you guys going to charge for HD xfers? Will you be including a down-converted DVD for viewing copies? What tape/data format will you include for archival/back-up purposes? I'm curious because I found it's hard enough to explain the purpose of say a Mini-DV tape for back-up purposes let alone giving regular consumers a hard drive or D5 tape. My whole thing is that DVDs are a very finicky format as far as preservation goes, i.e. easily scratchable and then where are you at? Almost all my orders are DVDs for viewing and Mini-DV for backup, along with scene-to-scene primary & secondary color and exposure correction. I prefer laying out to tape as well since the overall quality is superior to MPEG-2 compression.

Are you finding that a lot of your customers are wanting their film transferred to HD? I ask because since most of what you do is geared toward the consumer, I'm curious how they are using their footage. In that there really is no economical and simple system yet for them to view it. I find most of my orders are for DVD and Mini-DV back-up. No one really has a HD DVD player and I'd say 95% of my customers probably never will. I was looking into this option but found the business didn't justify an investment as such. I work with a variety of retailers as well and no one there has requested HD. A lot of consumers don't even know that a DVD is not a CD, haha. Do you use your Canon for other jobs as well or did you get it for the sole purpose of film transfers? I'm currently switching to an uncompressed SD workflow as I do a heavy amount of color work and this seems to be the smartest investment for my business at this point. Next year we'll be looking into a film scanner for archival work.

Eugene, Nice stuff. I thought the 16 & 8mm looked good on my computer monitor. The Super 8 look real contrasty though. What are you guys using as a camera for capture?

Wong Kar Wai's Happy Together

I'm selling (12) 100' 7277 4X rolls for $120, $10/ea. This film has been in my freezer. I'm in Sacramento, CA. I can ship them to you if you need via my FedEx or UPS account. I'd like to sell the whole batch, however I'd also sell them off in two groups of 6. It's too much work to sell them off as single rolls.

If you go to my website http://www.homemoviestore.biz click onto services, then on samples. There are a couple of clips of a variety of films transferred using the workprinter. While not by Moviestuff, it is using one their machines. I have a business here in Sacramento, CA that specializes in conversion, restoration, and the archiving of older visual and audio mediums. I do a lot of R8 & S8 film conversions and have refined my system and results to a good quality similar to that of professional houses.

I've shot thousands of feet of black & white and must say I never hand any issues myself.

Run a search here and on the web, google, for HVX footage and you'll find quite a bit. I was able to find a good variety of clips.

To make it more cost-effective. Why don't you just transfer both your negative and your revesal? Then $115 becomes a good deal both cost-wise and in quality of telecine for what you'll have to work with in the computer.

OK. because the material I read on development of MP B&W film shows for a gamma of .65-.7

Just to be aware, the DaVinci color corrector is around $100k. Then you'll need decks to connect with it, etc. The question becomes why is he getting rid of it? If you don't have a pretty hefty experience with the workings video equipment, video signals, and this machine I would advise against it. It can become a 1000lb gorrilla paper weight. If this is something you are truly, really, wanting to do then I'd suggest finding a job and/or mentor in a lab that will give you the opportunity to learn and use such equipment.

I think a major challenge for modern people working with silent film is in the conventions. Now I understand that when asking about modern silent films it is merely a qualifier used so that the majority of people understand that one is looking for information on "current" silent films not ones made 100 years ago. However, just to use the word "modern" when referring to silent film takes on an air that silent film is an old genre. Silent film isn't even a genre and age is irrelevant to filmmaking. Styles and conventions however are a different story. An issue I see is the perception of silent film. If indeed silent film is considered a genre then it is a genre marred by exaggerated acting, crude camera movements & editing, and simplified stories and/or motifs. In my opinion these are the conventions employed not just by filmmakers of a bygone era but even by filmmakers of today. Very few have gone on to explore, experiment, and expand the silent film beyond that of movie house fare from 1915. If you look at the very words "silent" & "film" and break it down to their most basic meaning, it would be "film without sound." I think that is a good way to look at silent film- not as genre but as medium. Now why would I make such a fuss just about language and semantics. It's because those very things aid in perpetuating staid conventions, styles, and motifs. By changing our perspective, through language and such, it allows us to change how we look at and interact with everyday things, or in this case silent film. Looking at such people as Maya Deren and Stan Brakhage, just to name two, they did much to grow silent film- film as medium- out of it's infancy starting with D.W. Griffith and F.W. Murnau, just to name two. Silent film itself has far more to offer filmmakers than oversimplified stories, montage theorized editing, indulgent eye shadow, hand movements to the heavens, and expressionistic sets. That is not to say that these things themselves did not serve a purpose in their times. Those styles and conventions were a natural out birth of the technology, education, and awareness of the people in their times. Just as society and cultural evolves so must it's mediums and art forms- they are extensions of us human beings. That said I would recommend exploring the filmmakers and their films that work with this very medium- film. There are quite a lot both "current" and historical. A lot of the current do not show their work in big theaters for obvious reasons. They are relegated to galleries, basements, occasional festivals, microcinema venues, etc. I'd google things such as experimental film, avant-garde film & microcinema. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Brakhage and look into Kino @ http://www.kino.com/video/index.php There's a lot to this world but those are some good places to start.

If you are using a projector or such you are asking for a nightmare. Vegas should have an invert filter/effect. The problem is in the orange mask. The film is very dense and will be very dark. Add to that the large amounts of color work you will have to do to get rid of the orange mask. You will need to be able to adjust the highlights, mids, and shadows all independently. It might be easier and not that much just to send to Spectra Film & Video and have a one-light done of all your film onto Mini-DV. At $225/hr you can go through a lot of film, 1/2 hour min. I'm not trying to talk you out of doing it on your own, just somethings you should be aware of. Anyhow if you do do it on your own it's just going to be a lot of experimenting and trial to find what works. Keep in mind that the negative will pick up a lot of dust and scratches going through a projector. It's far more noticeable because the dust and scratches turn out white. Not to mention if you decide to have it professionally transferred, etc. it will be in that condition.

It's flipped in the telecine itself, that is if you are using a professional telecine. You shouldn't have to flip it in your editor.

I've been investigating this product and it seems great. The thing I like is that it is real-time. It's designed as a colorist/DI system. I'm planning on buying it and the controller to compliment the super-8 film conversions I do along with online color correction/manipulation for HD and other video projects. It's amazing what a Mac, some software, and a controller will do in comparison to the high cost of a DaVinci and the like.

I agree. I even think it would work in a narrative. It has a certain aesthetic quality. I haven't worked with power windows before and I thought perhaps you had done so in your transfer. It's a great effect. Great stuff.

I was curious if you used power windows or such in your transfer? Or did you conform the filters around the subjects? I ask because it looked as though the filteration was around the person pretty tightly on the beauty shots.

How can one figure out to what gamma you would like the film processed to? I'm assuming there can be a direct correlation to how you rate the film? I ask because I shot some test footage on 7222 yesterday. It was an indoor night location at a cafe. I'm testing out the film in relation to he available lighting to see where I need to fill in and to how much based on how the film sees the room. I rated it for 320asa and am going to ask the lab to push a stop. In which case it would be 400asa. I'm going to test out 7266 as well with a push one. I've pushed it in the past and liked the look. I must say I wish there was a medium to high speed color reversal stock. I've pushed 7285 one stop with great results. I think I will do a two stop push test in the same location to see how it results.

I was curious as to what brought about rating the 7231 at 32ASA?

The meter is designed for the fact that the Reflex "subtracts" about 25% of the light from the exposure for the viewfinder. That said, it would be a 1/4 stop. For the sake of simplicity you can say 1/3 stop. Now to make it even easier, just rate the stock at a different speed. It saves you from doing math in your head. Say you are using 200ASA film, rate it at 160ASA instead since the meter will be adding the extra on its own.

I must say this has never been an issue for me. My Nizo has been great. More it's the fact the cameras are difficult to handhold hence jitter more in that sense.

Well if you have access to optical printing facilities at the school I'd say that would be a possibility. High contrast, low color saturation is not something that goes together naturally...at least from my experiences. If in-camera is necessary then I think a lot would go into selecting locations that lend themselves to the look you desire. In my opinion it will be easier to finish the look in post either optically, through telecine, or in the computer. My personal preference would be to work it optically, however, practicality usually demands telecine or the computer. Any which way I'd very much like to see how this ends up. I've worked more in the realm of experimental film over the past few years. Good luck!

Hear, Hear!

There should be a number, in white if I recall, inside the camera and one on the inside of the door. Check out this website http://www.city-net.com/~fodder/bolex/history/ See how your numbers compare.

With the lab I have used over the years you are billed not just for the time it takes to go through and set out the corrections but also the time it takes to then run the film back through and onto tape. You'll want to keep that in mind. The other thing is to let your colorist know that you can only afford 4 hours. They are usually pretty accommodating about those things and may let you slide a few minutes to 1/2 hour. If anything it also gives them a reference and can keep things moving, in addition a good colorist will let you know that you may be spending too much time tweaking certain things.