2 Perf

[GeorgeSelinsky]

I am 1st ACing on a feature right now with a mitchell BNCR and an Arri 2b w/ blimp. Both are modified for 2-perf techniscope.

My God, that must be quite a sight. Shooting with such huge cameras but using half the film :lol:

 

Tell me, how do you like the BNCR? I was toying around with the idea of renting one just for a day, just to take my picture next to it basically and say that I shot some film with it (this would be in the future sometime, not now). I would naturally get one of those hydraulic dolly jobs with it, too.

 

- G.

[Matt Pacini]

I heard that the Kinor's were unweildly beasts.

How heavy are those things, anyway?

 

Matt Pacini

[Colin Kelly]

Shooting with the BNCR has been interesting. Most of the time it resides on a gear head or a moviola dolly. At first the belt driven mags gave us the most problems. It is a beast. I saw the dailies for the first two days. It looks quite amazing with the super baltar lenses we are using, 1", 2", and 3".

 

Overall our arri 2b techniscope has been the most demanding. The director and dp can never decide how exactly yo use it. In the blimp, outside the blimp, with the tobin motor, with the arri crystal sync motor, stedicam, handheld. I sit there and wish for a pl mount on it many days.

 

AC's get spread thin shooting with thest camera, especially using short ends.

[Adam Frisch FSF]

The Kinor isn't big, but it is heavy. Especially the older 35H - it's beastly. The grey

35II is much lighter and nimbler, but is still quite heavy.

 

Interesting about that 2-perf BNCR. It would be great if Arri or Aaton could start making

2-perf movements for their cameras. Just imagine the new Arri 235 with the 200ft mags -

perfect for 2-perf. It would probably become so quiet by having to pull less film, that very

little, if any, sound blimping would have to be used. I recall someone telling me years

ago that the 2-perf converted 2C's were very quiet. Maybe you can tell us if that's true at

all?

[Colin Kelly]

The 2b we have is only quiet in the blimp. OUtside the blimp it sounds like a motor bike engine.

 

Interesting idea about the 235 though.

[Joe Anderson]

FYI:

Aaton is releasing the Penelope (a 2 and 3 perf 35mm camera) this July.

Also...

since Panavision is developing anamorphic lenses with a 1.34x stretch (as opposed to 2x) they too may be leaning in a 3 perf direction.

[Bruce McNaughton]

I have converted 4 Kinors to 2 perf and there are 2 more to do in the next fortnight. It is not just a matter of "changing the size of the wheel" The movement is really nothing like a Mitchell. The claw mechanism has to be re-positioned this it is actually quite a tricky job. We spark a section out of the gate and insert a new 'block,' containing the 2 perf aperture. We make sure that the top and bottom rails are in contact with the film (unlike the 'hairless' gate) because if 2 perf has any drawbacks, it is the possibility of flare from highlights at the very top or bottom if frame migrating into the next image because 2 perf has no frame line to speak of. The feed in and feed out sprockets have to be slowed to half speed and we supply a new ground glass marked with 2.35:1 and 1.78:1.

 

Regarding the Konvas conversion Adam, we have done 3 of these and indeed they are a bitch. But apart from the cost being a little out of balance with the value of the camera, they work fine in 2 perf.

 

My favourite camera to convert is the Arri BL and next come the Mitchells.

 

A reduction of noise was mentioned as a factor. Let me tell you that there is no appreciable difference with 2 perf. Everything runs at the same speed, except the mags, and they are usually silent anyway. The film still runs through at 24 frames per second and the only thing quieter is perhaps the lesser amount of film sliding through the gate, reducing this noise only.

 

But with the fine grain of today's film stocks and the improvement in lens definition (since Techniscope in the 1960s) 2 perf is a very, very nice format. Sharp, giant screen pictures at half the cost...

 

Regards

 

Bruce

[Nathan Milford]

Bruce,

 

I've been trying to push the 2-Perf format to the brass here at AbelCineTech. We can't compete directly with CSC (home of S35) and Panavision (home of Anamorphic) so I think we can passivly compete with them by adopting and standardizing a niche format. I'd really like to partner with a lab and post house like Postworks or Goldcrest to work on an end-to-end work flow... With Aaton's new 35 cameras nearing prototype I think it'd be ideal.

 

I'd like to find a Kinor 35H or even something like an Arri 2C and convert it just to play in the format.

 

With the use of normal spherical lenses and a 50% reduction in stock costs and also in lab fees any production that would be shooting S16 or even S35/2.35 and was planning on finishing on tape or even a DI would jump on the format... as long as it was backed up by a place you trust, that could 'prove' the format so to speak.

 

We'll see how much progress I have with the brass, they're more interested in Uncompressed HD.

 

Regards,

Nathan