Mackay Valentine Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 Just recently I caught a showing of Baraka in 70mm. I had seen the film dozens of tims on DVD, but the 70mm print was unbelieveable, the details and colors were almost hyper-realistic, every frame being a masterpiece. Its a shame that this format isnt used as often as it should be. Now I'm a huge fan of cinematography in modern cinema, but after seeing the 70mm print, I believe Ron Fricke's "Baraka" to be the pinnacle of modern motion picture photography, does anyone agree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lowe Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 Oh man, I am jealous! I am going to see this at the next Aero screening if I have to crawl there on my hands and knees. It's one of the greatest things I have ever seen in my life, but I have only seen a half-decent HDTV rip, never on film. 70mm Baraka would be the absolute pinnacle of motion picture visuals, IMO. The "holy grail" of cinematography, so to speak. :lol: The last four minutes of that movie, with the moco night timelapse, made my jaw hit the floor the first time I saw it. Many scenes from Baraka had a huge impact on my cinema ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignacio Aguilar Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 It's one of these films meant for a really big screen. I have seen it three times projected in 70mm with 6 track magnetic stereo sound. The sharpness, detail, blacks and color of the format are unbelievable. Even the sound is amazing. It's a pity nobody uses 5-perf 65mm anymore. By the way, does anyone know if Ron Fricke used the Todd-AO "bugeye" lens? Some shots are very wide-angle and show a lot of barrel distortion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruairi Robinson Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Oh man, I am jealous! I am going to see this at the next Aero screening if I have to crawl there on my hands and knees. It's one of the greatest things I have ever seen in my life, but I have only seen a half-decent HDTV rip, never on film. 70mm Baraka would be the absolute pinnacle of motion picture visuals, IMO. The "holy grail" of cinematography, so to speak. :lol: The last four minutes of that movie, with the moco night timelapse, made my jaw hit the floor the first time I saw it. Many scenes from Baraka had a huge impact on my cinema ideas. It's a shame the dvd release was such a shoddy transfer. Any idea when it's coming out on Blu-ray? R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lowe Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Not sure. I have an "HDTV" copy I got from bit torrents, which looks pretty good. More resolution than the DVD, but the colors are kind of muted. A bluray or hd-dvd at 1080p would be amazing. I'm going to try to catch this in 70mm next time it plays at the Aero in LA. I think Fricke is still working on Samara right now. Can't wait for that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Schneider Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 The last time I was a Panavision I saw a 65mm camera going out on a Ron Fricke globe trotting shoot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lowe Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 When was that Logan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Schneider Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 That was early september. I saw the camera and asked where it was going out to. The assistant said Morocco and a few other countries, and then told me it was a Fricke picture when I asked what for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lowe Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 That was early september. I saw the camera and asked where it was going out to. The assistant said Morocco and a few other countries, and then told me it was a Fricke picture when I asked what for. Nice! He's had this in the works for so long now, this is gonna be awesome. I believe Fricke happened to be in Italy or Europe with a 65mm camera when the Mt Etna volcano erupted. Lucas asked him to rush to the scene and shoot the plates for the Mustafar volcano planet in Revenge of the Sith. My guess is that while Samsara only officially began shooting less than a year ago, Fricke has been shooting it here and there for many years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruairi Robinson Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Not sure. I have an "HDTV" copy I got from bit torrents, which looks pretty good. More resolution than the DVD, but the colors are kind of muted. A bluray or hd-dvd at 1080p would be amazing. I'm going to try to catch this in 70mm next time it plays at the Aero in LA. I think Fricke is still working on Samara right now. Can't wait for that one. I presume it's 720p then? As I recall, there was a horrible red/brown tint to the pal dvd release. Even the vhs had better colours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lowe Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 The HDTV rip I have is actually 1440x1080, I believe. There has been a re-release of the Baraka DVD here in the US and transfer is very good, especially the color. It's called the Special Collector's Edition, based on a new transfer. I wonder what resolution this new transfer was done at, and whether a 1080p version might be an option right now. Would this transfer have been done at 2K? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted November 27, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 27, 2007 The HDTV rip I have is actually 1440x1080, I believe. There has been a re-release of the Baraka DVD here in the US and transfer is very good, especially the color. It's called the Special Collector's Edition, based on a new transfer. I wonder what resolution this new transfer was done at, and whether a 1080p version might be an option right now. Would this transfer have been done at 2K? Most home video transfers are done at 1080P / 10-bit 4:2:2 these days, to HD-D5 or HDCAM-SR. Anything higher is unnecessary for home video, even HD home video. That's different from doing a D.I. or digital preservation/archiving work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lowe Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Most home video transfers are done at 1080P / 10-bit 4:2:2 these days, to HD-D5 or HDCAM-SR. Anything higher is unnecessary for home video, even HD home video. That's different from doing a D.I. or digital preservation/archiving work. So this would be adequate for a Bluray release, I suppose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted November 27, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 27, 2007 So this would be adequate for a Bluray release, I suppose? Yes, depending on how good the HD transfer was, how much dirt & dust removal they did, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Burke Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 It's a pity nobody uses 5-perf 65mm anymore. And when film regularly cost 100 million, why don' they shoot on 5 perf 65mm? Think if you were to use the kodak or fuji 500T, sometimes pushing a stop? YOu could shoot existing light. The sky's the limit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Schneider Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 The trouble with 65mm on big movies is not really the cost of the stock, but rather the compatibility with equipment that was designed for smaller, lighter 35mm cameras. Superman Returns considered 65mm 5-perf as an option, but decided against it because they wouldn't be able to use their favorite toys. They instead chose the Genesis in an attempt to get a similar grainless feel, which worked, unless you like detail. The next Batman movie is shooting some scenes in 65mm Imax (on the ultimate arm no less), so maybe we will see people keeping a 65mm body on the truck for scenic shots on big movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Anthony Vale Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 Nice! He's had this in the works for so long now, this is gonna be awesome. I believe Fricke happened to be in Italy or Europe with a 65mm camera when the Mt Etna volcano erupted. Lucas asked him to rush to the scene and shoot the plates for the Mustafar volcano planet in Revenge of the Sith. My guess is that while Samsara only officially began shooting less than a year ago, Fricke has been shooting it here and there for many years. The footage for Lucas was shot in HD though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lowe Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 The footage for Lucas was shot in HD though. Are you sure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted November 29, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted November 29, 2007 Here's a picture from the "Revenge of the Sith" behind-the-scenes doc of the crew shooting the volcano: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lowe Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 Ah, well you can't dispute that! Seems like the FX guys would have prefered 65mm for the volcano plates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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