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Super 16 vs. HD shot drama in the UK/BBC


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Hi,

 

Could some of our Brit comrades in the UK shed some light on the current

situation in the UK in regards to how many BBC dramas are being shot in Super 16 vs. HD?

 

There was of course the hissy fit the engineers were having about grain and compression issues.

 

I saw a historical drama here on PBS from the BBC and I could tell it was definitely Super 16. I'm sure it was shot over a year ago with the delay in programming.

 

Also, is Dr. Who still being shot on Digital Betacam??

 

Phil Rhodes? Andy Alderslade? John Holland? Stuart Brereton?

 

Best regards,

Milo Sekulovich

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Hi,

 

Could some of our Brit comrades in the UK shed some light on the current

situation in the UK in regards to how many BBC dramas are being shot in Super 16 vs. HD?

 

There was of course the hissy fit the engineers were having about grain and compression issues.

 

I saw a historical drama here on PBS from the BBC and I could tell it was definitely Super 16. I'm sure it was shot over a year ago with the delay in programming.

 

Also, is Dr. Who still being shot on Digital Betacam??

 

Phil Rhodes? Andy Alderslade? John Holland? Stuart Brereton?

 

Best regards,

Milo Sekulovich

 

Hi Milo,

 

Most BBC dramas are still being shot on S16mm over here. Every now and again you get something like the drama about the romans..erm...damn can't remember the name.....Let's call it "The Romans" for now....that was shot on HD.

 

As you might know the BBC don't spend in the way that HBO etc does on their programming. Because when shooting on HD you can see every scratch and imperfection so nearly every other dept(art, costumes etc..) needs to up its finishing standard...thus generating more costs! So for now, the HD route kinda goes against their budgetary principles.

If you weren't to worry about the above and made a comparison between the costs on shooting HD and film they would pretty much meet at the same total.

I believe that unless they make cuts on wages or change their ways then I can only see that in the near future s16 will be the format used for Dramas over here. Which as far as I am concerned is not a bad thing at all.

 

Dr Who is shot on digi....

 

Cheers

Edited by Serge Teulon
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Milo it seems at the moment if you have a very well know strong Producer/ Director team that have a great track record then yes they can shoot if they wish S16 . Otherwise its going down the HD road .

 

Serge if you talking about what i think you are the BBC/HBO co-production it was called "Rome " and was shot on 35 mm .

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Milo it seems at the moment if you have a very well know strong Producer/ Director team that have a great track record then yes they can shoot if they wish S16 . Otherwise its going down the HD road .

 

Serge if you talking about what i think you are the BBC/HBO co-production it was called "Rome " and was shot on 35 mm .

 

I must be completely mistaken but I thought I read somewhere when it was in pre that it was an HD shoot (900)....

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Serge it was film 35mm i know that for sure . john .

 

I didn't doubt you John....I was just sure I read that it was shot on HD.

I have since had a look around and found out that it was printed on HD....there lies my mistake. So apologies Milo but John is right, it was shot on 35mm....

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Brit comrades,

 

It seems like the controversy with the Beeb has died down?

 

Phil, do you have any idea how much HD stuff is being shot in the UK?

 

Mind you, I'm not complaining about stuff still being shot on film-I'm a die hard film shooter and love it that way. But I'm not privy to what the HD shooting situation is in the UK.

 

Milo

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Most BBC dramas are still being shot on S16mm over here. Every now and again you get something like the drama about the romans..erm...damn can't remember the name.....Let's call it "The Romans" for now....that was shot on HD.

 

there was a four part BBC/Discovery Channel docu-drama series called 'The Battle for Rome' which looked like it could have been shot on a mixture of S16 and HD.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0896071/combined

 

There seem to be some curious overlaps with this six part BBC series:

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0864944/combined

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Dr Who is still shot on DigiBeta at 50i and deinterlaced in post, slo-mo done on s16 or Varicam depending on the DP. Torchwood is DVW 750 at 25p, with Varicam for Slo-mo. Casualty is Digi at 25p. Lark Rise to Candleford is Arri D20 at 25p. Mistresses, I believe, was a Super 16 shoot, as was Afterlife, before it was cancelled. Shameless and Skins are Digi shoots, unless they have changed this year.

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Dr Who is still shot on DigiBeta at 50i and deinterlaced in post, slo-mo done on s16 or Varicam depending on the DP. Torchwood is DVW 750 at 25p, with Varicam for Slo-mo. Casualty is Digi at 25p. Lark Rise to Candleford is Arri D20 at 25p. Mistresses, I believe, was a Super 16 shoot, as was Afterlife, before it was cancelled. Shameless and Skins are Digi shoots, unless they have changed this year.

 

 

Does the US still shoot digi?

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