Getting the cleanest image with S16mm.

[Jase Ryan]

I love shooting film, both 35mm and S16mm. I also don't mind film grain but sometimes, depending on the story it can be to much. I am wondering the best advice to eliminate as much grain as possible.

 

Would over exposing the film by 1 stop, then pulling it back down by 1 stop help?

 

I watched the Wrestler again and think that looks fantastic. Very clean images. I want that!!

 

Thanks

[Adrian Sierkowski]

Use a slower speed stock. I prefer 2/3 over exposure as opposed to 1 over, but I'd say test as each emulsion will react differently. use the newer stock as they are generally less grainy than that which they replaced; the '19 from Kodak surprised me with grain, and keep a lot of contrast in the scene, it's been my experience that grain is more prevalent the more "boring" something is (e.g. single color light painted walls etc).

[Saul Rodgar]

Would over exposing the film by 1 stop, then pulling it back down by 1 stop help?

 

Pulling in processing you mean, or in telecine? I think you mean printing down, which is the way to go.

 

For cleanest grain try Kodak '01, '05, '07 for daylight and '12 and '17 for tungsten (and daylight too with compensating and color correction filter) with 2/3 overexposure.

Edited May 27, 2009 by Saul Rodgar

[Simon Wyss]

Try Gigabitfilm.

[Chris Burke]

I love shooting film, both 35mm and S16mm. I also don't mind film grain but sometimes, depending on the story it can be to much. I am wondering the best advice to eliminate as much grain as possible.

 

Would over exposing the film by 1 stop, then pulling it back down by 1 stop help?

 

I watched the Wrestler again and think that looks fantastic. Very clean images. I want that!!

 

Thanks

 

 

One stop over exposed is the way to go. It will help diminish the appearance of grain. The Wrestler, I thought, was very grainy. I like the image also, but I saw lots of grain. What do you mean by clean?

[David Rakoczy]

Fear of Light

[Elliot Rudmann]

I would stick to slower speed stocks like 7217,12,01, and quite possibly the new 250D, and like others have said, overexpose a little and process normal. I usually go about 2/3rds of a stop over.

 

After that, the battle for clean images, which no one here has yet to mention, is how it is digitally transferred. Long story short, you get what you pay for. SD telecine transfers hardly do justice in exploiting the potential sharpness, and latitude and cleanliness in the Super 16 medium. HD transfers come a bit closer, but still suffer in comparison to DI film scanners like the Northlight and the Arriscan. I've shot footage on 7212 100T and 7201 50D that looked phenomenal via 2k Arriscan on a 50" HD television set. Even on a large television set, the difference in grain between lower speed Super 16 and any type of 35mm footage becomes severly marginalized if it's scanned on the right machine.