Jon Bel Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Hello, I have the intent on finally shooting my short however, I never looked into my ratio. My script is 15 pages. I have only 2450 ft of stock available. 9 cans of short ends, 250 and 300 footers. It's a specific stock, Eastman exr 500t 5290, much older and can't get anymore of this kind. Is this way to risky? With coverage and all? I think having actors around and running out of stock would be silly beyond. It would all have to be first takes. If so, how much shorter should my script be to be safe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Connolly Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Hi You might want to use your real name on this forum as its in the rules. But onto the question, lots of unknowns and the shooting style, ability of actors etc will affect your shooting ratio - also the style you want for the script, if you cover it with lots of single take masters it would take less stock then an approach with lots of angles. A 15 page script may average in a 15 min film - but again that depends on how its written. But if your looking at a 15 min film - on your stock thats a ratio of 4.5:1 which is very tight. Not impossible but very limiting. Personally I'd be more comfortable working at a ratio of 8:1 or 10:1, so with that amount of stock a 6 -7 min film might be more realistic - certainly give you more options. But films have been made on 4.5:1 and lower ratios - but filmmakings hard enough without haveing to work to mega tight ratios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Bel Posted April 12, 2010 Author Share Posted April 12, 2010 Thanks for the reply Phil. Very tight, guess it's a judgment call. I might have to trim out some scenes the film can do without, as far as unity is concerned. I'm just glad I have the opportunity to shoot 35mm. Thanks for ratio info, I was thinking the same. Hi You might want to use your real name on this forum as its in the rules. But onto the question, lots of unknowns and the shooting style, ability of actors etc will affect your shooting ratio - also the style you want for the script, if you cover it with lots of single take masters it would take less stock then an approach with lots of angles. A 15 page script may average in a 15 min film - but again that depends on how its written. But if your looking at a 15 min film - on your stock thats a ratio of 4.5:1 which is very tight. Not impossible but very limiting. Personally I'd be more comfortable working at a ratio of 8:1 or 10:1, so with that amount of stock a 6 -7 min film might be more realistic - certainly give you more options. But films have been made on 4.5:1 and lower ratios - but filmmakings hard enough without haveing to work to mega tight ratios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Bruce Taylor Posted April 12, 2010 Premium Member Share Posted April 12, 2010 I think there's a math problem here. Are you shooting 4 perf 35mm? If so, you've got a total run time of 27min of raw stock. Slating and waste will eat into that. You've got considerably less than a 2:1 ratio for a 15 min film. Rethink the length of the project or buy some more stock. I've been getting short ends over at Reel Good Film in LA as low as .05 a ft-- don't blow the shoot for a couple of hundred dollars worth of stock. Bruce Taylor www.indi35.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Connolly Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 I think there's a math problem here. Are you shooting 4 perf 35mm? If so, you've got a total run time of 27min of raw stock. Slating and waste will eat into that. You've got considerably less than a 2:1 ratio for a 15 min film. Rethink the length of the project or buy some more stock. I've been getting short ends over at Reel Good Film in LA as low as .05 a ft-- don't blow the shoot for a couple of hundred dollars worth of stock. Bruce Taylor www.indi35.com Doh - I missread, just assumed we were talking 16mm for some reason - guess it was the footage length. My caculations were for 16 - sorry for the confusion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Dunn Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 Doh - I missread, just assumed we were talking 16mm for some reason - guess it was the footage length. My caculations were for 16 - sorry for the confusion 35mm stock codes begin with 5, 16mm with 7. So 5290 is 35mm. Don't worry, it got me for a moment. I simply assumed no-one would try to shoot with a ratio under 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Dan Goulder Posted April 13, 2010 Premium Member Share Posted April 13, 2010 I think there's a math problem here. Are you shooting 4 perf 35mm? If so, you've got a total run time of 27min of raw stock. Slating and waste will eat into that. You've got considerably less than a 2:1 ratio for a 15 min film. Rethink the length of the project or buy some more stock. I've been getting short ends over at Reel Good Film in LA as low as .05 a ft-- don't blow the shoot for a couple of hundred dollars worth of stock. Bruce Taylor www.indi35.com Hey Bruce, Is "Reel Good Film" 100% reliable? (with emphasis on 100%) Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Vogt Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 You might wanna do a test to see if it mixes with Fuji 500t, a readily available stock, then just save your '90 for a particular scene, or if you get a supervised transfer just time them together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Malm Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 I've shot some of my student films at a ratio of 2.5:1, but that was with every shot at one take and I wouldn't recommend it. I only did it because we had a cap of 200ft. for each short film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Bel Posted April 16, 2010 Author Share Posted April 16, 2010 Thank you guys very much for your responses. I've decided to shorten my script to 9 minutes and inserting a different subplot, requiring less angles and actors. It should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Paul Bruening Posted April 16, 2010 Premium Member Share Posted April 16, 2010 Ask Bruce Taylor how you can get twice more ratio out of your stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K Borowski Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 Because 2-perf. makes sense for every conceivable project, sure Paul. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John King Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 Hello, I have the intent on finally shooting my short however, I never looked into my ratio. My script is 15 pages. I have only 2450 ft of stock available. 9 cans of short ends, 250 and 300 footers. It's a specific stock, Eastman exr 500t 5290, much older and can't get anymore of this kind. Is this way to risky? With coverage and all? I think having actors around and running out of stock would be silly beyond. It would all have to be first takes. If so, how much shorter should my script be to be safe? Hello, I don't know if you've already considered this or not, but here's one thing that can help you with the shooting ratio problem. You take a video camera with you and do rehearsals on video Even an old VHS camcorder would work here, because all you're wanting is something you can watch with your actors to evaluate their performances. So you shoot the scenes over and over in video, sit back and watch them with your actors and make notes, comments, and generally give them more direction from the monitor. When you feel that they are starting to nail the performances on the video, then you go over and shoot it on film. Now of course, things still happen, and takes can be blown for just whatever reasons, but I have found that this can be a real saver of film. But with all that said, I certainly DO recommend getting some more film, and increasing your shooting ratio. Also remember that everything you get on the first take increases your film budget on the back end (ie. increases your shooting ratio from say, 2:1 to 3:1 and so on). Anyway, if you haven't considered this already, I hope it helps! :) J.M. King Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Kalinsky Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I have never heard of 5290. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Bruce Taylor Posted May 18, 2010 Premium Member Share Posted May 18, 2010 Is "Reel Good Film" 100% reliable? (with emphasis on 100%) Sorry, I haven't visited this thread for awhile. My experiences with Reel Good have been 100% good... so far. They supply a lot of music video and commercial producers. Rich has a good list too, I have heard good things about all of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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