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Dream 'job', massive budget - would you shoot digital or film?


Stephen Perera

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for fun......the film v digital debate is indeed boring......so in the dream job scenario would you shoot....film or digital......dont be boring and say whatever suits the story....I'm ruling out superhero movies and SFX movies....a straight up 'classic- in-the-making dream job with great actors and actresses and a great crew and all the best locations etc etc etc.....oh and what camera, lenses etc

Me? (well I'm no cinematographer but if I were one, seeing as this is dream land):

Panavision + cooke + film

Edited by Stephen Perera
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Dream would be; Vistavision with Panavision 1.67x anamorphic lenses. Digital finish and record 4k to 5 perf 70mm for theatrical. 

OR, if there is more money available; 5 perf 65mm with Panavision 70mm vintage lenses and photochemical finish. 

Obviously, those are dreams. For the time being, Super 16 and 3 perf 35mm are the two things I shoot the most, mainly because I own the cameras that coincide with the formats. If I were offered another low-budget feature, I would for sure be using my equipment. 

Edited by Tyler Purcell
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there you go.....dreams: 5 perf 65mm with Panavision 70mm vintage lenses and photochemical finish...this is your one! haha thanks for coming in on this I doubt this thread will get much traction but hey its meant to be a bit of fun

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I'd have similar pipe-dream wishes where I'd love to see if I could suddenly do a big-budget project in full blown 70mm (the whole she-bang with the photochemical color finish and theatrical print distribution), shot through some nice Panavision anamorphic zoom lenses.

The idea of being able to set-up and choreograph large John Woo-esque sequences somewhere in the streets of Europe and have it all be seen / projected off of a proper 70mm anamorphic theatrical print in tandem with some beefy surround audio would be among one of the coolest things to me to dream about creating some day.

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42 minutes ago, Bruce Greene said:

For me, dreaming...

I'm not so much dreaming of film or digital capture.

I'm dreaming of a great script with a visionary director and most importantly:  The time to shoot it properly!!!!

True! I've been blessed to work on some projects recently with some visionary directors. Where It's hard to find them, they do exist and being the DP for one is really rewarding. 

Now time to shoot properly is a hard one. I would push for more time on set, even if it meant changing the script a bit in order to keep costs down. 

You'd love working me tho, my scripts have so much fun/interesting lighting. camera angles, locations/sets, etc. Of course, when I write, I can envision the entire scene and I make heavy notes on a scene by scene basis. 

Edited by Tyler Purcell
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I would shoot a feature where every scene is shot with a different camera and every shot in a scene is done with a different lens. In a way that is motivated and benefits of the look and feel and practical limitations every system and combination has. 

That is a bit challenging to do on a feature (maybe 400 or 500 camera/lens combinations) but I am sure I could get it working perfectly if the story and project would be right

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My dream would be Panavision and classic old anamorphic lenses and 35mm. Or 65mm Panavision. Preferably all photochemical but, well, digital projection would be okay too. Much less of a headache to get the thing finished, out there, and seen.

But you know, it's already been mentioned twice - a great script and a great director I think is the key to a wonderful film, assuming the money can be found (I think, with difficulty, the money can in theory always be found - there has always been and will always be very rich people and companies who can fund things).

The problem with scripts and direction is that we've somewhat lost our way as a society in understanding, on a popular level, fundamental things about entertainment. It's not about explosions and violence and things like that. All of that stuff is just seasoning, but it's not the meat and the vegetables. Great movies are always, always about the classic, common themes that beset all people. The human condition. War, worry, loss. Trying to find love, despite all. Suffering, sacrifice, doubt, faith, happiness, hope. If we can find a great script, we can find the director for it, and we can find the acting talent because a great director will have the talent to see the potential in an actor, discover it, and bring it out. That's the way it's always worked. It can be done again. I see signs, from my occasional visits to the cinema over the last few years, that the film industry is slowly working its way up to the creation of some truly great classic films again. There's been some really impressive films released in the last few years. 

Edited by Jon O'Brien
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Tricky, because I'd want classic anamorphics, but I'd also want full frame.

I think you really have to know what the subject is. But I'd still want anamorphics and full frame. Which you can have, but they don't look like Panavision C or E.

P

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1 hour ago, Phil Rhodes said:

Tricky, because I'd want classic anamorphics, but I'd also want full frame.

I think you really have to know what the subject is. But I'd still want anamorphics and full frame. Which you can have, but they don't look like Panavision C or E.

P

https://www.panavision.com/products/ultra-vista

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For me, I think it’d be 5-perf 65mm on the 1.25x Ultra Panatars from Panavision. It has the most incredible look, and I prefer the workflow of film on-set. Things are done less by committee, and people respect when the camera is rolling.

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1 hour ago, Phil Rhodes said:

Yeah, but then you'd be basically shooting Red, so...

Well, the DXL is a different beast entirely (the OLPF alone is worth more than some RED bodies) but I won’t argue the point.

Those lenses can be used with lots of large format cameras - besides the DXL we modify Venice’s, Alexa LFs and Mini LFs with SP70 mounts. 

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4 hours ago, Phil Connolly said:

Fuji Eterna 400 

4 perf open gate 35mm

with Hawk 1.33X anamorphic for 1.85:1 finish

Would look a bit different.

 

Ohh 4 perf with 1.33x neat! 

I just got some rolls of Eterna 400! Haven't ever shot with it before. ?

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40 minutes ago, Manu Delpech said:

Telling that mostly everyone picks film without a moment's hesitation, hem hem. ^^

Sure if money is no object.

4 hours ago, Tyler Purcell said:

Ohh 4 perf with 1.33x neat! 

I just got some rolls of Eterna 400! Haven't ever shot with it before. ?

I have only shot it once on super 16, but it looked wicked. Bit more gritty then vision 3 500 but in a nice way.

I did here of another film that did the 4 perf 1.33 thing, the name escapes me now. Sounded like a clever way to give a richer look without jumping up to a larger format.

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7 hours ago, Phil Connolly said:

Sure if money is no object.

I have only shot it once on super 16, but it looked wicked. Bit more gritty then vision 3 500 but in a nice way.

I did here of another film that did the 4 perf 1.33 thing, the name escapes me now. Sounded like a clever way to give a richer look without jumping up to a larger format.

Promised Land? Sandgren shot anamorphically on film for a 1.85 ratio, ended up with a bigger negative.

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13 hours ago, Manu Delpech said:

Telling that mostly everyone picks film without a moment's hesitation, hem hem. ^^

That’s because shooting film these days is a prestige issue. I’d certainly like to shoot some 65mm one day, and having recently seen some bts stills shot with Kodak TMax on a movie I was doing, I’d love to do B&W too, but in general, I could care less about format. Most important thing is a good script,  a good director, and having the time and budget to do it right.

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