"The Signal" (Nick Hiltgen) picked up at Sundance

[Philip Williams]

Arlighty, not sure if this has been posted, but the Blu-Ray for "The Signal" is up for pre-order on amazon. June 10 release date. I'm not a horror fan by any means, but I'm getting this for sure. Looking forward to seeing Nick's camera work in action.

[Philip Williams]

Just a quick update for all interested, there's a very positive review for The Signal over at highdefdigest.com.

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/1374/signal2007.html

Hmm.. is that a picture of Nick?

[John Stakes]

Hello Nick, I finally decided to post : )

Once again congrats! Did you ever make that write-up of the production process? Wish I got a chance to see the video on the big-screen : (

Some reviews refer to it as a film!! I'm buying the DVD today.

-JS

[Nick Hiltgen]

Ha, Nope that's Dave, the director of the first act.

I'm told if you pick up the DVD at best by there's a boat load of other materials that come with the movie and some where in there there's video of me operating the camera.

I didn't end up writing the production breakdown at the request of a few individuals.

There's a rumor going around that I wouldn't be able to confirm that the company that bought the film initially may not have realized that we finished the movie for 50,000. As a result any detailed description of the production process would have pointed out the clearly low budget nature of the film. That being said the cat's pretty much out of the bag now and I couldn't begin to try adn remember everything that happened 2 and a half years ago, the commentary and bonus features do a good job summing it up though so by all means check out the DVD.

I think anyone that has the chance should try and pick up a copy of the film (on DVD or blu-ray but the HD version will probably be a better example) to see exactly what can be done with the camera and a low budget film. Obviously there's also solid story telling involved as well but to me it says a lot that you don't watch the movie and dismiss it because it's "video."

[Robert Sanders]

I love you sig, Nick.

[Robert Sanders]

From www.hidefdigest.com

The Video: Sizing Up the Picture

’The Signal’ features a competent 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that does a decent job handling a variety of gloomy interiors and heavy shadows. Colors have been intentionally robbed of deep reds, but the resultant palette doesn’t suffer from the abundance of blue and brown tones left in their place. Skintones look fairly natural, blacks are inky, and contrast is spot-on for a film drenched in murky set design and lighting. While there is a bit of crushing and noise in the darkest shots, there isn’t any significant artifacting, edge enhancement, or DNR. Detail is also impressive, especially when considering the film’s meager budget -- the film’s textures and edges may not be as sharp as those in the most expensive flicks on the market, but close-ups and exterior shots are quite crisp and three dimensional. Better still, ‘The Signal’s HDV source generates the same rickshaw atmosphere as the SD DV-captured footage in ’28 Days Later’ without falling prey to that film’s pesky resolution and clarity issues.

[John Chance]

I know this thread is 2yrs. old but I thought it was proper forum etiquette to use what is already there instead of starting a new thread.

I just saw "THE SIGNAL" last night, for the first time, on Showtime's The Movie Channel's Splatterday Saturday - next listings are: (E.S.T. I think)
Aug 15 9:40 PM
Aug 25 4:00 AM
Aug 31 9:40 PM

I liked the film but what I really want to know from Nick Hiltgen is what custom presets were used & what kind of color correction was applied in post. Shutter settings, anything really that made the film look like it did. The film looked great, better then others using more expensive cameras.

Is there another link to the avid page? This one doesn't work any longer.

I own the Canon XH A1 & would appreciate any help making it look the best it can.

Thank you.

[Nick Hiltgen]

Hey John the presets we used I have written down somewhere but I have to say I'd suggest using my 24p DSC setup. I'm pretty sure it translates over to the a1 alright but I've found that to be an ideal setup for dialing in looks in post. On the signal they ended up doing some HEAVY post color correction to really differentiate between the three films. And I think they could have done even more with the 24p setup that I made had they tried that instead. I think it's still listed in the custom preset section of this forum.

[Nick Hiltgen]

Oh and the little fake movie in the first few minutes of the film is not from the canon, it was shot on a dvx a couple of years prior.

[John Chance]

Thanks for the response, Nick.

I looked up your 24p DSC settings in the CP library, as you suggested. I'll try them on the A1. Wish you had the actual presets you created for the film though. If you come across those presets that you wrote down, please post them, or feel free to p.m. me.

Did you shoot 1/48 shutter as most do on 24f? Some say 1/60 is better but I don't know how that would look transferred to film. Ever have to use the noise reduction settings?

In the #41 post on this thread you said, "For the Digital out I know that there was no uprezzing or anything along those lines, I'm sure something was done for the film out I'll talk to the guys tonight (it's premier night!) and find out for sure." Was there uprezzing or anything special done?

In the #12 post you said, "Color correction was done at "lab 601" in atlanta on the Avid." I looked up lab 601 - looks like a good place with good people. Do you know if it was just the Avid's cc or did they use Davinci or something? I didn't know Avid's cc was that powerful.

I won't keep asking questions. I was just really impressed with what you guys accomplished with this film. Thanks again.