Shooting for film

[Carlos E. Martinez]

Next wednesday I will be shooting three shorts that will be blown to 35mm film.

My plan is to use two or three PD150/PD170 cameras for it.

Frame shape will be 16:9. Unfortunately I won't have 16:9 anamorphizers for the lenses. As I do not want to use the camera's internal 16:9 setting, because it will lose resolution, I plan to frame all video for widescreen anyway, doing the masking on the film during transfer.

I absolutely do not want anyone to screen these shorts, when shown on TV, in full screen.

The event will be some musicians playing Brazilian music, lit using some incandescent heads. There will be plenty of close-ups, which I think will disguise better the fact that I am not shooting in film.

If anyone has done any video to film transfer using PD150/170 recordings I would appreciate some advice or tips.

Thanks!


Carlos

[Mike Rehmus]

I suggest you contact the people who will do the transfer from DV to film and get their suggestions. Some of their clients might be willing to talk with you.

Truth is, it might be cheaper to shoot 35 or 16 mm film in the first place.

[Carlos E. Martinez]

<<<-- Originally posted by Mike Rehmus : I suggest you contact the people who will do the transfer from DV to film and get their suggestions. Some of their clients might be willing to talk with you.

Truth is, it might be cheaper to shoot 35 or 16 mm film in the first place. -->>>


The suggestions I am looking for are specific to those camera models, and getting to talk to lab clients might not be so easy.

It might be cheaper shooting in 16mm, slightly, if I use just one camera. Film was my first choice. But then the number of camera setups I might end up doing would be a lot less than shooting with three cameras. The time window I have for this shoot is very short, as the place I will use and the musicians will be available for just one day. That was a decision I had to make.

A good mid option would be shooting in video for transfer to 16mm, but I could get not quality place over here that is doing such transfers.

The advantage is that I will end up with a 35mm copy that I will be able to send many places. 16mm copies are not such well accepted in festivals, for instance.


Carlos

[Mike Rehmus]

Friends of mine that produced Genhis Blues shot in Hi-8, a very little 16mm and moved everything to VHS to send out preview copies to the festivals.

They were accepted at sundance and then had to find $50,000 to have it transferred to 35mm. Fortunately, they found a sponsor.

I understand the need for multiple cameras.

[Carlos E. Martinez]

Just in case anyone needs a good starting point for shooting for film with a PD150/170, here are some I could check about:

CUSTOM PRESET:

SET OFF
AUTO SHTR OFF
PROG SCAN OFF
D ZOOM OFF


LCD SCREEN:

1) Darken brightness
2) Attenuate color


WIDE MODE:

Off. Shoot in 4:3 mode

Use a semi-transparent tape to set 16:9 guidelines and add a matte during film transfer.


FORMAT:

DV SP


GAIN:

0 dB


SHUTTER:

1/60


DIGITAL ZOOM:

Off


WHITE BALANCE:

Indoor


FOCUS:

Manual


ND FILTER:

Off


AUDIO MODE:

48K


Tell you later how my shooting and blow-up worked out.


Carlos

[Luis Ignacio]

Hi carlos! dou you have somithing to see?

[Carlos E. Martinez]

Originally Posted by Luis Ignacio

Hi carlos! dou you have somithing to see?

No really. That project is in stand-by mode, as I will have to shoot more stuff and do a different thing from what I was planning to.

It may not make it to 35mm, and instead become several shorts.


Carlos