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director of photography, peter gray, dp, cinematography, dop, cinematographers, lighting cameraman, videographers, dv, high definition, 24p, digital films, HDW-F900, CineAlta, Varicam, AJ-HDC27F, 70mm, independent films, lighting directors, filmmakers, filmmaking, HDW-700ANotes from a discussion with the lab that did the 35mm "blow up" of THE SALT MEN OF TIBET:
July, 1998: I talked to Patrick Lindenmaier, the Technical Director at SWISS EFFECTS in Zürich, Switzerland. He did the 35mm blowup for the documentary, THE SALT MEN OF TIBET. He is also the designer of equipment used to produce the blow up (which can also handle most analogue and digital formats). He was also able to confirm that THE SALT MEN OF TIBET was shot with the Sony DCR-VX1000 camera in the mini-DV format. Here is a list of the more important points discussed: It is important to use a 3-chip camera, rather than a single chip camera, with a view to converting to film. In the DV format, this narrows the choice to a relative handful of cameras, mainly (as of mid-1998) the Sony DCR-VX1000, the Sony DCR-VX9000, and the Cannon XL-1 with interchangeable-lens capability. In the newer DVCam format, there is also the Sony DSR 130L, Sony DSR 200, Sony DSR 300L, and the dockable Sony DXC-D30WSP 16:9 camera. There is also a smaller-sized Panasonic 3-Chip camera, AG-EZ30U, but it is not able to switch to widescreen 16:9 shooting. It is better in terms of quality to shoot a 16:9 aspect ratio in the camera (if possible), rather than shooting standard 4:3 and converting to widescreen later during the post production, or blow up stage. Or at least, this is what he recommends for the Sony VX-1000, but not necessarily for camcorders from other manufacturers. I found out later he doesn't recommend switching to 16:9 for the Canon XL-1, for example. In some camcorders, the user can adjust the sharpness of the image. Patrick Lindenmaier strongly recommends setting the sharpness level (if available) to the lowest setting i.e. for the least sharp image. It is better to adjust the sharpness level later during the blowup process. The consequence of setting the camera to a high sharpness level at the time of shooting, is that it tends to make foreground objects (i.e. your subject/s) look like cardboard cutouts in the blowup. I also asked him if the later evolution of the DV format, namely the DVCAM format from Sony, was any better compared to the mini-DV format upon which it is based. He said it was not better in terms of picture quality. However, because the tape speed is higher, the effect of any tape dropouts is less noticeable. The other main advantages of the DVCAM format is to do with the sound. Sound edits are cleaner with DVCAM, due to the technical relationship between the recorded image and sound (an improvement over standard DV). Patrick Lindenmaier said the remarkable thing about the Sony VX-1000 camera is the feature called DYNAMIC CONTRAST CONTROL which is permanently switched on (it is also in the VX 9000, and some other Sony cameras including their DVCAM-format cameras like the DSR 200). He talked very highly of this particular feature. He says it is partly responsible for the remarkable quality of the images from such low-end cameras. He also commented that the Steadi-shot feature was also a very good, when and if required. From my own personal observation, the main drawback with the Sony DCR-VX1000 camera is the relatively poor viewfinder (it has a colour viewfinder, which is unusual). I think everyone will agree that it is very hard to be sure of focus with this particular viewfinder (the black and white viewfinder in the VX 9000 is much better, by comparison, for critical accessment of the image). Here are details of the actual 35mm blowup process ....... they transfer every video image to film, so the final film version is 25 images per second. So when the print is projected in a standard 24 f.p.s. cinema, there will be a 4% change of pitch in the sound. This is not normally discernable with voice and other sound effects, but some people can hear the difference in music reproduction. However, the pitch can be changed in a computer to compensate for this, before making the sound negative. This is done without altering the overall duration of the sound, or interfering with sync issues, in any way. You need to supply the lab with the final edit of the film on Digital Betacam (although D1, and even Betacam SP, are also possible). You need to indicate where the reel changes should occur for 35mm projection ........ every 20 minutes approximately. They print directly onto a 35mm camera negative, usually 5245 (an extremely fine-grained daylight balanced neg - one of Kodak's highest-quality stocks). But you could also opt for another negative emulsion like 5293 etc. for a different look. The sound negative is made from the Digital Betacam master tape (or from whatever format you supply to the lab with the final mix). Once you reach this stage, the rest of the lab work is the same as if you had shot 35mm film originally. So you would make an Answer Print/s and Release Prints as required. The estimated cost of the 35mm negative (i.e. the blow up) for a 90 minute film is approximately 32000 Swiss Francs = approximately Hfl. 43000 (guilders) = approximately DM 39000 (Deutsche Marks). This is quite a bit cheaper than I originally thought (my initial estimates were double this figure). Please Note: From the persepctive of 12 months later, these prices now seem very low. Double this price is closer to the mark these days, I'm afraid! My general recommendation is to keep checking, and double checking everything in the proceedure, as this is essentially a non-standard process. So like all non-standard proceedures, one needs to be aware of the possible pitfalls, or those annoying unseen or unthought of factors that always seem to crop up. The full implications in whats happening in post production probably being the most important things to watch out for. SWISS EFFECTS Copyright © Peter Gray (July 1998)
Peter Gray
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