[Konvas] buying a 2-perf camera. finally! or renting one forthemoment

[Adam Frey]

XiaoSu,
First, I always run the numbers over and over, which is why I stay on 
budget.

Talk to at least three labs and tell them how much film you are bringing 
in. Call the people that sell film. Talk to Kodak reps and Fuji reps as 
well as recan dealers like filmemporium or raw-stock. All will gladly 
speak to you on the phone - get actual quotes from actual people and 
write down their names, numbers to get hold of them in case of problems, 
and most importantly the exact quote and film stock, as well as dates 
they expire and the RGB numbers (if they are recans/shortends they 
should already be snip tested before they are sold to you).

Second, Here's the key to shooting: Even at an 8:1 ratio, Do as many 
walk throughs as it takes to get everyone on the same level. If an actor 
seems uncertain where he needs to be at a certain spot, or doesn't know 
his lines well enough, then keep walking through the scene with them 
until he/she is ready. DON'T WASTE FILM.

If you're planning to shoot 48 minutes of film for your short film, and, 
I can't remember if you quoted the length of your film, but let's say it 
is 6 minutes long for my benefit (cause I have it in my head somehow), 
then your shooting ratio would be about an 8:1 shooting ratio. If it's 
an 8:1 ratio, plan on shooting a 6:1 or 7:1 ratio so you have some left 
over in case of problems.

Third, You're shooting at night and probably with low light (I'm 
guessing this because of where you said you couldn't get fast enough 
anamorphic lenses). If you're thinking fast lenses are going to save 
your butt, please rethink that one again. You're actors can't hit there 
marks very easily if they are walking/running, and even at f2.5, we're 
talking mere inches for a good focus (READ: not feet or meters). That 
means he/she can stand on the mark, but could be leaning the wrong way 
and he/she will NOT be in proper focus.

And if you plan on shooting 500ASA film, it'd better not have a filter 
over the front of it that eats any light (for instance, an 85b filter 
will eat 2/3rds of a stop, which means a 500T film with an 85b filter 
will, in so many words, be cut down to 320D).

But, there is hope - don't be afraid to investigate push processing, if 
needed, over super-speed lenses - costs only a little extra in post 
(like $0.08 cents a foot), but in really low light, it could be 
necessary. It will be much easier for you to shoot with a potential 
1600ASA or 2000ASA film speed than shooting wide-open with a fast set of 
lenses (f1.4 to f2). Know what you are doing with push processing though 
and do a test to make sure it's what you want. It could be too much 
grain for your needs.

And no, you can't shoot your first scene "regular 500ASA", then push the 
next scene, then go back to 500ASA again. You basically have to make 
your decision PER CAN (i.e., these three cans are going to be pushed 
2-stops, this one will be pushed 1-stop, these two are processed 
regularly).

Btw: Make sure the lab can push two stops - I've heard that some will 
only push one stop for some reason...

Fourth, The places 2-perf will save money is in the buying of the raw 
film stock (half as much needed as 4-perf) and in processing/cleaning 
(half as much to process clean). 2-perf will also save time on set with 
magazine changes - and time IS money!

The DI/telecine is going to cost per frame though, and that means the 
same amount of frames whether it is 2-perf or 4-perf - and that's 
usually the most expensive part of working with film.

Of course, saying this now, I do wonder if there's a way to shoot 
2-perf, transfer/DI it as regular 4-perf, and then have a program like 
Photoshop cut each frame in half? That would save money in DI costs, 
since you'd only be doing half as much of the transfer. Of course, color 
correcting wouldn't be as easy and there'd probably be a lot of other 
issues... Hmmm.... Jeeze - I know I'm getting tired, as I'm starting to 
think of these ridiculous things...

If you had access to a steenbeck, it might be cheaper to just get a 
workprint made (instead of a telecine/DI), and edit your film on the 
steenbeck. It will definitely be cheaper over a digital video to 
film-out (unless you're doing it the same way as Olivier did a while 
back for a film festival - read through the archives to find his method).

Okay, I'm off to dreamland. I return to Segovia tomorrow afternoon for a 
  night, then head north to a really big Fiesta in a really small town 
called Cascajares for a few days. I'm telling you now, it is the best 
food I have ever eaten in my life...


Adam Frey
Director/Cinematographer
Crimson Chain Productions
http://crimsonchain.com