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Read more
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in70mm.com
The 70mm Newsletter
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Compiled
by: Paul Rayton |
Date:
05.07.2007 |
In 2006, Kodak and Arriflex, plus the L.A. lab known as "FotoKem" cooperated
to produce a new demonstration film, to illustrate the significant benefits
of shooting on 65mm film.
Of course, we all know about shooting a larger negative, and how it delivers
a better image, but a lot of people -- even those working in the industry!
-- do not understand this. And, with the increasing use of "D.I.s" ("Digital
Intermediates") in post-production work, it was important to be able to
illustrate to the people out there that even using these D.I. processes,
that they could significantly enhance their exteriors, esp. long shots and
grand vistas, by using 65mm for the original photography -- and still have
those image(s) be compatible with the close-ups and dialogue photography
that might have been photographed on 35mm film or, possibly, even some kind
of HD capture device.
So, Director of Photography Bill Bennett, a member of the American Society
of Cinematographers was selected to be the "DP" for the project. Mr.
Bennett's most-often assignment, in his daily work life, is as a DP for
automotive commercials, so you know that there would have to be some scenes
of cars. But that wasn't to be it exclusively.
In order to show the versatility of the photography, and the process, it was
decided to have several exterior scenes, with some models, plus varied
conditions and locations.
The mountains of central California would be the location, and so
photography was done near Lone Pine, in the Sierra mountains of central
California. Various types of camera emulsions would be used, in varying
light conditions. (All the specifics of those details can be found listed on
the in70mm.com website.)
Some of the exteriors were in full sunlight, but, as fate would have it, on
one of the days of shooting there was a thin layer of high cloudiness,
leading to a somewhat "flatter" light than would have been the most
dramatic, ideal, for demonstration purposes. However, this was not a
Hollywood production with an unlimited budget, and they couldn't wait days
for the light to change, so they worked with the light they had at that
time.
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More
in 70mm reading:
"As Good as it Gets"- Demonstrates
power of large format
"As Good As It Gets" Introductory Notes
...about the showings
“As Good as it Gets” - cast/credit
ARRI 765 Film List
Panavision and the Resurrecting
of Dinosaur Technology
Internet link:
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After the mountains and forests and lakes, of course there had to be a few
scenes of "city" views, and that's were the automotive scenes enter into the
picture. There are several scenes of cars, traveling the highways around
central Los Angeles, as well as some evening "magic hour" views of the new
Frank Gehry-designed "Walt Disney Concert Hall", to show off the incredible
sharpness of the camera process.
At the first public demonstration viewings of this film, in November 2006,
held at UCLA in Los Angeles, there were various versions of the movie shown,
including a 35mm print from a D.I., a 4K d-cinema version using the Sony 4K
projector, and of course, the 70mm print. After the evening presentations
were completed, there was still a bit of time, and the audience (a bunch of
Hollywood professionals, from various specialties in the post-production
field) was asked, "what would you like to see repeated?" -- the answer was,
the 70mm print. Clearly the audience favorite, and many of the younger
people present had never seen actual 70mm film, actually projected "in the
splendor of 70mm". The result spoke for itself.
The film does not have a completely synchronized soundtrack. Rather, there
is some specially-composed music to be played via a companion CD, with
approximate synchronization. That's why you will now see the countdown
leader projected, to help get the timing right ...
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Updated
28-07-24 |
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