720p in cinemas?

S

Sam Davies

Active member
Hi all,

I did a search but came up with nothing, so my apologies if this has been covered.

I'm in Pre-production for a feature (a mountain biking film), and while it's main output will be to SD DVDs, it's looking very likely that the premiere will be in a large cinema as part of a large (mtb) event.

I'll be shooting in 720p, what are your thoughts on how the image will look on a cinema screen? Is it going to be total crap, or will it be okay? I know that it has been done (there's an aussie film coming out shot in HDV 720 apparently), but how hard would it realistically be to get the footage looking good enough?

Does anyone have any idea what media cinemas generally use for projection (i.e., film, but anything else)?

I haven't had a detailed convo with the cinemas in that area, so that will obviously shed some light on it all.

Regards,
Sam
 
Sam,

I know of one film that was shot in 720p and has a theatrical distribution. The film is called 'Sarah Landon' and it's a teenage mystery type film. It was shot with the M2 and HVX and apparently looks fantastic blown up (there was a thread on the redrock micro site about the process). I think the website is www.sarahlandon.com

I'm in the pre-production process as well for an indie feature and have debated over 1080 and 720. I'm thinking I'll be going with 720 since some footage will need the over/under cranking.

Todd
 
A while back I went to Hollywood to see a showing of a video shot at 720p on the HD-100 camera. Other than the fact that the detail setting on the camera was set a bit too high, the 35mm film produced from the video looked really good. So, I think 720p could produce a good result for film.

Bob
 
"Borat" was shot in 720p.

There are plenty of films that have been shot on SD and looked pretty good in the theater; 720p is 2x to 3x as much detail as SD so it should look perfectly acceptable.
 
yeah, there have been a few. You could probably search on imdb to find out, but some here know the actual titles so.. stay tuned.
 
Barry do you think the output would be close to that of S16mm blown up as long as the footage was lit properly and a 35mm adapter used?
 
marketmd said:
Can you name some? Also have there ever been any theatrical releases done with the DVX?
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I could probably name dozens, and have done so frequently so search around. Off the top of my head, titles that were done at least partly on SD that have been theatrically released include Hoop Dreams, Bowling for Columbine, Roger & Me, and all the rest of the Michael Moore pics, and Soderbergh's "Full Frontal."

Titles done exclusively on DV include Tadpole, Personal Velocity, 28 Days Later, Open Water, The Celebration, Julien Donkey Boy, Chuck & Buck, My Date With Drew, SuperSize Me, and dozens of others.

Titles done on the DVX include The Aristocrats, 9 Songs, Mad Hot Ballroom, Sundance Cinematography winner November, Oscar-nominee Murderball, and Oscar-nominee Iraq In Fragments, as well as A Scanner Darkly.
 
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Those 'Sarah Landon' didn't hear apparently about such thing as color grading. Good lighting and good camera moves and yet the trailer still feels like a porn film because they didn't do much to the colors...

You gonna be fine i saw a number of projections with varius test 720, 1080 as well as standard deff. It makes big difference only if you sit really close to the screen. But even then 720 holds up spectaculary.
 
The 720 vs 1080 debate is useless when working with the HVX200
Apart some more noise, i really don't find a real difference.


.
 
great replies guys, thanks.

720p is definitely what I'll be shooting in to take advantage of all the HVX coolness.

So what you're saying is that if I'm careful with my shooting and do a decent colour grade all should be fine? yay!
 
i never have really understood these kinds of questions. features have been made for years on various SD gear and they look fine. why would 720p, hvx, dvx, xl2, etc... be any matter of concern???

the question for me would be workflow and delivery
 
This is the first film I've done for cinemas, I'm just a little nervous about it, that's all.

Okay, so what questions should I be asking? I did ask in the original post whether anyone knew anything about delivery..
 
Barry_Green said:
Titles done exclusively on DV include Tadpole, Personal Velocity, 28 Days Later, Open Water, The Celebration, Julien Donkey Boy, Chuck & Buck, My Date With Drew, SuperSize Me, and dozens of others.
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The ending of 28 Days Later was actually shot in 35mm. But I'm just being an a$$:D

Good round up Barry, I was curious of this stuff as well.
 
The Jackass movies were mostly DV, too. Part of The Blair Witch Project was video, I'm thinking Beta but I'm not sure.
 
Correct on both counts -- the last sequence in 28DL was 35mm. Jackass was shot on DV, Jackass II was shot mostly on the DVX and SDX with some HVX. Blair Witch Project was part 16mm, part RCA Hi-8mm video.
(edited/corrected after Lance Bangs' post below).
 
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Okay cool - so it can certainly be done - thanks guys!

Anyone have any info on what delivery format I will need to use for the cinema?
 
We shot most of Jackass The Movie in DV on Sony PD150, some Canon XL1, Sony TRV900, as well as some DigiBeta. For Jackass Number 2 we primarily shot on Panasonic DVX100B and SDX900, but we used the HVX200 shooting 720 24PN for a few shots and saw a noticeable difference. We also used the 60fps setting on the HVX200 for a few slow motion moments such as the rocket launch.
 
Sam Davies said:
Okay cool - so it can certainly be done - thanks guys!

Anyone have any info on what delivery format I will need to use for the cinema?
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Are you talking - "I need one copy to show one time"
or mass distribution?

Electronic or traditional film playback?

Our local arthouse cinema just plays back from DVD
and it looks OK. They will eventually get some type
of cinema server.

I have seen some shows that are running HD from
an Apple computer for one off screening.

There are also many MPEG HD servers that show
things like museum shows 24/7.

I have also used a Buffalo player that can show
WMV HD.

And if you want to transfer to film, go to:

www.dvfilm.com
 
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