720P vs. 1080P for the big screen

M

maltess2

Well-known member
Hello guys


I am choosing for a project between Pana HPX 500, Varicam 27FE and sony f900. The 500 and the 900 are 1080, the vericam is 720. DP is saying the varicam has the richest and nicest colors, but is 720p. I intend to show this in some theaters and festivales. Is te diifrenece of 1080 and 720 noticeable in the big screen? is better to go in 1080 for some reason?

Thanks a lot and best regards!
 
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From my experience 720p is noticeably softer on the big screen than 1080p but you can always uprezz 720 to 1080 and that improves it a bit.
 
I've screened 480p on the silver screen and the audience was none the wiser. I actually had folks ask me if I shot it on 35mm or 16mm. A few asked whether is was 16mm or HD. (shot it on a DVX) Some of these folks were even professionals, haha.
 
It depends on the budget. remember camera dept is just just one dept. If 720 saves you money to spend elsewhere. Like Production design, audio, score etc. Then shoot 720 make the best film you can.

All those cams are great but not the latest options. I believe you could get a better more cost effective image out of an F3 or even AF100. Any reason those are not on the list.
 
...."Theaters and Festivals".....are you doing a film-out? if so, and budget is a concern which it sounds like, (it always is, isn't it) then do some research on an earlier Panasonic Varicam. i remember reading something about Ken Burns, Errol Morris, Davis Guggenheim, or maybe even Stacy Peralta using an older Varicam camera because it looked better than newer higher rezed cameras did on a film-out. i just did a google search. i think the camera i'm thinking about is the Panasonic AJ-HDC27.

here's a couple of the links i found:

http://dvformat.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=19542-1

http://broadcastengineering.com/products/oscars_winning_documentary_varicam_0303/
 
I'd agree with Patryk, and instead recommend you focus on the camera that gives you the latitude, color, and image quality you desire to tell the story.

These days, I don't count pixels. I just want a camera that allows me to easily get the image I want. Latitude, color rendition, lens choices and other topics are of much greater importance to me than how many pixels.

If they like the film in 1080, they'll like it in 720.

However, with that said, from a business perspective... distributors will always be looking for good content, but they'll like you even more if you have a project that fits their specs... which is usually some sort of 1080 and color. I know some television cable stations who will rake you over coals if it's not in color and HD specs they approve. It's lame, but life.

Look at Roger Deakins and 'The Man Who Wasn't There' one of the best Black and White films ever shot. It was also released in color overseas because of distribution. It's the lame business side, but it's also the hand that feeds, so make it happy if you must.
 
I'd avoid the HPX500 if possible. And the RED at 1k is pretty dreadful. That original varicam at 720p (in fact 720/960), is still a very good looking camera and superb for docs. Still Discovery and Nat Geo's A-camera.
 
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