How truly important is resolution?

T

THiNSPiRiT

Well-known member
I just wanted to make this post because i've had many discussions with people about overall quality of images and degredation and resolution and anamorphic this and squeezed that and pretty much all that techie crap we worry about in order to make our images seem as clean as we possibly can...

Now, this is an opinion based thing so it's free reign on what people's thoughts are on it: Is it worth all this trouble and effor to really get those few extra lines of resolution or quality?

Not to say I think we should ignore all of this stuff, but I sometimes feel it gets to the point where i honestly don't think it matters to the average audience whether you maintain the full image off of the CCD or whatever. At what point does it get ridiculous to worry about "softening" your picture and spending a whole bunch more time and effort on making sure you maintain as high a resolution as possible and overlooking the story or other aspect of your film...

I'd really like to hear some input on this and whether or not other people just feel a little overwhelmed by trying to worry about a few lines of resolution rather than making sure your film is just damn good...
 
Re: How truly important is resolution?

Interesting topic and a much debated one! A good example is "28 Days Later". Obviously, us filmmaker types are quick to scrutinize, but I think the average viewer (You know, my brother, my wife) doesn't notice, much less care about the image.

I'm not talking about the difference between "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Blair Witch Project" of course, any ass monkey can notice that "Blair Witch" looked horrible (and it was expected).

But, I bet, when the film "November" hits theatres (I imagine it will hit a limited run in the indi theatres?) the average viewer couldnt tell you what format it is.
 
Re: How truly important is resolution?

agree with mr. hudson.. the balance between content and image quality is an important issue nowadays when the "digital revolution" approaches. image helps to tell the story, it's a mussel if you will, in a whole body that called "a movie". you can't rely on only one mussel in this body, if you want a strong one..... ok i made my point with this allegory..
another thing about resolution, the CCD's gather for you material to work with. from that point until it hits a print, it will only lose quality, never the other way around.. so as much as you have to start with, so you'll have more to end up with.. start with less resolution, less "material", you'll find yourself not as flexible throughout the whole process.
 
Re: How truly important is resolution?

Place a DVX100 PAL and an NTSC side by side....on two monitors and judge for yourself as this is an issue where you would never beleive anyone but your own eyes

Just a suggestion
 
Re: How truly important is resolution?

wrong post prismatic?

i just tried posting on this, but it got erased. i would have to say that, thankfully, resolution is becoming less and less of an issue. Audiences are finally starting to accept new & more abstract aesthetics, such as DV and 25P, as an acceptible look for motion pictures, as evidenced by films like "dancer in the dark", "28 days later", "21 Grams", and "julien donkey-boy". it's important to remember that "realism" (i.e. glossy, high-resolution images) is only way way to present an image or a story, and sometimes a low-rez image will suit a story better.

the ideas always speak louder than the images--melies' "a trip to the moon" is almost a challenge to watch, but it's still shown in every film school in the world.
 
Re: How truly important is resolution?

My favorite point in this argument is: The Simpsons. Here's a show that has *no* resolution, no detail, no "film look", yet it's the longest-running sitcom in television history.

So, quality story and brilliant writing FIRST -- technicals later.

Now, people get hung up on the concept of "more resolution", etc., because, well, better is BETTER. If "28 Days Later" had been shot on DVX100's, it would have been higher-resolution and not looked so out-of-focus in the theater. Would that have made it a "better" movie? I don't know. But it would have been easier to watch, I suspect.

Better is better, and lots of us want to get the best we can. But it's important to put your efforts in the right place. There's an old rule in business called the 80/20 rule, which states that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts, and the other 80% of your efforts will deliver the other 20% of your results. So, to succeed, concentrate on that 20% of effort that will deliver 80% of your results. And that 20% of effort/80% of results is: learn how to tell a compelling story. Tell it well. Learn the rules of storytelling and how it's evolved since the days of Plato and Socrates, and why so much of it HASN'T evolved since the days of Plato and Socrates, learn what works and how to tell a story that will overwhelm your audience with emotion. Even if your means for telling the story is some hand-drawn animation like The Simpsons.

It's a lot less effort to read "The Writer's Journey" and "Hero with 1,000 Faces" and "Story" and "How To Write A Movie In 21 Days" and "Screenplay" and all that, and study and write and study and write and refine and refine and refine, than it is to go out and make a full feature. I'd say learning the art & craft of storytelling will take 20% of your efforts and yield 80% of your results.

The 80% of effort for 20% of results can all be summed up in "which camera should I shoot, should I use anamorphic or letterbox, mini35 or anamorphic, 24PA or 24PN, etc. etc. etc."
 
Re: How truly important is resolution?

That's a great way of putting it Barry...

I also do agree that better *is* better... there's no question if you can get the quality or resolution, you should...

In regards to a grungier look being the new fad... i think that sucks to be honest... just because you can't get a perfect 35mm look with miniDV doesn't mean you should just make it look like **** for the sake and calling it the style... I say we screw that and just make DV look DAMN GOOD! Am I right?!
 
Re: How truly important is resolution?

Are you right? You are.

We've basically talked about all this in the past:

Is Casablanca less of a movie because its colourless?

Is The Lion King any less of a movie because it is animated?

The answer? NO. A format is a format, certain formats enhance certain pieces of subject matter, so its all about the context that you're using it all in. If it works, it does: if the average viewer watched your DVX-shot film and said that they didn't enjoy it because of the lack of resolution, well then FINE, it was a problem.

But I know many people who have seen 28 Days Later, and after I told them it was shot on video, they simply said "was it?"

People don't care, and untill they do your film will still be good, whatever your format 8)
 
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