I'm a student looking to ask some cinematographers some questions for a.....

T

tedstriker

Active member
research project. Preferable you would have worked with both film and digital cameras. I'm trying to find out how digital cameras and computers with digital coloring software has changed cinematography and how the decision making processes as to the final look have either changed or not changed.
any input is greatly appreciated.
 
The single biggest change for me is there is a whole let less time spent in preproduction doing tests. Sure, we may spend a day or so testing lenses and filters but that is about it. With film we could spend a week week or more testing film stocks alone.
 
so is there more faith put in the post production process in getting the right look? is the process more collaborative because there are more people involved?
 
No, it is not about relying more on the post process. It is more about be able to see instant result from your lens, filter and exposure decisions. With film you have to try many combinations and clearly note and slate each test. You then send this to the lab for processing and printing, if you are going to do a positive print for your final. If you are shooting for the small screen the lab will process and and do a one light transfers.

Once this initial processing is done you will set down and view your tests, make the needed adjustments and start the process all over again until you finally reach the look you are going for. This may sometimes take many passes.

As you can see this is way more involved than video when you can stick different lenses and filters on a camera at different ISO, shutter speeds and angles until you get the look you want. Granted it is wise to have your colorist involved to get his opinion on how to best obtain the final look desired.
 
For me (and I am in no way a famous cine haha, unless sports films count..and docs) digital allows me to just "always be ready". While I love film (and do still use it on actual narrative pieces if my budget allows it) digital allows me to work in the "ideal" situation for me...fast, never worrying about how many feet I have left till I have to reload / change mags, and just gives me the ability to be able to constantly shoot more and more.

Some people consider the "capture everything" approach to be overkill, but my background (sports documentary, and now actual documentary) always made me want to have the most amount of raw footage to choose from. When I work digitally, my energy and cost can go in front of the camera, and not in film stock and reload times.

But like I said, if I am shooting narrative and have the money, I do opt for film in that situation. Nothing beats a S16 HD scan when it comes to color grading and "look" for me
 
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