Integrating 16mm footage with HD

Chamber005

Chamber005

Carbonite Member
I'm going to be shooting 16mm (first time) for a project I'm doing and I wanted to integrate it with my HD camcorder footage.

As I understand it 16mm is in 4:3, correct? So that means I would have to black bar the top and bottom?

I was hoping not to have to black bar the top and bottom seeing as how my camera is 1080X1920 and so doesn't need the bars.

Alternatively could I frame the shots accordingly and simply zoom in and crop the 16mm footage in post using CS4 or Premier Pro, or would that muss up the image?

Has anyone here combined 16mm footage with their HD footage without utilizing black bars?
 
I have obtained the 16x9 image from 16mm (and intercut it with my HD footage) 2 different ways:
From a regular 16mm 4:3 frame whereby I pushed in during telecine to grab the smaller 16x9 portion of the image; and shooting straight Super16 for the 16x9 image. If you have a good camera and glass with a Spirit (or better) transfer, both give you excellent results for intercutting. Try to use Aaton or Arriflex cameras with prime lenses. If you use a Bolex (or something similar), your results will not be as good since the image passes through a prism first before hitting the film. Super16 from a Bolex would be fine, but trying to grab the smaller portion of the frame from regular 16mm would be marginal.
 
Regular 16mm film that is perforated on both sides is basically 4:3... but that isn't very common these days. Most 16mm film (stocks) are only perforated on one side, allowing the film to be used in a super 16mm camera. So it will depend on your camera gate.... the film CAN have an image from a S16mm camera which would be about 1.66:1... but mathematically I think is like 1.68. But that is still not 16:9 which is 1.78:1.

The answer is HD video does not match up with any film format right out the gate. 16x9 (1.78:1) is less wide then academy 1.85:1, and is wider then s16mm at 1.66:1. It is much wider from standard 35mm and 16mm film which is 1.33:1. This is because when 16x9 was 'invented' it was settled upon for being a good median format. Something that the many other formats (1.33:1, 1.66:1, 1.85:1, 2.39:1) could get along with. Kinda dumb, but kinda smart. I dunno.

So yeah, you do have to crop. And it's perfectly normal. Depending on the camera you are using, my advice to you would to try and get a 16x9 etched ground glass for your optical viewfinder. Those will give you guides to protect the image. Then get a higher resolution scan (2k or higher) and then extract the 16x9 image from the film and put it onto your HD timeline.
 
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Yeah, I'm still looking at who to develop with and who to do the digital transfer with (and if I can do both with the same company). I've heard that Kodak handles quite a lot itself. Not sure if they would be the best place to go or not.

And for this project I'm either using a Cine Kodak Special or a Krasnogorsk K-3 to shoot the 16mm stuff.
 
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