|
|
 
|
|
Author
|
Topic: Do you go out of your way to watch TV shows shot on Film?
|
Don E. Nelson
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 138
From: Brentwood, CA, USA
Registered: Nov 2001
|
posted 10-20-2004 02:57 PM
Have you ever noticed that some TV shows just look better than others because of the way they are taped/filmed and the skill of the DP. I kind of got used to not really paying much attention until just lately.
If you ever watched English TV years ago, video was always used inside (studio shots) and film was always used outside (union rules or something) and the difference was sometimes shocking when the editor would make a cut from in to out.
There are a few shows that I normally wouldn't watch this season but now I watch them, and only if I can see them on at least a 25" to 30 " monitor. "Two and a Half Men" (low concept sit com) is shot on three perf 35mm film using 500 speed Kodak Vision2 5218 negative. This Kodak product has low grain and good sensitivity to light and really looks great on television. Of course its obvious "Friends" was shot on film!... And they had the bucks to shoot with 5 ea 35mm Panavision cameras, one Panavision XL and the rest Panavision Golds and the best 6:1 and 10:1 Primo zoom lens money can buy. "Will and Grace" is another show shot on film to especially catch the beautifull warm colors and look of the sets. Its really a combination of 3 things ,working in synergy together, that give these filmed shows the edge over the state of the art HD Panavision cameras.
Its a comb. of the: right lens/camera, film stock & lighting expertise. "8 Simple Rules" is shot on VIDEO, and a side by side comparison with any of the above filmed shows would make you cry. Tonite when you watch TV, look at the picture real close, is it film or is it video, in the hands of a master, FILM wins out every time.Its the subtleties of the lighting, the colors, etc. Here are just a few more shows shot on 35mm film. "The West Wing", "The Sopranos" is shot on Super 35, " Alias"(they do a lot of the effects in camera), and last but not least is my favorite: CSI. On one scene the DP pushed the [Kodak Vision 800T] stock two stops, at 12 frames per second, and transferred to video at 12 frames per second. The article I read said the DP even ran the shutter of the Panavision XL out of sync, at plus 70, and used fog filters to push highlights to get the shot.”
Just be careful of the video bait and switch during re-run season, "Mash" was also shot on film, but I remember watching the re-runs in the 80's, they were on two different channels at the same time, one was a film chain copy and one channel was showing a video dupe. It was fun to switch back and forth and see the difference.The video was just flat, like a soda compared to the film.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays
Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999
|
posted 10-21-2004 12:21 PM
It depends on the show for me. I have never seen ONE EPISODE of a show like "Barney Miller", simply because it's crappy, watery video. They resemble high-school plays, and for some programs, I can't get past that. Straight video-originated programming registers a certain "cheapness" that rubs me the wrong way. It translates to lower production value, which I guess is neither here nor there, but makes me feel shortchanged in the quality department. Again, it really depends on the show. I can watch "Sanford and Son" till the cows come home.
Video is fine for how-to programs, certain sitcoms, and "throw away" drivel like reality, talk, and game shows. But for dramatic and entertainment subjects, film is an aesthetically better choice.
There are some convincing FILM LOOK filters that have been used on some shows for a while now, and they're getting pretty good with them. A lot of times I can't even tell the difference -- which is great.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joe Redifer
You need a beating today
Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99
|
posted 10-21-2004 09:48 PM
Indeed, Steve. All TV listings should list:
-Frames per second
-Method of shooting (SD Video, HDTV, Film, 70mm, IMAX, IMAX X-TREME, etc)
-If normal SD video, then original format must be listed (NTSC, PAL, SECAM)
-Brand and models of equipment used to shoot.
-Method of presentation (Low Definition, High Definition, 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, etc)
-16:9 or 4:3 (also 4:3 stretched to 16:9)
-If 4:3, will there be black bars or grey bars on a 16:9 screen?
-Mono, Stereo, Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Pro Logic IIx, DTS-ES, etc.
-Bitrate for DTV version
-Editing software used (Final Cut Pro, Avid, etc)
All of this should be listed before running time and information on what the show is about.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Mark Ogden
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 943
From: Little Falls, N.J.
Registered: Jun 99
|
posted 10-22-2004 08:03 AM
quote: Don E. Nelson
Just be careful of the video bait and switch during re-run season, "Mash" was also shot on film, but I remember watching the re-runs in the 80's, they were on two different channels at the same time, one was a film chain copy and one channel was showing a video dupe. It was fun to switch back and forth and see the difference.The video was just flat, like a soda compared to the film.
I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to say here, Don. A video dupe of a film origination is a de-facto film chain copy (although the term 'film chain' is out of date). As a matter of fact, all film-originated network programming is transferred to videotape for network playback, which should not compromise its supposed "film-look" at all. Here at CBS, Two and a Half Men, a show who's look you admire, plays back to the network off a Sony D-2 tape and a Panasonic D-5 for the HD net. In fact, I don't think that there is a television station in America that still has a direct-to-air film-chain, almost 100% of off-network syndication, film or not, is transmitted from any one of a number of satellite distribution services, and recorded on tape (or, increasingly, video servers) for playback. The process doesn't render anything "flat like a soda" at all.
Some of the greatest and most beloved sitcoms ever aired were video. All In The Family, The Cosby Show, Sanford and Son, Home Improvement, Rosanne, Three's Company, Married With Children, The Jeffersons, Golden Girls, The Nanny, and on and on. People laughed for years, and they are still laughing in reruns. And not at the resolution and color rendition.
| IP: Logged
|
|
John Pytlak
Film God
Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000
|
posted 10-22-2004 11:45 AM
Film cinematography has won many Emmys over the years:
http://www.uemedia.net/CPC/cinematographer/printer_10117.shtml
quote:
2004 Emmy Cinematographers
By Staff
Sep 17, 2004, 14:31
Read about this year's Emmy nominees in the narrative competition that includes miniseries/movies of the week, multi-camera series and single camera series.
The ASC honors cinematographers shooting television shows:
http://www.theasc.com/clubhouse/news/index.htm
quote:
Fourteen nominees are vying for top honors in three television categories of the 18th Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards competition. Winners will be named at the ASC Awards gala on Feb. 8, at the Century Plaza Hotel.
Nominees for one episode of a regular series are John Aronson for “Dead Wives Club”/Crossing Jordan (NBC), Thomas A. Del Ruth, ASC for “7AWF83429”/The West Wing (NBC), Jeffrey Jur, ASC for “Pick A Number”/Carnivale(HBO), Chris Manley for “Dr. Germ”/Threat Matrix (ABC), and Eric Schmidt for “Time to Hate”/Cold Case (CBS).
Click here for all of the TV Series nominee bios.
Nominations in the TV movie/miniseries/pilot category in the basic cable or pay television competition include Stephen Goldblatt, ASC, BSC for Angels in America (HBO), Michael Mayers for The Pentagon Papers (FX), Donald M. Morgan, ASC for Out of the Ashes (Showtime), Tami Reiker for the Carnivale pilot (HBO), and Ashley Rowe, BSC for Tennessee Williams’ The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (Showtime).
Click here for all of the TV Cable nominee bios.
Nominees in the TV movie/miniseries/pilot category for network television are Pierre Gill, CSC for Hitler: The Rise of Evil (CBS), Ernest Holzman, ASC for the Miracles pilot (ABC), Michael Mayers for The Lyon’s Den pilot (NBC), Bill Roe, ASC for the Las Vegas pilot (NBC), and Eric Van Haren Noman, ASC for Brush With Fate (CBS).
Click here for all of the TV Network nominee bios.
“Our juries saw a lot of very special work in all categories,” says Awards Committee Chairman Owen Roizman, ASC. “It isn’t easy selecting nominees because the decisions are subjective. We are judging how effectively images convey stories. The votes were so close there could have been seven or eight nominees in each category.”
Mayers was nominated in two categories. Roizman notes that is only the fourth time that has happened in the 18-year history of the competition. It was the eighth nomination for Del Ruth who has four wins, the sixth each for Roe who has two wins and for Morgan who has four wins, the fourth for Van Haren Noman, the third for Goldblatt and Holzman who has one win, and the second each for Gill and Jur – who took top prize last year in the movie/miniseries/pilot competition for cable television. There are five first-time nominees.
NBC programs lead the pack with four nominations, HBO and CBS each have three, both Showtime and ABC have two, and the FX Network earned one.
ASC President Richard Crudo notes that this is one of the few competitions for television cinematography where judging is done solely by peers.
“Great cinematography is generally designed to be transparent to the audience,” he explains. “It’s meant to evoke emotions appropriate for the story and to create a sense of time and place that are important sub-texts. This requires a combination of artistic talent and technical skill and the ability to collaborate and get the work done on schedule, usually within restrictive budgets. It generally takes a cinematographer to recognize those attributes.”
For additional information about the 18th Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards visit our Awards Page or call (323) 969-4333.
The Kodak website has quite a few articles and interviews:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/16mm/exposed/index.jhtml?id=0.1.4.13&lc=en
quote:
We asked 14 of the television industry’s renowned producers and cinematographers from around the world to reveal their thoughts about film and electronic capture. They talked to us about their experiences with both. What works for them and why. What they like– and don’t like. Where they see things going in the future. And how they make their choice in the first place.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
|
|
Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM
6.3.1.2
The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion
and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.
|
Home
![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif)
I propose your immediate promotion to Film Goddess status. ![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif)
- But you wouldn't believe the ideas some people get about S-35 - I remember a well known film critic telling me about "James Cameron's great use of Super 35...Kodak makes a special film stock for him that has 3 times more resolution than usual!" 
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic