◉REPORT
Introduction
How long has it been since you shot with 16mm film? First of all, I would like to tell you the conclusion that I thought about this shooting. If possible, "I want to shoot everything on film in the future." The production of this work has been a positive stimulus for me in many ways. However, it is also true that it is a little difficult to understand for those who have never shot with 16 mm film and for those of the digital generation. Of course, there will be a balance between the budget of the work, and I would like to write a brief account of my experience until the completion of the 16mm work, including the fluffy parts around it.
Shooting was done with 16mm film
At the end of February, I visited Vladivostok in Russia for both shooting and sightseeing. "Why Vladivostok? Where is it?" Vladivostok is located in the Far East of Russia, close to the borders of China and North Korea. Furthermore, recently it has become possible to easily apply for a visa online, so the number of tourists from Japan seems to be increasing. Since I was able to go to Europe and Russia, I wanted to shoot something there, so I decided to shoot a few minutes of short film on 16mm first. The reason why I chose 16mm for the shooting media is that recently in Japan, I often see movies and web commercials shot with 16mm again, and I reaffirmed the value of the look and tone, "After all, film is good." because I was forced to And the simple reason was that I wanted to shoot in Russia with that look and tone. I used to work with 16mm when I was a student, but now I have a strong desire to experience the "current location" of film production, including confirmation of the workflow for creating works with 16mm, costs, and the latest scanning technology. rice field.
Get ready for shooting on Instagram
I got a ticket to Vladivostok. Many of the local hotels are business hotels, and most of them are very ordinary places, and I chose places that are clean to some extent and are reasonably priced. My only wish was that the shower didn't come out with brown lukewarm water as mentioned in the online reviews, but after that, my worries were gone.
When it comes to smooth filming in a foreign country, I knew I needed a coordinator because I didn't understand Russian. Therefore, I kept in touch with a local guide who was working on a private basis, but due to unavoidable circumstances at the last minute, it became inconvenient, and preparations went back to the beginning.
The next thing I thought was to explore Instagram with the #Vladivostok hashtag. A local beautiful female food photographer caught my eye. If she cooperates, she can appear on the screen as a model, and if she is a photographer, I thought that she would be able to consult with me about shooting and location to some extent. I immediately sent a message and found out that her husband is also a photographer and is fluent in English. They kindly accepted our local support, and of course, they suggested the location for this time as well as the performance. Without them, this shoot would not have been possible.
In addition, I wanted to make a work that included several cast members other than the female photographer I mentioned earlier. Therefore, I researched local model agencies, had them send me photos and other information by e-mail, and booked two additional people. What surprised me a little here was the low unit price of the models. In Japan, even a short photo shoot costs about 50,000 to 80,000 yen for a few hours, but it costs about 3,500 yen per hour. Even if it is 6 hours, it is quite conscientious at about 20,000 yen. Also, regarding costumes, I found a local designer's select shop on Instagram, and negotiated a lease for the shoot. I was prepared to pay about 20% of the selling price, as is customary in Japan, but it turned out to be a free lease. The day before the shoot, I went to pick her up, and I tried various things like a fashion show. made me
If you feel like this, rather than shooting in Japan, it would be better to shoot in Vladivostok with the feeling that "I'm going to shoot a little fashion shoot". I didn't think so.
▲The costumes were leased for the shoot at a select shop of a local designer.
What about photography equipment/film?
I was thinking of bringing a standard 16mm camera, the German-made ARRI S, which I recently acquired. However, he gave up on this because it was simple and robust, weighed as much as two iron arrays, and if he didn't submit an application, he might get caught at the airport. This time, I decided to borrow a camera called Beaulieu R16 (Volieu) made in France and a lens group centered on Angenieux (Angenieux) from an acquaintance. The weight is also lighter than the ARRI S, and the camera body has a beautiful French streamline design. It makes me feel like I can really make a French movie myself. Since this camera is battery-powered, I was quite worried about whether it would work without problems in Vladivostok, the Far East, where temperatures were said to be -15 degrees Celsius, and whether the battery would run out. I dealt with that by bringing a Super8 8mm film camera and a Canon digital SLR as a backup.
Some of you may think that 16mm cameras are not so easy to get. I think Bolex and Beauliue are relatively inexpensive 16mm cameras. It can be used relatively lightly compared to ARRI S etc., which will be used on a tripod. However, as you know, it's a fairly old camera, so you'll have to go to Yahoo or ebay auctions to find one in good condition. If you are a professional shooter with a decent budget, we recommend renting the ARRI SR series.
The film used is Kodak's “VISION3”, a high-performance color negative film used for theatrical releases. In the past, FUJIFILM also produced a film for a movie called “ETERNA,” but now Kodak is the only choice. I remember that the previous purchase method was to call Kodak and tell them the type of film and the required number of films, and deal directly with them. However, recently it has become possible to easily purchase 16mm film online, and above all, I think it is wonderful that the student discount (40% off) has created an environment where even students can easily try it.
This time I bought two 100ft winding 50D, one 250D and one 500T, totaling 400ft, about 10 minutes (numbers such as 50D are sensitivity, D is daylight, T is meaning of tungsten). The reason I divided the sensitivities was that I was most likely to shoot under the pecan sun, so I used two low-sensitivity 50Ds, and the 250D because there was natural light, but I might be able to shoot in dimly lit places. This is because I thought that there might be a place where one is quite dark here, so I thought that one of the high-sensitivity 500T would be used.
Film loading is a little trickier. If you do not set it properly, it may get caught inside, damage the film, and cause trouble during shooting. There are videos on how to do this on YouTube, but if you really need to practice with the ARRI S, you can practice and receive support in the 16mm film trial room (margin). It will be necessary to repeat the feeling of handling the film with your fingertips, perforations (holes in the film), and the work of biting your fingernails in the camera mechanism.
Originally, it is desirable to load in a dark bag to prevent exposure to light and to prevent dust from entering. In other words, it is necessary to be able to load without looking. However, this time, I wanted to finish the film change quickly with a small crew (2 shooting staff including me, and 1 hair and make-up person), so I loaded the camera in a place not exposed to direct sunlight while covering it with a cloth.
▲The 16mm camera was a Volume R16, and the lenses were centered around Angenieux.
▲From the wide side, Kinor 6mm/f1.8, Nikkor 10mm/f1.8, Angenieux 15mm/f1.3, 25mm/f0.95, 75mm/f2.5. 35mm full-frame conversion 21mm, 35mm, 52.5mm, 87.5mm, 262.5mm.
At the filming site on the day
There are two ruins that were decided during location scouting after arriving at the site. They were 30 minutes away by car, and I was worried about getting dark, so I considered narrowing it down to just one, but both locations were very attractive, so I ended up visiting two. In the work, the exterior and interior are different locations, but they are shown as one place. As I mentioned earlier, the lenses I used were mostly Angenieux lenses, and the lineup from the wide-angle side was Kinor 6mm/f1.8, Nikkor 10mm/f1.8, and Angenieux 15mm/f1.3. , 25mm/f0.95, 75mm/f2.5. I usually shoot in full size, so I would like to convert it to 35mm full size, but I was told that it would be good to multiply it by about 3.5. In other words, the full-frame lenses I had were 21 mm, 35 mm, 52.5 mm, 87.5 mm, and 262.5 mm, and I was able to shoot with a fairly telephoto range.
However, when shooting with 16mm film, it is difficult for someone who is used to shooting in full size to blur the image. Of course, it doesn't just mean that it's cool if it's blurred, but what, where, or who should you focus on in the image, guiding the viewer's eyes, is different from shooting in full size. Of course, it blurs it to some extent, but I feel that providing viewers with images that are slightly in focus requires more careful care, such as the background and color of the subject. Since the filter side of the lens was almost unified with a step-up ring etc., I was able to shoot smoothly by attaching an ND filter to each lens.
I mentioned earlier that the film takes about 10 minutes in total. Because of that restriction, I was able to think more seriously about each cut, and the situation where I had no choice but to think more was very refreshing.
I did not use a tripod or monopod for all the shots, but all shot handheld. Again, I think I really like handheld photography. I don't have many opportunities to shoot hand-held at work, but I feel like I can quantify the camera position, height and angle with a tripod or monopod. However, I like hand-held shooting because it gives me the feeling that I can get into the gap between the exquisite numbers. As a result, it is possible to express the unstable emotions of the characters in the work and at the same time shorten the progress and time of the shooting itself.
About development/scanning
I asked IMAGICA for development. This time, however, I asked Mr. Araki of the 16mm trial room, who has a transaction/account with IMAGICA and has been indebted to me for some time, to act as an intermediary, and brought in the film that had already been shot. Here, I have to confess that I used four 100ft lenses, and only one of them was shot with the wrong sensitivity setting. I thought I was shooting with ISO50 film, but I actually had ISO250 film in my camera and ended up shooting with the wrong exposure.
As you all know, if you do normal development as it is, it will be overexposed. Therefore, it is necessary to perform desensitization processing, but it is difficult to know how much desensitization processing should be performed. Depending on the degree, the graininess becomes noticeable, and the tone of the image seems to change.
In this case, I had the person in charge of sales at IMAGICA and Mr. Araki advise me to "do 1/2 desensitization processing". Mr. Araki, a film specialist who has worked on numerous shoots, made the delicate judgments and decisions in this regard, and the result was a very good look, which was really helpful.
As for scanning, I decided to use Blackmagic's Cintel Scanner2 this time. I've never seen a film scanner up close, but when I saw the Cintel Scanner2, the design of the product is really high, and I'm excited. The operation of the scanner is really simple, and I was surprised to be able to easily control and operate the Cintel Scanner2 from the Davinci Resolve software by connecting it to a Mac. Since the film rotates at high speed, I was worried that it might break, but Cintel Scanner2 automatically measures the tension properly and prevents excessive load from being applied to the film. It is said that there is. Furthermore, it is reassuring to know that it is programmed to stop smoothly in the unlikely event of an abnormality or trouble. It is said that scanning in real time is also possible, but this time I tried HDR scanning with two exposures. As the name suggests, it is said to have benefits on the highlight and shadow side. Also, it goes without saying that this shoot was a negative film. Without positive reversal, the actual color tone does not come out. Even such things can be restored to normal in an instant with auto black and white from positive inversion with Davinci Resolve, an advanced grading software.
Once you have scanned it, you can edit it with the usual workflow, so if you make it into data, you can relax a little.
Can be digitized with Blackmagic's Cintel Scanner2 and edited and graded with DaVinci
▲Developed film.
▲The reel of developed film is read while playing back through BlackmagicDesgin's Cintel Scanner2. Can be handled as Cintel RAW data with the connected DaVinci Resolve.
Summary
It is true that shooting on film is somewhat expensive. However, once you see the image, there is a feeling that you can't go back. As the sound of the camera starting to turn, I peered further into the viewfinder, and a pleasant sense of responsibility came upon me. Before turning the camera, I communicate more closely with the actors than usual. The sun will soon set and it will be dark, so I prepare while my heart is pounding. English and Russian flew back and forth, and I made the best possible preparations until the actual performance. The film images that are finally ejected have the atmosphere, tone, and emotion that I value most, and they help me express myself. Mr. Ota, who was in charge of grading, said, "You don't have to use filmconvert, right?" This software I love. Yes, if you shoot with film, you don't have to make it look like it was "simulated". If possible, "I want to shoot everything on film in the future."
16mm film and development costs ●16mm film 400ft (approximately 10 minutes) costs about ¥30,000 ●16mm film development fee 400ft costs about ¥30,000 ●16mm film 2K/4K scanning costs about ¥400ft 50,000-80,000 (telecine/scan is fine and can be cheap depending on quality)
Information list for shooting 16mm KODAK (16mm film purchase) https://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/kodak/ IMAGICA LAB (development/scan etc.) https://www. imagicalab.co.jp/ ● Blackmagic Design (scanning/Cintel Scanner2) https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/jp/products/cintel ● 16 mm film trial room (camera/film consultation, etc.) http://www.banrifilm .com/room.html
Reprinted from Video SALON June 2019 issue
16mm
