≡ Menu

The Director’s Chair Issue #64 – March 30, 2006 (Digital vs Film)

Digital vs. Film: Some Post Production Complexities
by  Kulwant Rajwans

Last week I had a meeting at a post-production studio to
discuss my options for my next film which is to be shot this
summer.  I figured that since the fast rise of HD has
penetrated much of the market, particularly the home
camcorder market, making my film with a prosumer HD camera
would prove to be less complicated (and maybe less
expensive) than the more traditional methods.  As it turns
out, this may not be necessarily true.

The main issues when it comes to considering the complexity
and cost of post-production are what type of processes the
film must go through to have the desired look, and where the
film will be exhibited.  At the outset of a project, it
would be beneficial for filmmakers to decide what format he
or she will be exhibiting his or her movie.  For example, if
you plan to release your film in Theatrical (35mm),
Theatrical HD, DVD, or television, then there are options
that are worth considering.

As an independent filmmaker, you are likely to exhibit your
movie at festivals on DVD and on television.  Take note that
today there is a large growth in the amount of digital
projection systems at festivals; however, there are so many
digital films that that there is growing competition for
screenings.

If you are shooting digital, often the rational presented is
that the tapes are cheap and there is no added cost for
processing the film stock.  For the past couple of years,
camera manufacturers began launching low priced prosumer
digital cameras which attempt to provide the qualities of
HD, including offering an HD look, but cost only a fraction
of the price!   Also, professional editing software is now
affordable and capable of operating on a home computer
system so the financial risk of making a movie is perceived
to be minimal.   To better understand if this rational makes
sense, let’s look at the way professional post production is
done and if it is in fact less complicated to shoot your
project in film.

35mm & 16mm film

Let’s begin with the scenario that you’re shooting your
project in film.  You’ve made arrangements with the
post-production studio and given details about your project.
Let’s look at a very general overview of what goes on.

Here’s an example:

Production dates
Type of project
Format to be shot on
Formats to be output on
Sound Completion requests
Special requests (FX/Sound/Colour/Titles)
Project due date

Presume that you film each day and send the film and sound
to the lab for the dailies to be processed and the sound to
be synced and transferred to a format that you can have your
editor begin capturing and cutting.   It is at this time
that the film goes through a process known as the ‘3:2
pulldown’ to be converted to a digital tape.  The 3:2
pulldown is where 24fps (film) is converted to 30fps (film).

Although NTSC is said to run at 30fps, it actually runs at
29.97fps with 2 fields per frame.  Essentially, one is
transferring 4 frames of film to 5 frames of video.  This
means that it is running 0.1% slower than 30 fps, so to have
the transfer lined up properly the film must be slowed down
by 0.1% during the transfer and the fields transferred
accordingly.  The end result is not really noticeable to the
eye.

CLICK HERE https://www.actioncutprint.com/digitalvsfilm.html
to see diagram of 3:2 Pulldown. 4 frames of film are transferred to 5 frames of video.

Once the film is completed and you have finished editing
your process you export a list known as an EDL (edit
decision list).  This list is used to perform an online edit
of your film at a Post Production Studio where they will
also do a final colour correction of the movie.  Once that
is all done then the project is outputed onto the different
formats that you have requested.  If you have shot on 16mm
there will be an additional cost to blow up your film onto
35mm, and take note that 16mm has a grainier feel.

Shooting HD-24p

Now, let’s look at the situation where you’re shooting your
project on HD-24p (High Definition) and want to output it on
35mm.  Although I feel that film still looks better I
believe that HD is going to play a more prominent role in
film and television productions, and understanding HD’s
format is going to be beneficial.

When it comes to the post-production process it is very
similar to film post-process but HD has the added benefit,
among others, of the flexibility to colour correct while
shooting during production, and the film shooting process
does not allow for this during production.  However, in the
case of HD, having a film print made requires another
technology which generally means added costs.

To output a digital project on film, a scanner is used to
burn each frame onto film.  This added complexity can be
very expensive and the price has generally not decreased
over the past couple of years. Note that once you choose
this route, post production houses usually charge by the
minute, and it would be prudent to investigate the rates.

Shooting Prosumer 24p & SD (Standard Definition)

The process that many independent filmmakers are using today
is shooting on what is commonly referred to as a prosumer HD
or a SD (Standard Definition) camera with the idea of
converting it to film just like the HD-24p scenario.  What
most people do not know is that prosumer cameras are
generally a capture-only format.  This means that when you
want to convert to film you now have the added cost of
capturing/converting it into HD and then another expense to
have the project burned onto film.

To understand better, SD has a 4:3 aspect ratio and captures
at 29.97fps NTSC while standard 35mm film has a ratio of
1.85:1 and operates at 24 fps

Having provided a brief sketch the differences of
post-production process between film and digital, I would
suggest to filmmakers that they should consider the type of
venue in which their film will be exhibited, and to learn
more about the details involved in the post-production
process prior to commencing their shoot.  Keep in mind that
film projectors are still the dominant projection system in
theatres today and that shooting on digital may not always
seem to be the easier way at the end of the day.

———————————————————–
Kulwant Rajwans graduated in Film Studies from Ryerson
University in Toronto, Canada. He formed his own production
company and has directed numerous short films and TV
Commercials.  He is currently in pre-production on his next
film expected to be completed fall 2006. Kulwant can be
contacted at: mailto:krajwans@rogers.com
———————————————————–

Copyright (c) 2006 Peter D. Marshall / All Rights Reserved