Janusz Kaminski: "..I don't have respect for digital media just yet."

[dino g]

for the record...Janusz did his first digital job with me with red#0031 on 12/02/09, before MX, before epic.

when the job was wrapped, he spent a significant amount of time with me looking at everything we shot and playing with it in redcine. he seemed quite pleased and surprised with the results in a positive way. he also was quite happy with the ability to manipulate things on set. so what is said in the press may not always be what really happened.

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

Thanks for that perspective Dino.

FWIW I believe that the pace of technology has gotten so fast that the "wetware" is playing catch up most of the time - and not just in our industry.

Discussion of the impact of Jim and RED on our industry often revolves around things like "Jannard just saved me $150K on my F65". I think the deeper shockwave is an approach to digital that is about maximizing the potential of the technology rather than trying to cram it into an old model. With that new paradigm, there needs to be an evolution of how things are done.

Cheers - #19

 

[Meryem Ersoz]

for the record...Janusz did his first digital job with me with red#0031 on 12/02/09, before MX, before epic.

when the job was wrapped, he spent a significant amount of time with me looking at everything we shot and playing with it in redcine. he seemed quite pleased and surprised with the results in a positive way. he also was quite happy with the ability to manipulate things on set. so what is said in the press may not always be what really happened.

good point....the press has a way of re-contextualizing comments, also, to make their point, even when the words are accurate.

 

[Dominik Muench]

for the record...Janusz did his first digital job with me with red#0031 on 12/02/09, before MX, before epic.

WOW i got to use your famous #31 baby in Australia before Janusz even, i feel honored now how is Per doing btw ? is he still working on his epic 3D surf movie ???

 

[dino g]

WOW i got to use your famous #31 baby in Australia before Janusz even, i feel honored now how is Per doing btw ? is he still working on his epic 3D surf movie ???

ah the first red job down under, yes i remember...per is about to go do some work for mr jackson in your neighborhood i believe...thanks again for having us...

r31 is basically retired now having been around the world many times...

cheers

dino

 

[Dominik Muench]

she did a great job and deserves a quiet and relaxed retirement
anytime was a pleasure working with you guys, please come and say Hi if you're ever in the neighborhood, i should hit up Per and see if hes keen to come up for a few days...the surf is pretty good at the moment ^^

 

[Marc Wielage]

Not sure if it's true or not but I read that 7 of the 9 Best Picture nominess were shot on film this year...so it's still out there.

Let's see:

The Artist - 35mm Kodak color negative

The Descendants - 35mm Kodak color negative

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - Arri Alexa

The Help - 35mm Kodak color negative

Hugo - Arri Alexa (3D)

Midnight in Paris - 35mm Kodak color negative

Moneyball - 35mm Kodak color negative

The Tree of Life - 35mm Kodak color negative (and some Red One)

War Horse - 35mm Kodak color negative


So yep, 7 out of 9 shot on 35mm negative. Quite a few of them shot on 3-perf, interestingly. And I think all of them did digital intermediates.

I think it'll be a completely different story for next year. I was very surprised to find out recently that Lone Ranger is being shot on Alexa (as one example).

 

[Kemalettin Sert]

Let's see:

The Artist - 35mm Kodak color negative

The Descendants - 35mm Kodak color negative

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - Arri Alexa

The Help - 35mm Kodak color negative

Hugo - Arri Alexa (3D)

Midnight in Paris - 35mm Kodak color negative

Moneyball - 35mm Kodak color negative

The Tree of Life - 35mm Kodak color negative (and some Red One)

War Horse - 35mm Kodak color negative


So yep, 7 out of 9 shot on 35mm negative. Quite a few of them shot on 3-perf, interestingly. And I think all of them did digital intermediates.

I think it'll be a completely different story for next year. I was very surprised to find out recently that Lone Ranger is being shot on Alexa (as one example).

 

[Marc Wielage]

Nice cans!

 

[Vadim Bobkovsky]

I totally respect the film guys, but I personally had enough of processing 35mm still, 8 and 16 motion film reels as an amateur back in the days, by myself and with my dad. And speaking about the whole "Just Film It And Send A Mag To The Lab" thing, I guess today you can say that about digital processing booths right on set. Camera records footage on RAW Mag, send it to the guy with a powerful on-set station and volia, watch the footage at the same time it gets transcoded.Digital and Film are both complex things, just in different ways. Also I really like how Red guys play classy around the "film replacement" label. I love Jim's words about "how film was being disrespected" and staying strong at the 4K point. It makes sense, if you want to replace analog film - shoot and deliver at least in 4K, not 1080p.

 

[Vadim Bobkovsky]

"Margin Call" and "In Darkness" weren't shot on film, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Nick Morrison]

"Margin Call" and "In Darkness" weren't shot on film, as far as I'm concerned.

Margin Call was by no means shot on film. It was shot on RED ONE MX, in 10 to 12 days. It was well covered in American Cinematographer end of 2011. Good article.

 

[Jarred Land]

I love the tagline " the Unmistakable look of film "..... when a chunk of these movies were actually shot with our camera or with combination of Film and RED R3D... It is refreshing that Kodak can't even tell the difference anymore

 

[Ketch Rossi]

I love the tagline " the Unmistakable look of film "..... when a chunk of these movies were actually shot with our camera or with combination of Film and RED R3D... It is refreshing that Kodak can't even tell the difference anymore

Ha ha... it is all I can say...

 

[George Butterfield]

He says,

"His concern is that the cinematographer is no longer allowed to fully control the image as other technicians become a larger part of the process"

which is a concern for him, but definitely not something that necessarily hurts the final image or story.

 

[Scott Crawley]

He says,

"His concern is that the cinematographer is no longer allowed to fully control the image as other technicians become a larger part of the process"

which is a concern for him, but definitely not something that necessarily hurts the final image or story.

No, but the primary responsibility of the Cinematographer has been and remains the quality and aesthetic of the final image, yet the Colorist and Editor now can have a much more significant impact on that outcome (read: completely alter) and in most cases neither of those people report to the Cinematographer. That is a conundrum.

 

[Paul Ellington]

He says,

"His concern is that the cinematographer is no longer allowed to fully control the image as other technicians become a larger part of the process"

which is a concern for him, but definitely not something that necessarily hurts the final image or story.

Also don't be afraid to learn new tricks or be ok with change.

 

[Ian Vertovec]

"Margin Call" and "In Darkness" weren't shot on film, as far as I'm concerned.

I'm also pretty sure Dark of the Moon was F35. (and 3D)

 

[George Butterfield]

No, but the primary responsibility of the Cinematographer has been and remains the quality and aesthetic of the final image, yet the Colorist and Editor now can have a much more significant impact on that outcome (read: completely alter) and in most cases neither of those people report to the Cinematographer. That is a conundrum.

Times they are a changing .... the Cinematographer no longer has the control of the final image .... Actually the Director must "carry the can" for all these new techniques. The Director must assume all the blame ... that's for sure.

 

[M Most]

I'm also pretty sure Dark of the Moon was F35. (and 3D)

Dark of the Moon was shot on various cameras and mediums. F35, Alexa, and possibly other digital cameras were used, as was a fairly large amount of 35mm film. Some was shot with 3D rigs, some was shot with a single camera and converted. Basically, the production was all over the place, so any claims that it was "shot on....." any one medium in particular are simply not true.