AboutChris Bushman Expertise I`ve been involved in the technical aspects of the motion picture industry for the past 35 years. In 2007 I received a Scientific/Technical Academy Award for my contribution to archival film preservation.
Experience Currently, I manage a small motion picture film laboratory in Hollywood, California. I have broad experience in many technical aspects of the motion picture business. I have worked as an animation cameraman, production manager, optical printing foreman, still photographer, color timer, sensitometry control foreman, video engineer, customer service foreman, analytical chemist, director of quality control.
Member, Society of Motion Picture/Television Engineers http://www.smpte.org/ - Member, American Radio Relay League http://www.arrl.org/ - Member, Quarter Century Wireless Assn. http://www.lockport-ny.com/radio.htm - President, Zen Nippon Airinkai, So Cal Chapter http://home.earthlink.net/~filmlabrat/ - Member, Maltose Falcons Homebrewing Society http://www.westval.com/mfalcons/ - Alumni, American Brewers' Guild http://www.abgbrew.com/
Expert: Chris Bushman Date: 1/24/2008 Subject: film transfer
Question Hi, 2-part question:
Would a movie/recording made on a home HD cam/video cam be able to transfer to reels for cinema projectors? Could a film be transferred to the "big screen" if the only copy was on a DVD? Thanks if you can help. :-)
Answer Absolutely, yes. Any digital or video image can be "film recorded" or "filmed out".
These days, most movies are still shot on film, then scanned to data files. These data files are edited, color corrected and put together to make whole movies. The resulting digital movie is then filmed out to a film printing negative and sent to the lab to make the "release prints" that go out to film cinemas.
The newest thing is shooting with a high-end digital camera and bypassing the original film neg. The disadvantage is that data files don't last as long as film and in the future a higher resolution digital system may evolve and you don't want to be stuck with relatively low resolution digital video.
HDTV(1080p/24 format) was used to shoot, "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow". A slightly more sophisticated version of HDTV was also used to shoot "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith". The biggest problem they had was the electronics overheating in hot desert locations.
For the "Digital Projection" movie theaters out there, they are sent a big digital file instead of film prints.
If the only copy of a movie is on DVD, it can either be projected directly on the "big screen" with a digital projector or it can be transfered to film and film projected.
Unfortunately, a home HD cam or DVD is not going to make a spectacularly sharp image on the screen, but it is possible to do it.
