Document 9 Celluloid Photochemical Finishing (excerpt from Cht. 19, V&V 1e) From Voice & Vision ed. 1, Chapter 19 (© Mick Hurbis-Cherrier and Focal Press, 2007) The following discussion of the photochemical process for finishing on film is from the first edition of Voice & Vision (© Mick Hurbis-Cherrier and Focal Press, 2007). Shoot: Film / Edit: Digital / Finish: Film / Release: Film and DVD answer prints & telecine log videotape with timecode & edgecode color correction process and telecine film negative negative cutter printing from A & B (3 : 2 pulldown) NLE conforms negative rolls / optical master EDL audio original video dailies release prints resolve and sync (edit decision list) audio (lab or NLE) optical master mixed audio nonsync audio resolve audio (lab or NLE) = lab service (on DAT) So, you want to shoot on film, edit on an NLE system, and finish the project back to film - and you want to do it the “old fashioned way.” The photochemical finishing workflow isn’t really all that old, it’s just quickly disappearing – and it is by no means obsolete yet. Shooting and finishing on film requires two format conversions. The first format transfer is the same film-to-tape transfer process discussed in Chapter 19 of the Voice & Vision book. This is how you get your footage into a digital format for editing. All issues of pulldown, sync drift, etc. apply to this workflow as well. However, when the editing is over and you need to then the transfer back from your digitally edited version, into a film print, you will require extensive services from a film lab, a negative cutter, and quite possibly a head-shrinker. The Picture Path The first part of this workflow is similar to workflow in figure 19-25 (in the book): shoot film, edit digital, however, the image portion of the second conversion doesn’t go from film selects to a digital intermediate; rather, all of the creative decisions you made during the digital edit are then manually From Voice & Vision ed. 1, Chapter 19 (© Mick Hurbis-Cherrier and Focal Press, 2007) duplicated, cut for cut, with your actual original camera negative. Once this is accomplished, we can then strike film prints, from that edited and spliced original negative, for exhibition. This duplication of the creative decisions you made is accomplished in two steps, the matchback step and the conforming step. Figure 1 Matchback: Matchback is the process by which the edgecode numbers on the original camera negative are coordinated with the timecode numbers on the DV transfer, so that the creative edit decisions we made in the NLE system can be replicated on our camera original film, cut-for-cut and frame-for-frame. The first step to the matchback, during the telecine transfer process, is to have the lab begin creating an edgecode/timecode database called a telecine log (also called a Flex File) (). The telecine log database compares the original footage edgecode numbers (either latent image numbers or the proprietary film barcode system) and the newly generated timecode numbers on the transfer in order to keep track of each and every “phantom” frame and field created in the 3:2 pulldown process. The lab will give you the telecine log as a text file on Fig 1 disk. Then, once you’ve captured your footage and transferred the telecine log database into your project file, you are free to fully engage your creative brain and edit the movie. When you have no more cutting to do, and the editing is done, the matchback begins. Each edited shot begins and ends on a specific timecode number. All professional editing software, like Avid or Final Cut Pro, can From Voice & Vision ed. 1, Chapter 19 (© Mick Hurbis-Cherrier and Focal Press, 2007) easily print out an edit decision list (EDL), which is a list detailing the beginning and ending timecode numbers of each and every shot in your movie. However, a timecode EDL includes all of those phantom fields inserted during the 3:2 pulldown process. So, all editing software designed to accommodate film shooting has a matchback tool (e.g., Avid’s Film Scribe and Final Cut Pro’s Cinema Tools), which uses the information in the telecine log to compare the timecode EDL with the negative film’s edgecode numbers and interpolates the data to create a corresponding, frame-accurate, film edgecode EDL. This EDL now corresponds (or has been matched back) to the edgecode numbers from your camera original negative and tells us exactly which frames of film begin and end every shot in the movie. This list also includes the information for the visual transitions between shots (straight cut, dissolve, fade to black, etc.). This list is called the matchback cut-list because it essentially becomes the roadmap for the literal cutting of the negative during the next step, conforming (Figure 2). Fig 2 Avid Cut Lists Project: AX Matchback List Title: 35mm Matchback 35mm Matchback 10 events handles = -1 Picture 1 0 dupes total footage: 74+04 Assemble List 0 opticals total time: 00:00:49:13 Conforming: Conforming (also -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Footage Duration First/Last Key Address TC Cam Roll Sc/Tk Clip Name 1. 0+00 10+04 KW 42 9137-4866+15 06:22:47:24 A85 A10G/2 A10G/2 called negative matching) is the 10+03 KW 42 9137-4877+02 06:22:54:18 2. 10+04 8+04 KW 35 3532-5791+11 06:18:07:29 A83 A10B/1 A10B/1 18+07 KW 35 3532-5799+14 06:18:13:13 process by which we cut and splice 3. 18+08 11+08 KW 42 9137-4884+05 06:22:59:11 A85 A10G/2 A10G/2 29+15 KW 42 9137-4895+12 06:23:06:29 Matchback lengthened the tail of the clip by 1 frame. the camera original negative film to 4. 30+00 12+04 KW 35 3532-5812+01 06:18:21:16 A83 A10B/1 A10B/1 42+03 KW 35 3532-5824+04 06:18:29:20 5. 42+04 5+06 KW 42 9137-4904+14 06:23:13:03 A85 A10G/2 A10G/2 match, frame-for-frame, the cuts 47+09 KW 42 9137-4910+03 06:23:16:20 Matchback shortened the tail of the clip by 1 frame. 6. 47+10 4+00 KW 46 7331-2663+04 06:25:54:15 A87 A10K/1 A10K/1 made during the editing process, so 51+09 KW 46 7331-2667+03 06:25:57:04 7. 51+10 2+09 KW 42 9137-4914+01 06:23:19:06 A85 A10G/2 A10G/2 54+02 KW 42 9137-4916+09 06:23:20:26 that we can make high-quality film 8. 54+03 10+11 KW 35 3532-5907+07 06:19:25:04 A83 A10C/1 A10C/1 64+13 KW 35 3532-5918+01 06:19:32:07 9. 64+14 4+12 KW 42 9137-4926+01 06:23:27:06 A85 A10G/2 A10G/2 prints directly from the original 69+09 KW 42 9137-4930+12 06:23:30:10 10. 69+10 4+10 KW 35 3532-5923+00 06:19:35:15 A83 A10C/1 A10C/1 74+03 KW 35 3532-5927+09 06:19:38:16 footage. Because there is only one (end of Assemble List) original negative, which is vulnerable to damage, this process is done by trained professionals, called From Voice & Vision ed. 1, Chapter 19 (© Mick Hurbis-Cherrier and Focal Press, 2007) negative cutters (Figure 3), in special, filtered-air clean rooms to ensure that your precious negative remains free of dust and scratches. Should your negative get scratched, that mark will appear on each and every film print or DV transfer made from the original. Negative cutters match your creative decisions to the original footage by using the telecine log Fig. 3: A negative matcher literally cuts film and then uses cement glue and a hot splicer to connect the shots. and matchback cut-list data and literally cut and glue the film together from the negative, performing the edits with cement splicing glue for a strong and permanent bond. This is the reason that this step is done at the very end, after all creative editing decisions are settled once and for all. You cannot go back after the film has been conformed and say, “Uh . can you just add three more frames at the end of that shot?” Can’t be done. Usually, negatives are cut by alternating consecutive shots onto two strands, called A&B rolls (Figure 4); odd-numbered shots are on the A roll and even numbered shots are on the B roll. The “missing” shot on each roll is replaced by black leader. When the lab makes a print from the A&B rolls onto a single strand of film, the A roll is threaded up first and printed by pushing light through the negative onto the print stock in a contact printer (Figure 5). A 1 3 5 B 2 4 1352 4 Fig. 4: By printing the alternating shots on the A&B rolls onto a new strand of print film, we get a print with no physical splices. From Voice & Vision ed. 1, Chapter 19 (© Mick Hurbis-Cherrier and Focal Press, 2007) The odd shots are now rendered as positive images, but the areas of black leader protect the print stock from exposure. The print film is then rewound to the beginning and the B roll is threaded up and printed, filling in those unexposed spaces with the even shots.