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What movies were shot digitally? (1 Viewer)

Pete-D

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I wonder if Cameron's next feature will be shot on HD?

He used it for Ghosts of the Abyss and seems to be interested in the same 3D moviemaking that Robert Rodriguez is also pushing forward.

Indiana Jones IV, if it ever gets made, apparently will shot digital too, as per Lucas' request.

I still prefer film myself. There's just more latitude to work with there and a better overall look. Kill Bill Volume 2, with all the different film stocks and styles that it has is something I'm not sure digital could pull off.

But that's another debate.
 

Mitch Stevens

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Matt Butler,

Jason X was shot on film, THEN transferred to HD, manipulated in HD, then transferred back to film for a theatrical release.

As for Camp, isn't that movie grainy as hell? It couldn't have been shot in HD, because then it wouldn't have any grain at all. Can someone confirm this?
 

Adam Lenhardt

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Camp was digital, but I don't believe the camera used was high-definition. That would explain a grainy theatrical showing and a sub-par home video presentation.
 

Guy Martin

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Pete-

I'd actually heard the opposite regarding Indy 4. Spielberg has repeatedly stated he will never use digital cameras (I believe he said he'd shoot film until Kodak and/or Fuji stopped making it). Since he's the director and they're friends Lucas supposedly deferred to him on this. Heck, Spielberg is one of the few directors who refuses to edit digitally, even going so far as to buy a hundred moviolas so he will have spare parts for the rest of his life. Interesting that a man so known for pushing film technology forward is actually a bit of a luddite.

Actually in the case of digital editing he may have a point. I recommend reading Walter Murch's In the Blink of an Eye for an interesting perspective on how digital editing can change one's work habits and approaches to editing.

Francis Ford Coppola's much-delayed Meglapolis will be shot in 24p when the time comes. Interestingly he advised his daughter Sophia to shoot Lost in Translation on film, telling her it might be her last chance to shoot that way.

I almost forgot that the PBS drama series American Family is shot in 24p.

- Guy
 

James T

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I could have sworn it was shot in digital as well. I remember the producers being so proud to be the first movie shot entirely in digital.
 

David_Blackwell

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The Shield was shot in 16 mm (not digital).

The Secret adventures of Jules Verne TV series was shot in HD video. The folks from Lucasfilme where interested in High Def video that they took an interest in what was being done with SAJV.
 

Damin J Toell

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Nope. There's a featurette on the DVD explaining that they shot the film on 3-perf 35mm and then did all postproduction in the digital domain.

DJ
 

chung_sotheby

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No Kidding. She is quite a site to behold.

I believe that a few of the scenes in ALI were shot in digital. Also, Full Frontal was shot in digital, and it showed, as the video quality was worse than shitty. Among others:

Tadpole
Bloody Sunday
A Lot of Von Trier Films
The Company
Blue Car
24 Hour Party People
Tape
Chuck & Buck
Time Code

Probably missing a lot. Do a search of camera types on IMBD and you will find much more
 

Tom Martin

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almost forgot, the Nine Inch Nails concert DVD "And All That Could Have Been" was shot entirely on handheld digital camcorders by the crew. too bad it isn't in a widescreen format. otherwise it would look fantastic on my widescreen tv. trent reznor really cared about the quality as he decided to have two seperate versions, one dolby digital and one dts, so as not to compress both soundtracks onto one dvd.
 

Bob Movies

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Digital still can't touch 35mm film, despite what George Lucas and Robert Rodriguez say. That being said, I thought Pieces of April was the best shot on DV film I've ever seen, proving that it's more about the story and characters than what technical format you shoot it on.

That being said... if you've got the choice, why not go with the best? 35mm is the obvious choice.

Re: CAST AWAY

I happened to have the American Cinematographer issue where they discuss Cast Away (January 2001, Volume 82 #1)
Here's some technical info for those who are interested:

For the early scenes they shot on Kodak Vision 250D (5246 for those of you who love using the film numbers!)

After the span of four years, they switched the stock to EXR 100T (5248) because it's a more contrasty stock.

The practical night sequences were shot on Vision 500T (5279) while the effects night sequences were shot on Vision 200T (5274) due to the tighter grain structure (required for the effects work).

It was shot on Panavision gear (as mentioned before) with primo lenses in sperical 1.85:1 aspect ratio. They used the Panavision Millennium XL for a lot of the sea stuff, due to the light weight.
 

David_Blackwell

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The big advantage digital video and HD digital has over 35 mm is cost and you can see the footage immediately as the way it was shot (where you don't know what you're going to get with 35 mm until you see the dailies).
 

Tom Martin

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an interesting commentary on shooting digital can be found on the 2nd page of extras from "Once Upon a Time in Mexico". it seems to be taken from a seminar Rodriguez did and it's called "Film is Dead".
 

Bob Movies

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The whole "You don't know what you're going to get with film" argument doesn't hold up. If you have a talented cinematographer who is experienced, he knows exactly what he'll get with film. Before a production you shoot tests (on both film and HD) so you can know exactly how certain situations will register.

Robert Rodriguez always says "you never know what you'll get when you shoot film", but all that tells me is that he's not a very experienced cinematographer. In his book "Rebel Without a Crew" he says something to the effect of "Some guy tried to teach me about f-stops. The audience doesn't care about f-stops, they care about the MOVIE!"

Film is far from dead, but it takes a bit of effort to make it look good. I've only shot on film, never HD, but from what other people tell me, working with HD can slow you down a lot worse than film.
 

Mitch Stevens

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Sorry if I may seem stupid or something, but I still don't understand where the grain on the DVD is coming from. If Camp where shot digitally, wether it be on HiDef, or not, it should have NO grain at all, since digital video is not film.

Did they transfer the DV image onto film, and then from film transfer it to DVD? Is that how they got the grain? If they did a straight DV transfer, the DVD should not have grain.
 

Andre Bijelic

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With video - analog or digital - you don't get grain but you do get noise, which gives the picture a "grainy" look, especially in low-light conditions.
 

Stephen Brooks

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They might have done the same thing they did for 28 Days Later......shot on digital, scanned out to film, and then transferred that film for the DVD master. Kinda pointless, but that's what they did.
 

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