I wanted to do a pretty extreme test on the new Vision 3 stock. The video is a telecine of 6 shots. Each shot is presented twice. In the first instance, the shot is presented graded for the gray scale that was used during filming, with no post-production corrections. The second instance is the same shot but with the light pulled back just a notch in telecine, with no other correction.
Results: The new stock has a pretty amazing latitude and nice saturation, even in highlight areas. In the first couple shots, the facial highlight areas are between 2 1/2 and 3 stops over exposure (in addition the light is at a fairly oblique angle) while the shadow side is 2 1/2 stops under exposure. On the first shot, the camera is essentially pointed straight at a 5K for a moment, and also look at the highlight on the desk. It also holds detail very nicely in shadow areas.
Note: additional detail in the shadows and highlights has been lost due to compression for the web. It's noticeable but I think that the film stock still looks great with the compression.
In shots where there is complete blowout (shot 5), we were able to pull a lot of the information back in telecine with no special effort. It's hard to see at this size but is much more apparent at a higher resolution. Overall, at full resolution, I like the uncorrected shots best.
This was shot on the soundstage at Los Angeles City College on 3/13/08. I'd like to thank the Cinema 07 class there for all of their help on this and Charles Haine for encouraging the class to take chances with their work. I'd also like to thank Juan Kalafatovich, Broadcast Engineer at LACC, who goes above and beyond the call of duty on a regular basis.
The music is "Pablo Satta" by Augustus Pablo.
Equipment used:
Bolex EBM with Switar 16-100 lens
Doorway dolly
Bogen 501 fluid head
One final note: the telecine is a little noisier than it should be. That is not the filmstock, rather it's caused by the completely inadequate noise reduction system at this particular telecine house. Also, this was a standard def transfer, not HD.
ubu-roi.com
