What's FILM-LIKE video?


Digital cinematography is essentially filming motion pictures on digital video instead of film. This is certainly not a new concept: before it was re-packaged as "Filmlike" in the late 1990s it was known for many years as "Electronic Cinematography". Make sure you visit Vidize.com - a new site for video sharing, personal broadcasting and more.

Sony had been trying to market this concept using tube-based analog HDTV cameras since the late 1980s, with very little success. It was not until 1998 when they were able to introduce workable 1920 x 1080 pixel CCD cameras with attached HD Digital Betacam recorders that anybody began to take them seriously.

It is certainly true that lower-budget, non-cinema-release movies are increasingly being shot filmlike with digital video cameras (although not the high definition ones), but the preferred medium for that is still 16mm film.

Sony CineAlta

The CineAlta series of cameras are high definition video cameras geared toward motion picture production. They can shoot at the same 24 frames per second (true 24p) as film and have a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels (1080p) which some say is very comparable (and even superior) to film. Needless to say, this last statement has been viewed with extreme skepticism by many industry professionals, given that some film scanners usefully scan up to 10,000 pixels horizontally, from standard 35mm film.

Mini-DV

Mini-DV cameras have been around for many years and have been used on indie games and low-budget films, but are most popular with common consumers. There are too many models to list here but the Canon XL series is used frequently. It was used on Steven Soderbergh's Full Frontal, for example. It is important to understand that there are two components to this format: the camera and the recorder, and most of its limitations lie with the camera. Generally, the Mini-DV tape format is capable of recording considerably higher quality images that the attached compact cameras can produce.

One of the first Mini-DV cameras to be used on a feature film was the Sony VX-1000 (predecessor to Sony FX1)which was used to shoot Spike Lee's Bamboozled.

Thomson Viper

The Viper FilmStream Camera has the same resolution and frame rate as a high definition video camera like the CineAlta, but captures an uncompressed video image. (Many earlier model high-definition video cameras compress their images at least slightly.) It was used on Michael Mann's Collateral. The Viper can shoot in extremely low light levels, thus much of Collateral could be shot on the streets of Los Angeles in middle of the night without a lot of additional lighting equipment.

Digital video vs. film

Some notable directors have stated that they have been "converted" to digital cinematography and will never return to using film. Some of them are George Lucas, Robert Rodriguez, David Fincher, David Lynch, Lars von Trier, and James Cameron. However in a more recent interview Lucas modified his stance somewhat, to the effect that: he "would use whatever is more appropriate to the particular project." Michael Bay has been known to shoot in digital, with the complaint that Megan Fox had to use tons more makeup.

Some of the alleged benefits of digital video are:

  • Digital video allows for films to be shot faster and cheaper
  • Digital video can be played back and edited immediately
  • Digital video can record image and audio on the same media
  • Digital video cameras are smaller than film cameras
  • Digital video is recorded on a cassette or hard drive device
  • Digital video is more sensitive than film (i.e. less lighting)

Most films are already edited on a digital system after the developed film stocks are converted to digital video. Film requires a lengthly telecine process to be converted to digital video.

For anything but low-budget work, there is no particular advantage in having the sound and image recorded on the same medium. Most sound recording is done by specialist operators, usually with their own desk of equipment. Using the image recorder to record the sound as well would involve running extra cables up to the camera/recorder combination.

Although very compact cameras are available, none of these produces anywhere near the quality demanded for large-screen film work, and in any event there are also extremely compact 35mm film cameras that produce the full 35mm film resolution and take standard 35mm lenses.

Contrary to what is commonly stated, video cameras are no more low-light sensitive than film. Modern "noise coring" circuitry is very efficient at masking low-level electronic "grain" but this also removes some of the picture information, which is one thing that accounts for the perceived "unatural-ness" of video-derived footage. On rapidly-moving footage the noise coring often fails, giving occasional glimpses of the true low-light performance of video cameras. For precision monitoring when shooting outdoors, a collection of black tents is usually needed, often referred to sarcastically as a "video village". All of this equipment has to be operating even when just setting up a shot, whereas with a film camera's optical viewfinder no power is required between shots, making battery operation far more practical.

Credit: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia