Two new motion-picture film stocks have entered the image-acquisition derby in the last month, looking to stave off rapidly evolving HD video capture.

Kodak and Fujifilm are both working to sustain film as the master of the movie universe, and both stock manufacturers are emphasizing the strategic marriage between film and digital intermediates in post-production as a key reason to stick with celluloid.

Kodak Canada Entertainment Imaging unveiled the first of its new Vision3 generation of color motion-picture stocks – 500T 5219 for 35mm and 7219 for 16mm – on Nov. 29. There will be more in the Vision3 series soon, said Johanna Gravelle, country manager for Kodak Canada EI, to a room full of filmmakers at the rollout in downtown Toronto.

The Vision2 5218 and 7218 stocks, meanwhile, remain alive and well and cheaper than their new brothers. ‘There will be a slight increase in the list price for Vision3 films,’ Gravelle said.

The 500T Vision3 film offers increased exposure latitude and color detail with reduced grain, especially in the highlights and shadows. ‘The new film’s Dye Layering Technology renders finer-grain images in underexposed areas and produces cleaner film-to-digital transfers for post-production,’ she said.

Gravelle noted that both the 16mm and 35mm stocks will benefit from less grain, although ‘in 16mm, the grain improvements are more easily seen because you’re dealing with a smaller image.’

Following the Kodak presentation, veteran DOP Bert Dunk (Zoe Busiek: Wild Card) said that ‘the 16mm [7219] looked great. I was thinking the 16 looked as good as 35 looked 20 years ago.’ He and several other shooters at the event complained about the poor focus of the theater’s projector, but all liked the new emulsion.

Dunk said he saw improvement in the grain and a slight improvement in the blacks and underexposures.

‘But price will be an issue,’ he added. ‘If they’re going to charge more for it, then the question is whether it’s worth switching from ’18 to ’19. They’re very close [in quality].’

Zoe Dirse, director, writer, cinematographer (Runaway Grooms) and professor at Sheridan College, added she could see that ‘the grain was greatly improved, making for a better marriage with DI.’ She agreed that was the most important reason for bringing out 5219.

Shooter Suresh Rohin feels the new Super 16 stock would also be of great benefit in the DI process. ‘It makes Super 16 a lot more competitive. Low-budget filmmakers now can confidently shoot on Super 16,’ he said.

Fujifilm, meanwhile, has introduced Eterna Vivid 160T, which its makers say is a new concept in motion-picture film characterized ‘by intense color, high contrast and exceptional sharpness.’

The Vivid 160 introduction was held in two parts. It started on Nov. 5 with random test-shooting at Toronto’s Steam Whistle Brewery by a pair of DOPs – 11-time Gemini Award winner René Ohashi (Shades of Black) and Arthur E. Cooper (Young People Fucking), followed two days later by a screening at Deluxe Toronto. The presentation was led by Takao ‘Tom’ Uchiyama, lead Eterna film engineer and designer from Fujifilm’s Ashigara manufacturing plant in Japan.

Graeme Parcher, VP of recording media and motion picture, says ‘the Eterna Vivid 160T provides the highly saturated color palette and rich contrast desired by cinematographers. With the advent of the digital intermediate process, many cinematographers shared with Fujifilm their desire for richer, less flat films – that the DI process has removed too much contrast from the films they have been using. They wanted contrast dialed back in.’

Parcher adds that the E.I. 160 color negative film, the latest member of the Eterna series, is designed for studio work but easily adapts to on-location use at E.I. 100.

Ohashi and Cooper chose the 35mm format to test the 160T stock against Fujifilm’s popular Eterna 250T. Ohashi agreed with Cooper’s assessment that the 160T is ‘a nice stock; the color and sharpness are great. But I really didn’t see a huge difference from the 250T that already exists.’

Ohashi added that he wasn’t sure how much he would use the 160T because ‘it’s already high-contrast and so much of my work is transferred. To me, the high contrast doesn’t have the information in the black area [for the telecine process].’

Cooper said that he wouldn’t carry both 250T and 160T on a normal shoot, but could foresee specific situations where ‘really good blacks and really saturated colors were needed’ when he might use the new stock.

wwwca.kodak.com

www.fujifilm.ca