American Cinematographer - June 1991 - 30

occasion, Kodak will manufacture

Valli shot 60,000 feet of

special product to meet a unique
application, though we never in¬
tend to sell that product in the
general marketplace. That was the
case with Valli's documentary. We
were
impressed by his photo¬
graphs, and confident that
Ektapress Gold 1600 film could be
adapted successfully to motion
picture use. Our hunch proved

Ektapress Gold's motion picture
format, which apart from the length
of the roll and the sprocket hole
configuration was identical to the
Ektapress Gold used by still
shooters. Upon completion, he sent
his exposed footage to Findlay,
Ohio's Kodalux plant for standard
Process C-41 processing. The
negative film was then printed onto
Eastman color print film 5384. Valli
was
especially impressed with the

a

correct."

DeMoulin's

division

brought seven engineers and tech¬
nicians together, headed by Dr.
James E. Patton, to prepare the
Ektapress Gold for motion picture
use. Patton was assisted by Charles
M. Weller. The project had to be
handled carefully given the differ¬
ent speeds through which film
travels through motion picture
versus still cameras. Motion
picture
film travels through a camera at a
normal rate of 24 fps, while the
fastest still camera motor drives
advance film at about 6fps, and the
1600 motion picture format had to
be protected from the lightning-like
tracks that could appear on the film
as a result of static electricity build

Above and

right:
Fragile bamboo
scaffolding
supports the
birdnesters as

to retrieve their

precious
harvest.

beyond 1600, like El 3200

crewed

by the

same

people who

Raymond

DeMoulin, of Kodak's professional

ing torches. DeMoulin, Valli and
the rest of the Kodak team

American

state¬

by Kodak that "on

Cinematographer

though he had some HMI lights to
fill in the shadows, his goal was to
keep the atmosphere mysterious
and romantic. "The dark shadows

nuances," he explains. "I

didn't want to disturb the birds or
the incredible, magic atmosphere of
the cave. I wanted to come with as

little

light as possible and light in a

were

delighted when the test showed
beautiful images with no problems.
June 1991

exactly what I did. Ex¬

the shadows."
Valli admits that at first,
"it's very freaky in the caves, you

would go on to Thailand. The only
light sources were the resin-burn¬

a

Inside the cave, Valli used
silent 5,000 watt generator and

cept, of course, you have to fill in

place in a dark cathedral in France,

ment issued

28

film stock.

at ISO
light, the 500

DeMoulin said in

a

To insure the success of his

500. Without artificial

photography division.

most," though the Arri 3 was

And that's

new

tested the stock. A trial shoot took

Enter

take sound, was the one we used

midity posed another threat to
project, Valli and the Kodak team

cave.

old one, that we could take
anywhere, a 'low risk' camera that
we could be a bit
rough with,
though we ended up not using it
much, and some more fragile." The
Arri BL with sync, "so we could
very

Valli's

feet. Rimau Cave's heat and hu¬

mo¬

the dark

He needed a light, por¬
table camera to climb the sea cliffs,
and cave walls, and Arriflex was
the choice. Valli brought four: "one
cameras.

way that didn't seem artificial, so it
would appear that the picture was
lit only with the torch made of sap.

tional picture film was rated

speed film wouldn't be light sen¬
sitive enough to shoot Birdnesters in

to make a decision in terms of

were

vened, Valli was faced with the fact
that the fastest conventional

Once the question of film
stock was squared away, Valli had

foot film rolls Valli shot in his
Arriflex 35mm motion picture
camera would be
subject to break¬

The 36-exposure rolls of
Ektapress Gold that still photogra¬
phers shoot measure less than five

and 6400, in extremely low light
situations. Before Kodak inter¬

grey," he marvels.

lighter. "People told me I was crazy
to take an Arri up a cliff, and at first
I thought it was impossible," he
admits. "Then I thought it was
crazy, then I did it."

age.

indexes

credible, sharp pictures have no

and scratching.
Variable speed was not the
only concern in the film transition
process; sprocket holes were an¬
other consideration; they had to be
perforated in the 1600 film in order
to meet motion picture industry
standards. If sprockets aren't pre¬
cisely cut, the projected image can
appear unsteady. Then there was
the question of whether the 400up

they climb to the
top of the cave

Kodak team's results. "The in¬

in complete darkness, almost
naked, climbing on spiderwebs of
bamboo, trying to figure out which
poles aren't rotten and will support
you. The first time I went into the
cave, I wondered how these men
are

could go so

high into such

an

in-
American Cinematographer - June 1991

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