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
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - June 1991
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