Exporting from computer to film

Hiya,

While I am content at the moment to export my films onto video tape, eventually I am going to want to be able to enter them into film festivals and the like, for which i will need to have my movie on film, to be projected.

How can one get their FCP or Premire movie off their editing computer and onto a reel of film?

Thanks

 

You would send your minidv master to a place that transfers it to film with a laser process. Its very expensive and can cost thousands for a 15 minute film. My favorite place to go is Fotokem.

They also offer a really decent student discount, usually like 50% off.

I wouldn't recommend doing this. Almost all film festivals can now project digitally. Sometimes they require BetaSP in which case you can usually copy your minidv onto BetaSP for around $50. Its a lot cheaper that way. And a lot of festivals will now project from minidv.

Independent filmmakers will often finish their feature film onto dv, put it in festivals, and if it gets bought, the studio pays for the conversion back to film. Sometimes at a cost of over $100,000.

 

But can I put a 16:9 ratio film onto a 4:3 ratio camera?
I am not going to able to afford a camera that can film in wide screen, and will most likely crop it in post.

 

You can just crop your dv during the transfer.

A lot of film is cropped in post too. If you shoot in 16mm or 35mm without using an anamorphic lens you would have to crop it in post to get the popular 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 ratios.

 

So your saying I should crop my movie after I have exported it from my computer?

 

heh, some ppl arent being nice. nobody has responded to my post. o well at least its fun to read everybody elses

 

Sith -

Sorry, my last reply wasn't very clear.

If you don't have an anamorphic lens or a camera that shoots in true 16:9 then you can either crop or matte your image to 16:9 in post while the film is still on your computer, this can also be done during the transfer process.

Are you really going to spend $300 per minute to transfer your video to film?


EDIT: I found a site just now that will answer your questions better than I can. DVFilm Digital Transfers. I was off on the price for the laser transfers, they say those cost up to $1500/min. On this site they do not use the laser process and charge $325/min for 35mm and $225/min for 16mm. Still too expensive for me, I'll still be sending my films to the festivals on miniDV.

 

lol, as will I, you're right it is too much for the average independent film maker

I just wasnt clear about the cropping onto video, but I am now, thanks

 

so could you give us some info about your project and the film festival you are trying to enter?

 

It's all up in the air at the moment. I have a few ideas, but I won't really sit down and try to work them out until I finish my exams, which end early november.

One film I want to make, which I won't be able to do much with seeing as I don't own the rights, is a Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy fanfilm, but I also have some original film ideas.

If/when they materialize into anything, I'll post here for you guys to critique