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Help! I've just finished shooting my first indepdant feature length movie on DV and I'm looking for a place that does DV to 35mm transfers. I'm told there's only two places in the country that do it, but I can't find links for them anywhere. I'd like to have a place lined up by the time we finish editing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
John-Paul Nickel
Producer, "W.I.M.P."

Kodak's website has an extensive list of labs and transfer houses: http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/industry/labs.shtml

Also, check out the capabilities of Kodak's CineSite: http://www.cinesite.com/legend.html

Transfer from DV to film can be done using several different techniques: Laser Recorder (usually the highest quality), Electron Beam Recorder (EBR), CRT Recorder (e.g., Solitaire), and Shadow Mask Recording. Cost usually goes hand-in-hand with the quality.

DV can look okay on a big screen (e.g., "Blair Witch Project", "Timecode", cinema ads), but the quality will not be as good as film origination.

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John P. Pytlak
Senior Technical Specialist
EI Worldwide Technical Services
Research Labs, Building 69
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Telephone: 716-477-5325
Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Dogma 95 films work in Digital to 35mm due to the premius under which they are made: Celebration, Mifune. Documentries work well, too: Anthem, BV Social Club, some of The Big One.I would be very curious to see how a dramatic DVD to 35mm sells. Could you post what they say it'll cost to transfer? Also, have you considered just going up to 16mm? is it any cheaper? Inquirering minds want to know . . .

We had a local movie "Belfast, Maine" by Fred Wiseman shot on 16mm and we were hoping to have it printed on 35 mm and Du Art in NYC which is a very well known spot quoted us... 38,000.00 and I nearly choked! 16mm is going the way of the model T. The situation is simple: 16mm used to be the cheapest way to make a picture and distribute it commercially. Digital is now not only cheaper it's absurdly cheaper. You'll be seeing less and less 16mm and more and more only on vid/dvd/cable coming up so fast you won't believe your eyes. Whatever the future of 35mm we'll all be into dual modes of projection in the very near future.

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Mike Hurley
www.bigscreenbiz.com

Recent movie "Chuck & Buck" put out by Artisan is digital to 35mm. The movie is quite good (if the main character doen't make your skin crawl away) and the the story works in this format. I think it proves it can be done, but you'll never see "Lawarnce of Arabia" transfered from 70mm to DV. DV is coming, but I think (hope) it'll be a trickle rather than a title wave.

"Time Code" was also DV, as were sections of "Blair Witch Project". The format fit the stories, but IMHO, image quality was like TV on a big screen.

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John P. Pytlak
Senior Technical Specialist
EI Worldwide Technical Services
Research Labs, Building 69
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Telephone: 716-477-5325
Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it