SD or HD when old newsreel footage is a must?

	Re: SD or HD when old newsreel footage is a must? by David Roth Weiss on Aug 5, 2009 at 4:51:23 am [Phil Hendren] "Is it possible to upconvert the old footage to HD? Or is that more trouble than it is worth?" Newsreel footage looks great blown up to HD, and it's easy as pie. The worse it looks, the deeper you bring your audience back into the "Wayback Machine," which is what historical docos are all about. Nobody's buying anything in SD anyway. David Roth Weiss Director/Editor David Weiss Productions, Inc. Los Angeles POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™ A forum host of Creative COW's Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: SD or HD when old newsreel footage is a must? by Mark Suszko on Aug 5, 2009 at 2:37:09 pm He's right. If you have the actual film newsreels, and not just a tape dub, you could do an HD transfer. But that may not be in your budget. If the footage is really poor, one other trick you can use is to not play it full-screen, but play it smaller, set in a window, which may well improve the overall feeling if you can go to the extra trouble to make it look like a screen in a dark theatre or screening room. (Shades of MST3K)But for bad footage, smaller always looks sharper and *seems* to have better resolution. You could also show it playing on a monitor, (again, making it smaller and artificially sharper becausie of that) with the monitor set up in a tableau or still-life of props and artifacts of that time. This sort of sets the stage for the footage and evokes the period, and it can be an anchor to some of your narrative, where you do slow jib passes flying over the tableau and monitor shots. This can be very artful looking and evocative if lit and designed well, and gets you around some holes in your coverage where you just don't have anything to show. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: SD or HD when old newsreel footage is a must? by David Roth Weiss on Aug 5, 2009 at 5:49:42 pm [Phil Hendren] " I won't have the original newsreels, I'll have SD copies of the footage." That's very common Phil. Most libraries of vintage stock are SD. All of the historical docos on The History Channel and PBS are HD, and all include vintage SD blown up to HD. 35mm movies do it too, and so do IMAX movies. It's really no big deal, it can be done right on the timeline in any NLE, or you can spend a fortune doing at a facility through hardware if you have lots of spare money sitting around. The bottom line is, people love to look at vintage historical footage, and you shouldn't cut in SD just because the stock is SD. David Roth Weiss Director/Editor David Weiss Productions, Inc. Los Angeles POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™ A forum host of Creative COW's Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: SD or HD when old newsreel footage is a must? by Harry Pallenberg on Aug 5, 2009 at 9:05:42 pm I agree - shoot everything you can in HD, then either blow up the SD - or do curtains.. they can be pain black bars, or actual red velvet curtains, or as others have said a 'dressed set' with the sd material playing on a TV set... although I am not a fan of this I have seen it, and if the show is good... well thats all I reall remember. Thanks, Harry Forum Cowmunity Leader: Indie & Doc Forum Cowmunity Leader: HDV Dual 1.8 G5 ** 2GB ** 10.5.4 (Office / Photoshop) Dual 2.0 G5 ** 4GB ** 10.5.4 Kona 2 (FCP 6.0.4 Machine) www.womeninboxes.com The Documentary Film about Magic's Better Half. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index