WRS MOTION PICTURE AND VIDEO LABORATORY
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The Film Lab

Recommended Film Practices

Printing Motion Picture Film

Motion Picture Printing at WRS The Printing Department at WRS has full optical and contact printing capabilities in both liquid gate and dry gate systems. From dailies to answer prints, specialized optical effects to shrunken film printing, protections to release prints...WRS can handle all of your printing requirements. Dailies/Workprints More and more, the film workprint has given way to Video Dailies. However, WRS still prints film dailies for those customers who require it.  The film is received in the morning, set up and processed then printed one-light and shipped to the client.  The camera original is vaulted in WRS's climate controlled vaults for later conforming. Blowups/Reductions In transferring an image by means of an optical printer, it is possible to enlarge a properly proportioned fraction of the original image to full frame size in the copy, or to enlarge an original 16 mm or  Super16 image to 35 mm size. And, of course, the opposite is also true.  35mm to 16mm reduction prints for use in libraries or schools is the most common use.  At WRS, all optical printing is done wet gate to insure optimum results. Opticals/Film Effects/Titles Any visual effect that you cannot achieve while filming should be considered an optical: titles superimposed on the screen stating the location or time; super-slow motion or reversed shots; some dissolves and fades. These are all optical effects. Most films have some opticals: opening and closing credits; subtitles stating a location or time or as a prologue to the film; optical dissolves and fades; super slow-motion shots; reverse shots; super-imposed shots. WRS has two Oxberry double head printers offering a wide range of conventional film optical effects in a variety of 35mm & 16mm formats. Effects include: titles, split screens, desaturation, wipes, freeze frames, speed changes, reverse action, flop overs, superimposition’s, zooms, pans, enlargements, repositioning, cropping, double exposures, focus pulls, defusion, slides, fades and dissolves. Formats range from 35mm & 16mm Academy, 1:1.85, 1:1.66, Super 35, both standard and super 16 blow up to 35mm and 35mm to 16mm reduction prints. Pin registered 35mm film printing gates are employed for totally stable Composites and Transitions. Wet Gate printing for minor scratch removal on both 35mm & 16mm film formats is also available. Answer Prints The Answer Print is the first print (combining picture and sound, if a sound picture), in release form, offered by the laboratory to the producer for acceptance. It is usually studied carefully to determine whether changes are required prior to printing the balance of the order. And if you are the producer, you want it right! WRS's Color Timers are among the best in the industry and their personal attention to detail produces a fully corrected 16mm or 35mm answer print that meets the cinematographers' most stringent requirements. Our Timing Staff is augmented by computerized timing and proof printing systems for fast, accurately timed prints. Interpositives To eliminate the cost of A and B printing and the risk of damage to the original, an intermediate is made.  In the case of color originals, this step is the color intermediate positive (IP).  This is a single picture roll which incorporates all the optical effects and the timing corrections applied to the approved answer print. Fine Grain Masters The creation of an interpositive from black and white negative is printed on a very fine grain, low contrast black and white stock.  Dupe Negatives A negative for use in release printing is made from the interpositive or fine grain master.  Depending upon the size of the release order, any number of identical dupe negatives can be manufactured from a single interpositive. Check Prints After the dupe negative has been made, it must be lined up with its photographic sound negative and a check print is produced.  This allows the producer to again evaluate the work before proceeding with multiple release prints. Release Prints After a satisfactory check print from intermediate has been obtained, multiple prints are made for distribution. WRS has the largest release capacity in the East. We're able to manufacture 40-50 feature release prints per day. Black & White Separation Masters Separation masters are three separate black-and-white master positives made from one color negative; one contains the red record, another the green record, and the third the blue record. Why make separation masters?  The answer lies in the fact that dyes are organic materials -- and all organic materials fade. Black-and-white separation masters, properly made and correctly stored, can last 500 years.  Film Finishing Finishing consists of preparing release prints for distribution.  It includes inspection, assembly, mounting on reels, cans, labeling or packaging.     WRS is recognized by Eastman Kodak for excellence in product quality, consistency and control procedures.

All about motion picture film printing (used with permission of Eastman Kodak Co.) Printers Continuous-Contact Printer. In its simplest form, printing consists of exposing the raw stock from an "original" or "printing master" to form the image using a light source to produce the exposure. When the image size of the print is the same as that of the original (i.e., 35 mm to 35 mm, 16 mm to 16 mm), the printing is usually done in a continuous-contact printer. The large printing sprocket advances both the original and the print film at a constant rate past the light source. The original and print films are usually positioned emulsion-to-emulsion with the light passing through the original and exposing the stock to be printed. Depending on the application, these contact printers may operate up to thousands of feet per minute. Step-Contact Printer. Step-contact printers advance both negative and print films through the printer gate with an intermittent motion and shutter similar to that of a camera. Close-fitting register pins position the two films with extreme accuracy during exposure, and a pressure plate at the printing gate assures film flatness. Because of the complexity of the machine and the precision of film registration achieved, the speed of a step-contact printer is relatively low (2 1/2 to 40 feet per minute). Stepcontact printers are precision instruments used for making color separations and special-effects printing that may require several passes of the raw stock through the printer (for traveling mattes, master positives, and color intermediates, etc.). Generally, they are designed for roomlight operation to make the necessary operator control easier. Step-Optical Printer. The step-optical printer combines the precision of a step-contact printer with optical flexibility.  Like the step-contact, the step-optical printer finds its main use in the production of intermediates and special effects. Whenever the image size of the print is different from that of the original or certain special effects are desired, an optical printer is used. The optical printer can be thought of as a projector on one side and a camera on the other. The image produced by the projector is focused at the plane of the film in the camera gate. A schematic of an optical printer used for reducing 35mm to 16mm is shown below. Optical printers can be quite complex, providing such effects as blowups, reductions, skip frames, anamorphic compression, zooms, mattes, etc. Continuous-Optical Printer. These printers are used for high-volume reduction printing. Like a continuous-contact printer, the exposure is made through a slit, thus necessitating exactly matched relative film speeds. This is obtained by mounting both the sprocket driving the original film and the one for the print film on the same shaft. The different diameters of the two sprockets provide the proper filmspeed ratio. The light path from original to print is U-shaped as a result of using the same shaft to drive both films. The addition of image-dividing lenses or prisms permits multirank printing. Wet-Gate Printing one of the most troublesome problems encountered by motion picture laboratory personnel are scratches (digs, abrasions, cinch marks, etc.) sometimes encountered on film from which prints must be made. These scratches print through to the release print and degrade the quality of the projected picture by introducing image elements that have no relationship to the originally photographed scene. A scratch on the support of a negative film acts as a diffuser that scatters light. Light from the printer passes essentially in straight lines through the undamaged portion of the support and emulsion of the original. When light strikes the scratch, it is scattered and displaced from the straight-line path, reducing the light on the receiving emulsion. Scratches on the support of a negative film printed onto positive film usually produce more objectionable effects on the screen than scratches on reversal originals printed onto reversal print films. This is because scratches on the support of negative films appear white on the positive film and are generally of lower density than any other white in the picture. In reversal printing, scratches on the support of the original appear black on the screen print and generally tend to blend in better with the picture. Scratches on the emulsion side of negative films present another situation. Shallow emulsion scratches on a black-and-white negative will appear white on the positive film. Emulsion scratches that penetrate to the support on a black-and-white negative will print black. Scratches on the emulsion side of color negative films may appear colored on the print, depending upon how deep the scratch is and whether image-bearing layers have been disturbed. When base scratches exist, a "wet" or "liquid" gate is used to minimize or eliminate their effect, depending on severity. In a wet gate, liquid having a refractive index close to that of the film base is applied to the original. The liquid fills in the scratches and reduces the light scatter. Wet-gate printing is applicable to any of the printing configurations, step or continuous, contact or optical. Wet printing is of little or no benefit to emulsion-side scratches. Printing Operations Image Orientation: Choosing a Duplicating Method. The orientation of the image on the final print is an important consideration in choosing a duplicating method. Camera original film is normally exposed with the emulsion side facing the lens of the camera. When the Film is processed, the image reads correctly through the base side of the film. If a typical emulsion- to -emulsion contact print is made, the resulting print will read correctly through the emulsion side of the film. When several stages of emulsion-to-emulsion contact printing are involved, the image orientation changes with each successive stage. In the case of 35mm prints, the image orientation has been standardized. SMPTE Standard SMPTE 194-1997 specifies, "The photographic emulsion shall be on the side of the film which faces away from the projector lens," (i.e., the image reads correctly through the emulsion side of the film). This is because 35 mm productions utilize a negative camera original contact printed to produce prints. In 35mm production, the proper orientation is obtained when prints are made by contact printing the original, or in going through a master positive-to-duplicate negative-to-print duplicating system. When a duplicate negative is made directly from a print, the image orientation must be changed. This may best be done by optical printing through the base of the print. Some laboratories change the orientation by contact printing through the base, which results in a noticeable loss of sharpness. Sixteen millimetre film started as amateur medium, using reversal camera original film that was projected after processing. Therefore, the emulsion had to be toward the projection lens for the image to read properly on the screen. SMPTE Standard SMPTE 233-1998 states, "For original reversal film, the emulsion side shall be toward the projection lens. For prints, the emulsion position is dependent upon the process of preparation; however, the preferred position for most uses, including telecine, is also emulsion side toward the projection lens." This permits intercutting of prints and originals without requiring change of focus during projection. Image orientation is important for intercut materials because of the need to refocus either the printer or the projector (both picture and sound optics) each time the image orientation changes. Failure to refocus will result in an unsharp picture and loss of frequency response in the sound. In 16 mm, the preferred orientation results when the camera original is projected, or contact release prints are made using an internegative or duplicate negative. Contact prints made directly from the camera original, or using the master positive -to -duplicate negative-to-print duplicating system will have to be shown with the emulsion away from the lens for the image to read correctly on the screen. Contact printing through the base to change orientation in 16 mm usually results in unacceptable loss of sharpness. Black-and-White Printing. Black-and-white printing practices are essentially the same as color printing practices. However, the lack of such considerations as color balance, saturation, etc., make black-and-white printing a less complex operation than color printing. The printing flowcharts show some common methods employed by laboratories in producing black-and-white motion picture prints. Note: A change in image size requires optical printing. Where reduction stages are called for, it is best - in order to obtain the highest definition in the final print - to postpone reduction until the latest practicable stage. Color Printing. A contact printer, with provisions for scene-to-scene density and color-balance changes, is required for color printing. An optical printer is needed to make reductions or enlargements, where appropriate. If it is necessary to create separation negatives or positives for extended keeping purposes, a step-contact printer is required to provide precision in positioning each successive frame of film. Certain kinds of special effects may also require a step-optical printer. The desire for high-volume production in laboratories has led to the use of multirow perforation formats to minimize handling. These systems for producing two or four rows of pictures on 16 mm or 35 mm raw stock require specially designed equipment. With the advent of video techniques, the demand for these formats is minimal. The printing systems shown in Figures 71,72,73, and 74 represent those in general use at laboratories; however, they do not include all procedures currently used. Because they are only photomechanical reproductions, these charts are meant to serve as guides to the printing systems and are not intended for use in evaluating picture quality with respect to color balance, saturation, contrast, sharpness, or graininess. For loose-leaf charts and detailed descriptions of the printing systems, see KODAK Publication No. H-25, Motion Picture Prints from Color Originals. 16 mm Color Prints from 16 mm Camera Originals 35 mm and 16 mm Color Prints from 35 mm Negatives