Appendix 1

The Filmmaker’s Guide to Final Cut Pro Workfl ow
Fundamentally, this is still the workfl ow used today only with different hardware. Movieolas, fl atbeds,
and full-coat sound fi lm are pretty much museum pieces, but key code negative conforming, work prints,
color timing, answer prints, optical sound, and interlocked projections are very much alive and well.
Brief Discussion of Film and Printing
Figure 5.1 shows how fi lm consists of two major components: the clear plastic base and the emulsion.
The base is made of very fl at, very clear plastic, often of very durable polyester. Historically, the fi lm
base has been made of cellulose triacetate, which is made from wood fi ber. This led to fi lm being
called “celluloid.” Early fi lm bases were made of cellulose nitrate, often called nitrocellulose. This is
a very fl ammable and even explosive plastic used in blasting and as “smokeless” gunpowder. Before
1951, an accidental spark could reduce a theater’s projection booth to charred ruin in minutes.
Figure 5.1 35 mm fi lm cross section showing the clear plastic base and emulsion
The emulsion consists of light-sensitive, silver halides suspended in clear gelatin. This emulsion is
spread evenly over one side of the base; color fi lms have three such coatings, each sensitive to red,
green, or blue. In the camera, the lens forms the image on the emulsion side of the fi lm; if it were
formed on the base side, the light would scatter through the base making the image soft. Because
the camera lens inverts and fl ips the image, the developed image on the camera original is upside
down and backwards when viewed from the emulsion side (through the emulsion). Film always
travels down through the camera’s gate, so the camera original, usually negative, will be right-side
up and right reading when viewed through the base, the reel head up.
Figuring out which is the emulsion side of a piece of fi lm is not always easy. On most negatives and
prints, you can see the image “embossed” into the emulsion. After processing, some of the emulsion is
stripped away in the lighter areas, giving a relief to the emulsion. The base is always smooth and shiny.
Film with little or no image, like black or white leader, will be smooth and shiny on both sides. You can
scrape away a small area; emulsion scrapes away easily whereas base is just tough clear plastic. Or, you
can touch the fi lm to your lower lip. The emulsion side will tend to stick whereas the base will not.
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