Appendix 1

The Filmmaker’s Guide to Final Cut Pro Workfl ow
Conforming Digital Intermediate
Once the negative is scanned, most workfl ows require that the shots now be conformed to the cut
list. At one time, this was a real problem. The older scanners didn’t record the key code numbers for
the fi lm, and, so, matching the DI to the cut list had to be done by foot and frame. At the head of
every roll, before any useable picture, a hole is punched. This becomes the zero footage point for
the reel. In the original telecine, the time code laid to tape was matched to this hole punch, so the
video time code and an exported EDL can be used to fi nd the frame in the roll. This will only work
if the lab roll is not cut between telecine and scanning for the DI.
In workfl ows where the pull list is used to pull the shots from the lab rolls, the shots are now in a
totally different order. But as the new scanners read the key code numbers, this data can be used to
match the DI to the cut list. The cut list is used to create a timeline and the DI scans are linked to
that. Once conformed, the DI is ready for color correction.
Color Correction in Digital Intermediate
The DPX or Cineon image looks very bland. There has been no color or contrast correction and the
scanned image is fl at and dull. But almost the entire image from the negative is here, ready for color
correction. The amount of control you have over the digital intermediate image is incredible. There
is certainly nothing like it in fi lm-to-fi lm printing. Individual colors can be controlled and even
replaced. Color correction can be applied to selected areas of the screen with “power windows.”
Many fi lmmakers feel that even though the DI process is a compromise, the control makes it worth
it. Add to that the ability to add effects seamlessly and the advantages soon outweigh the
compromises.
Once the DI is color corrected, it is ready to shoot back to fi lm. The best fi lm recorders scan the
image back onto fi lm one pixel at a time, one frame at a time, with three color lasers. Other systems
are nothing more than a device for recording a high-defi nition video image onto the fi lm.
Film Recording
Very fi ne-grained fi lm, usually internegative fi lm, is used in recorders such as the one in Figure 5.11.
It is also possible to shoot to interpositive and then make an internegative off that interpositive. Often,
the internegative will be damaged while printing at high speed, making thousands of release prints.
Also, to speed the process, often several internegatives are made so that many prints can be printed
at the same time. So, having an interpositive makes it possible to make scores of internegatives. But
the release prints are one generation down and don’t look as good as prints pulled directly from the
fi lm recorder internegative. Current internegative fi lm is made of very strong polyester and with the
cost of fi lm recording coming down, the usual workfl ow now is to shoot to internegative. Big fi lms
that need thousands of prints also have big budgets and can afford to make as many internegatives
in the digital fi lm recorder as will be needed.
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