Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
<strong>Appendix</strong> 9: Deconstructing Several Films’ Workfl ows<br />
Geography of the Imagination is a very unusual 16 mm fi lm that followed an equally unusual workfl<br />
ow. The fi lm was made in the late 1980s when workfl ows like this were somewhat commonplace,<br />
but even for its time, this fi lm used some exotic sound mixing workfl ow that was somewhat esoteric<br />
(and the brain child of this author).<br />
This was more or less the way fi lms were made from 1930 to the late 1980s with the exception of<br />
the sound mix. In this era, most fi lms were mixed by loading all of the magnetic or optical tracks<br />
onto individual playback machines that were interlocked together. It could take more than fi fty playback<br />
machines, or “dubbers,” in order to perform such a mix.<br />
For Geography of the Imagination, most of the fi lm was shot on black-and-white reversal fi lm. Some<br />
was shot on super 8 color fi lm that was projected on a screen and rephotographed in black-and-white<br />
reversal fi lm. This produced a very fl ickery, contrasty, and unstable image that was exactly what the<br />
fi lmmaker had in mind. Other shots were printed from stock footage.<br />
All footage was work printed and edited on a Steenbeck fl atbed editor. The fi lm has no sync sound<br />
so that was not an issue. All sounds were transferred to 16 mm mag stock and the sound design<br />
created right on the fl atbed editor.<br />
The work print key code information was logged and printing cue sheets prepared. All original camera<br />
reversal fi lm was pulled to the key codes and glue-spliced into A-B rolls.<br />
Preparation for the mix is where the workfl ow became somewhat exotic and is the reason for mentioning<br />
it here. Even though the mix was going to be preformed to video, there was to be no pulling<br />
up or down. The mix would be done at 24 FPS. At the time, true 24 FPS workfl ows were thought<br />
to be the superior system and are still used and promoted as a simpler system. A quick review of the<br />
workfl ow on Help Wanted will show some of the potential pitfalls of a 24 FPS workfl ow.<br />
For Geography of the Imagination, all of the sound tracks were transferred two at a time from two<br />
playback dubbers. The dubbers were locked to 60 Hz line sync to ensure 24 FPS playback, and they<br />
were then locked together by means of a “servo interlock,” a system that is still used to lock multiple<br />
machines together. This way, when one machine moved forward or backward they both moved<br />
together in sync.<br />
The system works like this: every machine has an “optac,” short for optical tachometer. This<br />
sends a signal whenever the machine moves forward or backward. A servomotor that can move<br />
forward or backward drives each machine in very small and controllable steps. Each machine also<br />
has a computerized controller. When the master machine moves forward some number of steps, its<br />
optac sends this signal to all other machines that in turn are moved forward by their controllers until<br />
their optac informs the controller that they have moved exactly the same number of steps in the same<br />
direction. Any number or size of recorders or projectors or whatever can be locked together this<br />
way.<br />
The master machine was “line locked’ to the incoming 60 Hz line current (in other words, the electrical<br />
power from the wall plug). Electric clocks use this reference and, while it is not as accurate as<br />
the house sync, in this case, it is the best reference. The house sync is a video reference and is<br />
intended to keep 29.97 FPS devices in sync. If the dubbers were locked to this, they would run at<br />
23.98 FPS, just like a telecine machine. Because this is a 24 FPS workfl ow, the dubbers needed to<br />
be locked to a 60 Hz reference and so line power was used.<br />
219