Syncing without Timecode

Storing Film Stock
If I use reversal film, contrast would decrease when I do push process. Is it true? I heard from a friend of mine he said he read contrast decreases. Please let me know the answer. I am sure I know the contrast increases when I use negative push process.

Second, usually, I think people keep raw stock in refrigerator if they don't have real stock place, stable humidity and temparature. I should do same thing? I really care about food and drink in refrigerator making film so bad. How can I keep raw stock? Do you have any recommendation?

1st 16mm camera
I will be purchasing my first 16mm camera, and I had some questions. I have a budget of $15,000 through American Express Equipment Financing, and I am interested in getting the best package I can for the purpose of making 16 mm (or Super 16mm) indie films. I own a recording studio, so I knowledge about recording sound just not in terms of cameras (sync etc.) I know Arriflex, but I have little experience with the 16S, 16BL, and SR3. I have even less knowledge about Bolex. So ultimately my question is this ... can you suggest the best set up with these budget requirements?

Negative Transfer
I´m an independent filmmaker in Mexico and I´ll be making a b/w 16mm short film. Some people have said to me that there are film labs that transfers the negative straight to video making a positive image on video without the extra cost of having to make a positive film print first. I´d like to know if this is correct and what the transfer quality would be. I hope you could help me.

Post Syncing for Film
Again, thank you for the wealth of advice you've been giving me on my short film. I am two weeks away from shooting. Here in NY I'm thinking to process the film at DUART, because they do cater to NYU students by offering a discount. It's also good to introduce yourselves to a sales rep. I don't know how are they going to be taking care of my film when it moves to post. I'll let you know. But, meanwhile, burning question. I'm gonna be developing the film and transfer it to video dailies with Timecode for the eventual negative cutting. However, when it comes to syncing sound DUART will do it for video dailies at a rate of $110/hr. That is a lot!!!! Is there any other way beside syncing on a flatbed? I mean for 6000 ft of film at $110/hr that's gonna be about $1,100.00!!!!! Non-discountable!! Help!!

Wild Sound with the Arri S
I do not have a problem shooting with an arri s and recording sound "wild"-in fact if you transfer film to vhs you can do all sorts of things with sound while you edit-re record dialogue, add ambient sound, add music,etc-crystal sync is great but it is not the only way to go as i see it.

Contributed by Glen Berry

I'm shooting a film, and wanted to know if I could record dialog on a non timecode dat or even a minidisc recorder, and rerecord the sound in bulk to a timecode dat, then sync up the video transfer of my film with the sound on an avid. Is that the way to do it cheaply but effectively? I've heard conflicting reports as to how well sound can be synced to a video transfered picture because of the change in frame rate. Also, when people refer to sound needing to be resolved, is that just aligning the sound speed to picture speed? We would really appreciate your consultation, so when we start filming next week everything will be fine, and we can shoot in confidence!

You can hook up anything with RCA or mic jacks to a DAT, or anything that can adapt to RCA or mic jacks for that matter. I've heard that using Mini-Disc players can yield excellent sound quality but I'm not sure why you would want to transfer to Time Code DAT. You're not using a TC slate, SmartSync Aaton, or using the DAT in production so why dump to a TC DAT?

I think the reason there is some confusion is because you haven't planned a production path for your film. When I say production path, I simply mean how you plan to shoot and record footage in production and then sync, edit and sweeten in post. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to plan before you get to post. If you capture good sound and get your film in the can, breathe a sigh of relief and then look very carefully and how you plan on transferring, editing and syncing sound because if you don't plan you will end up wasting a lot of money and time.

You cannot sync sound you shot with film (at 24fps) with video (30fps). It can be done if there is very short dialogue and it is planned ahead of time. However, we can tell you from personal experience that if there is any lengthy dialogue shots (more than 10-15 seconds) there will be a sync problem. The longer the shot runs, the worse the problem. Shots longer than 10-15 seconds start looking like a foreign dubbed KungFu movie. We strongly advise against it, it is very frustrating and can make for an unintentionally laughable film.

This problem can be resolved (pun intended) by having your sound slowed down (resolved) by the same amount as your video was in the telecine. This can easily (and reasonably) done at the lab either to video tape or DAT. We recommend going to DAT and then syncing on the Avid, if you intend on editing on Avid.

Berry started his career as an editor and post production supervisor, having worked on documentaries for PBS and The Discovery Channel. Berry’s award-winning short fiction, documentary and experimental films have screened at festivals around the world. His first feature film secured a rare worldwide distribution deal and received a limited theatrical release.

The publisher of Film Underground and founder of Northwest Film School, Berry has taught production at Western Washington University and Whatcom Community College. Berry was awarded a Master of Arts in Production and Direction from the National University of Ireland and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Theatre Arts from Montana State University.

Berry’s academic work has been published in scholarly journals as well as trade publications such as MovieMaker Magazine, CyberFilmSchool.com and FilmFestivals.com as well as The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Filmmaking. He is the publisher of Film Underground and has served as an expert source for international newspaper and radio media outlets. Berry twice served as the Director of the Northwest Projections Film Festival and as a panel judge on numerous festivals and competitions.

Glen Berry is the Director of the Northwest Film School where he teaches directing, producing and editing. He has specialized in creative editing and post production techniques with independent film. His interests include the cognitive functions of the mind as it applies to motion picture editing as well as new forms of communications in the visual arts.

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