By Carolyn Giardina
LOS ANGELES --Eastman Kodak, headquartered in Rochchester, N.Y., expanded its palette with the introduction of Kodak Vision2 50D 5201/7201 color negative film, an ultra-fine grain film rated for an exposure index of 50 in daylight and now available in all formats from 16 to 65mm.
“This new emulsion is designed to give cinematographers more creative latitude while filming high-contrast exterior scenes in bright daylight as well as shots in mixed color temperatures,” explained Robert Mayson, general manager and VP of image capture for Kodak’s Entertainment Imaging Division. “Advances in film science and emulsion technology ensure that nuances recorded on the negative are retained through both digital and optical postproduction all the way through to cinema and television screens.” The introduction of the stock–held earlier this week at the Kodak screening room at Eastman Kodak’s Hollywood office–included the screening of a short demo film of exteriors shot on the new film by the company’s Chris Hart and designed to demonstrate these characteristics.
Afterwards, cinematographers in attendance shared their thoughts with SHOOT. “My first impression is very positive,” said Stephen Lighthill, ASC. “I was mainly looking to see improved contrast, and this looks like enormous improvement. [The handling of grain] also showed great improvement. I look forward to testing it.”
“It did have improvements,” related Bill Bennett, ASC, citing specifically an enhancement in tracking, which he explained is the film’s ability to maintain color consistency when under and over exposed. “That saves a lot of time in telecine.”
The new emulsion is the sixth member of the Kodak Vision2 family of color negative films, which was introduced in November 2002. The new films offer a wide range of imaging characteristics designed to enable cinematographers to create compelling pictures in virtually any lighting environment.Review: Writer-Director Andrea Arnold’s “Bird”
"Is it too real for ya?" blares in the background of Andrea Arnold's latest film, "Bird," a 12-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams) rides with her shirtless, tattoo-covered dad, Bug (Barry Keoghan), on his electric scooter past scenes of poverty in working-class Kent.
The song's question — courtesy of the Irish post-punk band Fontains D.C. — is an acute one for "Bird." Arnold's films ( "American Honey," "Fish Tank") are rigorous in their gritty naturalism. Her fiction films — this is her first in eight years — tend toward bleak, hand-held verité in rough-and-tumble real-world locations. Her last film, "Cow," documented a mother cow separated from her calf on a dairy farm.
Arnold specializes in capturing souls, human and otherwise, in soulless environments. A dream of something more is tantalizing just out of reach. In "American Honey," peace comes to Star (Sasha Lane) only when she submerges underwater.
In "Bird," though, this sense of otherworldly possibility is made flesh, or at least feathery. After a confusing night, Bailey awakens in a field where she encounters a strange figure in a skirt ( Franz Rogowski ) who arrives, like Mary Poppins, with a gust a wind. His name, he says, is Bird. He has a soft sweetness that doesn't otherwise exist in Bailey's hardscrabble and chaotic life.
She's skeptical of him at first, but he keeps lurking about, hovering gull-like on rooftops. He cranes his neck now and again like he's watching out for Bailey. And he does watch out for her, helping Bailey through a hard coming of age: the abusive boyfriend (James Nelson-Joyce) of her mother (Jasmine Jobson); her half brother (Jason Buda) slipping into vigilante violence; her father marrying a new girlfriend.
The introduction of surrealism has... Read More