Blackmagic Design announced the Japan Institute of the Moving Image has installed and is using Blackmagic Cintel Film Scanner for archiving student films that have been shot at the college over the past four decades.
Japan Institute of the Moving Image history began with the legendary film maker Shohei Imamura’s film school, which was launched in 1975. The college is one of the few film schools that still have classes using film cameras, and there have been more than 300 films over the years that their students have completed using film.
“We now deliver in digital, even shooting with a film camera in a class, but we used to create 10 to 20 student films a year using film media. We strongly felt we needed to do data archiving to preserve those films that we have created. Also, the telecine we had used was broken and could not be repaired, so we thought rather than purchasing another telecine, we wanted a film scanner. However film scanners on the market were not something we could afford,” said Daisuke Wakabayashi, the instructor of the school.
He continued: “Then I heard Blackmagic acquired Cintel. We installed the Cintel Film Scanner as soon as Blackmagic started shipping it. The affordability of Cintel was a huge benefit for us. And we have installed a number of Blackmagic products, such as DaVinci Resolve. And as Resolve is the same software used to control Cintel, it was even extra comfort to install it because we are already used to the interface.
We have many 16mm films, so we used Blackmagic’s 16mm Gate when we scan our films. The scanned image has great image quality.”
Japan Institute of the Moving Image also uses a number of other Blackmagic products, such as DeckLink, DaVinci Resolve, Fusion, UltraScope, SmartScope Duo 4, Audio Monitor and the Teranex 3D Processor for both production and post production. The Teranex 3D Processor is used as part of the archiving process to up convert the college’s many Beta Cam, VHS and DVD films, which all are SD and need to be digitally archived along with the films converted with the Cintel.
“I like the simplicity of Blackmagic products. I am in charge of selecting equipment to install as well as setting those up once we purchase. I couldn’t have believed before that I could have set up a film scanner by myself before, but with Cintel it was easy. Also, the frequent software updates from Blackmagic are very helpful. Sometimes the feature that I wished to be somehow improved is really improved the way I wished in the next version. The fast response to user’s feedback is very valuable,” Wakabayashi concluded.
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More