7.8 How is material originated on videotape transferred to film for theatrical projection? How is the sound synced?
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This article is from the rec.arts.movies.tech FAQ, by Scott E. Norwood snorwood@nyx.nyx.net with numerous contributions by others.
7.8 How is material originated on videotape transferred to film for theatrical projection? How is the sound synced?
This has been done for several films and portions of films with
varying degrees of success. The simplest method is known as
`kinescoping' and has been used since the introduction of television
to preserve important pro- grams on film (prior to the introduction of
videotape). This method varies widely in quality, from unwatchable, to
almost-acceptable. It works with a movie camera which has been
modified much like a telecine projector, using a shutter with
additional blades (or, more commonly, a single 72-degree blade with a
288 degree opening). It is simply pointed at a television screen, and
started. The resultant pictures are commonly of very low con- trast,
and sometimes have edges cropped. Sound is recorded either in-camera
(with an old-fashioned optical-sound galvanometer) or on a magnetic
tape which is later transferred to magnetic film, and synced normally.
The more complicated method (which is substantially more expensive),
is available from companies such as 4MC (tm) (formerly Image Transform
(tm) ) in the Los Angeles, California area. They (and others) have
developed sophisticated equipment which increases the effective number
of lines of resolution in a particular television image, making the
film version look somewhat clearer than the TV original. In this
system, each of the three primary colors of the image (red, green, and
blue) are recorded separately onto separate pieces of film, which are
then printed successively onto an interpositive in order to produce a
full-color image. The soundtrack is usually recorded from the original
videotape onto timecoded DAT or 1/4" tape, which can then be used
directly to cut an optical track for the print. This process has been
used for several widely distributed films, most notably Hoop Dreams,
and, considering the low quality of television images, makes
reasonably good-looking films.
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