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Modern Cinema Laboratory is located in Taipei, Taiwan. Established in 1992, the laboratory was accredited with KODAK IMAGECARE Program membership in 1998.
Laboratory General Manager Shaun Chen said the IMAGECARE Program brought to Modern Cinema Laboratory a necessary and indispensable precision in procedures and results. “Before accreditation, the laboratory had been operating for quite a few years and some of our staff, while very experienced, were initially skeptical about seeking accreditation. However the Program’s exacting standards and the obvious benefits of modifying procedures and devising highly detailed checklists quickly won them over.”
Taiwan-based filmmaker Ho Wi-ding is one customer impressed by the laboratory’s performance. “Filmmaking is a process involving many variables and risks,” says the director. “When I choose a lab, consistency is always the key issue. A laboratory with strict quality control and consistently excellent results puts the filmmaker’s mind at ease; I don’t have to worry if the negative is in safe hands.”
Modern Cinema Laboratory worked on Wi-ding’s short film Respire which received the KODAK Discovery Award for Best Short Film at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival International Critics’ Week. His next short, Summer Afternoon, also processed and printed at Modern, was selected for the 2008 Cannes Directors Fortnight. He is currently working on his debut feature film Taipei Sunday.
“A laboratory that is receptive to the filmmaker’s questions contributes to the creative process,” points out Wi-ding. “For instance, when I made my previous short film Respire, the cinematographer and I wanted to use bleach-bypass process on both the negative and the print. Neither we nor Modern Cinema Laboratory had used the process before. In fact, it was a first in Taiwan.
Modern embraced the challenge and supported us through the entire process of shooting extensive tests, production and postproduction. They knew we were taking chances but instead of suggesting ‘safe’ compromises, they were incredibly supportive of the look we were trying to achieve.”
Ho Wi-ding adds that when working in an unfamiliar part of the world, Kodak is an instantly-recognized name. “Without the certification of Kodak ensuring quality, you have to choose a lab based on word-of-mouth, instinct and sometimes just luck. An accredited KODAK IMAGECARE Program lab means reliability in the filmmaking process that is full of variables.”
Shaun Chen points out that “Our IMAGECARE Program procedures and records provide a reliable way of maintaining our company as a consistent service provider to our customers. We have customers from overseas such as cinematographer Philip Lovel who, along with Rolando Menardi, filmed the acclaimed documentary Typhoon Island (a joint-production between broadcasters BBC, German WDR, Austrian ORF and Taiwan Public Television Services) in Taiwan. Lovel contacted us early in preproduction, saying that he’d found us in the KODAK IMAGECARE Program member list. Being an accredited facility, he knew we’d be reliable, and he was more than happy with the results, which reaffirmed to him that he’d made the right decision by selecting an IMAGECARE Program accredited lab.”
Modern Cinema Laboratory has recently finished the negative processing for local Taiwanese feature film The Island of Color Blind.
For more information on Modern Cinema Laboratory visit www.modern-cinema.com.
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