Perspectives on VISION3 Film

Mike Sowa
DI Colorist
LaserPacific

Mike Sowa

Mike Sowa is a DI colorist at LaserPacific who participated in the creation of the demonstration film that illustrates the performance advantages of new KODAK VISION3 500T Color Negative Film. His experience as a working pro and his familiarity with VISION2 Films gave him a valuable perspective on the evolution of the workflow and the advances of VISION3 Film.

On compatibility with the DI process.

Kodak was definitely thinking of the DI process when they developed this new negative because the benefits are probably more apparent here than they would be going through a traditional chemical process. We build contrast and then we have the tools to go and try to pull information up or down throughout the shot. With that in mind, they've gone in and they've helped us out with the details in the low lights and the high-lights, which are the two areas in the negative that suffer the most when we start building contrast in negatives. They definitely were aware of this process and were trying to help out the filmmaker by developing the negative the way they did.

On pulling detail out of shadows.

Somehow they managed to keep the negative from blocking up quite as much when I build contrast. It gives me more detail in those low lights so I don't have to try to dig it out with Power Windows. Most of the image was in the negative. It just came up. It was there after I built the contrast. Like the toe of the negative is still the toe, but they've given me more dynamic range down there.

To some people it might be subtle, but to me it's a tremendous achievement to be able to pull that kind of detail out. If I compare the images side by side between the 18 and the 19, for me it's huge.

On minimizing underexposure grain.

If you're underexposing the negative and come into this [DI] environment, you try to build the image back up. You're used to seeing a huge grain structure. With the 19, the grain structure is much smaller and smoother. We were playing with a negative that was one or two stops underexposed and didn't have any issues with grain at all in pulling the image up. The grain stayed down.

On improved highlight performance.

The improvement is more noticeable in overexposed highlights. I was able to maintain a higher resolution in the highlight areas. The 19 retained information better than the old stock. It was a bonus that we had more resolution in the low light areas - and the same goes for the highlights. When the highlights [of 5218 and 5219] are compared side by side, you see a little better, a little more saturated color. It was a nice achievement.

On retaining the best of VISION2 Film.

If you're used to using the 5218 stock, I think you're probably going to be really happy, because for the most part the two stocks are similar enough that you don't have to change anything. You shoot the 19 just like you do the 18. You're going to get this little added benefit without actually trying. I think in the 19 they've softened and smoothed the grain even a little bit more, so compared side by side the grain structure of the 19 is a little nicer. So that can be a good or bad thing, depending on whether you want grain or not. So, if you're looking for an image that's really grainy, maybe it's not the stock that you should be using. I think that what they've tried to achieve definitely comes through in the 19, which is a cleaner, more resolute negative.

On flesh tone reproduction.

In full-lit situations I didn't notice that big a difference, but in the low light areas where the flesh tone tends to drop off, it gets more neutral than fleshy. In those particular areas I noticed a better saturated color without having to go in and try to create it.

On streamlining the process.

It is a little more efficient. Like with Power Windows I'd have to draw windows around the low light areas to try to pull information out, so it helps me not having to go in and do that with a negative that will hold the information. I can go through it a little more efficiently and a little quicker because I'm not having to take the time to try to pull out an image that naturally comes up in the 19.