Shopping for cheap 16mm neg telecine houses..ideas?

[Supa-eight]

I am working on a short film right now and am shopping for the best lab to get my 16mm negative transferred with color correction (basically supervised transfer) etc. I am currently looking at Yale film and Video in Hollywood, CA. They will do the work for $175 an hour on a film chain system with Davinci color correction system. Now before anyone has anything to say about Yale I have heard it all here before and thats now what I'm looking for. I am looking for a lab that might have CHEAPER prices. I tried to "bargain" with Keith at Yale on the phone and all he did was quote me at their full prices listed on the website. No student discount etc. Please post your insights on cheaper labs here.

Thanks!

[Supa-eight]

Sorry I said thats now what I'm looking for and I meant "not" looking for. I am not looking for a critique on Yale. Just the best prices out there.

[MovieStuff]

Hi, Aaron!

I think the big problem is that you want a supervised transfer. No lab is going to work you a deal on a supervised session because that's their premium service and, depending on how wishy-washy the client is, the lab can tie up a ton of Rank time waiting for the guy to make up his mind. On the other hand, if you tell them that you don't mind an unsupervised Rank session (which will still be color corrected) then you stand a much better chance of getting a good "package deal".

If it's unsupervised, the lab can work your job into their schedule over a longer period of time and it won't impact their workflow. In fact, they may very well take a couple of weeks to get your job done in pieces because they work on it inbetween other higher paying sessions. But to them it's almost free money as they would never otherwise be able to schedule something so fragmented. An unsupervised 16mm Rank session off of neg is going to look really, really, really good, I can assure you, compared to supervised session transfer off of super 8 reversal. Try going back to the various labs with a different approach: Tell them you'll pay them in advance for the entire package of process and Rank and that it's okay if it's unsupervised. THAT'S something they can work with. But they'll never give away their premium service for less.

Roger

[Supa-eight]

Thanks for your comments Roger. Unfortunately its not a rank transfer. It's just a film chain where they run it constant and not frame by frame ( thats my understanding of a Rank transfer at least ). I don't mind the color correction aspects of the transfer really, I'm just worried if I have them run it unsupervised then I will have poorly over or underexposed shots that cannot be fixed in post without ruining my image. I have many shots that I overexposed 2 stops due to some dust showing in my lens. What do you think, should I worry about exposure correction in my transfers? Or should I think about getting unsupervised after all?

Thanks for your input.

[MovieStuff]

I think that the best route would have been to have contacted a lab that has a Rank in house and set up the entire "package deal". That way you get the best deal for both processing and transfer together. I would not run negative on a standard film chain. I assumed when you said you had negative you were looking for a Rank transfer.

Still, if you have negative that's already been processed, you can get a pretty good deal by letting them Rank it unsupervised, which will come out better than a supervised film chain off the same material.

Also, just so you'll know in the future, the Rank transfers in realtime but the difference is that they can go through initially and program in all the color and density corrections. Then they take the film off and clean it and then put it back on the Rank. They align the synch frame that used as a reference for programming and let it run. The Rank will do all the color and density corrections on the fly. So, even if you don't attend a supervised session on the Rank, it will still benefit from scene to scene and cut to cut color and density corrections. The only way that you would NOT get that is if you asked for a "one light" or "best light" transfer (same thing). But a one light on a Rank will still probably be better than a supervised session on a film chain, in my opinion. They just can't be frame accurate on a film chain and you don't maintain frame discretion like you do on a Rank transfer.

Roger