When recording on film, how does the crew see the footage?

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When recording on film, the crew cannot review the footage straight away, as film needs developing. In addition, the director cannot actually see what the camera is recording, as it is recording onto film. How do they get around this? How can they see if everything is correctly framed, in focus, etc, when recording on a medium that still requires processing?










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    When recording on film, the crew cannot review the footage straight away, as film needs developing. In addition, the director cannot actually see what the camera is recording, as it is recording onto film. How do they get around this? How can they see if everything is correctly framed, in focus, etc, when recording on a medium that still requires processing?










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      When recording on film, the crew cannot review the footage straight away, as film needs developing. In addition, the director cannot actually see what the camera is recording, as it is recording onto film. How do they get around this? How can they see if everything is correctly framed, in focus, etc, when recording on a medium that still requires processing?










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      When recording on film, the crew cannot review the footage straight away, as film needs developing. In addition, the director cannot actually see what the camera is recording, as it is recording onto film. How do they get around this? How can they see if everything is correctly framed, in focus, etc, when recording on a medium that still requires processing?







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      asked 1 hour ago









      Joren Vaes

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          up vote
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          Do you mean in this day and age, or back in the day before we had digital cameras?



          You can get a tap from the camera these days, but you still can't see what was actually captured to film until it gets back from the lab.



          In short, you need a DoP who knows film; it's too expensive for amateur guessers.



          There is a system known as Video Assist using a beam splitter to separate out a tap to a modern CCD system [like in a phone or DSLR camera] which can live feed to on-set monitoring, so the director and crew can see the feed as it is shot...



          From Wikipedia: Video Assist




          Video assist is a system used in filmmaking which allows filmmakers to view a video version of a take immediately after it is filmed.



          Originally a small device, called the video tap, was installed inside a movie camera that allows (with the addition of a monitor) the director to see approximately the same view as the camera operator, and thus ensure that the film is being shot and framed as desired. This is done by using a small charge-coupled device (CCD) (similar to ones in consumer camcorders) inside the viewfinder. On modern film cameras, the assist is fed off a beam splitter, which splits the beam between the optical viewfinder and the video tap. The light enters through the lens, and hits the rotating mirror shutter, which bounces the light to the horizontal ground glass. The beam splitter is directly over the ground glass and turns the light again 90 degrees, and projects it onto the chip of the video assist camera—through its own lens system. The chip, together with its electronics, lens system and mounting hardware, is the video tap, and was commonly called video assist until the video assist industry grew large.




          The rest of that article then actually goes into how video playback is distributed to the various crew departments that need to see the footage as it is shot on any large shoot, not specifically that for a film/video splitter.



          Back in the day, there was no chance of immediate playback - nor could the director see what the cinematographer shot. They had to trust one another. The director had to look for the performance, the cinematographer for focus and framing. That's probably why when you see old stills of shoots, the director is sitting really close to camera, to get an idea of what the shot would be, without actually being able to see it.

          These days, of course, they can sit somewhere away from the kerfuffle and watch it on a monitor.




          Prior research and links for interest...



          I'm struggling to find a real reference for this, but here's a film school quick blog about it - https://nofilmschool.com/2016/08/5-things-know-you-shoot-film to be going on with.



          A couple more links saying 'it was done' but I can't get any detail - it's not something I've ever worked in, I've only ever done 'modern digital' shoots...



          Shooting Film Against the Digital Wave: DP Paul Cameron on Westworld




          Cameron: Specifically for Westworld I had Arricam Lites retrofitted for HD taps. Quite frankly, if directors and everybody else saw the video taps that we used to use on film cameras they’d flip out. Jonathan [Nolan] is actually very experienced with shooting film and looking at classic video taps, but still I thought it was important to establish a set protocol to get a better image for both Jonathan and various department heads so that they could see what we were doing. We dug up a bunch of video taps from around the country and put them on the Arricam Lites. The problem was we were shooting in Santa Clarita, California in the middle of the summer at high noon, when it’s about 195 degrees. So we tended to have a few problems with the HD taps. Just picture these Arricams with ice packs wrapped around the video taps all the time to keep the temperature down. (laughs)




          How They Did It: Shooting Mr. Roosevelt in 16MM Was Masochistic, But Paid Off, Says Its First-Time Director






          share|improve this answer






















          • Both are interesting, but I was mainly looking for the modern day way. I asked because I saw some behind-the-scenes footage of breaking bad where they were recording with film yet still somehow had a feed on a monitor. any good sources on how this 'tap' works?
            – Joren Vaes
            35 mins ago










          • I'll add a couple of links, but tbh I've never worked on a production shot on film, so I'm relying on Google for the scant detail I can scavenge. Sorry. This is one of those things i "know but can't adequately prove" [which doesn't mean it's wrong, just not easy to obtain sufficient backup refs.]
            – Tetsujin
            23 mins ago










          • OK, found it - a system called Video Assist. Will add refs/excerpts...
            – Tetsujin
            15 mins ago


















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes








          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes








          up vote
          2
          down vote













          Do you mean in this day and age, or back in the day before we had digital cameras?



          You can get a tap from the camera these days, but you still can't see what was actually captured to film until it gets back from the lab.



          In short, you need a DoP who knows film; it's too expensive for amateur guessers.



          There is a system known as Video Assist using a beam splitter to separate out a tap to a modern CCD system [like in a phone or DSLR camera] which can live feed to on-set monitoring, so the director and crew can see the feed as it is shot...



          From Wikipedia: Video Assist




          Video assist is a system used in filmmaking which allows filmmakers to view a video version of a take immediately after it is filmed.



          Originally a small device, called the video tap, was installed inside a movie camera that allows (with the addition of a monitor) the director to see approximately the same view as the camera operator, and thus ensure that the film is being shot and framed as desired. This is done by using a small charge-coupled device (CCD) (similar to ones in consumer camcorders) inside the viewfinder. On modern film cameras, the assist is fed off a beam splitter, which splits the beam between the optical viewfinder and the video tap. The light enters through the lens, and hits the rotating mirror shutter, which bounces the light to the horizontal ground glass. The beam splitter is directly over the ground glass and turns the light again 90 degrees, and projects it onto the chip of the video assist camera—through its own lens system. The chip, together with its electronics, lens system and mounting hardware, is the video tap, and was commonly called video assist until the video assist industry grew large.




          The rest of that article then actually goes into how video playback is distributed to the various crew departments that need to see the footage as it is shot on any large shoot, not specifically that for a film/video splitter.



          Back in the day, there was no chance of immediate playback - nor could the director see what the cinematographer shot. They had to trust one another. The director had to look for the performance, the cinematographer for focus and framing. That's probably why when you see old stills of shoots, the director is sitting really close to camera, to get an idea of what the shot would be, without actually being able to see it.

          These days, of course, they can sit somewhere away from the kerfuffle and watch it on a monitor.




          Prior research and links for interest...



          I'm struggling to find a real reference for this, but here's a film school quick blog about it - https://nofilmschool.com/2016/08/5-things-know-you-shoot-film to be going on with.



          A couple more links saying 'it was done' but I can't get any detail - it's not something I've ever worked in, I've only ever done 'modern digital' shoots...



          Shooting Film Against the Digital Wave: DP Paul Cameron on Westworld




          Cameron: Specifically for Westworld I had Arricam Lites retrofitted for HD taps. Quite frankly, if directors and everybody else saw the video taps that we used to use on film cameras they’d flip out. Jonathan [Nolan] is actually very experienced with shooting film and looking at classic video taps, but still I thought it was important to establish a set protocol to get a better image for both Jonathan and various department heads so that they could see what we were doing. We dug up a bunch of video taps from around the country and put them on the Arricam Lites. The problem was we were shooting in Santa Clarita, California in the middle of the summer at high noon, when it’s about 195 degrees. So we tended to have a few problems with the HD taps. Just picture these Arricams with ice packs wrapped around the video taps all the time to keep the temperature down. (laughs)




          How They Did It: Shooting Mr. Roosevelt in 16MM Was Masochistic, But Paid Off, Says Its First-Time Director






          share|improve this answer






















          • Both are interesting, but I was mainly looking for the modern day way. I asked because I saw some behind-the-scenes footage of breaking bad where they were recording with film yet still somehow had a feed on a monitor. any good sources on how this 'tap' works?
            – Joren Vaes
            35 mins ago










          • I'll add a couple of links, but tbh I've never worked on a production shot on film, so I'm relying on Google for the scant detail I can scavenge. Sorry. This is one of those things i "know but can't adequately prove" [which doesn't mean it's wrong, just not easy to obtain sufficient backup refs.]
            – Tetsujin
            23 mins ago










          • OK, found it - a system called Video Assist. Will add refs/excerpts...
            – Tetsujin
            15 mins ago














          up vote
          2
          down vote













          Do you mean in this day and age, or back in the day before we had digital cameras?



          You can get a tap from the camera these days, but you still can't see what was actually captured to film until it gets back from the lab.



          In short, you need a DoP who knows film; it's too expensive for amateur guessers.



          There is a system known as Video Assist using a beam splitter to separate out a tap to a modern CCD system [like in a phone or DSLR camera] which can live feed to on-set monitoring, so the director and crew can see the feed as it is shot...



          From Wikipedia: Video Assist




          Video assist is a system used in filmmaking which allows filmmakers to view a video version of a take immediately after it is filmed.



          Originally a small device, called the video tap, was installed inside a movie camera that allows (with the addition of a monitor) the director to see approximately the same view as the camera operator, and thus ensure that the film is being shot and framed as desired. This is done by using a small charge-coupled device (CCD) (similar to ones in consumer camcorders) inside the viewfinder. On modern film cameras, the assist is fed off a beam splitter, which splits the beam between the optical viewfinder and the video tap. The light enters through the lens, and hits the rotating mirror shutter, which bounces the light to the horizontal ground glass. The beam splitter is directly over the ground glass and turns the light again 90 degrees, and projects it onto the chip of the video assist camera—through its own lens system. The chip, together with its electronics, lens system and mounting hardware, is the video tap, and was commonly called video assist until the video assist industry grew large.




          The rest of that article then actually goes into how video playback is distributed to the various crew departments that need to see the footage as it is shot on any large shoot, not specifically that for a film/video splitter.



          Back in the day, there was no chance of immediate playback - nor could the director see what the cinematographer shot. They had to trust one another. The director had to look for the performance, the cinematographer for focus and framing. That's probably why when you see old stills of shoots, the director is sitting really close to camera, to get an idea of what the shot would be, without actually being able to see it.

          These days, of course, they can sit somewhere away from the kerfuffle and watch it on a monitor.




          Prior research and links for interest...



          I'm struggling to find a real reference for this, but here's a film school quick blog about it - https://nofilmschool.com/2016/08/5-things-know-you-shoot-film to be going on with.



          A couple more links saying 'it was done' but I can't get any detail - it's not something I've ever worked in, I've only ever done 'modern digital' shoots...



          Shooting Film Against the Digital Wave: DP Paul Cameron on Westworld




          Cameron: Specifically for Westworld I had Arricam Lites retrofitted for HD taps. Quite frankly, if directors and everybody else saw the video taps that we used to use on film cameras they’d flip out. Jonathan [Nolan] is actually very experienced with shooting film and looking at classic video taps, but still I thought it was important to establish a set protocol to get a better image for both Jonathan and various department heads so that they could see what we were doing. We dug up a bunch of video taps from around the country and put them on the Arricam Lites. The problem was we were shooting in Santa Clarita, California in the middle of the summer at high noon, when it’s about 195 degrees. So we tended to have a few problems with the HD taps. Just picture these Arricams with ice packs wrapped around the video taps all the time to keep the temperature down. (laughs)




          How They Did It: Shooting Mr. Roosevelt in 16MM Was Masochistic, But Paid Off, Says Its First-Time Director






          share|improve this answer






















          • Both are interesting, but I was mainly looking for the modern day way. I asked because I saw some behind-the-scenes footage of breaking bad where they were recording with film yet still somehow had a feed on a monitor. any good sources on how this 'tap' works?
            – Joren Vaes
            35 mins ago










          • I'll add a couple of links, but tbh I've never worked on a production shot on film, so I'm relying on Google for the scant detail I can scavenge. Sorry. This is one of those things i "know but can't adequately prove" [which doesn't mean it's wrong, just not easy to obtain sufficient backup refs.]
            – Tetsujin
            23 mins ago










          • OK, found it - a system called Video Assist. Will add refs/excerpts...
            – Tetsujin
            15 mins ago












          up vote
          2
          down vote










          up vote
          2
          down vote









          Do you mean in this day and age, or back in the day before we had digital cameras?



          You can get a tap from the camera these days, but you still can't see what was actually captured to film until it gets back from the lab.



          In short, you need a DoP who knows film; it's too expensive for amateur guessers.



          There is a system known as Video Assist using a beam splitter to separate out a tap to a modern CCD system [like in a phone or DSLR camera] which can live feed to on-set monitoring, so the director and crew can see the feed as it is shot...



          From Wikipedia: Video Assist




          Video assist is a system used in filmmaking which allows filmmakers to view a video version of a take immediately after it is filmed.



          Originally a small device, called the video tap, was installed inside a movie camera that allows (with the addition of a monitor) the director to see approximately the same view as the camera operator, and thus ensure that the film is being shot and framed as desired. This is done by using a small charge-coupled device (CCD) (similar to ones in consumer camcorders) inside the viewfinder. On modern film cameras, the assist is fed off a beam splitter, which splits the beam between the optical viewfinder and the video tap. The light enters through the lens, and hits the rotating mirror shutter, which bounces the light to the horizontal ground glass. The beam splitter is directly over the ground glass and turns the light again 90 degrees, and projects it onto the chip of the video assist camera—through its own lens system. The chip, together with its electronics, lens system and mounting hardware, is the video tap, and was commonly called video assist until the video assist industry grew large.




          The rest of that article then actually goes into how video playback is distributed to the various crew departments that need to see the footage as it is shot on any large shoot, not specifically that for a film/video splitter.



          Back in the day, there was no chance of immediate playback - nor could the director see what the cinematographer shot. They had to trust one another. The director had to look for the performance, the cinematographer for focus and framing. That's probably why when you see old stills of shoots, the director is sitting really close to camera, to get an idea of what the shot would be, without actually being able to see it.

          These days, of course, they can sit somewhere away from the kerfuffle and watch it on a monitor.




          Prior research and links for interest...



          I'm struggling to find a real reference for this, but here's a film school quick blog about it - https://nofilmschool.com/2016/08/5-things-know-you-shoot-film to be going on with.



          A couple more links saying 'it was done' but I can't get any detail - it's not something I've ever worked in, I've only ever done 'modern digital' shoots...



          Shooting Film Against the Digital Wave: DP Paul Cameron on Westworld




          Cameron: Specifically for Westworld I had Arricam Lites retrofitted for HD taps. Quite frankly, if directors and everybody else saw the video taps that we used to use on film cameras they’d flip out. Jonathan [Nolan] is actually very experienced with shooting film and looking at classic video taps, but still I thought it was important to establish a set protocol to get a better image for both Jonathan and various department heads so that they could see what we were doing. We dug up a bunch of video taps from around the country and put them on the Arricam Lites. The problem was we were shooting in Santa Clarita, California in the middle of the summer at high noon, when it’s about 195 degrees. So we tended to have a few problems with the HD taps. Just picture these Arricams with ice packs wrapped around the video taps all the time to keep the temperature down. (laughs)




          How They Did It: Shooting Mr. Roosevelt in 16MM Was Masochistic, But Paid Off, Says Its First-Time Director






          share|improve this answer














          Do you mean in this day and age, or back in the day before we had digital cameras?



          You can get a tap from the camera these days, but you still can't see what was actually captured to film until it gets back from the lab.



          In short, you need a DoP who knows film; it's too expensive for amateur guessers.



          There is a system known as Video Assist using a beam splitter to separate out a tap to a modern CCD system [like in a phone or DSLR camera] which can live feed to on-set monitoring, so the director and crew can see the feed as it is shot...



          From Wikipedia: Video Assist




          Video assist is a system used in filmmaking which allows filmmakers to view a video version of a take immediately after it is filmed.



          Originally a small device, called the video tap, was installed inside a movie camera that allows (with the addition of a monitor) the director to see approximately the same view as the camera operator, and thus ensure that the film is being shot and framed as desired. This is done by using a small charge-coupled device (CCD) (similar to ones in consumer camcorders) inside the viewfinder. On modern film cameras, the assist is fed off a beam splitter, which splits the beam between the optical viewfinder and the video tap. The light enters through the lens, and hits the rotating mirror shutter, which bounces the light to the horizontal ground glass. The beam splitter is directly over the ground glass and turns the light again 90 degrees, and projects it onto the chip of the video assist camera—through its own lens system. The chip, together with its electronics, lens system and mounting hardware, is the video tap, and was commonly called video assist until the video assist industry grew large.




          The rest of that article then actually goes into how video playback is distributed to the various crew departments that need to see the footage as it is shot on any large shoot, not specifically that for a film/video splitter.



          Back in the day, there was no chance of immediate playback - nor could the director see what the cinematographer shot. They had to trust one another. The director had to look for the performance, the cinematographer for focus and framing. That's probably why when you see old stills of shoots, the director is sitting really close to camera, to get an idea of what the shot would be, without actually being able to see it.

          These days, of course, they can sit somewhere away from the kerfuffle and watch it on a monitor.




          Prior research and links for interest...



          I'm struggling to find a real reference for this, but here's a film school quick blog about it - https://nofilmschool.com/2016/08/5-things-know-you-shoot-film to be going on with.



          A couple more links saying 'it was done' but I can't get any detail - it's not something I've ever worked in, I've only ever done 'modern digital' shoots...



          Shooting Film Against the Digital Wave: DP Paul Cameron on Westworld




          Cameron: Specifically for Westworld I had Arricam Lites retrofitted for HD taps. Quite frankly, if directors and everybody else saw the video taps that we used to use on film cameras they’d flip out. Jonathan [Nolan] is actually very experienced with shooting film and looking at classic video taps, but still I thought it was important to establish a set protocol to get a better image for both Jonathan and various department heads so that they could see what we were doing. We dug up a bunch of video taps from around the country and put them on the Arricam Lites. The problem was we were shooting in Santa Clarita, California in the middle of the summer at high noon, when it’s about 195 degrees. So we tended to have a few problems with the HD taps. Just picture these Arricams with ice packs wrapped around the video taps all the time to keep the temperature down. (laughs)




          How They Did It: Shooting Mr. Roosevelt in 16MM Was Masochistic, But Paid Off, Says Its First-Time Director







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 2 mins ago

























          answered 52 mins ago









          Tetsujin

          15.5k55361




          15.5k55361











          • Both are interesting, but I was mainly looking for the modern day way. I asked because I saw some behind-the-scenes footage of breaking bad where they were recording with film yet still somehow had a feed on a monitor. any good sources on how this 'tap' works?
            – Joren Vaes
            35 mins ago










          • I'll add a couple of links, but tbh I've never worked on a production shot on film, so I'm relying on Google for the scant detail I can scavenge. Sorry. This is one of those things i "know but can't adequately prove" [which doesn't mean it's wrong, just not easy to obtain sufficient backup refs.]
            – Tetsujin
            23 mins ago










          • OK, found it - a system called Video Assist. Will add refs/excerpts...
            – Tetsujin
            15 mins ago
















          • Both are interesting, but I was mainly looking for the modern day way. I asked because I saw some behind-the-scenes footage of breaking bad where they were recording with film yet still somehow had a feed on a monitor. any good sources on how this 'tap' works?
            – Joren Vaes
            35 mins ago










          • I'll add a couple of links, but tbh I've never worked on a production shot on film, so I'm relying on Google for the scant detail I can scavenge. Sorry. This is one of those things i "know but can't adequately prove" [which doesn't mean it's wrong, just not easy to obtain sufficient backup refs.]
            – Tetsujin
            23 mins ago










          • OK, found it - a system called Video Assist. Will add refs/excerpts...
            – Tetsujin
            15 mins ago















          Both are interesting, but I was mainly looking for the modern day way. I asked because I saw some behind-the-scenes footage of breaking bad where they were recording with film yet still somehow had a feed on a monitor. any good sources on how this 'tap' works?
          – Joren Vaes
          35 mins ago




          Both are interesting, but I was mainly looking for the modern day way. I asked because I saw some behind-the-scenes footage of breaking bad where they were recording with film yet still somehow had a feed on a monitor. any good sources on how this 'tap' works?
          – Joren Vaes
          35 mins ago












          I'll add a couple of links, but tbh I've never worked on a production shot on film, so I'm relying on Google for the scant detail I can scavenge. Sorry. This is one of those things i "know but can't adequately prove" [which doesn't mean it's wrong, just not easy to obtain sufficient backup refs.]
          – Tetsujin
          23 mins ago




          I'll add a couple of links, but tbh I've never worked on a production shot on film, so I'm relying on Google for the scant detail I can scavenge. Sorry. This is one of those things i "know but can't adequately prove" [which doesn't mean it's wrong, just not easy to obtain sufficient backup refs.]
          – Tetsujin
          23 mins ago












          OK, found it - a system called Video Assist. Will add refs/excerpts...
          – Tetsujin
          15 mins ago




          OK, found it - a system called Video Assist. Will add refs/excerpts...
          – Tetsujin
          15 mins ago


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