Old film - I love Casablanca for this look.

[x-ray]

I have wondered how the old films handled low light. I assume the films used in the 1940's were slow by today's standards so how they achieve focus and lighting so well has always caught my attention. I already had the box set to record Casablanca tonight. Joe

The light level was quite high in most scenes. A lot of the light came from carbon arc lights, 10,000 Watt and 5,000 Watt tungsten as well. . (Here's a little clip on the Mole Richardson carbon arc brute you might enjoy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d7bsCiRFLE )
Although the arc brute came after Casablanca very similar lights were used. The lighting directors really knew how to light back then and used contrast in lighting and exposure to control the look.

I agree these old films shot on B&W negative and printed on fine grain release stock were beautiful.

 

[ChrisLivsey]

"Casablanca was made during the nitrate film era, and each fine-grain master (FGM) was deposited in the dedicated Warner Bros. film labs on the East and West coasts. The vintage 35mm FGM held in West Coast storage currently resides at the UCLA Film and Television Archive, but now only three reels exist due to nitrate decomposition. The best, earliest surviving and complete material for this iconic film is the 35mm nitrate FGM in the MoMA Department of Film collection."


https://moma.org/explore/inside_out...in-the-best-surviving-original-film-material/

 

[ChrisLivsey]

Seems like it has been restored for re-released in 4k

"Deluxe Restoration, on behalf of Studiocanal, digitally restored the film from a fine grain master positive struck from the original negative. This sounds great, until you see the result. Carol Reed’s 1949 film noir, starring Joseph Cotton and featuring an unforgettable performance from Orson Welles, loses its shadowy intrigue when the restoration process oversteps the line of “making the film appear as it was originally intended,” using newfound digital tools to “clean up” the film. Skin tones look polished and movement is stabilized, giving the image a sharpness that was not originally there. In short, it begins to not look like film anymore."

http://uk.blouinartinfo.com/news/st...the-third-man-look-weird#sthash.DnNZGcHZ.dpuf

 

[Pete B]

besides being the best movie of all time,😀...

I agree. It's my favourite film. Very funny, very moving, very interesting and involving. Beautifully lit and filmed.
Pete

 

[Nokton48]

My Favorite too. I have it on DVD, I'll bet I've watched it a hundred times. A masterpiece.

 

[Benjamin Marks]

1986's Down by Law
2012's Much Ado About Nothing
1986's She's Got to Have It
1980's Raging Bull

But, yeah. The Third Man is in a league of its own.

 

[Pete B]

1986's Down by Law.

Yes, very funny film. "Planning a little squirrel hunting, Jack?"
😀
Pete

 

[dave lackey]

My Favorite too. I have it on DVD, I'll bet I've watched it a hundred times. A masterpiece.

Yeah!

Hey, since I use Kodak 5222 XX exclusively, is there a way to obtain a film noire look with that film? Thought it might be fun to try a similar more noir-like film.

 

[02Pilot]

"Deluxe Restoration, on behalf of Studiocanal, digitally restored the film from a fine grain master positive struck from the original negative. This sounds great, until you see the result. Carol Reed’s 1949 film noir, starring Joseph Cotton and featuring an unforgettable performance from Orson Welles, loses its shadowy intrigue when the restoration process oversteps the line of “making the film appear as it was originally intended,” using newfound digital tools to “clean up” the film. Skin tones look polished and movement is stabilized, giving the image a sharpness that was not originally there. In short, it begins to not look like film anymore."

http://uk.blouinartinfo.com/news/st...the-third-man-look-weird#sthash.DnNZGcHZ.dpuf

I tend to agree, based on the short trailer that was linked. It looks too clean, too smooth, too digital. So much of the beauty of that film (and many others) is the "grit" and imperfections. Not as egregious as the horrid Turner-backed colorizations, but not an improvement nonetheless.

 

[Nokton48]

Yeah!

Hey, since I use Kodak 5222 XX exclusively, is there a way to obtain a film noire look with that film? Thought it might be fun to try a similar more noir-like film.

Specular hard lighting is obvious throughout the film. I have three or four or five Photogenic Mini-Spots and they do a nice job. Used to use them for portraiture back in the '90's.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Photogenic-...035584?hash=item43eca4da40:g:FsIAAOSwx-9W0ywx

I'm also a huge fan of the Rodenstock Imagon (I have Imagons in every focal length, 120mm to 480mm). In some of the Bacall close-ups I would not be surprised if an Imagon derivitive was used. It's a doublet with an H/Stop in the front portion. The highlights glow, the lower values stay very sharp. The classic "Imagon Effect".

 

[dave lackey]

Specular hard lighting is obvious throughout the film. I have three or four or five Photogenic Mini-Spots and they do a nice job. Used to use them for portraiture back in the '90's.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Photogenic-...035584?hash=item43eca4da40:g:FsIAAOSwx-9W0ywx

I'm also a huge fan of the Rodenstock Imagon (I have Imagons in every focal length, 120mm to 480mm). In some of the Bacall close-ups I would not be surprised if an Imagon derivitive was used. It's a doublet with an H/Stop in the front portion. The highlights glow, the lower values stay very sharp. The classic "Imagon Effect".

Thanks, man!!! That is great information.

Bacall was really something. She was a perfect match for the noir look with her deep voice and oh-so sultry look!

 

[tunalegs]

If you want a bizarre subversion of film noir tropes, try watching Beat The Devil. The humor was a bit too dry for audiences of the time, but it has aged nicely, and has some very funny performances by character actors of the time. Peter Lorre has one of the funniest scenes in the movie. I'm pretty sure it is in the public domain so it's not hard to find online (unfortunately this also means most copies are of low quality).

The lighting in these old movies is noticeably unrealistic, but that's where most of the look comes from.

 

[Orbiter]

Max Ophuls was known for luscious black and white; check out "The Earings of Madame De..."

 

[jbielikowski]

You must remember that between negative that was used in a camera and transparency with final "cinema" version there was at least a few dup-negatives, copies, the whole post-process downgraded the quality and trying to mimic it is not an easy job.

 

[Nokton48]

And of course "Casino Royale".
Filmed in XX.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNvzNWuzI9Y

 

[dave lackey]

And of course "Casino Royale".
Filmed in XX.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNvzNWuzI9Y

My personal favorite!

Which leads me to stock up on some XX. If overreacts purchase 1000'-1200' of XX and store it in the freezer, how long could I keep it without problems?

 

[dave lackey]

Of course, the lighting would be fun to figure out. Now ya got me interested!

 

[Nokton48]

My personal favorite!

Which leads me to stock up on some XX. If overreacts purchase 1000'-1200' of XX and store it in the freezer, how long could I keep it without problems?

In a deep freeze, it would never degrade a bit.

I buy 400', there is no cost advantage to getting 1000'
Unless you are making a movie 😀

 

[TXForester]

Film noir? I have the Film Noir Addicts Anonymous in my facebook feed. 🙂

One of my favorites is "The Big Sleep" with Bogart. From Raymond Chandler's (seem my avatar 🙂 ) book.

 

[Nokton48]

I also like "The Maltese Falcon".