Optical vs. Scanning workflow

Back in the "old days" a typical work flow for a film project was to generate a negative cut list from the Avid or film-editing platform, pull the appropriate reels, physically cut the negative, then splice the negative back together in the edited order. In the case of a shot being used in multiple locations, a dupe-neg would be created, or a copy of the original negative that can be put into the film somewhere else. In the case of a dissolve, the outgoing shot will be assembled onto the "A" reel and the incoming shot will be put onto a "B" reel so that the dissolve can be created on the final film out. On certain occasions if there are a rapid succession of cuts or dissolves close to each other, an optical will be created. This optical is a new piece of film that is inserted into the final film rolls.

Today we are seeing more and more films being created from a "DI" or digital intermediate. As the word suggests, the intermediate is the step in between acquisition in the film (analogue) format and the release back to film. In a nutshell the process is shoot in film>edit>scan>conform scans>color correct>add titles>add effects>film out.

Another trend we are seeing is the ability of theaters to play back digital cinema packages instead of film. In this case, the workflow would be the same except for the final step. So you have film>edit>scan>conform scans>color correct>add titles>add effects>digital cinema package creation.

In the case of this project we did not use the optical method for the main reason that we had mixed media formats (35mm and 65mm) that would not physically cut together. Another advantage of the DI work flow is greater control in color correction and the fact that no negative needed to be cut, preserving it for future use if needed.

Of course getting through all of these steps takes careful planning and preparation. To begin lets discuss a fundamental but often overlooked concept in editing film, 24P versus 23.98P