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So I was able to compare the
two similarly sized images
… not side by side but sim-
ply one after the other in the
space of about 20 minutes.
The digital NEC image was
very sharp indeed with very
good fine detail as compared
to the 35 mm ‘scope image
which was slightly soft in
terms of fine detail but as
close-ups came on screen
things were pretty well
equal.
I would expect the digital
image to be superior to film
of that time, as the digital
image is just two steps away from the original original, whereas the 35 mm print is something like
8-10 steps away, with inter-negatives and working titles as the editing process is done and final
printing masters are made and distributed for the labs to run off screening prints.
Had the three 35 mm titles been done digitally and then printing masters done by the ArriLaser
system I very much doubt that the digital image would have had better fine detail than the 35 mm
image. I screened a series of example films at the same venue some years back, organized by the
Australian Cinematographers group demonstrating just what could be done with the ArriLaser
process and it was startling to see the results on screen.

In running 35 mm shows after that I always noticed that any print that had ArriLaser label on it
was incredibly sharp on screen. The only difference, if you could call it that, was that the Digital
image looked cold and artificially sharp as compared to the 35 mm presentation which was
warmer and more natural looking … about the best way I can describe it.

All in all a wonderful couple of days … a lot of hard work getting prints ready and then broken
down again, but well worth it see 35 mm used yet again in this now very digital age.
We had a few curious visitors to the
bio box and most had never seen a
film run before so stood there gob
smacked with the platter rolling and
film going and coming. The speed at
which the film travelled just stopped
them in their tracks. I enjoyed the
looks on their faces.

In the wind are early plans to do some-
thing similar again next PIAF festival
so 35 mm film is NOT quite dead yet!

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