ADVERTI SEMENT FEATURE | F I LML IGHT
FilmLight shoots for the moon with a prototype scanner that can transfer archive NASA film for First Man, the dramatisation of Armstrong’s legendary leap for mankind FILMLIGHT – PROJECT ARCLIGHT
WATCHED IN ADMIRATION by hundreds of millions of people around the world, the televised launch of Apollo 11 is an event that has gone down in history. To capture this, NASA developed a unique, albeit obsolete 10-perf 70mm military stock, using Kodak Ektachrome reversal film. This high- resolution film had an extremely dynamic colour range and was used throughout the Apollo era. It enabled all the detail of night launches to be shot, without the highlights of the rocket exhaust burning out the detail of the activity around the launch pad. Director David Chazelle acquired the Apollo archive for new film, First Man , an epic account of the loss and peril leading up to the Apollo 11 moon landing. Chazelle believed that this footage would give First Man an authentic touch, but the archaic film format – and in particular, the sprocket pitch – would not be compatible with modern scanning techniques. Visual Effects Producer Kevin Elam found there existed a gate made for a Rank Cintel Telecine at the White Sands Missile Range, and while this could provide a telecine reference, a higher quality film scanner was still required. David Keighley, President at IMAX suggested a prototype scanner at FilmLight might offer a way of transferring the footage. FilmLight established its reputation in 2002 with the Northlight film scanner and has become a benchmark for quality in the high-end film restoration market. This scanner, like most modern scanners, was designed for traditional film formats: 16mm, 35mm and 65mm, and has been used in the restoration of motion pictures at Sony Pictures Entertainment and Paramount pictures.
“Chris Hall was able to upload the film to the software and define an appropriate format for the dimensions of the film frame and sprockets”
IMAGES FilmLight was given archive footage of Apollo missions by NASA which was then scanned for the producers of the movie First Man .
56 DEF I N I T ION | FEBRUARY 20 1 9
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