Soap Operas and other TV shows are taped using SLR (Broadcast cameras). I'm pretty sure. The movies you watch at the theater etc. look more "professional" as you say because they use 16mm film (actual film). Hope I helped you at all. Someone, correct me if I'm wrong about the soap operas and SLR cameras. No question is dumb. -dean

And what would be the implications of recording in 16mm?

Is there a way to pass the film into a computer as less troublesome as possible?

check out "how to get a professional look" under post-production... pretty much the same question i asked a while back... hope it helps

Life is the art of making movies without editing

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Originally posted by Mudbikes

check out "how to get a professional look" under post-production... pretty much the same question i asked a while back... hope it helps

Life is the art of making movies without editing

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Thanks I checked it.

The thing is, I can't decide what kind of camera to buy. I have a Mac and would like to post-produce with it. I'd like to film with an 16mm camera but there's no place to process it where I live and it's expensive, plus the trouble of passing it into the computer (which I still haven't figured out how). Or I could buy a mini DV with a i.Link and pass directly to the mac, but it wouldn't get me that 'film-sey look I told you about. I'd like to buy a prosumer DV camcorder, but they're hella expensive.

****, I can't decide. One questin though, what kind of look would a prosumer DV camcorder give me? A motion picture kinda look or a reality show kind of look?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

These days a lot of tv shows are shot on video, but they all used to be shot on film. Some still are shot on 16mm and 35mm. The reason why movies look more professional really is because they have more money and time to make the picture look good. Soaps and tv shows are filmed weekly, so they must rush everything and have no time to make the footage look spectacular. As long as it works really. With a movie, they have lots of time usually to focus on that one product, and they spend a lot of time in post doing color corrections and such. Movies also light differently than tv shows. Movies can be very selective about their lighting, while tv shows have to light the broad area with a heavy light because they usually only do medium shots and use a couple takes.

The look you achieve is largely dependent on 1) the way you light your shoot, and 2) the way your post-produce your images. Unless you are rich, or know someone at a lab, I would recommend staying away from film at this point in your career. Get yourself a decent 3CCD MiniDV camera with the most manual settings you can afford, and experiment. You can then find looks that you like and apply them to your real shoots.

filmmaking.net

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filmmaking.net
(Incorporating the Internet Filmmaker's FAQ)

Please note the opinions expressed here are those of the author only and do not constitute legal advice. The author cannot accept and liability whatsoever for inaccurate or outdated information contained within.
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There's lenses you can buy (to put on your DV cam.) like the Black Pro that will help with the "film" look. Plus, depending on the program you use on your Mac, there's a lot of "film" filters you can put on it to make it look like film. I'm pretty sure Adobe After Effects has it.

As far as 16mm, yes, it is expensive. And most movies that you'd see in the theater aren't filmed on it. Most movies are actually filmed on 35mm film. The cameras cost more than most cars. Most t.v. shows (not soap operas) are filmed on 16mm.

But the guys posting are right, it depends quite a bit on lighting.

Fast. Good. Cheap.

You get any two. That's how Hollywood works. The soap operas choose Fast and Cheap. They shoot one show every day. Every day. That's one hour of television in 12 hours of work. There's no way it can look much better than home videos. They just don't have time.

Dramatic TV shows choose Fast and Good (sometimes cheap). They film one hour of TV in 7 to 8 days. That's about one hour of television for about 100 hours of work. Already you see the difference. All other things being equal, they can't help but look better.

Hollywood features choose Good and then apply Fast or Cheap depending on the situations that arise over the 2-4 months they take to shoot (for 2 hours of screen time). That's 240 to 480 hours of work per hour of screen time. And they sometimes take longer.

Features take so much longer, they better look better, or someone's gonna get fired. Additionally, their crews are bigger than Dramatic TV which in turn are bigger than soaps. So the man-hour comparisons get ridiculous. If you had 4 months and 200 guys, couldn't you make a pretty good picture too?

The BBC still shoots on 35mm i believe. Also just to elaborate on the camera-cost thing a profesional quality 35mm panivision camera (even tho they dont sell them) can be worth upwards of $200,000.

Make Love Not War!

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The BBC still shoots on 35mm i believe

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This is a bit misleading because the BBC is a massive organisation. I suspect you'll find that the majority of their stuff is not shot on 35mm and never was. Some of their bigger projects probably were, but historically a lot of their series stuff was shot on video (studio interiors) and 16mm (exteriors). These days, a whole range of media are used, but the bulk of it would be DigiBeta and DVCAM.

filmmaking.net

--
filmmaking.net
(Incorporating the Internet Filmmaker's FAQ)

Please note the opinions expressed here are those of the author only and do not constitute legal advice. The author cannot accept and liability whatsoever for inaccurate or outdated information contained within.
--

Yes I believe alot of their soaps/in the studio etc it done with Video, but at least 90% of their documentaries (the stuff that BBC is famed for) is shot using 35mm film stock. I rember remarking on this when I was younger at the logistical nightmare it must be going out to remote locvations with film cameras and all the other life-support systems that film needs. But nevertheless thats how they do it.

Make Love Not War!