Positive Stock on THE MAN WHO WASN`T THERE

[85hal9000]

Hello Mr. Deakins,

I was wondering on which stock did you print The man who wasn´t there. Was it color or B&W stock?
Which is for you a good B&W print stock to achieve good contrasts and still very fine grain?

Thanks for your time and answer!
Cheers,
Matteo

[DavidFu]

From viewtopic.php?f=2&t=311&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=wasn%27t+there:

It is hard to get a true B/W on colour print stock. We printed some of the US release of 'The Man...' on 5269, which is a B/W sound stock. It was the only way to get the real look we were after. The other prints were made on colour stock after some manipulation of the IP/IN. There is often a colour cast whatever you do, which is most apparent on reel change...The B/W stock gave us much the best look and, as I said, we did as much of the release we could on it. We had done a lot of testing to get a good B/W from the colour camera negative and this was the best way we could find. We also had all our dailies printed on the 69.
I would shoot on colour stock again if I ever get another chance at a B/W picture. The option of a faster emulsion and a tighter grain structure is a real plus to shooting on a lower budget. I would go for a DI instead of using a B/W print stock or intermediary and, if most theatres are Digital by that time, the colour cast you get through trying to create a true B/W on a colour print stock will no longer be an issue.

[Roger]

5277 colour negative printed onto 5369 B/W panchromatic stock which was not a true print stock and was more often used for mattes and sound tracks.