Preparing the First Show Copy
The first print made from cut camera originals is known as an answer print. The laboratory will first grade the original. They will look at each shot and assess the printing exposure needed.
Grading ‘answer’ prints
As already mentioned, a film printing machine is rather like a camera. Light is allowed to pass through the master film onto a reel of new stock, thus re-exposing one on the other. The intensity of the light can be controlled by a shutter. The laboratory grader will assess the exposure needed for each shot. He will also assess any colour correction, grading the colour balance shot for shot. He will ensure that where you have cut from a medium shot to a close-up on the same subject the colours and the lighting conditions are the same in both shots. Today, there are machines to help with this work.
Automatic grading
Today graders often use closed circuit colour television analysers. They wind through the camera original and check it shot by shot. The analyser projects a picture from the original on a closed circuit television screen and the grader can test the various light and colour filter possibilities instantly. By flicking a switch he can change from one printer light to another and by looking at the television monitor screen he can see what the results would be on a print. He can also test the various colour filters combinations. He assesses the filters and light required for each shot and plots the results on a card. On many modern printing machines the card is then translated onto punched computer tape, which subsequently guides the film printing machine. Colour analysers have done much to revolutionise the work of the grader but the ultimate success still depends on the quality of your original and on the skill of the man doing the job. When the first print (the answer print) has been made it will be sent to you for checking. It should be good but it will rarely be perfect. There are usually some adjustments to be made in later prints.
1. Colour analisers
The camera original (A) is wound via guide roller (B) past a scanning head (C). A positive image is displayed on a colour TV monitor screen (D) via a closed circuit TV system. Calibrated control knobs on the panel (E) enable a grader to try various density and colour filter combinations whilst seeing the results instantly in front of him on the screen. A still projector is sometimes used to project a reference picture on the adjoining screen.
Individual colour control
The picture relayed from scanner (A) reading the original film (B) is divided by dichroic filters into red, green and blue components. There are separate controls (D) for each colour. The signals are then processed to produce a colour positive image on the screen.
Colour analyser
When the original film has been neg cut, it is put on a split spool on (A) and laced round a guide roller (B) — to the picture gate (C). The film is scanned by a flying spot cathode ray tube at (C) and the transmitted light is subsequently separated by dichrioc mirrors into red, green and blue components controlled by exposure and balance controls (E). The resulting signals are fed to a video display (D) where a positive image of the original material, either negative or positive, is produced. By experimenting with the controls, various colour filter and print density combinations can be tried until the correct grading for each scene is determined. Some models enable A & B rolls to be graded simultaneously.