Subtitled prints from ARN-The Knight Templar produced on the Cinevatorfive®.

Danish company Nordisk Film ShortCut can provide a new and cheaper way of getting a 35mm theatrical print. Using its Cinevatorfive® film recorder, the company can take any digital format and transfer it to 35mm print film complete with sound and subtitles all done in real time at 24, 25 or 30fps. As the prints are not contact copied, no dust can be trapped between negative and print and so no white sparkles are seen on the cinema screen. Direct prints are first generation and are therefore sharper than a contact copy.

The Cinevatorfive was on show at last year's Danish Film Expo held in Hollywood and attracted a lot of attention not just from independent filmmakers but also the big studios. It was used most recently on the Scandinavian feature ARN - The Knight Templar. Peter Bengtsson, post-producer on the movie, says, "We mainly used the Cinevatorfive to produce subtitled intermediate negatives for the bulk release and it was really excellent. We produced two intermediate negatives with Swedish subtitles and one with Norwegian subtitles. We had less than five days to get 120 prints off for the Swedish release and the machine saved us a lot of time. In fact three intermediate negatives with subtitles were produced in three days on just one Cinevatorfive machine."

2K resolution

Both the DGA award-winning film (outstanding directorial achievement in documentary) Ghost of Cite Soleil and the Oscar-nominated At Night were output using the Cinevatorfive.

Subtitled prints from ARN-The Knight Templar produced on the Cinevatorfive®.

The Cinevatorfive film recorder can produce a series of products in 2K resolution including intermediate negatives, interpositives, mute answer prints and release prints including sound and subtitles. It allows small productions to obtain a theatrical 35mm print for festival releases and bigger productions to obtain a print during editing for screening and sound studios. Because it does the transfer in real time, the recorder clearly saves companies time. It also saves them money as it's now possible to produce 35mm prints from digital formats without recourse to a negative. Bulk printing from a subtitled intermediate negative gives a much better result than laser subtitling as the subtitles are sharper meaning that the cinema operator doesn't have to choose whether it's the subtitles or the picture that's going to be sharp.

Nor are the benefits merely confined to film transfer. The International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) Technical Commission has recently highlighted 35mm film as the best medium for the long term preservation of moving images. With a digital workflow, the resolution is maintained and preserving/restoring toolsets are unlimited. The Cinevatorfive process keeps the benefit of storing film archive on analogue 35mm film stock and adds the creative benefit of digital restoration.

"We like to face new challenges, explore new options, and be pioneers in our field." says Ivan Schmidt, Technical Director at Nordisk Film ShortCut. "Through our links with our parent company Nordisk Film, we have more than a century's experience of working with celluloid. We're constantly seeking higher quality – both to meet our clients' demands and to keep our talented staff satisfied. This business is a technical race and we like being in front, choosing the direction and shaping the future of post-production. We take pride in being at the top. The Cinevator's ability to produce prints or intermediate negatives in real time from any digital media, has attracted clients from all over the world to ShortCut."

"One of the most effective ways of improving film production is by innovating," he concluded. "With the Cinevatorfive, we know we have a service that keeps all our clients happy both now and in the future. The Cinevatorfive is calibrated for KODAK VISION and KODAK PREMIERE; no other print film is used. We look forward to keeping film alive as long as possible."

For further information please see the company's website at www.nordiskfilm-shortcut.dk

Nordisk Film Shortcut

Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, Nordisk Film is the oldest film studio in the world. Its post-production arm, Nordisk Film ShortCut, by contrast, is one of the region's most modern and advanced post houses and combines Nordisk's heritage of a century of film experience with a pioneering approach to technology in an effort to develop new ways of making feature films. Nordisk Film ShortCut is a full service laboratory and digital post-production facility and spans the complete range of services from developing to Digital Intermediate, answer and showprints.