Digital-film-digital workflow: digital footage is exposed onto film negative and rescanned to achieve authentic analog aesthetic without shooting on physical film.
The Film Print Process is the most elaborate way to give a digitally shot project an analog character. The digitally recorded material is exposed onto real film negative via a film recorder, developed there, and then scanned back. The result is not a filter or a LUT – it's real film with real grain, real color rendition, and real halation effects.
The Workflow
1. Digital master is sent to a film lab. 2. A film recorder (e.g., ARRILASER) exposes the material frame by frame onto 35mm or 16mm negative. 3. The negative is developed. 4. A scanner (e.g., ScanStation) digitizes the developed material again. 5. The result is incorporated into the final grading.
Costs and Availability
The process is expensive – between €5,000 and €50,000 depending on length and format. Labs offering the service are few: Cinelab London, Fotokem LA, and a handful of others worldwide.
Related terms
Quiz
1. Zu welchem Department gehört „Filmprintkopie-Verfahren"?