Bhaga Video Productions: Film Conversion

If you have movie film that you want to convert to video there are several options available to
you. Some people just film straight off of the screen while the film is being played. That will work
but the results can vary from fair to horrible, but the cost is next to nothing if you already own a
working projector and video camera. There are risks associated with doing this. The film is most
likely in dirty condition and possibly brittle. Plus you run the risk of damage to the film every time
you watch it including burning holes through the frame if the film stops advancing.

At the opposite end of the spectrum there are state-of-the art transfer processes that can cost up
to a couple of hundred dollars an hour but the finished product is the best that can possibly be
achieved. If you are producing video for broadcast TV and/or have a bigger budget you most likely
would use these types of transfer houses. In general the more the image comes to perfection the
higher the costs.

Most of us fall somewhere in between filming it off of the family room wall and seeing a computer
generated creature standing next to us in the film! We are looking for value.

There is a link at the bottom of this page that will take you to a more technical document that
details out the process that Bhaga Video Productions follows and recommends for film
conversions. However, before you go there we would like to spend some time talking about the
finished product which is the work that takes place after the physical conversion is complete.

Most home movies suffer from similar conditions. The color has faded, the images tend to have a
soft focus, the picture is shaky, perhaps the subject material becomes a bit boring and there is
total silence (unless you have sound film). Post is where you can bring life to your old films.
Examples of how to bring some punch into your films can be seen on the Personal Projects page
on this site. The Camel GT race was filmed on silent film but had graphics, music and sound effects
added to give the resulting video more depth. The Environment movie on the same page was
reedited to provide more information in less time. A full 1.5 minutes was removed with no major
content left out. Camera shake from holding the camera by hand was reduced and the
smoothness of the skyline panning was improved. All scenes were adjusted for grain, noise, color
correction, focus and sound. Finally graphics, music and sound effects were added. No birds could
be heard on the original sound track and the running water sounded more like background noise
than a stream.

All of the changes make for a more pleasant experience which is the point of video. People want
to be entertained and be pleasantly surprised by your home movies.