Prices on super 16 and post

C47 · Jun 26, 2005

I'm new here and would appreciate any feed back.

I paid a production manager to make a low budget, super 16mm feature budget, for my screenplay, a character drivin' comedy rom/com.

I have decided to make the plunge and invest some of my own money in my project instead of waitng for someone to give me permission to make my film.

When I looked over his prices for raw stock and developing, transfers, ect., some seemed expensive and some too inexpensive. I'd like to list a few prices and see if you know of any better deals around the L.A. area. Thank you for any ideas and comments.

Super 16mm, Vision 2 stock, 36,000 ft. Price at 0.31 ft. = $11,160.00

Developing- 25,000 ft. (select takes) 0.25 ft. = $6,250.00

Film To Video Transfers- 25,000 ft. - 0.11 ft. = $2,750.00

Also, does anyone have an idea what a Indie Post house would charge to do the DI, for a feature lenght film? This would not include the hi-scan to 35mm.

Here are a few Edit/Post numbers that look fishy to me. Has anyone worked with a Post company that gives these kinds of prices?

VHS Dubs of Dailies- 44 tapes- $275.00

On Line Edit- 18 hours- $175.00 per hr. Total= $3,150

Tape to Tape color correction. 12 hours- $150.00 per hr. Total= $1,800.00

C47 · Jun 28, 2005

Since I've become an expert at talking with myself... I'll continue the legacy.

After making several calls and being faxed price lists, from Eastman Kodak, Shortend companies, camera houses and post houses in the L.A. area, here are some numbers(on the high end) I might be interested in.

16mm Vision 2 raw stock - 0.35 ft. - 40,000 ft. for Indie feature shoot. = $14,000.00
Shortends- 0.31 ft - $12,400.00

S16mm develope color neg- 0.10 ft. - 40,000 ft. = $4,000.00

One light to DVcam for Dailies- 25,000 ft select takes for low budget feature. $165.00 hr- 43 hr. estimate- total $7,095.00

data disk with printout - $180.00

Tape stock- $175.00

Telecine from S16mm original neg, select shots based on EDL.

Telecine to HD D5 $375.00 hr. estimate 32 hrs. = $12,000.00

D-5 tape stock = $250.00

Online Assembly and color correction.

Online of feature- $400.00 hr. estimate 25hrs. = $10,000.00

Graphics assembly for titles- $2,725.00

Tape stock- $300.00

Color Correction via DaVinci/Monitor- $400.00 hr. 30hrs. =$12,000.00

Hi-Scan to 35mm print is around $36,000.00 - $40,000.00

Here are the HD prices to shoot and finish.

Sony F900 camera package - $4,000 per week.

HD tape stock- 28 tapes at $45.00 per. = $1,260.00

Downcovert HD to edit on Avid- $1,700.00

Tape stock- $300.00

Color Correction (because you've done most of it during shooting) estimate 10 hrs. or less $400.00 hr. = $4,000.00

Online edit would be same as Super 16 budget.

Tape stock- $500.00

The $400.00 per hour is a top rate post house. Prices can go as low as $250.00 (you get what you pay for).

Thanks, C47 and please...stop chatting with yourself, it's very annoying.

HailtotheKing · Jun 28, 2005

Hey C47! First welcome to the boards!

Very good posts you have here. This will help someone(myself included) when the time comes to shoot a 16mm feature film. The prices do look pretty right, but you might be able to cut some deals with labs and such if they know your a low-indie budgeted film.
Thanks for giving us all the numbers in one place though!

Zensteve · Jun 28, 2005

Sounds like you're trying to justify to yourself to go HD.

Btw... 31 cents per foot for 16mm short ends?! Someone's taking you to the cleaners, for sure.

David G.Smith · Jun 28, 2005

One thing I noticed is that you cut your footage count down for developing by estimating "selected takes". Sorry, but you can not just develope circled takes, you have to develope whole rolls. You could shoot 100' spools, and choose not to develope a bunch of them based on your on scene circled taked. However, that would be a friggin nightmare. You will need to develope most all of your exposed film.

C47 · Jun 28, 2005

Oops, you're right David. I corrected that number for dev. 40,000 ft. of 16 Vision 2 raw stock.

cagexxi · Jul 7, 2005

Your processing costs are WAAAAY off. It should be more like $0.17 per foot and some labs will charge as little as $0.14 per foot. The raw stock cost is fairly average, but again you can often find it cheaper. Try calling Kodak at -1-800-621-FILM and ask for your local or state rep. They'll be able to help guide you in the right direction. Also, 16mm stocks vary in price pretty widely. The Vision2 stocks may not be the best choice for your film stylistically. Do you have a Director of Photography yet? He or she should be able to guide you in the right direction.
As for transfer costs, a supervised transfer should be in the neighborhood of $250 to $350 per hour. However, an unsupervised transfer is generally much cheaper. Again, a DP will help immensely here. If you're going to blow-up to a 35mm print, there's really no need for an HD telecine. You can generate an EDL and decision list from betaSP, digibeta or even miniDV.

scottspears · Jul 9, 2005

cagexxi said:
Your processing costs are WAAAAY off. It should be more like $0.17 per foot and some labs will charge as little as $0.14 per foot.

I've gotten it as low as 9.5 cents per foot, but that was at Crest who closed their doors about a year ago. Now I get .12 at Fotokem and that's with prep for telecine.

Fuji film comes in at around .25 per foot which makes a 400' roll come in at $100.

Try indie--post.com for transfers.

Scott