The is a bit of a re-hash from another thread, but I thought it might be worthwhile for it to get a little more exposure for those considering this title.

I was a camera operator on Dante's Peak which began shooting in Wallace, ID in June of 1996. Unusual by today's standards, we watched projected 35mm dailes for about two weeks of the production. Spherical dailies of a movie being shot in Super 35 are the most pristine version of the original because they are first generation. The anamorphic release print requires two additional generations to produce the anamorphic IP and an anamorphic release print.

Reviews tend to be based on some subjective ideal benchmark and relative to other titles. Due to my perspective, I have a different "benchmark." My comments will be of the HD-DVD in relation to how faithful it is to the original film as seen by me on the sets, on dailies, and a new print at the premier of the movie.

PQ: 4.5/5
I was very pleasantly surprised by the picture quality. In many respects it is as good or better than the benchmark above (with the exception of a couple of scenes that are underexposed a bit, etc; see below in cons). Many shots popped at me with striking dejavu; I certainly had not seen them look so good since we did them 11 years ago.

Pros:

-Dante's Peak was shot entirely on Kodak 5279, as I remember. 79 is a 500 ASA stock that is a bit contrasty for the exteriors. I remember the dailies of day exteriors looking mighty contrasty. Those issues are actually tamed extremely well on the HD-DVD; maybe better than the dailies of the original. Constrast throughout is very good with exceptions below in cons.

-Color is dead-on.

-Sharpness/resolution is exceptionally good...especially in close-ups. It is so good it is very revealing. Notice Pierce's close-up as he is meeting Grandma at the lake. The steadicam operator did that close-up and failed to notice the reflection in the sunglasses. You can clearly see a 6 x 6 bounce and the actors standing off camera for Pierce to play to. Oops :eek: Texture of skin and depth in the eyes is superb in close-ups. Very nostalgic for me.

-Minimal film grain and noise with exceptions below. The anamorphic release prints of this movie were quite grainy. It seems improved on HD-DVD.

Cons:

-The lake-crossing sequence and some of the cave sequence is underexposed and gets a bit grainy/noisy and low on contrast. Not bad though. Of course this is not the fault of the transfer. The DP just dug a little too deep, and the process to dig it out has a price whether on film or HD.

-Some noticable dirt hits. Some are negative dirt (on the original negative) and some are print dirt hits. These are not frequent, but it is not quite like a new print.

-It seems like I see just a bit of edge enhancement on non-close-up shots.

-A peculiar video artifact that is relative to the display is occasionally noticable during the super bright lighting strike flashes. I see a split second of horizontal banding/lines. I noticed the strikes were all insanely powerful in my room. I always thought that the Lightning Strikes were too hot when we shot this movie. They almost never varied; just full-on 5+ stops over exposed. As a result, I've learned when I use these now on my shoots, to vary the intensity, saving the brightest for a ground zero lightning strike. Usually two stops over is plenty.

I was also very surprised about the sound quality. It was rip-roaring great! That title sequence eruption scared the bejeebers out of everybody. Many LFE hits turned on the display of the motion sensitive remote control on the seat next to me This is certainly far better than I heard it anywhere before.

Overall, I think Universal has done us proud. This was a very busy and big movie to make. Principle photography was June and July 1996 in and around Wallace, ID, and then in the L.A. area into October. Extensive miniature/model work continued at the Van Nuys airport until January or February 1997, as I remember. The camera department was strictly A-list personnel and the finest of everything from Panavision. But conditions were often demanding due to the mechanical (real) effects, and required quite the effort to deliver top quality work, which of course was the expectation of the bosses (Roger Donaldson and Andrzej Bartkowiak). I really couldn't be happier with how our work is preserved and presented here.

I'll leave it to everybody else to rate it on subjective benchmarks as compared to other titles.

Although the extras provide a lot of behind the scenes info, I would be glad to answer any questions you may have about the making of the film.

Cheers.

Well, it's certainly very cool to have somebody who worked on the film here to critique the HD-DVD! Thanks for sharing your impressions, I've been meaning to pick up this disk.

I bought this movie on HD DVD, and it looks like it would have been fun to film.

I can't imagine what a mess some of those disaster scenes made, assuming it was full scale.

Also, was Pierce Brosnan a good guy to work with? He's always seemed like a decent guy in interviews.

Thanks for the review, based on your prospective, I wish we had someone like you for every review so that the endless "the director intended it that way" debates could be settled once and for all!

Cam Man, very interesting read, thank you for sharing!

My pleasure, gentlemen.

Pierce was a consumate professional and really good guy. I know that sounds silly, but he was very approachable and nice, but also gave his best to this silly role. I watched at close quarters some of the frustration occasionally with the director's style, but to his credit, he was a terrific professional. Linda was very sweet and quite the character. She was quite the partier. Being in a somewhat remote rural location, we really had some fun letting our hair down. Linda's came down first :D

The whole ash thing was quite the mess. The brown ash in the title sequence was peat moss that had been lauched in GIANT mortars that launched a huge cloud of it into the air that covered a set the size of a football field for about a minute and a half. It reduced the sunlight to about a quarter of what is was naturally. Plus it was under rain towers. The ash from Dante's Peak was cellulose insulation...in mass quantities. Especially impressive in real life were scenes like the helicopter landing at night in the ash fall. Very realistic and huge in scope.

Most impressive of almost anything I have experienced in the business was the river crossing/bridge failure scene which was a monstrous miniature set at the Van Nuys airport. The vehicles were miniatures, but quite large (maybe 2.5 feet long). Two GIANT water tanks were postioned at each end of the river set (which was the length of a football field and four stories tall). One was the feed tank, and the other the catch tank.

Cam Man - Thanks for your write-up and appreciate your enthusiasm. It's always good to hear from the people behind the scenes. I have already seen DP 5 times in HD cable and more than 2-3 times in LD/SD DVD. Looking forward to buy the HD DVD in near future.

Thank you Cam Man - it's those like you who elevate this forum and make it worthwhile to visit. Your review and insights are much appreciated.

I have already seen DP 5 times in HD cable and more than 2-3 times in LD/SD DVD. Looking forward to buy the HD DVD in near future. The HD-DVD is vastly superior to what we get on HD cable/sat.

Paul.
Roger Donaldson is one of your countrymen, although he relocated to NZ. Great guy with whom I've done several projects. I met him on the re-make of The Getaway...which also featured Aussie director of photography, Pete Menzies. Fine cinema history of achievement from your turf. I love Dean Semler's work, and have met him, but never had the chance to work for him.

BTW, viewing system is HD-XA2 and calibrated Lumagen HDP and RS1 on 118" wide CIH 2.35 SmX screen rendering a 42 degree horizontal viewing angle.

Thanks much Cam Man. Gonna have to get this one :)

Watched my copy last night. I feel the PQ is good and well worth the buy if you like the movie.

Sweeet Cam Man, thanks for the insight!! That is really cool. :)

Much thanks to Cam Man, posts/threads like this make AVSForum worthwhile... :)

Hey thanks a lot for sharing. Cool to read about it from someone who was up close. I have always liked the movie and picked it up this week on HD-DVD and watched it on Saturday night. I wasn't sure how good it would look in the next gen, and I was impressed. The soundtrack seemed to be much improved with lots of LFE since I watched it on standard def DVD years ago.

Yes, many thanks too for sharing your experiences while shooting that film. It's people like you and the guy who worked at WE WERE SOLDIERS mixing the sound who make it really worth while to visit this forums.

No wonder you are in the HD DVD section, the one for real film connoiseurs. :D

Just let the other side keep saying that everything that doesn't look like CRANK is crap. Talk about appreciation of the film medium.

-A peculiar video artifact that is relative to the display is occasionally noticable during the super bright lighting strike flashes. I see a split second of horizontal banding/lines.

I see your equipment list in a later post: HD-XA2, Lumagen HDP, and RS1. Are you using the Lumagen to convert the frame rate to 1080p24?

I have an XA2 and DVDO VP50, and I've noticed those horizontal lines on many discs during bright flashes of light when displaying at 1080p24. They go away at 1080p60. I think this has something to do with how the player is decoding the video, not a flaw in the disc itself.

No wonder you are in the HD DVD section, the one for real film connoiseurs. The ads using Hollywood professionals to endorse the format are interesting. You may have seen the one with stunt coordinator Mick Rogers. Great guy. When Twister finally comes out on HD, I'll tell you a far too exciting story about Mick on that.

On another thread, I was asked what other films I have done have come to HD so far. I think the Universal titles are first (The Getaway releases in Sep), but I've done a lot of work at Warner Bros. and some others that will probably be BD only. Quite coincidentally, most of my career work seems to have been for studios that are aligned with HD-DVD. :)

Of films I have done, I am looking forward most to Twister, A Time to Kill, Star Trek: First Contact, and Frailty to come to HD. With the exception of Frailty, these are all shot Panavision 35 (anamorphic).

I see your equipment list in a later post: HD-XA2, Lumagen HDP, and RS1. Are you using the Lumagen to convert the frame rate to 1080p24? Yes, and I have considered taking a look at changing that to see if that problem goes away. I actually made the change last night and started the film, but didn't get to the flashes. I'll take a look and get back later.
I think this has something to do with how the player is decoding the video, not a flaw in the disc itself. Wherever the origins, I agree it is not the disc or transfer.

Over at HTF, a reviewer noticed something I never really caught before - when Pierce's character arrives in Dante's Peak, we pan down across a banner and we see a pair of horizontal lines move from bottom to top. Some say they are power lines, simply out of focus, others think it's a flaw. Myself, I never noticed them until I watched the DTS DVD edition yesterday and there they were! Any insight, Cam Man?

Some say they are power lines, simply out of focus, others think it's a flaw. Myself, I never noticed them until I watched the DTS DVD edition yesterday and there they were! Any insight, Cam Man? If it is the first shot of the town that is a tilt down off the mountain, through the banner to reveal the parade, that is shot with the Spacecam gyro stabilized system on a crane. Is that the shot? I'll take a look.

Spacecam was used for all the aerials. The helicopter aerial survey was done as a seperate unit with Production Designer Dennis Washington directing. Spacecam is also used a number of times on the ground on a crane. For example, the shot of the kids swinging off ropes into the river, and the reveal of the Linda's Land Cruiser crossing the bridge. I remember that shot giving that operator quite the challenge; quite a few takes. I'm sure the kids didn't mind. :D

Yes, I believe that is the shot; right before Pierce arrives at Cluster's Last Stand. The first line appears just before we get to the banner and the second actully runs through the banner as we continue to pan downward. Just checking again, to me they look like power lines, but what's funny is that they are different colors, one light and the other much darker.

The bad edge enhancement ruins the presentation for me regardless of all of it's positives. After watching so many HD titles lately that have no EE popping this into my player was a big disappointment. I would much prefer a softer EE free HD image. Viewed on a Jason Turk calibrated Sony Pearl, Panamorph UH380 lens, 45x108 screen with a viewing distance of 10'4". Typical catalog title from Universal :

Tom

I would much prefer a softer EE free HD image. That was my biggest disappointment in the PQ. Not sure why they would want to use EE. It may be the hold-over from the fact that it is a somewhat dated transfer. If it had been done anew, I bet we would not have that EE.

Thanks Cam Man for the excellent, insider's, insightful subjective HD DVD review!!! I just love all that behind-the-scene's (or camera ;)) INFO, especially about the cast!!!

Dante's Peak Collector's Edition DVD was one of my first & favorite DVD purchases back in April 1998 @ Fry's Electronics and amazingly, this excellent PQ HD DVD 1080p version actually cost less!!!

Yes, I believe that is the shot; right before Pierce arrives at Cluster's Last Stand. The first line appears just before we get to the banner and the second actully runs through the banner as we continue to pan downward. Just checking again, to me they look like power lines, but what's funny is that they are different colors, one light and the other much darker.

I'm one of those that commented that the 1st silver color line looked like a guy support wire, and the 2nd black thicker wire that moved up in front of the Town's Banner looked like a power line as the camera (Spacecam) panned down from Dante's Peak, ... toward the town street parade scene.

That's what I thought it was when I first watched my 1998 CE DVD version and now seeing it in 1080p, it just confirms what I thought it was in 1998 since the two lines looks even clearer.

I chalked it up to the depth-of-field focus where the distance parade & banner was in focus (point image), but those foreground wires were not in the point image focus, so it was blurred.

It's not unusual to have wires run across the main street between buildings to support banners (Wine Tasting festivals, etc.), power, etc. We have lot's of wires running between buildings in our Mountain View, CA, main - Castro Street.

Phil

It arrived finally this morning. Just finished watching it, for not being remastered i was very impressed with it. There are some points where the transfer doesn't look all that great. Overall I'm really satisfied with it.

Shoot! Frailty is one of my all-time favorite movies!! The "God's Hand Killer"!!! Man, that was a surprisingly good flick. I'd buy that in HD. Fo sho.

Of films I have done, I am looking forward most to Twister, A Time to Kill, Star Trek: First Contact, and Frailty to come to HD. With the exception of Frailty, these are all shot Panavision 35 (anamorphic).

Wow you worked on First Contact, best TNG movie ever :D thanks for sharing your experiences, don't be shy to post more in the future!

Malcom,

Those are just two foreground ND lines (phone our whatever) that cross the street.

BTW, I tried 1080p60 last night and the horizontal lines in bright flashes are still there. I'll have to dig up some other titles that have such effects and see if the same thing happens.

I watched the behind the scene extra last night for the first time in a long time. Fun trip back.

Here is a triva tidbit you will find amusing that is not revealed in the extras. All the close coverage of the actors in the boat crossing the acid lake are not shot as you might expect. We did that all one night on the top level of a parking structure on the Universal lot. This was chosen to give us unrestricted view of the sky (black). A 3' high wooden platform was built for the boat...which rests on large inner tubes which give a realistic instability to the boat as the actors move. This permited us with the cameras to work on the pavement and shoot up at the actors a bit. When Pierce wraps his forearm in his jacket and begins rowing, he is rowing in a water-filled common ice chest placed just below the shot. :D Intercut with the actual lake crossing (also on the Universal lot), it works fine and cost nothing in visual effects. The lightning strikes are actual 70Kw tools called...Lighting Strikes.

Thanks, Cam Man. I thought so.
And enjoy those behind-the-scenes tid bits! Nothing like pretending your in an acid-filled lake while paddling away on top of a parking garage! Good stuff!

Hi Cam Man,

This question is off topic but what in the world is a "best boy grip? My wife and I see it in all credits and have wondered for years.

Thanks,
Tom

The HD-DVD is vastly superior to what we get on HD cable/sat.

Paul.
Roger Donaldson is one of your countrymen, although he relocated to NZ. Great guy with whom I've done several projects.

Did you also do some work on Thirteen Days because that is one of my favorite movies. Incredible, the tension in that movie of which the outcome was already known. In my opinion that is his best work so far. I would love to see it on HD-DVD (possible with New Line as dual format supporter).

what in the world is a "best boy grip? :D I think that is the most common question asked of anyone in the MP biz. There is a best boy for both the grip and electric departments. Those departments have a lot of gear that is stowed on their respective trucks. Both departments (especially grip) have a lot of expendables that must be tracked and re-ordered. Also, specialty items that are not typically on the truck must be ordered pursuant to the requirements scheduled in the shoot. The best boys work on the trucks and basically are "warehouse" managers. They track expendables and re-order. They call the rental houses to schedule the rental and delivery and return of special items like a crane, etc. This person is always quite experienced.

Did you also do some work on Thirteen Days Yes, but only a very limited amount. I forget what I had going at the time 13 Days was shot. I worked on the brief, but very interesting, U-2 shoot down sequence. In typical fashion, Roger Donaldson had a bunch of cameras and top operators called in. I think Ilona Herzberg (Dante's Peak) was also the producer on that show. We gathered at the former George AFB at Victorville, CA where we found a 1/4 scale U-2 that actually had a jet engine in it standing by. The plan was for the radio controllers to take this thing off, make a wide 360 behind the cameras, then while passing in front of the row of cameras, set off a small charge that would down the plane.

We all got up and ready to roll. The U-2 took off quite impressively, climbed a bit, turned behind us, then suddenly came apart, falling to the ground. I forget the figure attached to the thing, but it was very expensive. In typical Hollywood fashion, there was a back-up U-2. They examined the wreckage of the first and realized that when placing the explosive, they had drilled a hole right in a wing spar, fatally weakening the wing. The mild extra load of the turn snapped the wing. I wouldn't have wanted to be that guy. So, to work they went on the second U-2 to make sure the same thing didn't happen. The rest of of went off to lunch. Kathleen Kennedy was there that day, too.

After lunch we returned, and everything went without a hitch.

Thanks for the inside comments about the shooting of Dante's Peak. I watched the complete movie for the first time ever on HD DVD although I have seen bits and pieces on TV over the years.

I was extremely impressed with the look of the actual blasts from the volcano. I was actually thinking if you by any chance had found a live volcano to shoot at. Felt it looked that good.

The river crossing looks good but here and there it's easy to see that a model was used.

Overall an impressive movie with lost of obviously hard to shoot scenes.

Certainly one of my favorite threads that has recently appeared in the High-Def forums.

Thanks, CamMan and all the others who have been participating.

Awesome movie, glad I have HD DVD!

Watched this tonight and really enjoyed it. Good PQ. Sound was good as well. Pretty good use of the low frequencies.

Regarding those "horizontal lines" at the beginning of the movie as they pan down to the town. It was very obvious to me that they were wires like power or telephone wires. Didn't give it another thought. How anybody could think they were a defect in the print is beyond me. Of course I'm watching this on an 8 foot screen.

And I now know who Cam Man is since I watched the credits. I think his initials are RF. :)

:D I think that is the most common question asked of anyone in the MP biz. There is a best boy for both the grip and electric departments. Those departments have a lot of gear that is stowed on their respective trucks. Both departments (especially grip) have a lot of expendables that must be tracked and re-ordered. Also, specialty items that are not typically on the truck must be ordered pursuant to the requirements scheduled in the shoot. The best boys work on the trucks and basically are "warehouse" managers. They track expendables and re-order. They call the rental houses to schedule the rental and delivery and return of special items like a crane, etc. This person is always quite experienced

Thanks for the info!

Tom

Thanks for confirming that for us Cam, there are actually already a thread here at AVS and the original over at HTF:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/showthread.php?t=259173

I was shocked when I learned that was what those were, but relieved to see they werent a flaw =)