Quote:
Originally Posted by sneals2000 /forum/post/15467555
The BBC very seldom uses 35mm - the recent Christmas showing of the new BBC "The 39 Steps" was a major exception to this as it WAS shot 35mm.
I suspect Tess was shot entirely electronically. If shot a while back it may have used the 720p Varicams, though I believe there are now 1080p capable models from Panasonic. (The BBC had an exception in their commissioning documents allowing 720p Varicams to be used for under/overcranking but now the 1080p models are available this may have been revoked)
Pretty much all BBC drama is shot either on Super 16 film - and NOT shown in HD by the BBC (the recent Sense and Sensibility adaption for example) and Spooks, Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes etc. - or is shot on HD video/d-cinema cameras (Sony HDCam and D-Cinema models, Genesis, Arri, Red, Viper etc.) - such as Cranford, Little Dorrit, Wallander etc. BBC budgets seldom stretch to 35mm. (The 39 Steps must have had a decent wedge of co-pro funding!)
This isn't to say that some BBC commissioned drama shot on Super 16 isn't posted in HD - just that the BBC won't fund the HD post (other sources may allow for it to still take place) and won't broadcast it in HD on BBC HD.
There are Blu-ray releases of Life from Mars out now - shot Super 16, edited in HD, but not shown on BBC HD (and the BBC didn't provide extra HD funding). Having watched the Blu-ray releases of series 1, I can see why. They do look a lot better than the DVDs, but they are VERY grainy (which is suitable for the 70s era) and would not compress at all well. (They are 1080/24p - so I'm assuming they have been slowed down from 25p, though there is a good 25 to 24 frame rate conversion on the ForA converter now I believe)