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Author Topic: Etymology of "EK print"? Waseem Daher Film Handler Posts: 1 From: Upper West Side, New York City, NY, USA Registered: Jun 2007 posted 07-07-2007 11:26 AM                     Why is a print from the original camera negative called an EK print? On learning that "EK"->"Eastman Kodak", I thought, "Well, it's not like normal release prints aren't on Kodak film". Any ideas?  |  IP: Logged Richard P. May Expert Film Handler Posts: 243 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Jan 2006 posted 07-07-2007 12:02 PM                     Generally, EK print means a print made from the camera negative. It has nothing to do with the film stock used for the print itself. The assumption, of course, is that the camera negative is of Kodak manufacture. That brings up what is correct when Fuji is used? It's sort of like calling all polyester based film "Estar", when that is actually Kodak's trade name for this material. DM  |  IP: Logged Mike Heenan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1896 From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 07-07-2007 05:38 PM                     Here's what I'd like to know... since many if not all big budget films are made through DI's, is an EK print really that much sharper? Do they scan the cam neg to 2K DI, then output a negative from there, and then the interpositive... etc? Or do they just scan the parts that require CGI work, and output that to a negative, which is then combined with the original camera negative footage that didn't require CGI additions?  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 07-07-2007 07:20 PM                        An "EK Print" or direct print would be from the conformed (spliced to conform to the editing decisions) negative that is used to make the printing master positive, from which the duplicate negatives used to make release prints are made. The conformed negative likely contains any camera original that does not have effects work, although digital intermediate (DI) is making up a larger and larger percentage of what is in the conformed negative today.  |  IP: Logged John Hawkinson Film God Posts: 2273 From: Cambridge, MA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 07-07-2007 08:02 PM                     I'd still like to know the answer to Waseem's question -- why are they called "EK"? --jhawk  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 07-07-2007 09:22 PM                     (I, once in a while, will find film cans with the moniker "EKC" embossed in the tin on the lid..figuring that it stood for "Eastman Kodak Company"....)  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 07-07-2007 10:24 PM                     I'm noticing more and more the DI bottleneck in the EK prints. The most recent one I ran I actually spoke with someone at the studio to confirm it was an EK...it had all the ear marks (hand scribed cues, rock steady picture...better color...etc) but it really didn't have that EK look (incredible color saturation, really sharp detail, incredible depth). It is like they are continually lowering the bar on movie qualities (technically speaking). I'm also totally fed up with Super-35...while I understand not wanting lens flares from anamorphics, I'm less concerned about astigmatism in far field objects...the Super-35s just look so lacking in detail and having extra grain. Its no wonder people aren't noticing too much difference between film and DCinema...the bar is so low even 16mm would resolve the images that are being put out.  |  IP: Logged

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