Why Should I Use Magic Bullet Frames?
Frames is more than a way to make your DV footage look like film. It’s a true finishing process that can take your DV, Digital Betacam or HD footage all the way to an actual film print if you wish. For this reason, Magic Bullet Frames Plus and the Suite package have been the post-production process of choice for numerous independent and studio filmmakers. Frames was designed to be the last step in any digital production. Here are some examples.
Feature Films
As stated above, the Frames Plus filter (formerly Magic Bullet) has been used on many feature films that have been seen on 35mm film and video alike. Examples include Alison Anders’ Things Behind the Sun, Ethan Hawke’s Chelsea Walls, and Campbell Scott’s Final. In all of these cases Magic Bullet provided the filmmakers with not only the best possible image quality from their DV originals, but with flawless film and video output from the same digital source. In each case the directors worked with their cinematographers to apply unique and distinctive Looks to the films, enjoying the kind of creative control that previously was the exclusive domain of big-budget filmmakers.
But the Bullet process is not just for indies—in the film Vanilla Sky starring Tom Cruise, the Magic Bullet Suite package was used on video footage, both to seamlessly match it in to surrounding 35mm footage and to create unique video looks.
TV Shows
Frames 24p video output is perfect for television shows, and can actually allow digital video to replace film acquisition in some cases. In the ABC TV movie Superfire, Magic Bullet was used to match video stock footage to the production’s own 35mm film shots. Armed with Magic Bullet Frames' Broadcast Spec plug-in, you can be sure that your video signal will meet NTSC broadcast standards.
Commercials
Millions of viewers watched the Nike spot Take Me Out to the Ball Game as part of the World Series broadcast and never once suspected that it was shot with a PAL DV camera—thanks to the Magic Bullet Frames Plus filter.
Music Videos
When budgets are tight and production value must be high, Magic Bullet can help make cost-saving digital video a viable choice. And it can help with high-end projects as well—the recent music video for Cher’s A Song For the Lonely was processed though the HD version of Magic Bullet Frame Plus filter.