Magnum on 35mm or 16mm?

[mikeaz123]

I have recently gotten back into film collecting and one thing I've never been able to find was a print of a Magnum show. Being an 80s show, I know it was cut on film, but I don't know whether it was distributed on film or tape. I'm guessing 16mm would be the format, but I've seen some shows on 35mm as well, but those are usually limited to the pre 80s era.

[Brian]

It would have been shot on 35mm and then transferred to 3/4-inch tape broadcast quality.

[Jake]

Yes it was 35mm. These are actual 35mm frames cut out of a reel from the final Magnum PI episode. These came from a film editor who worked on the show for 5 years who kept them as a memento of his time in the editing room. These frames are part of the main title sequence and come from reel #1 (of 10) of the final 2-hour episode. The way he explained it to me was that there were 5 film reels per one hour episode (each reel was a 1000 feet and 16 frames make up a foot). Composite 35mm print has the soundtrack on the side of the print and the sound runs two feet ahead of the picture when it runs thru the 35mm movie projector. After editing, the reels of 35mm composite print would be transferred to video tape for distribution to the TV stations.

[MaximRecoil]

It would have been shot on 35mm and then transferred to 3/4-inch tape broadcast quality.

And probably half-inch tape somewhere along the line during its run (Betacam and then Betacam SP).

I doubt you'll find many TV shows from the 1980s available on film prints. 16mm was a popular TV broadcast format (combined with a telecine machine) at one time, but by the '80s I would guess that most, if not all, TV stations had switched over to video broadcasts.

[J.J. Walters]

Definitely 35mm.

[MaximRecoil]

Definitely 35mm.

Which is why it is a perfect candidate for a Blu-Ray release, unlike various lower budget shows from the '70s through the '90s that were shot on NTSC video (Betacam usually).

However, since MPI was never shown in theaters, there was never any call to release 35mm or even 16mm film prints. The original 35mm film was telecined to video tape and distributed to TV stations for broadcast.

[mikeaz123]

Great info and cool to see those film frames! What I wouldn't give for a print of a full episode!

[mikeaz123]

Considering they did release all seasons on DVD that shows its popularity. However many of the subsequent seasons after 2 or 3 just didn't look right if that makes sense. I think it may have to do with mpeg compression rather than source material. It'd would be great to see blu rays. From (hopefully) remastered elements.

Definitely 35mm.

Which is why it is a perfect candidate for a Blu-Ray release, unlike various lower budget shows from the '70s through the '90s that were shot on NTSC video (Betacam usually).

However, since MPI was never shown in theaters, there was never any call to release 35mm or even 16mm film prints. The original 35mm film was telecined to video tape and distributed to TV stations for broadcast.

[Styles Bitchley]

Yes it was 35mm. These are actual 35mm frames cut out of a reel from the final Magnum PI episode. These came from a film editor who worked on the show for 5 years who kept them as a memento of his time in the editing room. These frames are part of the main title sequence and come from reel #1 (of 10) of the final 2-hour episode. The way he explained it to me was that there were 5 film reels per one hour episode (each reel was a 1000 feet and 16 frames make up a foot). Composite 35mm print has the soundtrack on the side of the print and the sound runs two feet ahead of the picture when it runs thru the 35mm movie projector. After editing, the reels of 35mm composite print would be transferred to video tape for distribution to the TV stations.

This is fascinating. Thanks Jake.

[Jake]

This is fascinating. Thanks Jake.

You're welcome! I am certainly no film expert, but I found it fascinating to listen to how the show was edited and the origin of the film frames. I purchased several Magnum PI items from the guy and he was really nice and liked to talk about his days working on the show. I have never seen any other magnum film before. On occasion some of the broadcast tapes do surface though.

[mikeaz123]

A film collector friend of mine in the UK who works for the BBC told me that ITV did run Magnum from 35mm prints (he didn't specify how long though) but that likely all prints were junked.

[Marco]

I've got some 16mm broadcast prints in my collection but it was originally shot in 35mm of course. Never heard of 35mm broadcast copies here in germany - in the 80s they ran it from 16mm as well and then digitally in the 90s (when the new dubbed version premiered over here).

The 80s dubbed german version was archived and still in existance around 2002 - but today these elements have been junked as well (since the new dubbing is used all places now). At least that's what I have been told.

[mjsauer]

I have also been wondering about both the quality issues of the DVD releases and then the fact that the show was filmed with Panavision 35MM cameras. Even the title sequence is super grainy! Maybe when they filmed that, it was just a poor quality shot?

With that said...

This means that somewhere there are film-quality (HD) prints sitting somewhere that could be re-mastered to H.264 (Blu-Ray). Here's the other thing about that though. 35MM panavision cameras would have filmed the show in the standard film format aspect ratio (16:9 wide). I assume they just lost the edges when they transferred to tape - for broadcast to 4:3 televisions in the 80s, well, even 90s. In fact, they probably had some kind of matted viewfinder when they filmed so they would always frame things for 4:3 aspect ratio. So, can others concur that a blu-ray re-mastered Magnum release will also be in widescreen, AND contain some addition picture we never saw?

[Pahonu]

This means that somewhere there are film-quality (HD) prints sitting somewhere that could be re-mastered to H.264 (Blu-Ray). Here's the other thing about that though. 35MM panavision cameras would have filmed the show in the standard film format aspect ratio (16:9 wide). I assume they just lost the edges when they transferred to tape - for broadcast to 4:3 televisions in the 80s, well, even 90s. In fact, they probably had some kind of matted viewfinder when they filmed so they would always frame things for 4:3 aspect ratio. So, can others concur that a blu-ray re-mastered Magnum release will also be in widescreen, AND contain some addition picture we never saw?

You are correct about the cameras filming in the standard film aspect ratio. The cameras were very likely Panaflex 35mm, as those were ubiquitous in that era. They debuted in the early to mid 70's and were still in use in the 90's from my experience. The camera operator would "mask down" the edge opposite the sound strip. The viewfinder would reflect this cropping of the image. There would be additional picture, but who knows what was in it.

I am a big proponant of leaving the image as the cinematographer intended it to be viewed. The quality of the image would far exceed any other format, but I wouldn't be interested in watching an altered aspect ratio version with picture unintended for our viewing.

[Kevster]

This means that somewhere there are film-quality (HD) prints sitting somewhere that could be re-mastered to H.264 (Blu-Ray). Here's the other thing about that though. 35MM panavision cameras would have filmed the show in the standard film format aspect ratio (16:9 wide). I assume they just lost the edges when they transferred to tape - for broadcast to 4:3 televisions in the 80s, well, even 90s. In fact, they probably had some kind of matted viewfinder when they filmed so they would always frame things for 4:3 aspect ratio. So, can others concur that a blu-ray re-mastered Magnum release will also be in widescreen, AND contain some addition picture we never saw?

You are correct about the cameras filming in the standard film aspect ratio. The cameras were very likely Panaflex 35mm, as those were ubiquitous in that era. They debuted in the early to mid 70's and were still in use in the 90's from my experience. The camera operator would "mask down" the edge opposite the sound strip. The viewfinder would reflect this cropping of the image. There would be additional picture, but who knows what was in it.

I am a big proponant of leaving the image as the cinematographer intended it to be viewed. The quality of the image would far exceed any other format, but I wouldn't be interested in watching an altered aspect ratio version with picture unintended for our viewing.

With modern technology, you should be able to select either/or with the same disc. Kind of the standard or letterbox settings for older discs...