Ellen Kuras: On Projected Dailies

From American Cinematographer, Psycho Killer by Andrew O. Thompson (June 1999)

"Today, it’s a luxury for cinematographers to see projected dailies. I really respect Spike’s dedication to projected dailies. He knows it’s important for the director of photography, assistant cameraman and production designer to see what’s really happening on film. Film-to-tape dailies can be inconsistent and inaccurate. The person operating the film-to-tape machine could make a change that affects the way you light the film: if the blacks become a little bit crushed, you might think that you don’t have enough exposure in the shadow areas and you might start adding more fill, even if there is a grey scale or Macbeth chart at the head of the roll. That’s especially true with reversal—it could be rendered very differently on video than on a print stock."

- Ellen Kuras, ASC