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At DCS, we continue to track and evaluate new technology to remain your trusted source of unbiased information in the entertainment industry. This month we’ll be reporting on the latest computer graphics and interactive techniques from the annual SIGGRAPH convention, and also have several of our own DCS events scheduled in San Francisco on Adobe/RED/XDCAM Workflows, in Los Angeles on Digital Cinema Camera Accessories, and in Venice, Italy as part of the d-Cinema Forum at the Venice International Film Festival; (details follow).
This month’s essay, by noted author Scott Kirsner draws on the topic of his new book, “Inventing the Movies: Hollywood's Epic Battle Between Innovation and the Status Quo, from Thomas Edison to Steve Jobs” where he explores how change happens, and the challenges faced by innovators in our industry.
| | RED announces that R3D files will soon open natively with Adobe software while our Northern California Chapter Meets at Adobe |
Jim Jannard’s announcement last week on REDuser.net that RED R3D files will soon open natively in CS3 Premiere Pro and After Effects has timed out perfectly for our Northern California Chapter meeting at Adobe on Tuesday night, August 5th. It is exciting news, but not surprising, since Adobe has long been the master of RAW workflow with still images, and RED utilizes similar technology, (albeit complicated greatly by running at higher frame rates).
As previously announced, this meeting will cover Adobe solutions for posting Sony XDCAM EX, followed by Adam Wilt and Art Adams sharing some of their findings after rigorous tests of both RED and XDCAM EX. However, in response to the new developments, we have arranged to first hear from Adobe’s Giles Barker, who will share the latest details of their new RED workflow, as well as the Cinema DNG initiative, an effort to develop cross platform solutions for the nonproprietary exchange of Digital Cinema Camera RAW files.
The meeting is being organized and will be moderated by our Chapter President Simon Sommerfeld and V.P. Trudi Melohn. A raffle will be held to cover expenses with donated hardware and software including the winner’s choice of Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 or After Effects CS3.
Location: Adobe Systems Inc. San Francisco office at 601 Townsend St, San Francisco CA. 94103. -- 6:30 to 9:00PM
If you’re local to Northern California, RSVP to Trudi@DigitalCinemaSociety.org with your phone and e-mail contact. Members in other parts of the world can check back shortly for expedited streaming from our website.
| | Accessorizing Your Digital Cinema Camera |
Saturday, August 9, 2008, 10am-12pm at Plaster City Digital Post in Hollywood,
DCS will explore what it takes, and what is available, to build a highend Digital Cinema Camera Package. We’ll look at everything from filters, matte boxes, follow focus, handheld rigs, and Break-out Boxes. Manufacturers invited to participate include ARRI, Schneider Optics, Zacuto, RedRock Micro, Toys4RED, and Element Technica. Vendors who are involved include Abel Cine Tech, SIM Video, and Birns and Sawyer. Attendees will also have a chance to see a very impressive large screen projection of RED Demo footage in the Plaster City Digital Screening Room. A raffle will be held with various accessories and support gear donated by the Presenters. RSVP with “Digital Cinema Camera Accessories” in the subject line to: Mathers@DigitalCinemaSociety.org
Hosted by DCS Advisory Board member Barry Clark, of Mandalay Entertainment, Band Pro’s Randy Wedick presents the Sony XDCAM, PMW-EX1 Camcorder. This compact solid state camera records to Flash Memory Cards and features 1/2” imagers to make it the smallest and lowest priced camera to ever carry the “CineAlta” moniker. Look in the Members Area under “Streaming Content”, or for a limited time without member log-in on the DCS homepage at the “New Streaming” link. Special thanks to volunteer streaming crew: Camera: Scott MacDonald, Sound: Jeff Crowell, Editor: Brad Haskell
Check back soon for streaming coverage of our last meeting on Sony’s F35
| | One DCS Member’s Perspective |
Please note that the opinions expressed in this essay are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Digital Cinema Society; (see James Mathers’ commentary which follows). We encourage an open dialogue on all topics related to Digital Cinema and Entertainment Technology, and DCS members are invited to share their views on our forums.
”Inventing The Movies: Hollywood's Epic Battle Between Innovation and the Status Quo”
by Guest Essayist, Scott Kirsner
Whenever you buy a ticket to see a movie on a Saturday night, the secret technological history of Hollywood is included free with the purchase price.
When you walk the downward-sloping aisle to pick out a good seat, you're doing something that Thomas Edison was convinced would never happen; although Edison was among the first to capture motion on film, he was sure it'd be more profitable to charge individual viewers to watch movies at personal viewing stations - Kinetoscopes - rather than projecting images on a screen for a large audience. “Let's not kill the goose that lays the golden egg,” Edison said about his successful Kinetoscope business.
The movie has sound because the Warner brothers, despite several disastrous attempts to improve the silent film experience by adding a soundtrack, tried one more time, and happened to hire an ebullient vaudeville performer named Al Jolson to star in one of their first talkies. Unless you're a classic film buff, the movie you're seeing is likely in color, and that wouldn't be the case were it not for a chance meeting at the Saratoga Race Track between Herb Kalmus, the founder of Technicolor, and Jock Whitney, a wealthy playboy who wanted to make movies. That encounter kept Technicolor from running out of money, and led to the making of Gone With the Wind, the 1939 blockbuster that finally convinced Hollywood to switch over to color.
Even if you decide to stay in on Saturday night and watch a movie, that's a choice that's linked to Hollywood's hidden technological history, too. Walt Disney and William Boyd (who played Hopalong Cassidy, the righteous cowboy) were among the first people in Hollywood to understand that television might actually represent a new business opportunity, rather than just a threat to ticket sales. Recorded movies on tape and DVD exist thanks to the patronage of Bing Crosby, who paid a team of engineers in the 1950s to develop the first prototype video recorder.
The story of how new technologies enabled Hollywood to become America's dominant culture factory, and remain in that role for more than a century, hasn't been told before. How does innovation ever prevail when just about everyone working in a given field would prefer that things remain the same?
Delving into that question is why I felt compelled to write the new book Inventing the Movies: Hollywood's Epic Battle Between Innovation and the Status Quo. Innovators, like the members of the Digital Cinema Society, rarely win on the merits of their idea alone, or on personal charisma. New ideas always encounter stiff headwinds. Some succeed, while others flicker and fade.
Hollywood is one of the best examples of an established industry (and the movies an established art form) that, like every established industry, relies on innovation for its survival, but resists innovation at every turn. That makes it an ideal place to explore the obstacles that innovators face, and the persistence, luck, and cleverness required to vault past them. It also offers insight into the mindset of those who fervently defend the status quo.
One of the best ongoing examples of this battle between innovators and the group that I call preservationists (people who'd prefer to preserve the status quo, not film preservationists) involves digital cinematography.
At least since 1972, there have been discussions in Hollywood about the benefits of using electronic cameras on the movie set. One of the pioneers was Lee Garmes, who had begun his career in 1918 as a camera operator for silent films, cranking the camera by hand. As a cinematographer, Garmes had shot the original Howard Hawks Scarface in 1932, and a large portion of Gone With the Wind. He'd also won an Academy Award for Shanghai Express, directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Marlene Dietrich.
In 1972, at a gathering at the American Society of Cinematographers clubhouse in Hollywood, Garmes, a past president of the group, announced that he'd just finished shooting a feature on videotape, and “hoped never to see another piece of film.” The movie was Why, a drama about teen suicide, commissioned by Technicolor as an experiment in transferring material shot on videotape to 35-millimeter film for theatrical release. But Garmes may have made shooting with video sound too easy for his peers' liking, as when he told American Cinematographer magazine, “Looking at the monitors, the job was so easy. I could have phoned it in.” Most cinematographers preferred for their work to seem complicated, mysterious, magical.
Into the 21st century, proponents of digital cinematography - most notably George Lucas - have continued to face skepticism. When the cameras weren't “good enough,” cinematographers knocked them without trying them. Cinematographers and directors argued that they didn't have enough time between projects to experiment with new cameras, so they stuck with their tried-and-true gear. They feared that they'd look like novices on the first project where they used a digital camera, or somehow slow down the shoot. They worried that digital would reduce the size of the crew they needed - and thus their status on the set. They wanted to stick with the art form they'd grown up with, and that their mentors had worked in. Steven Spielberg told me, “If it was good enough for Hitchcock, David Lean, Stanley Kubrick, John Ford, and Akira Kurosawa, it's good enough for me.” Spielberg even likes the limitations imposed by the length of film that could fit in a cartridge. “I'm nostalgic about having a camera operator turn to me and whisper, 'we're about to roll out.' I do love having to reload. It reminds me of the days when I had to reload my little eight millimeter Bell and Howell camera.”
In another interview, director of photography Roger Deakins waxed equally eloquent about film. “There's a sense of mystery, because you don't know what's going into the magic black box camera until you send the film to the lab. With digital, it's all very businesslike. We're not businessmen. We're artists and magicians.”
That tension between the art and business of making movies… and between innovators who want to push things forward and the preservationists who are not so gung ho about change (and who often want to hold on to the past for nostalgic reasons) is what, to me, makes the technological history of Hollywood so fascinating.
We all confront new ideas - whether it's digital cinematography, movies delivered over the Internet, or video viewed on the screen of an iPod or mobile phone - in different ways. Sometimes we are innovators - a new technology seems to open up new artistic possibilities, or make shooting so much easier - and sometime we are preservationists, sticking to a much-loved tool.
But I'd argue that it's those moments when we're innovators, experimenting with something new, figuring out how it fits into our work, when we move the business and the art form of cinema forward.
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Scott Kirsner is the author of the new book Inventing the Movies: Hollywood's Epic Battle Between Innovation and the Status Quo, from Thomas Edison to Steve Jobs. http://www.amazon.com/Inventing-Movies-Hollywoods-Between-Innovation/dp/1438209991/ click here He edits the blog Cinematech: http://www.cinematech.blogspot.com click here and also writes for Variety. Scott is also one of the founders of a new event being held in the San Francisco area this fall, The Conversation: http://www.theconversationspot.com click here which will explore new technologies changing the entertainment industry.
| | Commentary on the above essay from James Mathers, Cinematographer and President of the Digital Cinema Society |
I’m currently well into Scott Kirsner’s book, enjoying it a lot, and seeing many similarities in Hollywood’s technological history to the modern Innovators on the scene today. However, I can’t abide by statements which seem to suggest that Cinematographers are interested in maintaining the status quo only to make their work seem “complicated,” or for fear of looking like “novices,” or only in an effort to maintain their status on set by requiring an unnecessarily large crew.
Modern Cinematography is indeed complicated, whether captured on film or new digital formats. Why should we Cinematographers seek out new technology only for the sake of being on the bleeding edge? If we have tried and true tools that have reliably stood the test of time, why jettison them before better tools arrive to serve our purposes? And nothing makes the hair on a Cinematographer’s neck stand up faster than the implication that with Digital less crew and equipment are needed, because somehow you don’t have to light as much. We are constantly in search of the best tools, not just the newest; and it’s only fear of Producers buying into this type of fantasy that truly worries us. These misplaced attitudes could rob us of the resources we need to do our jobs in controlling light and shadow while serving as the visual guardians of the motion picture image. Those are my thoughts -- lets hear yours. Visit the Digital Cinema Society Discussion Board -- Letters To The Editor Forum: http://forums.digitalcinemasociety.org click here
| | Congratulations to DCS Members Nominated for Cinematography Emmy Awards |
In the area of Outstanding Cinematography For A Half-Hour Series we have both Michael Goi, ASC nominated for “My Name Is Earl” and George Mooradian again nominated for “According To Jim.” In the Outstanding Cinematography For A One-Hour Series we congratulate our East Coast member Tom Houghton for the FX Networks series “Rescue Me”, and Steadicam Operator, Jeff Muhlstock was also nominated for his work as part of the camera crew on “Hansel And Gretel (Great Performances At The Met).”
| | Spotlight on Lifetime Members |
Jay Spencer is Managing Director at Supernal Entertainment, who’s experience is a blend of business, art, and engineering. His current bi-coastal activity involves the transitioning of production, post-production and distribution clients from film to Digital Cinema, from HD video to DI and from a variety of physical media to file-based systems, in addition to ongoing film projects. Jay’s recent activity has centered on the provision of theatrical content creation, workflow and content integration services for DCI-pursuant Digital Cinema, as well as its initial deployment. His previous work includes advanced theatrical fiber network technology, production, post-production, visual effects and other aspects of the entertainment industry including Branded Entertainment, as well as the management of production/post facilities.
Mark Stolaroff is an LA-based independent producer and the founder of No Budget Film School, (www.NoBudgetFilmSchool.com) a unique series of classes specifically designed for the no-budget filmmaker. Stolaroff was formerly a principal at Next Wave Films, a company of the Independent Film Channel that gave finishing funds to exceptional, low-budget films. Included in Next Wave's 13 films were the first features of directors Chris Nolan, Joe Carnahan, and Amir Bar-Lev; the Academy Award-nominated documentary "Sound & Fury"; and the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner "Southern Comfort." Stolaroff is currently in pre-production on his third project with award-winning writer/director Henry Barrial. Stolaroff was a producer on Barrial's first feature, "Some Body," which was in Dramatic Competition at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival; and Stolaroff produced Barrial's last film, "True Love," a Sundance Screenwriters Lab Project currently playing festivals. "Pig" is shooting in August on an appropriately tiny budget.
Richard Winnie is Director, Post Production for Universal Media Studios, the television production branch of NBC Universal, which produces such hit shows as "Heroes," "The Office," and "House," to name only a few. He has been in this position as it has morphed from NBC Productions and NBC Studios for 12 years. Previous to that Richard was a freelance Associate Producer and Post Supervisor, mostly at Warner Bros. / Lorimar.
We very much appreciate the extra support from members who elect Lifetime DCS membership.
| | Renewing Your DCS Membership |
We count on your dues and contributions to continue our mission and maintain our services to members. So, if your membership has expired, or will soon, and provided that you value our services and can afford to offer support, please take a few minutes to renew your membership at the $30 annual level or $100.00 for a Lifetime Membership. You can follow the convenient Paypal links, (using any major credit card, and you don’t need to be signed up for Paypal), or you can send payment to our offices at P.O. Box 1973 Studio City, CA 91614.
Paypal Annual Renewal Link - $30US: click
here
Paypal Lifetime Renewal Link - $100.00: click
here
Checks should be sent to: The Digital Cinema Society, P.O. Box 1973, Studio City, CA 91614, USA. Check payments must be in US dollars.
Please note that if you are a student, or otherwise cannot afford the dues, just send a note and we will be happy to extend your membership.
| | Recommend DCS to a Friend |
There is strength in numbers and we are always eager to grow our membership. So, in order to make it easy for you to spread the good word about DCS, we have created a link that will allow you to personalize a short letter which describes some of the benefits of the group and offers a free trial membership. Please visit the site and send this offer to all your friends & colleagues who might be interested in joining us.
http://www.digitalcinemasociety.org/join/invitefriend.php
click here
| | Events of Interest to DCS Members in Los Angeles |
| | Final Cut Pro Classes from Weynand Training |
Final Cut Pro 6 (Level 101) - August 8-10, Los Angeles, CA
If you use Final Cut Pro on the job, at home or in your classroom, this three-day hands-on class will have you using Final Cut Pro 6 like a pro!
For more information and to enroll in these classes visit: http://www.weynand.comclick here
| | AVS TO SPONSOR PRO VIDEO SWAP MEET |
August 9th from 1:00pm to 7:00pm, San Fernando Valley, CA
Advantage Video Systems is hosting a pro Video Swap Meet and BBQ. Come by and bring your old equipment or buy someone else's gear. 10% goes to the house to pay for food, marketing, tables and other expenses. Space is limited so sign up quickly. For more info. contact: Jeff@advantagevideosystems.com or visit http://www.advantagevideosystems.com click here
Conference: Monday, 11 August - Friday, 15 August, 2008. Exhibition: Tuesday, 12 August - Thursday, 14 August, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, California
Over the past 35 years, SIGGRAPH has evolved to become the premier event for the latest and most advanced innovations in computer graphics and interactive techniques. It has remained at the forefront of the computer graphics community since its introduction, bringing leading minds from around the globe to one place to explore and inspire the future direction of the products, systems, techniques, and ideas of this industry. For more information, or to register, visit: http://www.siggraph.org click here
| | HD EXPO’S P2 WORKFLOW WORKSHOP |
August 14-15, 2008 at The Beverly Garland, Los Angeles, CA
Join the Tapeless (R)evolution: Liberate yourself from the linear domain, and learn true creative freedom in a free-form non-linear image workflow from acquisition to archive. This dynamic two-day workshop brings the technology to the professional, and the professional into the process. The instructors, all industry professionals, introduce the P2 line of cameras and supporting equipment, while illuminating the process of working with P2 to bring data to screen and beyond. They cover all aspects of the process, from shooting to post, from production to archive. Whether you shoot, edit, post or produce, this workshop will leave you completely educated, fully informed, and ready to tackle any size P2 project. DCS Members receive 10% off all HD EXPO Workshops. Standard cost for this workshop: $599, DCS price: $539.
To receive the 10% discount call and ask for Steve Gyuire: 818-842-6611. If you can't make it to this P2 Workshop they have another one coming up as part of the full HD Expo, October 28-29 in Burbank.
September 29-October 1, 2008 at the Sheraton Universal, Los Angeles
Stereoscopic 3D is a hot topic of debate in theatrical and consumer electronics circles these days. If you want to learn more about the technical and business trends in 3D, see lots of 3D demonstrations, network with all the leading players, learn from tutorial short courses and participate in special 3D evening events, then plan to attend the upcoming 3D Biz-Ex event.
Targeted for individuals in the industry to learn, network and share information, in an informal yet comfortable space, 3D Biz-Ex is the venue for you to hear about the impact 3D is having on the marketplace and the opportunities that it creates. For registration and schedule details visit: http://www.3dbizex.com click here
October 29-30, 2008, Burbank Marriott, Burbank, CA
http://www.hdexpo.net/october/index.html click here
Certification Training: November 4-6 / Conference: November 4-6 / Exhibits: November 5-6, 2008, Los Angeles Convention Center
If you are a videographer, cinematographer, director, producer, camera operator, editor, post supervisor, sound editor, motion graphics designer, web video producer, corporate video producer or documentary filmmaker ... THIS IS YOUR EVENT! Digital Video Expo is your one stop for certification and training opportunities November 4-6, 2008 in Los Angeles. More than 45 conference sessions and top industry exhibits showcasing hundreds of new products await you and your questions. These three days will be packed with education and information you won't get anywhere else! Event Highlights Include: Presentation Theater on the show floor. All sessions scheduled here are FREE to all attendees, featuring association and vendor sessions including those from Panasonic, Sony and Avid.
Apple Certification Training Workshops on Color, Final Cut Pro 6, and motion graphics and effects in Final Cut Studio. User group meeting, networking events and film screenings. Thriving Exhibit Hall floor with new product introductions daily! Registration available soon. Register by October 3 and save 15% on full conference rates. For more information or to register visit: http://www.dvexpo.com/ click here
November 5-12, 2008, Santa Monica, CA.
http://www.ifta-online.org/afm/about.asp click here
| | HPA 2008 Engineering Excellence Awards |
Thursday November 6th, 2008, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. This prestigious award showcases and rewards inventors, manufacturers, vendors and/or peer post production companies for outstanding product or technology application offerings. For further information about the Engineering Excellence Award, the HPA Awards or the Hollywood Post Alliance, visit http://www.hpaonline.com/mc/page.do click here, call 213.614.0860, or email ekramer@hpaonline.com
| | Events of Interest to DCS Members - Other USA Areas |
| | Applications Now Being Accepted For The 2008 James A. Lindner Film Preservation Prize |
The James A. Lindner Prize, awarded jointly by the South East Asia Pacific Audio Visual Archives Association (SEAPAVAA), The Association for Moving Image Archivists (AMIA), and the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA) will be awarded to an individual, group of individuals or an organization for research, which by its originality, breadth and scope, is having or may potentially have a major impact on the technology of the preservation of moving images and/or recorded sound. The 2008 James A. Lindner Prize will be presented at the 2008 AMIA Annual Conference in Savannah, Georgia, USA. Application deadline: August 15, 2008. For more information and an application, visit the AMIA website at: http://www.amianet.org/events/awardlindner.php click here
| | Visual Effects Compositing Classes |
Introductory Visual Effects Compositing Class - August 24th-30th, 2008 - Rockport, Maine
Advanced Visual Effects Compositing Class - August 31st-September 5th, 2008 - Rockport, Maine
These classes are both part of Maine Media Workshops USA and are taught by DCS Lifetime Member and master trainer, Steve Wright, a twenty year industry compositing veteran of over sixty motion pictures and author of the definitive book on the subject, Digital Compositing for Film and Video and the just released Compositing Visual Effects: Essentials for the Aspiring Artist. For more information, visit: http://www.swdfx.com/ click here
September 23-25, 2008,
Center for the Arts, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
For years, filmmakers associated with the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival have sought to build collaborative partnerships with non-broadcast distributors. Meeting that demand, this autumn, from September 23rd to the 25th, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science are co-presenting the first-ever conference that brings content creators together with media execs from NGO's, museums, parks, aquariums, zoos and other public institutions.
As digital media becomes more accessible, even the smallest of these institutions can identify relevant applications - and can afford to put them in place.
The appetite of this important distribution pathway is as varied as it is broad. From high end, large format and 3-D programming, to gallery installations and interactive kiosks, to handheld videopodcast and web-distributed media, the Jackson Hole Symposium will explore the latest technology applications as well as promote innovative opportunities for educational outreach in exhibits and on the web. For more information or to register, visit: http://www.jhfestival.org/jhsymposium/index.htm click here
October 13-16, 2008, Orlando World Center Marriott, Orlando, Florida
For over 15 years, ShowEast has been the only convention and trade show for the cinema exhibition and distribution community on the East Coast. Cinema Exhibition professionals come to ShowEast for exciting film screenings of major studio and independent feature films slated for holiday release as well as product reel presentations, exciting special events with Hollywood’s hottest stars, educational seminars and to find the latest products, services and technologies at the trade show. For more information, or to register, visit: http://www.showeast.com click here
| | HD World Conference & Exposition |
October 15-16, 2008, Javits Convention Center, New York, NY
The Digital Transition, February 17, 2009 is almost here! Are you completely ready? Attend over 40 sessions, workshops and tutorials, visit over 200 exhibitors and network with the who’s who from broadcast, cable, media & entertainment. For more information or to register, visit: http://www.hdworldshow.com/ click here
October 17-18, 2008 at the Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
The Future of Cinema, Games & Online Video: New Tools / New Distribution / New Rules
This October, pioneers at the forefront of change in cinema, video, games, media and technology are coming together to share ideas, insights, and innovations. The focus is on new tools, new distribution channels, and new rules. The format of the gathering will be experimental: rather than a traditional conference, short talks and demos, "fireside chats," and roundtables will spark a dynamic series of overlapping conversations. All this will happen at UC Berkeley's renowned Pacific Film Archive theater over two days this October. It's a conversation that will bring together media-makers and technologists to share experiences, discuss, debate, and map out the future together. For more information or to register, visit: http://www.theconversationspot.com/ click here
| | Paso Robles Digital Film Festival |
November 20-25, 2008, Central California Coast |
