Australia’s broadcasters are beginning to preview the digital future, with new services including HDTV, as well as content delivery to mobile devices such as cell phones. This is already leading to new types of assignments for commercialmakers.
“The television commercial business in Australia has, like the rest of the world, been adapting to a changing environment as new technologies provide alternatives to traditional TV advertising,” says Bruce Carter, creative director/head of visual effects at Sydney-based post and visual effects house Animal Logic (which also maintains an office in Venice, Calif.). “I think convergence of technologies is going to provide increasingly interesting creative opportunities. The lines are becoming blurred between what we now call mobile phones, ipods/iphoto, music players, handheld gaming devices, mobile computers and fixed public space screens–from building sized screens to screens in the back of taxis. All of these will begin to break down the traditional :15, :30, :60 television advertising format.”
In the emerging area of mobile content delivery, Sydney’s The Bridge Networks, a wholly owned subsidiary of Broadcast Australia, is readying to begin a 12-month DVB-H [a proposed transmission standard also being tested in parts of the world including Asia and Europe] trial in Sydney for terrestrial delivery of multi-channel television to mobile receivers, including cell phones and PDAs. The testing would include the technical capability and commercial prospects for DVB-H applications in Australia.
“During the trial period, we would expect the DVB-H transmissions to cover eighty percent of Sydney, or around 3.2 million people,” said Darren Kirsop-Frearson, managing director, The Bridge Networks. “Up to one thousand customers will use the DVB-H-capable handsets to measure coverage, particularly within buildings, as well as provide valuable consumer feedback about the level and quality of services being tested. It’s a very exciting broadcasting development and evidence of a true convergence of the broadcast and telecommunications industries.”
Interestingly, Animal Logic and Digital Pictures Sydney–two of Australia’s leading commercial post businesses–have already received their first assignments for projects to be delivered to mobile devices.
Digital Pictures’ assignment was in production at press time, and the company declined to divulge the clients and project details. Animal Logic’s work involved creating animation for a promo for the Hudson Soft Company’s “Mobile Tengai Makyo”, a subscription-based network role-playing game available on certain types of mobile phones in Japan. For the promo–which was broadcast across mobile devices–Animal Logic’s design team created, directed and produced a two-minute animated sequence, which used a combination of 2-D and 3-D elements to take the viewer on a surreal journey from a beautiful Japanese landscape through city streets.
“Consumers will become increasingly more demanding of the entertainment value of the content, which in turn will become more personalized and specific to particular target audiences,” says Carter. “There are many hurdles to overcome, not least of which is how to attract high level creative talent with budgets that have been spread thinly across many delivery platforms.”
“I think [mobile delivery] is a great opportunity for advertising, but advertising applications for the Web are still limited, so I expect for mobile it will be limited.,” adds Jeff Oliver, general manager of Digital Pictures Sydney. “The danger is that the dollars spent on traditional advertising will probably go down even further. The Web and internet have already impacted traditional advertising business.”
DTV TRANSITION
Australia–with a population of roughly 20 million–was among the earliest nations to begin a transition to digital television. Today an estimated 700,000 homes in Australia are already receiving DTV broadcasts, which include HDTV.
But as in the U.S., requests for HD commercial post from agencies have been negligible. “It is still the exception to be asked to finish in HD,” Carter reports. An exception was that Animal Logic completed an international spot in HD, “No 5 – The Film” for Chanel No. 5, a high-profile advertisement that Animal Logic finished for director Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge), direct for the client.
“There is still an inhibitive cost factor in the area of effects and post that keeps SD the industry standard,” Carter says. “That will slowly change as investments in HD technology are recouped…Certainly all major visual effects and post houses are capable of handling HD to varying degrees.”
Oliver had similar observations, noting that most of Digital Pictures requests for HD have been for production of long-form television programming.
Incidentally, Digital Pictures is one to watch for another reason: Its publicly traded parent company, AAV, has put its digital media services up for sale. The business units included in that group are Digital Pictures Network (which includes post houses in Sydney and Melbourne that service commercials), AAV Broadcast Rentals, AAV NZ and DubSat.
SMPTE IN SYDNEY
DTV broadcasting and content delivery to mobile devices are among the topics expected to be addressed by the community next month at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) Australia Conference and Exhibition, which this year will be held July 19-22 in Sydney’s Darling Harbor. This year’s conference theme of “Working Smarter — Better Technology, Better Business” refers to the broadcast industry’s focus on the economics of making informed buying decisions in a highly competitive global market.
The confab attracts commercialmakers, filmmakers, and broadcasters and has grown to become among the largest trade events in the region. Participation is expected from more than 200 exhibitors. There will also be technical paper presentations and a conference program featuring vital topics including film, broadcast, production, audio, radio, information technology, compression, visual effects and postproduction.
The conference program will include some of the most challenging issues facing filmmakers today. That includes “Moving Pictures? Moving Data,” a session that will explore production with IT networks and data workflows–an area that is gaining much attention in Australia, the U.S. and major production hubs around the world.
“Cameras and Origination” will look at the latest production technology, including HD tools; “Film and Digital Cinema” will explore topics including digital intermediates, digital cinema distribution and projection; “Work Flow and Assets” will address asset management”; and “What you need to Know” will include an HDTV update.