The production community is readying for Cine Gear Expo 2006, which will be held June 23-24 in a new location–the Wadsworth Theatre and Grounds in West Los Angeles. Now in its 10th year, Cine Gear has grown as a film, video and digital media expo, networking event and seminar series. An estimated 6,500 are expected to attend.
Like last year, when the event was held in Burbank, members of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and the International Documentary Association will conduct a panel series.
The ASC sessions will include “How new film, digital and hybrid tools are affecting the art and craft of cinematography.” Here, ASC members will discuss their experiences with cutting-edge tools while shooting commercials and narrative stories for the cinema and television. Topics will include the revolution in Super 16 filmmaking, how digital intermediate technology is affecting the role of the cinematographers, and things to consider when deciding whether to produce your project in film or digital format.
In “Dialogue with ASC Cinematographers, the panelists will answer questions such as why they chose to become cinematographers, what films and which cinematographers inspired them, what are the most important issues facing cinematographers today, and what is the outlook for the future? A third ASC session “Point of View,” will be a discussion about favorite clips. George Spiro Dibie, ASC, and industry veteran Bob Fisher will co-moderate the ASC sessions.
In other program news, several screenings/sessions will be hosted by companies, including Panavision, Dalsa, Fuji Film and Band Pro Film & Digital. Burbank-headquartered Band Pro, for instance, will present a screening and discussion forum on both June 23 and 24 titled, “Compressed or Uncompressed: You Decide!”
Using original Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) Standard Evaluation Materials (StEM), HDCAM SR recordings will be compared to the original uncompressed DCI data files and presented via 2k digital projection and 35mm film-out. Test materials were created under the auspices of the ASC Technology Committees with participation from Technicolor, Fotokem, Pac Tel, and Sony. Audience members will be invited to take part in a Q&A session following the presentation of the test materials. Panelists will include Band Pro CTO Michael Bravin, Sony’s Rick Harding and Simon Marsh, David Stump, ASC, and Jon Fauer, ASC.
Exhibitors include Arri, Band Pro, Doggicam, Eastman Kodak, Fuji Film, K-5600, Innovision Optics, Matthews Studio Equipment, Mole Richardson, OConnor, and Panavision. Red–the company that attracted a lot of attention at NAB–reported that it would be on hand with its nonworking prototype camera.
After the two-day Expo is completed, Cine Gear will conclude on June 25 with master classes held at nearby locations. (Preregistration is required for these sessions.)
TikTok’s Fate Arrives At Supreme Court; Arguments Center On Free Speech and National Security
In one of the most important cases of the social media age, free speech and national security collide at the Supreme Court on Friday in arguments over the fate of TikTok, a wildly popular digital platform that roughly half the people in the United States use for entertainment and information.
TikTok says it plans to shut down the social media site in the U.S. by Jan. 19 unless the Supreme Court strikes down or otherwise delays the effective date of a law aimed at forcing TikTok's sale by its Chinese parent company.
Working on a tight deadline, the justices also have before them a plea from President-elect Donald Trump, who has dropped his earlier support for a ban, to give him and his new administration time to reach a "political resolution" and avoid deciding the case. It's unclear if the court will take the Republican president-elect's views — a highly unusual attempt to influence a case — into account.
TikTok and China-based ByteDance, as well as content creators and users, argue the law is a dramatic violation of the Constitution's free speech guarantee.
"Rarely if ever has the court confronted a free-speech case that matters to so many people," lawyers for the users and content creators wrote. Content creators are anxiously awaiting a decision that could upend their livelihoods and are eyeing other platforms.
The case represents another example of the court being asked to rule about a medium with which the justices have acknowledged they have little familiarity or expertise, though they often weigh in on meaty issues involving restrictions on speech.
The Biden administration, defending the law that President Joe Biden signed in April after it was approved by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress, contends that... Read More