The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) presented a panel discussion titled “The Art and Evolving Science of Hybrid Filmmaking,” which explored the fusion of film and digital tools and techniques in this transitional period, during the recent HD Expo held at the Los Angeles Center Studios.
ASC members examined how digital tools began to find their way into the filmmaking vocabulary through music videos, commercials and television programs, and how today, rapid advancements in digital intermediate technology are bringing these capabilities to the postproduction workflows of films produced for cinema screens.
Daniel Pearl, ASC, was the first speaker, who described how he was introduced to the use of telecine and digital color correction tools through music videos. The discussion then opened up to panelists discussing their experiences, answering questions and sharing their insights into where all of this is heading.
“The word ‘hybrid’ explains that this is a transitional time where we are using both [traditional processes and new digital tools],” explained Lou Levinson, ASC, colorist at bicoastal Post Logic Studios. “We haven’t really eliminated the pitfalls of doing it yet. We’re trying to make the path as easy as possible as we get through this.”
Emphasizing how quickly this change is taking place, he added, “The real world is out in front of standards efforts. We’re at a point in time where what works is going to end up the standards.”
One of the most keenly discussed topics of the session involved an essential technology in the film world, the Hazeltine console, which is an analyzer used in film labs for determining what grade of color and density should be applied to the printing of a negative. Precise levels of these grades are communicated through standard numeric printer light settings, universally recognized by all cinematographers.
“Using the film side’s Hazeltine theory as a model, it is imperative that we develop and implement the equivalent of a digital printer light capability on the electronic side,” declared ASC president Richard Crudo.
“People need to demand this,” an impassioned Crudo told the audience. “This is one of the most important issues today. We need to be able to assign a value to your work, so for once electronic dailies will have a direct correlation to what your print will look like…It is the only way to facilitate precise, consistent, repeatable communication.”
ASC VP Daryn Okada agreed, and enthusiastically reported that there is an answer in sight. Okada and Crudo commended Technicolor Content Services’ new Digital Printer Lights capability and its architect, Joshua Pines, VP of Imaging at Burbank-based Technicolor Digital Intermediates. This newly developed process gives filmmakers the ability to emulate in a digital environment what a negative would look like at a given printer light setting.
“It’s like a Hazeltine on super steroids,” enthused Okada, who used the digital printer lights during dailies and the DI process on his upcoming feature, Stick It. “It’s a doable process,” he emphasized. (See separate story, p. XX, on Digital Printer Lights as well as Okada’s experience with the process during production of Stick It.)
During the session, cinematographers also described their experiences using the digital intermediate process. This discussion included Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC; Kees Van Oostrum, ASC; and commercial and feature director of photography Dion Beebe, ASC, ACS. Beebe, fresh from winning an Oscar, ASC and BAFTA Award during this past awards season for his rendering of Memories of a Geisha, emphasized that the availability of this new palette of tools does not mean one should shoot a film any differently. Legendary cinematographer Zsigmond said that he would “insist” on using the DI process on future projects.
DI work is generally accomplished in 2k data resolution today, although select projects are beginning to go the 4k route, which require four times the amount of data as a 2k DI.
Zsigmond suggested that the industry should aim higher. “I would like to have 6k, he said. “I think it will get to 8k.”
Is this achievable? “We could probably do 6k now,” answered the aforementioned Levinson, who chairs the ASC Technology Committee’s DI subcommittee. “It depends on your requirements and budget.”
A far cry for 6k is the commercial world. The advertising community still finishes much of its work in standard definition, relates renowned feature and commercial director of photography Allen Daviau, ASC. “But they have a chance to put their work on the air in both high definition and standard definition,” he says. “Then those who have high definition sets can see the commercials in HD.
“Agencies need to make up their mind and budget for HD in the beginning,” Daviau asserted. “They still think it costs much more, but it doesn’t.”
Lastly, Daviau raised the archiving issue, questioning if not film, what media will certainly be around in the coming years. Levinson related that the ASC Technology Committee is exploring that question. Presently, there is no answer in sight.
George Spiro Dibie, ASC, and industry veteran Bob Fisher moderated the discussion.
Marlee Matlin Is “Not Alone Anymore” At Sundance, Opens Up In A New Documentary
Marlee Matlin gives an unflinchingly honest account of her experiences as a deaf actor in the funny and revelatory documentary "Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore." The film kicked off the 41st Sundance Film Festival Thursday, as the first major premiere in the Eccles Theater in Park City, Utah.
After the screening audiences in the theater, some wiping tears away, greeted Matlin with a standing ovation when she took the stage.
The film delves into all aspects of her life, personal and professional: Her childhood and how her family handled learning she had become deaf at 18 months; her experience winning the best actress Oscar for her first movie role in "Children of a Lesser God" and her allegedly abusive romantic relationship with her co-star, the late William Hurt, which he denied; and her experiences in an industry not equipped to accommodate deaf actors.
The film was directed by Shoshanna Stern, who also is deaf. Matlin specifically requested that Stern take on the project when American Masters approached her about doing a documentary.
Matlin has written about her experiences before, including her volatile relationship with Hurt and drugs, in a memoir, "I'll Scream Later." But before the #MeToo movement, she felt her allegations were largely dismissed or glossed over.
Interviews from the book's press tour show journalists were more interested in the "amazing sex" she said she had with Hurt than the stories of the alleged physical and verbal abuse. One interviewer asked her why she waited "so long" to come forward with the claims.
The documentary isn't just a portrait of Matlin, but a broader look at deaf culture and how Matlin was thrust into the spotlight at a young age as a de facto spokesperson for all deaf... Read More