Local Fare, Though, Shows No Forward Movement
The percentage of national commercials airing in HD on the Super Bowl has increased steadily over the years to the point where a whopping 93 percent are now seen in all their hi-def glory. This finding came from an annual survey conducted by Tom Fletcher, VP of camera and production resource rental house Fletcher Chicago.
Fletcher has been tracking HD activity–or the lack thereof initially–for several years running. For example, he reported that only 30 percent of the national spots on the 2005 Super Bowl appeared in HD. This went up to 59 percent in ’06, 83 percent in ’07 and 93 percent this year.
“We’ve been major advocates of finishing in HD,” related Fletcher. “And it’s gratifying to see we’re now at 93 percent. But we very much need to get that up to 100 percent, not just for the Super Bowl but all commercials. With HD television set penetration increasing, it behooves us as an industry to showcase our work in the best possible light.”
However, the local spot market doesn’t seem to be getting the message. Fletcher noted that no local commercials shown in the Chicago market during this year’s Super Bowl appeared in HD. Though he didn’t monitor the New York feed last year, Fletcher found in ’07 there were also no local spots in the Big Apple shown in HD on the Super Bowl.
Local spots thus have stayed at zero during all the years Fletcher has conducted his annual HD survey. “It’s like buying a full page ad and using only two-thirds of the space,” he related. “And on the Super Bowl, the local ads really looked like local ads when compared to the commercials shown in HD nationally.”
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More