HDTV is in a big mess, according to Kirk Hokanson, chairman of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers’ (AICP) new technologies committee, and president of AICP/Minnesota.
Hokanson, whose full-time gig is executive producer of Minneapolis-based Voodoo Films, recently spearheaded planning for AICP’s "HDTV Symposium 2001," which was primarily designed to get the creative community excited about the potential of HDTV. However, the event, which had been scheduled for Feb. 13, at New York’s AMC Empire 25 Theatres, was cancelled because fewer than 15 tickets were sold.
Lined up to speak were industry luminaries including Emmy-winning director Pierre de Lespinois, who is represented for spots by c.2K, Los Angeles; John Dowdell, VP/ Advanced Imaging Center, The Tape House Editorial Company, New York; Leon Silverman, exec. VP, Hollywood-headquartered LaserPacific Media; and Jim Gosney, who is set to join Cincinnati-headquartered MRA Advertising and Production Support Services as a production consultant. Gosney recently resigned from Procter & Gamble (P&G), where he was associate director of commercial production.
Following the cancellation of the event, SHOOT canvassed a number of speakers for insight into the presentations that they would have been making.
"It’s time for the advertising community to embrace the high-definition topic. The fact is, if we don’t embrace hi-def and actually endorse it, there’s the potential that HDTV will not become the [broadcast] standard, and we [the advertising community] will be stuck with standard digital television," warns Hokanson.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandated a blanket conversion to digital television (DTV) by ’06, but left decisions about transmission standards to the marketplace. Most broadcasters have been slow to make the transition to HDTV, just as consumers have been slow to purchase HD-capable TV sets. In turn, advertisers have been reluctant to create HD ads because of the low audience numbers.
The lack of interest shown by the broadcasters suggests that, on the whole, they would be comfortable sticking with standard definition, says Hokanson. "It’s just easier for them. I think it would be fair to say that whatever made best economic sense for the broadcasters is what they would want to do. The high-definition monitors are more expensive; running the 5.1 audio through their systems is somewhat of a problem; and then there are the added expenses and technical issues to deal with," he relates.
Gosney also concedes that hi-def could become a missed opportunity if the marketplace doesn’t show an interest. "We are going to, at some point, move from analog to digital television. I don’t think there is much question about that. … Television stations across the country are starting to change their infrastructure over to some form of DTV. The part that is in question appears to be what aspects of DTV are really going to take hold," observes Gosney.
Referring to a controversial report "HDTV Dreams; SDTV Realities," released by Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research back in ’98, Gosney says the research company’s prediction that HDTV will fail could come to pass unless the industry gets behind the technology.
The report concluded that broadcasters would use DTV’s wider bandwidth for multicasting standard-definition television formats, providing consumers with a more affordable DTV experience while offering the industry profitable business models. "Where are we today?" asks Gosney. "The transition to any form of digital television has—I don’t think stalled would be too harsh a word. It has slowed and is not proceeding as fast as many had hoped." In explanation, Gosney quotes Dale N. Hatfield, the outgoing chief for the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology, who was reported as saying that the industry was split into different parts. "Those parts have to cooperate to get the whole thing to work, but all have different incentives and different ways of doing things," says Hatfield.
"Taking [Hatfield’s comments] as a good assessment of where we are, my belief is that advertisers, ad agencies, and even directors, need to take the time to understand the advantages of HDTV—and assuming they feel there are advantages, make their point of view and their interest in this medium known, so the Forrester prediction doesn’t come to pass," Gosney contends.
In terms of where to go next, Gosney says that the people paying the bills—the advertisers and agencies—need to speak up and let people involved in the infrastructure and the broadcast industry know that HDTV needs a bigger push. "Let’s get the remaining standards issues resolved; let’s stop this infighting; and let’s encourage the networks to move ahead in hi-def programming. Right now the only stellar example is CBS, which has the majority of the network’s prime-time and sports programming available in HD."
Hokanson agrees that HDTV is lacking focused direction. "I don’t think HDTV will sort itself out without some sort of leadership. We need to get a group of people behind it to lead the transition, rather than just allowing it to happen."
Educating everyone involved in the production of a commercial—clients, account executives, directors, producers and post houses—is an important first step. "I think everybody is waiting for somebody else to figure it out and actually say there is a demand," states Hokanson. "If we were to go with standard digital broadcasting, then every laptop and every computer screen would have a higher resolution than television. For me, this would be an awful step backwards. Here we have the opportunity—the standard has been developed and the television sets are being manufactured—and as an industry we need to get behind it to support the transition."
The consumer also needs to be educated. "My understanding," relates Gosney, "is that any research that has been done with consumers to actually show them HDTV in its true display format concludes that this is something the consumer would like to have. But how many consumers have had a chance to see this?" Another problem is a lack of exposure and understanding of HDTV’s benefits within the advertising community. "I personally think HDTV would be a wonderful thing, not only for the American public, but also for our industry. I would love to be able to show off any product that I was involved with in a higher-resolution, richer-quality format. I’d rather tell my story in this wider-screen format, [16×9], which gives a more interesting composition. And if I had a soundtrack that was more complicated than someone talking, I would love to be able to use the intricacy of surround sound.
"But we may be nearing the last chance for people of some influence in the industry to speak up and say this is something they want," Gosney observes. Referring to the advent of color television, which was supported by Kraft because the advertiser believed the added production costs would be overcome by the effectiveness of showing the company’s products in color, Gosney maintains that a similar appeal is needed for HDTV.
IN DEVELOPMENT
LaserPacific’s Silverman, however, argues that the opportunity for hi-def is far from being missed, claiming that the technology is simply going through the development stage. "The issue is not that the industry is not embracing hi-def; the issue is that the industry is learning to use hi-def and 24P in ways that fit in with their budgets and projects," he says. In fact, Silverman maintains that in his 25-year career, he has never seen as much interest in the impact of a new technology. "There’s no doubt we are changing the way we make, acquire and distribute content of all kinds—and new digital tools and hi-def tools will continue to play a growing role," states Silverman
However, an important first step is separating the "HD" and the "TV," and recognizing that hi-def is currently being used in many applications other than television broadcasting. "If the acceptance of hi-def is totally contingent on hi-def broadcasting, then it is going to be relatively slow to develop, just as color TV was. Additionally, if hi-def is totally contingent on broadcasting and the number of eyeballs [watching HDTV] to show what hi-def and digital tools might do in the process of making spots, then I would understand the lack of interest," comments Silverman.
During the symposium, Silverman had intended to demonstrate uses for hi-def tools that are not broadcast transmission-dependent. He explained that LaserPacific, which was one of the first facilities in the U.S. to build a digital hi-def environment, had been instrumental in the development of 24P, a format that provides a universal digital master. This digital master can be easily transcoded for any of the digital delivery standards (e.g., NTSC, PAL or 720P).
"One of the things we are beginning to see in the television domain—especially in television movies and other high-value content—is the transfer of film directly to 24P to provide a master that services the current U.S. distribution as well as distribution in Europe and other global markets," continues Silverman.
In feature films, HD is being used in acquisition, production, postproduction and mastering. "We are also starting to see producers, directors and cinematographers experiment with 24P acquisition. In addition, we are seeing producers utilize hi-def as a source for postproduction and as an eventual source for the film preview process," he notes. The public space arena—such as trade shows, corporate lobbies and museums—is also driving HD demand.
"I understand from the perspective of advertisers that the audience is still small. … But I think hi-def 24P will present a very appropriate method of creating spots, even if the distribution isn’t there at this point," opines Silverman.
FILM IS NOT DEAD
At the other end of the spectrum, The Tape House’s Dowdell uses technology dating back to 1911 to demonstrate his point: The perfect medium for hi-def production is film. Using an antique Williamson Camera and a roll of Kodak 5245, Dowdell captured footage in New York’s Times Square. In a 20-minute video following his actions, he takes the viewer through the post process, demonstrating that each frame of 35mm film is a square photo, which provides a large canvas that can be cropped into a 4×3 or 16×9 image. He also shows that over-cranking the film to 72 frames gives more time to view, for example, falling hair, or the movement of clothing or product.
Additionally, Dowdell planned to demonstrate the stark contrast between the recent Super Bowl game, which was broadcast in HD, and its commercials. With the exception of a spot for RCA, all the commercials were shot in standard definition.
To show this, Dowdell recorded the game on his digital VHS—which can record the off-the-air digital bitstream (flow of data). When played back through the TV, the footage of the actual game was in perfect HD while the commercials were in standard definition. According to Dowdell, CBS had offered to air the commercials in HD at no extra cost. "The agency only needed to have prepared a 16×9 spot, which is easy if you shoot on film. So, without too much additional expense, agencies could have produced a HD spot that took advantage of the bandwidth and looked great," he says.
Dowdell points out that he is not encouraging the film-versus-video debate. "Each has unique advantages and limitations. Informed producers can now utilize the strength of each in various combinations during production, postproduction, distribution and display. Reports that film is dead are premature," he concludes."z
