Someday, the commercial production business will exist in a high-definition world. Although the move to high-definition production is still in its infancy, different players in the commercial production and postproduction business are preparing for hi-def spots to be the norm, not the exception. Stock footage houses are one of the businesses getting ready for hi-def, and expect a number of libraries to be available in HD within one to two years.
Two major players in the stock footage business have started the task of converting the bulk of their libraries to high definition, 16:9 aspect ratio: New York-based gettyone/Energy Film and gettyone/Image Bank Films, part of the gettyone division of Getty Images, Seattle; and the group of companies comprised of the New York-based houses Action Sports Adventure, Hot Shots Cool Cuts, and Second Line Search; Film Bank/Action Sports Adventure, Los Angeles and Modern Video Library, Ludwigsburg, Germany. Principals of both groups say they have received a smattering of requests for hi-def footage—mostly for use at trade shows and various presentations—but agree that with the quick pace of commercial production, they have to be ready to fulfill any request instantly. While most of their footage is on hi-def-friendly 35mm film, they don’t feel they can wait until a request comes in to make the conversion to digital hi-def tape.
"It’s really anticipation of need," says George Bartko, COO of Action Sports Adventure, Hot Shots Cool Cuts, Film Bank/Action Sports Adventure and Modern Video. "If we want to be in the realm of producers and directors who are shooting in high definition and thinking of incorporating stock, then we’d better have our act together and have stock available that they can drop in."
Bartko says Panasonic and Sharp have both asked for hi-def footage for presentations, while FOX asked for footage for an ad promoting one of its film releases, but didn’t make a purchase. The goal, Bartko says, is to have everything in NTSC and PAL format, traditional 16:9, anamorphic and full high definition. "That’s our plan for everything we do from now on—from original production, when we go out and shoot materials, to anything we acquire and transfer," he explains.
The same is taking place at Getty Images, according to Rick Wysocki, senior VP/film brands and products for gettyone. "Even though it doesn’t seem to be happening as quickly as the industry would like, the world is going to switch over to a 16:9 format," says Wysocki. "Advertisers are asking for it now, but rarely. We haven’t done business with Procter & Gamble, but they have done some commercial production in 16:9. We’ve dealt with a couple of advertisers within the past year who have been producing [in high definition], for whatever reason. Maybe they’re going to be putting [the spots] into a show that’s going to be broadcast in 16:9. We’ve supplied the material in that format."
Wysocki says agencies tell him there is very little production going on in high definition right now, but there is expectation that the changeover is coming and that when it does, it will happen quickly. "We have had some requests for 16:9 material. In the past, what we’ve done is have them see material in the standard 4:3 format, make their selection, and we’ll go back to the original negative and do a custom transfer of that material for them in 16:9," Wysocki says. "Now it’s, ‘If I wanted it tomorrow, I would have asked for it tomorrow.’
"We want to be ready for that when it happens—ready for the people who are producing programming and commercials for that environment," he continues. "So we’re just taking the initiative of transferring our entire core library to 16:9." Wysocki explains that transferring entire libraries within the gettyone family of companies would be cost-prohibitive. However, he notes that the library is structured so that frequently requested footage can be identified and transferred at an acceptable expense. "The material that will be in demand in the future will be the same stuff that’s been in demand thus far," he believes, "because 16:9 doesn’t change the nature of the content—just the nature of looking at the content."
Wysocki says gettyone hasn’t set a deadline for conversion, but he is guessing that the job will be completed in about a year. "We’re not going to transfer the whole twenty-five thousand-plus hours of material in our library," he says. (The libraries covered are those of Energy Films and Image Bank, which constitute Getty’s film division.)
Good Sport
Action Sports Adventure currently has about 13 hours of hi-def footage available, and Bartko says that its entire library will be hi-def within two years. "People could call and say, ‘Show me what you have in hi-def,’ and I can send them tapes today," he says.
The company is starting the transfer process with its sports footage first, mainly because the requests for hi-def Bartko has received so far have been in that category. "We are going that route," explains Bartko, "but [eventually] it’s going to be everything—all our new scenic material, all our new lifestyle material." The footage will come from all of the companies associated with Action Sports Adventure, including Hot Shots Cool Cuts, Film Bank/Action Sports Adventure, and Modern Video.
Both this contingent and the Getty ensemble are shooting everything for high definition. "Our gathering format right now is 35mm film, widescreen anamorphic," Bartko says, "and that converts seamlessly to any of the formats."
According to Wysocki, filmmakers shooting for Getty are mostly using 35mm film, but he sees a demand for video footage as well. "We are at the moment in development on a brand that will be video," he says. "We’re not quite sure whether it will be part of the Image Bank or Energy, but we think there is a need for high-quality material captured on video—probably high definition—and we want to be able to offer that as existing footage."
HD.com?
Both groups of companies deliver on digital videotape, and are looking ahead to a time when the Internet could speed the process. "We see broadband in the initial stage as a way to deliver preview material to our clients," Bartko says. "There’s no current way to deliver broadcast-quality hi-def or even standard footage over the Internet. If you’re going to do it all in an electronic way, it’s got to be a virtual private network with some kind of converters at either end to send over that type of image."
No one knows just how high definition will play out in the convergence of computers and television, or whether the current vision for broadband Internet will be broad enough to carry the data needed for high-definition at full-motion speed. "The jury is still out," says Bartko. "I don’t think there is any standard as to what it’s going to be. We’re just going to be in the position to have in our hands a master in either format. Whatever the broadcast industry and the computer industry fight out, we’ll deliver in that format."
Wysocki believes broadband holds great promise for increasing his company’s business and client rosters. "I think broadband is going to significantly change the amount of business we do and significantly increase our base of customers," he says. "As the bandwidth is available to deliver full motion via the Internet, the Internet is going to be a place where people spend more time, energy and resources producing motion content. While a lot of the content is going to be re-purposed from regular broadcast channels, a lot is going to have to be created. And it can’t possibly be created using the same economic models that the people who create advertising for television use."
Because Internet audiences will be smaller and more fragmented, Wysocki reasons, producers will find conventional production techniques unaffordable and will turn more to stock footage. "You won’t be able to go out and spend half a million dollars on a commercial," he says. "So I believe creatives are going to turn to high-quality existing material—the kind we license—as an important tool in creating what’s going to be a brand new medium."z
