American Cinematographer - December 2008 - (Page 74)

The State of the Art: AnUpdate by Rachael K. Bosley ber was 60.) The DI has proven especially useful for film restoration; it requires minimal handling of the original film element, and digital tools can not only eliminate or minimize many image flaws common in older titles, but also closely approximate some looks yielded by longgone technologies, such as Technicolor’s three-strip photographic process. Less clear than the immediate benefits digital production and postproduction technologies can offer are the technologies’ long-term implications for studio libraries, whose guardians are tasked with keeping assets robust and accessible for the foreseeable future. This was the central topic of “The Digital Dilemma,” a report issued last year by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Science and Technology Council that examined how studios are contending with the rising tide of digital motion-picture materials. (To download a copy of the report, visit: www.oscars.org/ council/digital_dilemma/index. html.) Because there is currently no archival standard for digital media, Rapidly evolving digital technologies have created new possibilities for film restoration — and new complications for Hollywood’s preservation efforts. n 2001, when American Cinematographer interviewed executives at seven Hollywood studios about their companies’ preservation/restoration practices, digital technology did not figure prominently in the discussion (AC Nov. ’01). At the time, digital capture was primarily the purview of the indie filmmaker; digital tools were being used sparingly in restoration efforts, for select shots whose problems had no photochemical solution; and the digital-intermediate process was such a novel way to finish a picture that it didn’t even come up in the conversations. Since then, studios have waded into the waters of digital capture with such pictures as Collateral (2004), Apocalypto (2006) and Superman Returns (2006); there have been full-length digital restorations of the classics Dr. Strangelove (1964), The Godfather (1972) and Rashomon (1950), among other titles; and the DI has become so ubiquitous that a filmmaker raises eyebrows when he chooses not to use it. (In 2001, five of the productions covered in AC involved DI work; last year, the num- I most studios are taking a conservative approach to data preservation that mirrors the “inspect, duplicate and store” paradigm that is now standard in film preservation. And because the threat of obsolescence looms large over digital formats and media, most studios have developed or are developing plans to “migrate” data to new physical media every few years — a costly and time-consuming undertaking. In separate interviews, assetprotection managers at DreamWorks Studios, MGM, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios and Walt Disney Studios described similar approaches to data preservation: verify, copy and store data created through the DI process or captured on digital productions and, because film continues to be the only archival medium for motion pictures, film out a 35mm archival negative and 35mm archival separation masters directly from the data on every feature that finishes with a DI. The creation of separation masters not only gives studios a preservation element in a reliable medium, but also serves to verify that 74 December 2008 http://www.oscars.org/council/digital_dilemma/index.html http://www.oscars.org/council/digital_dilemma/index.html http://www.oscars.org/council/digital_dilemma/index.html

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 2008

American Cinematographer - December 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Short Takes: True Blood Titles Tomorrow’s Technology Production Slate: Closer to Truth A High Price for Progress Rags to Riches 1-Man Riot Squad The State of the Art: An Update Post Focus: Deluxe New York New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index 2008 AC Index ASC Membership Roster Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Donald McAlpine

American Cinematographer - December 2008

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