Digital Video - April 2008 - (Page 4) PREROLL BY DOUGLAS BANKSTON VOLUME 16 NUMBER 4 APRIL 2008 THE VIEW FROM HERE DV .COM EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF David E. Williams dwilliams@nbmedia.com MANAGING EDITOR Douglas Bankston dbankston@nbmedia.com TECHNICAL EDITOR Jay Holben jayholben@gmail.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Frank Capria, Thomas A. Crowell, Robert M. Goodman, John Jackman, Matt Jeppsen, Nels Johnson, Larry Lueck, Kendal Miller, Oliver Peters, Jay Rose, Todd Sali, Stefan Sargent, Ned Soltz, David O. Weissman ADVERTISING EAST COAST SALES MANAGER Susan Simon ssimon@nbmedia.com NORTHWEST SALES MANAGER Pete Sembler psembler@nbmedia.com MIDWEST AND SOUTHWEST SALES MANAGER Jeff Victor jvictor@nbmedia.com EUROPE SALES MANAGER Bob Kennedy bkennedy@nbmedia.com DV EXPO SALES Jacqueline Gospodinoff jgospodinoff@nbmedia.com CLASSIFIED AD SALES Anesha Kovalsky akovalsky@nbmedia.com ART & PRODUCTION SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Nicole Cobban ART DIRECTOR Annmarie LaScala PRODUCTION MANAGER Fred Vega ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER Ariel Steinberg CIRCULATION ASSOCIATE CIRCULATION DIRECTOR, AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT Anne Drobish CIRCULATION MANAGER Kwentin Keenan CIRCULATION CUSTOMER SERVICE Michele Fonville SUBSCRIPTIONS: DV, P.O. Box 221, Lowell, MA 01853 Telephone: 888-266-5828 (USA only, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. EST) 978-667-0352 (Outside the US) Fax: 978-671-0460 E-mail: newbay@computerfulfillment.com NEWBAY MEDIA VIDEO/ BROADCAST GROUP EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Carmel King VP SALES/GROUP PUBLISHER Eric Trabb MARKETING DIRECTOR Nancy Gregson EDITORIAL/CREATIVE DIRECTOR Anthony Savona EDITORIAL DIRECTOR - BROADCAST Carter Ross EDITORIAL DIRECTOR - VIDEO Cristina Clapp EVENT & EVENTS MARKETING MANAGER Jessica Winters WEB MANAGER Mike Lemmerling WEB EDITOR Robert Granger WEB ANALYST David Leach WED AD PRODUCTION SPECIALIST Lesley Keller NEWBAY MEDIA CORPORATE PRESIDENT & CEO Steve Palm CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Paul Mastronardi VICE PRESIDENT OF WEB DEVELOPMENT Joe Ferrick CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Denise Robbins IT DIRECTOR Greg Topf CONTROLLER Jack Leidke HR DIRECTOR Ray Vollmer REPRINTS AND PERMISSIONS: Please contact our Reprint Coordinator at Wright’s Reprints: 877.652.5295 O ver crêpes and drinks at Figaro Café in the funky Los Angeles neighborhood of Los Feliz, director of photography Steven Fierberg, ASC said something that caused me to pause mid-sip of my Belgian pale ale: The camera on his latest shoot was chosen on the basis of postproduction, not image quality. We were having a lively discussion of his work on the quirky feature Searchers 2.0, and the camera to which Steve had been handcuffed was Sony’s HVR-Z1U. It’s not the first time I’ve heard that image quality on the very visual medium known as the motion picture was not the top priority. What’s wrong with this picture? While primarily working in the film realm, Steve has shot some amazing stuff throughout his career. That’s not to say film doesn’t have its fair share of compromises, but is the primary purpose of digital video’s swelling roster of formats — and in turn, workflows — to limit a filmmaker’s palette? Or maybe your footage will work after all in your NLE but only after transcoding to another format and downloading the appropriate workaround plug-in, which then means your now transcoded files double in size and you must buy additional storage. However, technology, despite its best efforts, usually fails to quash creativity and ingenuity. Searchers 2.0 is a prime example of this. Steve even came away impressed with the Z1U and the image results. (See “A Western State of Mind” on page 28.) For now, though, all of us who dabble in the assorted forms of DV must remain card-carrying members of the Format of the Month Club. Regular DV contributor Ned Soltz’s entry in this derby comes in the form of the much-anticipated Sony PMW-EX1. He put this intriguing camera through a first round of tests, resulting in his review “Getting to Know You,” beginning on page 18. Like many of you, I have been waiting to hold a true full-raster 1920x1080 24p in my hand. (Although, Ned suggests two hands may work better.) On the plus side, the EX1’s recording formats and solid-state SxS cards seem to be manageable in numerous nonlinear editing systems, keeping headaches at bay. What to do when you get your format-of-choice footage (or formatby-default, depending) into the NLE? Technical Editor Jay Holben queries editors on their choices of handy plug-ins — both audio and visual — to use while cutting in “Plugging the Gaps” on page 34. In the same vein, Rev. John Jackman pulls the impossible key in NLEs with a multi-pronged plug-in attack in “Key Master” on page 32. (Though format often plays a role in this dilemma, the usual offender in problem keys is poor lighting.) For years, cinematographers and videographers found fluorescent lighting offensive. But that changed with the development of the Kino Flo, which is a bit pricey. In this issue’s “DV101” column (page 40), Jay offers some do-it-yourself fluorescent lighting tips for the budget-conscious. And when you are standing in Home Depot comparing one fluorescent source against another, his test photos may be a huge help. Douglas Bankston, Managing Editor dbankston@nbmedia.com 4 dv april 2008 www.dv.com PUBLISHED BY NEWBAY MEDIA L.L.C. 810 Seventh Avenue, 27th Fl. New York, NY 10019 Tel: 212.378.0400 Fax: 212.378.0470 Web: www.nbmedia.com http://www.dv.com http://www.nbmedia.com http://www.dv.com http://www.nbmedia.com
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