Student Filmmakers - June 2008 - (Page 12) HD Production 16:9 on the Mind Steps Toward HD Production by Daniel Gaucher Currently broadcasters, television producers and educational institutions are undergoing the most significant technical change since Philo Farnsworth patented the “Image Dissector” in 1927. I’m talking about the move to digital television, and HD in particular. With over one billion television sets now in use worldwide, these changes will affect many, many people including yourself and the productions you will undertake. You are the first generation of HD producers. However, today’s students and young professionals are faced with a constantly moving target. HD technology is still in development, even as the FCC mandated move to digital television is taking place. You want to have some shelf life to your project? Then you better be shooting and editing in HD. Don’t know where to begin? Welcome to the confusion that is HD. Some pioneers have already ventured out; completely producing their shows in HD formats now. Some institutions, like colleges, have massive infrastructure changes and are still in the process of overhauling their entire equipment pools. Without the budgets to support an immediate move to HD, some colleges have had to take intermediary steps. comprise HD. 16:9 is only a small part of the many other options including variable frame rates (23.97, 24, 25, 30, 50, 59.94), color space and lines of resolution (720, 1080). Toss in the option of interlace versus progressive images and you have many, many choices. Different manufacturers have staked their claim on certain resolutions and targeted the user markets that would benefit from them. Panasonic’s 720p/24 format is very popular with film students, while Sony has continued to push the upper market with its 1080p format. Research what format will deliver the image quality and style you are seeking. Storage & Media Management The third step is to familiarize yourself with current and emerging HD cameras that can record your desired format. With the move to tape-based HDV, followed by the current trend of file-based recording, the production industry has made huge leaps in the last five years. Panasonic’s P2 format was a breakthrough allowing users to capture right to solid-state cards or a hard drive. This removed the need to digitize, allowing editors to manage media easily as files. Avid’s compatibility with MXF files (the file type of P2 media) meant that files recorded in this format were immediately available for editing, showing up as standard clips in Avid’s bins. Final Cut users just needed to import the files off the cards/hard-drive; an easy step in media management with no time-code breaks or other digitizing related issues. The P2 format allowed for multiple levels of quality, dictating file sizes and amount of storage space needed. The HVX200 was a workhorse camera, capable of shooting outstanding HD footage at the capture rate of 1GB/minute. Sony has recently answered with their new EX camera series using SXS cards, allowing HD footage to be captured on very affordable solid-state cards, albeit slightly compressed. Both the HVX and the EX series provide a great entry point for producing in HD. Alternately, Sony’s upper line of professional XDCAM cameras captures to optical disc for increased image quality with larger file sizes. 16:9 The first step towards HD production is learning to recompose your shots for a 16:9 aspect ratio. Many colleges invested heavily in DV technology, and most of these cameras are capable of shooting a 16:9 aspect. What’s the first step towards HD production? Shoot everything, even your current standard definition productions, in 16:9. It’s a lot more difficult than it sounds. Some of the golden rules of composition for 4:3 productions, like headroom, speaking room and the “rule of thirds” are now somewhat obsolete or changed. Looking through the viewfinder a whole new world opens up on either side of your standard framing – big holes than need to be creatively filled to ensure proper composition. At the most basic level, mastering this new picturescape will help you be a better HD producer. HD Formats The second step when approaching HD production is to familiarize yourself with the many emerging format options that Post-Production Hand in hand with researching cameras is researching NLE platforms. As professional and prosumer cameras continue to improve yearly, so to have the post-production manufacturers had 12 studentfilmmakers June 2008
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