American Cinematographer - February 1993 - 70

video work, not

image of

only for technical
it gives him an
opportunity to express his own
view of "realism." Kafka's multiple
images and floating camera move¬
ments may make it appear to be the
work of a director creating an arti¬

Kafka (Peter

reasons, but because

Lucas),

complete with
time code.

ficial environment, but these tech¬

niques merely underscore Zbig's
philosophy of expression. "Reality
is what we see and what we think,"

he says. "Images which we see in
the present are mixed with images
from our past that we store in our

minds,

well

those images

which we are constantly creating in

imagination. This metamor¬
phosis between the past and
present and our suspicions of the
future are what we experience as
reality. In this sense, photographic
reality seems strange; reality is in¬
our

impressed by the possibilities of
video, but the difference [with HD]
the quality of the picture. I saw
something that had the quality of

was

35mm but

was

still video."

Zbig's chief engineer,
Ryszard Welnowski, explains that
despite the picture quality of high
definition, the crew was constantly
battling video noise and ensuring
that the cables were as short as pos¬

sible because they were working
with the multi-generational tech¬

nique in an analog format. The
equipment had to be aligned differ¬
ently from the manufacturer's stan¬

does not have the "look" of film.
The lack of reliable high-definition

projection systems also puts the
format at a disadvantage, as does
its unwieldy nature; many location
productions wouldn't want to drag
along an enormous high-definition
camera and a team of
engineers. At
this point in the technology's devel¬
opment, film still has the twin ad¬
vantages of ease and portability.

side us, not outside. We are not
even sure if the outside exists."

Zbig felt that Kafka, whom
he considers to be "the most visual
or cinematic writer," was an ideal

subject for such an experiment. In¬
stead of simply adapting one of
Kafka's stories, Zbig looked at all of
his writings, including letters and
diaries, and used the material to
formulate a script that points out
the parallels between Kafka's life
and work. Zbig's multi-genera¬

dards in order to accommodate the

As far as special effects are

tional motion simulation allows

multiple layers for each shot. "Elec¬
tronics are updated day to day. You
can't change in the middle, so you
have to finish one project and then
update," says Welnowski. "We're
really looking forward to doing our
next project in a digital format in¬
tegrated with computer graphics."

concerned, however, Kafka dem¬

him to move seamlessly from scene

onstrates that HD offers certain

Besides the infinite motion
of the system, the production also
benefitted from the immediacy of
hi-def. Instead of waiting weeks for

opticals to Come back from the lab,
the crew cpuld see immediately
take was successful or
not. Another important consider¬
ation is that high definition is a

whether

component system - as compared
to NTSC, which is a composite sys¬
tem. With a component system,
colors are truer and the filmmaker
is able to achieve those seamless
mattes.

Naturally,

changing technology like high-defi¬
nition creates an atmosphere rife
with controversy between "film"
people and "video" people. Many
argue that high-definition simply

American

Cinematographer

rapidly

advantages. Zbig's multi-genera¬
tional images, coupled with the
limitless camera movement, simply
could not have been achieved with
film.

Zbig believes that one rea¬
high-definition work isn't

son more

done is

reluctance to accept
are afraid some¬
times to go to a new technology,"
he submits. "What is interesting
a

change. "People

today is that the whole film com¬
munity rejects this technology. All
technical people representing film
technology, such as film manufac¬
turers, laboratories, and other ex¬

perts in this field, are saying this dot
resolution is inferior.

People are
protecting their investments in
film."

settle, expressing the interlock¬
ing elements in Kafka's life through
his o$m favored motif of repetition.
As ho says, "Life is repetition. Howers, trees, harmony, music, everything.is repetition."
With Kafka already gamer¬
ing awards (First Prize in the Tokyo-Montreux International Elec¬
tronic Cinema Festival in Japan),
Zbig plans to take his technology
even further as he
prepares his next
project, an adaptation of
Bulgakov's Master and Margarita.
More versatile than Kafka's most
famous protagonist, the man-beetle

Gregor of The Metamorphosis,
Bulgakov's characters can shapeshift endlessly, providing the per¬
fect

canvas

Zbig still plans to forge
high-definition

ahead with his

February 1993

for

filmmaker whose

technological and artistic
achievements are continuously
changing.
A
own

American Cinematographer - February 1993

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