A new animation film called "Valiant" is about hit the United States. Though it is being released by Disney, the film was created outside the studio system for a cool 40 million which is almost one-third of the price of modern day animated flicks. This article explains how the film was moved from idea to reality. The story revolves around a daring young World War II homing pigeon. Though the film is revolutionary in terms of budget management, the other aspects of the film seem not to be up to par. Online BBC called it "bland as Birdseed." Ooh, that's harsh. But I still think this film will turn a profit because of its low cost. The DVD sales for children's animation films usually make that much. The good thing about all this is how much cheaper it is getting to produce an animation film, technology will get even cheaper and, hopefully, we will see more independent animated films.A Cheap and Valiant Film
A new animation film called "Valiant" is about hit the United States. Though it is being released by Disney, the film was created outside the studio system for a cool 40 million which is almost one-third of the price of modern day animated flicks. This article explains how the film was moved from idea to reality. The story revolves around a daring young World War II homing pigeon. Though the film is revolutionary in terms of budget management, the other aspects of the film seem not to be up to par. Online BBC called it "bland as Birdseed." Ooh, that's harsh. But I still think this film will turn a profit because of its low cost. The DVD sales for children's animation films usually make that much. The good thing about all this is how much cheaper it is getting to produce an animation film, technology will get even cheaper and, hopefully, we will see more independent animated films.Panasonic AJ-PCS060 P2 Store Drive Now Available
Panasonic Broadcast today announced the availability of its new P2 store drive. The AJ-PCS060 is packed with a 2.5" 60GB hard drive, capable of holding the contents of up to 15 4GB P2 cards. The drive is designed for the quick transfer of data both in the field and the studio. The contents of an entire 4GB P2 card can be transferred to the unit's hard drive in about 4 minutes. The unit can be powered by a battery for field work or by a power adapter in the studio. The AJ-PCS060 will run you about $1,800 and is available now.
Ridley Scott on the Future of Film
HollywoodIndustry.com has an interview with Ridley Scott director of such hit films as Blade Runner and Gladiator. In the interview Scott discusses his style of filming as well as how he approaches filming scenes filled with visual effects. As in many interviews these days that deal with the film industry the question of whether film is dead is asked and Ridley Scott certainly does not hold back saying."Yes. The fact we’re still trying to capture an image with a piece of celluloid that can break and get dust damage and so on is nonsense."
Well there you have it digital is the future of film but you probably could have already guessed that.
SIGGRAPH 2005 Coverage Over at Flash Insider
We gave a brief run down of the big announcements that were made at SIGGRAPH a couple of days ago. But Dave over at Flash Insider had been covering the event live over the last few days and has all the inside information and juicy details over on the site.
The Next Generation 3-D
Xeni Jardin reports for Wired from the Directors Guild of America yearly Digital Day event. There is the usual "digital is great" but "we need to make better films" to "film is too expensive." But the biggest jaw-dropper was session on stereoscopic 3-D. Now I know 3-D is so 80's with the red and green paper spectacles but this is different and vastly better. In the new 3-D systems, one projector runs at 96 frames per second displaying images for the left and right eye every alternate frame. The spectacles that you wear -- yes, you still need to wear spectacles -- will sync the alternate images to produce the 3-D image. The 3-D display elicited a chorus of "wows" and "oh my gods" from the attendees as many were dazzled by the lifelike imagery. Now this will take a while for the technology to reach mainstream and I am pretty sure when it does, along with Imax, this new 3-D could be a successful niche market. Personally, this is one of those things I would experience once and just get on with it.Jay Ankeney on HDV Editing
Jay Ankeney a freelance editor and post-production consultant from Los Angeles has written a short article on HDV and its impact on the post production process. The article briefly discusses the history of the HDV codec and also talks about the difference between the 720p and 1080i HDV formats. The article goes on to discuss how the major editing applications have chosen to support HDV and how 3rd party software can be used for capturing uncompressed HDV. Anyone who has been eyeing one of the new Sony or JVC HDV camcorders should definitely give the article a look.Sony Shows Off 4k Digital Projector
Sony has been showing off its new 4k digital projector the SXR-R110, which is the first commercially available projector capable of displaying 4k content. With the recent agreement on the new digital cinema specs by the large Hollywood studios, digital projectors look to be the future of the cinema. Sony's new projector is capable of displaying resolutions up to 4096 x 2160, but it can also display high definition footage as well as the current 2k digital projection standard. The switch to digital projectors promises to eliminate the imperfections which can be marked on film prints each time they are shown, and will allow each showing of the film to remain identical. Look for the new projectors to be arriving in your local multiplex's over the next few years.Digital Watermarking coming to a theater near you
Designtechnica has an interesting bit about digital watermarking being used by Hollywood to help fight piracy. Apparently the watermark can be applied to both the audio and video streams and can tell Hollywood sleuths which location, theater and even date and time a film was illegally duped. Digimarc Corp developed this watermarking tech for Hollywood's shiny new Digital Cinema System Specification.
DVD's and Hollywood
Have you listened to Hollywood's recent whining and moaning about how not enough people are going to the cinema? The blame has been scattered from not enough quality films, to people not wanting to go to the theaters, to weather, and other wacky reasons. It seemed time for Edward Jay Epstein to set the record straight.In this Slate article, Epstein explains that the reason why Hollywood is making less and less money from theatrical releases is because the DVD releases follow right after. At one time, a movie arrived in video nearly six months after a film was released in the theaters, now it comes out after a couple of months. Hollywood does this because they want to capitalize on the marketing done for the theatrical release. But that gives no incentive for the audience to go to the theaters to watch a movie. DVD's have the added extra's, are cheaper to rent and you are in the comfort of your home. I think it is time Hollywood stopped killing the Golden Goose.
Create Your Own Vodcast
Now that podcasting has gone mainstream with the recent update to iTunes. It seems fair game to start to talk about vodcast, which is video-on-demand-casts. Still confused? it is like subscribing to an online video magazine. Playlist has a nice how-to for creating vodcasts and putting them up online. This how-to is basically for Macintosh users but I think PC users should be able to alter it to fit for their platform. It is good to see that iTunes is already able to support vodcast as that seems like the next big trend on the internet. Maybe one day, you will watch this article!
Mark Cuban on HD
In this interesting interview with Mark Cuban, you can see why he is one of my favorite guys in the media world. It is clear that he is excited about HD, almost to a fault, HD or bust! But it is also evident that Mark Cuban is far ahead of the game in being prepared for the online film industry that is sure to come. Along with Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight, Traffic, Ocean's Eleven), he is creating original HD content that will play in his art-house theater chain, Landmark Theaters, which by the way, are one of the first facilities to feature Sony's 4k digital projectors. But also in the future, Cuban hopes, these films will be available online along-with content produced by other companies.
He is also looking for fresh talent who have some HD content to show, and yes that includes HDV. So shoot him an email if you have something to show, you can find his email address in the interview. Is that easy enough for you?
HD: Too Good To Be True?
Cannot wait to shoot your next film in the latest High-Def camera and get all that extra resolution goodness? Well think again, television and film industries are realizing that sometimes better is not always better!With HD and its incredible high resolution sensors, the problem lies in that it is showing too much. Like a drunk relative at the wedding reception who refuses to put his shirt back on, HD is simply showing too much detail that no one wants to see.
"You're talking about celebrities who have spent their lives trying to look perfect," said Phillip Swan, who runs the television news Web site TVPredictions.com. "Along comes this camera peeking around the curtain and it's scaring these people to death."
I do not want to see the real Jessica Alba as much as she does not want show it. So if you are planning to shoot your next low-budget space epic, make sure your Uncle steps his set-building skills or shoot with something other than HD.
Short Supply
Wired article states there is a high demand for shorts especially with Google, Yahoo and MSN getting into the online video action. "The online advertising industry is booming again," said Scott Roesch, vice president and general manager of San Francisco-based AtomFilms. "So now there is a race among the large media companies to create video inventories."
But short supply? It seems like there is an abundance of short films out there. Heck, they could have a whole section on bad Godfather remakes. But that is exactly the problem - a lot of it is crap.
There's very little quality short-form video available. Outside of the music industry, movie studios and cable channels aren't in the habit of producing short videos, so there isn't much inventory. What's more, creating short formats popular on the internet isn't a talent many professional TV and film producers have developed, since it's enormously difficult to tell a story in three minutes.
So besides the film, television, and video markets; we can now add the online short film market to the list. A little obvious but it is always good to hear the guys with the money recognize it.
PCWorld Takes a Look at Next Gen DVD Formats
PCWorld.com has an article up on the battle for the next generation disk format. As you have most likely heard by now, HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs are the main competitors. With major manufactures and Hollywood studios backing each side, the conflict will most likely get much more complicated before it gets resolved. The battle between the two formats has strong implications for the digital video community as well. With hi-def cameras hitting the marketplace, consumers will soon need a way in which to distribute their content. With two competing formats user would have to buy two devices, or hope the side they choose eventually comes out of top. Just think back to the Laserdisc technology of the early 90's or the battle between VHS and Beta because it appears that is were this dispute is headed.Is a Video iPod On the Way?
It seems like a very good possibility that the Video iPod could be a reality, especially when the Wall Street Journal gets into the act and even provides some rumors of its impending arrival. I have always been very excited by this idea, every few months I start drooling as the Mac world approaches another Steve Jobs sermon. Of course it has always resulted in disappointment, even when the switch to Intel was announced -- my shock lay with the fact that the Video iPod was not introduced. And I am not one of the cool kids who needs the most fashionable electronics, hell, I don't even own a iPod.
But the Video iPod is a different matter as it could easily become one of the most important tools for a DV user or filmmaker.
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