April 24th, 2012

There is no honest discussion that can be had about this Hobbit footage without emphasizing the 48fps presentation. The film was shot this way and will be digitally projected this way, as well as presented in 3D. So what does 48fps movie footage look like as opposed to your usual 24fps theatrical movie experience? In this reporter’s opinion, it looks like live television or hi-def video. And it didn’t look particularly good. Yes, this is shocking, but I was actually let down by the Hobbit footage, as were a number of the other journalists that I spoke with afterward.

It looked like an old Doctor Who episode, or a videotaped BBC TV production. It was as shocking as when The Twilight Zone made the boneheaded decision to switch from film to tape one season, and where perfectly good stories were ruined by that aesthetic. Here, there were incredibly sharp, realistic images where colors seem more vivid and brighter than on film, but the darker scenes were especially murky (and the 3D only dims that image even more). Frankly, it was jarring to see Gandalf, Bilbo or the dwarves in action against CG-created characters or even to move quickly down a rocky passage. The whipping of a camera pan or the blur of movement was unsettling.
~ Jim Vejvoda after watching 10 minutes of The Hobbit presented at its native 48 fps (rather than the normal 24 fps)

(Source: movies.ign.com)

61 notes·
technology film
February 19th, 2012
Oscars: Cinematography nominees discuss film versus digital

The technological debate matters to me much less than the technique (especially because film is still undoubtedly superior).  Janusz Kaminski, nominated for Steven Spielberg’s War Horse and cinematographer of Oscar-winning films Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan, discusses the “mystery” of shooting film.  I love shooting film because it endears a level of simplicity and fore-thought as to what you’re attempting to accomplish.  The mystery comes from the fact that it is absolutely intangible until it is projected on the screen.  If you’re creative and confident, this is incredibly empowering.  

Kaminski, from the link above:

Though he recently shot in digital for the first time while working on a commercial, he decried digital as a harbinger of “the death of the cinematographer.” “Generally speaking, I don’t have respect for digital media just yet,” he added.

His concern is that the cinematographer is no longer allowed to fully control the image as other technicians become a larger part of the process and that digital monitors create a laissez-faire attitude on-set toward image-making. “If you see the image on the digital screen I think people become lazy, they get satisfied with just seeing the image, they’re not going for visual panache, not getting the story through metaphors,” he said. “With film there is still mystery.”

Using your imagination as the primary tool, rather than monitors and scopes, will ultimately yield the best results.

~ü

59 notes·
technique technology
June 10th, 2011

Tarkovsky’s Polaroids

Thames and Hudson published a beautiful book of polaroids taken by Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky a few years back. This Russian blog has digitized the collection. It’s incredible how he was able to translate his endlessly haunting visual style into the medium with the use of a cheap, mass-produced camera designed for taking a quick shot of your brother eating Funyuns at the family picnic.

~ ratak-monodosico:

Previously: Tarkovsky’s Offret, End Credits Music

Reblogged from ALL IMAGES ARE RORSCHACH TEST.
106 notes·
Beauty and Mystery directors technology
May 24th, 2011
Technology and filmmaking have always gone hand in hand.  A great director finds ways to exploit new innovations to further enhance the cinematic experience.  However, gadgets should not obscure the parts of our lives that are deeply meaningful: a great conversation, a powerful dream, sharing great music, a strong sexual connection, moments of quiet reflection, learning something new etc… New technology is only useful if it pushes cinema further than just ninety minutes of light and sound.  It must approach a sixth sense beyond the fifth.  That’s the litmus to how much of an impact that a new technology is going to make. The photo above is from the cinematic stone age.  From the very beginning of the form over one hundred years ago.  Developed by two of the inventors of cinema.  But it feels contemporary and fresh.  That’s a powerful technology.  A time machine.  A thread connecting us to who we were and a mirror for us to see who we still are. ~ü The first air show at the Grand Palais in Paris, France. September 30th, 1909. Photographed in Autochrome Lumière by Léon Gimpel.

Technology and filmmaking have always gone hand in hand.  A great director finds ways to exploit new innovations to further enhance the cinematic experience.  However, gadgets should not obscure the parts of our lives that are deeply meaningful: a great conversation, a powerful dream, sharing great music, a strong sexual connection, moments of quiet reflection, learning something new etc…

New technology is only useful if it pushes cinema further than just ninety minutes of light and sound.  It must approach a sixth sense beyond the fifth.  That’s the litmus to how much of an impact that a new technology is going to make.

The photo above is from the cinematic stone age.  From the very beginning of the form over one hundred years ago.  Developed by two of the inventors of cinema.  But it feels contemporary and fresh.  That’s a powerful technology.  A time machine.  A thread connecting us to who we were and a mirror for us to see who we still are.

~ü

The first air show at the Grand Palais in Paris, France. September 30th, 1909. Photographed in Autochrome Lumière by Léon Gimpel.

Reblogged from ALOCKSTADT
22,137 notes·
technology
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@dschmudde

Techniques for directing film. More than the script, bigger than the screen - the tangible and mystical characteristics of truly great filmmaking.