HiDef Update from the NAB Show

National Assoc. of Broadcasters Convention, Las Vegas -

This year's NAB show marked almost twenty years that I've been attending. In 1991 they were promoting "HDTV World," at the show that year, nevermind the fact that there was still little agreement on engineering standards that would allow for high-definition adoption and proliferation. Prior to that year, I was at CBS when Japan's NHK came to demonstrate their version of high-def that was being broadcast in that country. They showed several examples, from a 1:1 reproduction of the front page of the New York Times, shown on a monitor at the same, readible size, to three short films directed by Francis Coppola (one I recall was the dramatic debut of the comedian Galligher). It was a vision of the future, and what television was trying to become.

Flash forward to this week.

Sony had the most real estate at the convention center, showcasing content origination, content management and content distribution and delivery. Since Sony purchased Columbia Pictures some years ago, their commercial integration is significant, rivaled by Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp as "21st Century" Fox Studios.

So for one of Sony's demo presentations involving their latest HD cams, they begin with an extremely well-done trailer for Michael Mann's "Public Enemies," starring Johnny Depp and Marion Cotillard, due in theatres from Universal Pictures on July 1st. As a great fan of Michael Mann's work, I found the trailer completely seductive, on par with Mann's version of "The Last of the Mohicans."

from UNIVERSAL PICTURES and MICHAEL MANN -- due in theatres on July 1, 2009

The part that astounded me was the claim that Michael Mann had shot the entire movie using high def electronics, Zeiss lenses and no film. That's right, no film.

Dante Spinotti, Mann's cinematographer on this and four other feature films, said that a series of commercials they'd done allowed for sufficient technical testing of Sony's cameras combined with the Carl Zeiss lenses. The Zeiss name is legendary amony cinematographers. (Stanley Kubrick once had Carl Zeiss develop some specially-created lenses so that Kubrick could film scenes of "Barry Lyndon" by candlelight). Spinotti said, "Michael Mann always brings the cinematic language a little step forward -- and others watch and follow. So, it wasn't a surprise that he decided to shoot Public Enemies in High Definition."

More than ten years ago, my boss said to me "there'll be a day when we say to one another, 'oh yeah, film. Remember film?'" ...and that day has arrived.

High Speed Arriflex

This is how over 1,000 frames per second registers live action. The work of Harold Edgerton advanced the art of high speed photography and others have been inspired to replicate his work. In motion photography, this is an expensive proposition, since the amount of film racing through the camera is costly and finite in the camera's magazine.

Previously at Cannes, this advert example was exhibited to allow for a window on the art of "overcranking," or turning the film through the camera at more than normal speeds, effectively slowing motion down when viewed at 24fps.