American Cinematographer - December 2010 - 92

Tomorrow’s Technology
I
3-D, New Camera Assessments on Technology Committee’s Agenda By Simon Wakelin The industry has seen rapid developments in digital-capture technologies and digital-intermediate workflow practices since the ASC Technology Committee was founded in 2003, and the committee continues to monitor the industry’s shift from analog to digital with the fundamental objective of understanding how these developments affect the cinematographer’s craft. “The ASC Technology Committee continues to focus on the hybrid digital/film motion-picture imaging chain because it’s becoming increasingly complex to manage as each new technology is introduced,” says Curtis Clark, ASC, chair of the committee. “We are in the midst of a radical transformation that is affecting workflow standards,” he continues. “Digital tools are evolving rapidly, and the committee’s job is to recommend the best practices for cinematographers to better manage new workflows and achieve consistent results. We’re recalibrating our focus and analyzing an array of specific workflow issues, but with a clearer ‘big picture’ vision of where we’re headed with our work, which includes the implementation of the Academy’s Image Interchange Framework and Academy Color Encoding Specification.” IIF-ACES was developed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with members of the ASC Technology Committee and other industry collaborators.“Our interaction with the Academy was fruitful this year,” says David Stump, ASC, who chairs the Society’s Camera Subcommittee. “We’re well down the road in understanding metadata, workflow and color management. We’re also examining next-generation workflows for the DI that will ultimately resolve many challenges and difficulties, such as transforms between log and linear. In essence, we’re finding a way to effectively standardize the process.” Past ASC Technology Committee initiatives and achievements have included working closely with Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC, to produce the ASC-DCI Standard Evaluation Material, which is now used to evaluate the performance of digital projectors and digital-cinema systems. In 2009, the committee partnered with the Producers Guild of America on the Camera-Assessment Series, carefully comparing images captured by seven leading digital-motionpicture cameras to images captured on 35mm( AC June ’09 and Sept. ’09). And the ASC Color Decision List has been embraced by most major color-correction systems. Another camera-assessment series is in the works for 2011, says Clark, and among the new cameras that will be tested using the IIF workflow will be Arri’s Alexa, Red’s Epic, and Sony’s nextgeneration higher-resolution digital motion-picture camera. 35mm film will again be used as the basis for comparison. “Discovering what various digital motion-picture cameras are capable of capturing will open up huge possibilities for cinematographers, who will be able to more confidently manage a project’s look,” says Stump. “Variances in film development are trivial compared to what needs to be known about digital media.” CAS II is expected to be finished in a 4K IIF workflow, and will include the ASC CDL to allow interchange and interoperation of basic primary color corrections. Stump notes that the Camera Subcommittee also plans to explore a similar evaluation of 3-D image-capture devices. Another area of change has been the increased use of post processes during production, which has led to more display technologies being used on set. The Digital Display Subcommittee continues to look at new displays as they are introduced, specifically analyzing how such devices are calibrated. “The careful management and due process required to capture the image during production needs to keep its integrity through the entire process,” says Clark. “With so many display devices in use, discrepancies can be so extreme in contrast, color and brightness that the image no longer possesses its original characteristics. It’s an awareness issue as much as anything else, and it’s one of the biggest challenges we currently face.” The recent increase in 3-D production is also an area of scrutiny. “The Technology Committee’s Stereoscopic Subcommittee has been integrated into our Camera Subcommittee and will address issues related to production, post and exhibition by coordinating closely with our Digital Intermediate and Digital Display subcommittees,” says Clark. “3-D has accelerated the expansion of digital projection, and it’s reaching critical mass. One discerning issue that isn’t widely understood is the impact of silver screens installed in theaters. They can be a curse if regular 2-D films are shown on them, displaying an image with high gain and hot spots. 3-D is suddenly mainstream, and we need to adapt the same imaging standards we’re establishing in the 2-D world to the 3-D world, which poses additional challenges. “I fully expect our work to become more complex and challenging in the coming years,” he concludes. “However, we will continue to implement a new foundation for cinematographers to get a consistent handle on digital processes. At the end of the day, we want to maximize the creative potential of all these technologies.” ●

December 2010

American Cinematographer

American Cinematographer - December 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 2010