American Cinematographer - February 1985 - 81

Mia Amato

HOMER:
HOMER stands for

Hybrid Optical Montage Electronically Reproduced

"hybrid optical

mon¬

tage electronically reproduced," an
awkward name for an awkward-looking,

Rube-Goldberg setup of cameras and
computers combining the techniques of
automated sound recording, comput¬
erized optical printing, video assist and
electronic graphics. HOMER creates op¬
tical special effects and animation de¬
veloped by the Hollywood production
of Peter and Coco Conn.
HOMER effects have been
used for the title of the feature film
thriller Double Exposure and animated
team

openings for syndicated TV shows Hol¬
lywood Heartbeat and Rock N' Amer¬
ica. The Conn's company, HOMER &
Associates, has in three years devel¬
oped a reputation for getting a lot of
visual excitement out of limited

Frame

enlargements
created
with the help of

re¬

of images

Opening titles for this season's
The Bill Cosby Show, requested little

sources.

more
were

Homer.

than a month before air date,
assembled from publicity photo¬

films and videos for music acts since

"One of the most important
things a promotional clip needs is re¬
peatability," stated Coco Conn, who is
producer of most music projects. "If a
lot of things are going on in the clip, it
can be seen and enjoyed more than
once, there's always something new to

animating Michael Jackson's trademark

discover."

graphs. They've also animated entire
commercials for record albums using
only album cover art and the ca¬
pabilities of their visual mixing system.
Peter and Coco Conn have
been involved in

creating promotional

What pops on

clip, "Blame It On the Boogie," in
1978. Their techniques can be cinematically simple: tossing armloads of roses
into the air while shooting high-speed

the screen
be slide, still, live-action footage,
even graphics from the terminal of the
Conn's home computer, all combined on
a 24-track visual mixing system of

film for slow-motion to match the ballad

custom

pacing of Stevie Wonder's "Secret Life
expensive:
building a neon room and auditioning 60
Japanese and Korean martial arts ex¬
perts for the kung fu fantasy of "Se¬
quencer," a clip for jazz-fusion guitarist

and applies it to optical effects. HOMER
is a true hybrid of computers, video and

white socks and black shoes for the

of Plants." Or elaborate and

Al Dimeola.
Their clips are a dense fruit¬
cake of images-bright colored nuggets
and textures that seem three-dimension¬
al on the screen.

may

hardware and custom computer
software-a system that takes the flex¬

ibility of real-time editing found in video

film, yet as responsive to human touch

harp.

The console resembles a 24track audio mixing board, but instead of

Image-mixing on HOMER is a
two step process. Planning a sequence
takes place in the main control room on
a custom "preview" console designed
and hand-wired by the Conns.

mixing levels of sound, it mixes levels
light. Twenty-four different visual in¬
puts can be mixed simultaneously. Be¬
hind the console, beyond a glass
partition, sit 16 slide projectors, 16mm
film projectors and a video projector,

March 1985

American

as a

of

Cinematographer

79
American Cinematographer - February 1985

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