American Cinematographer - December 2000 - 91

employees after running out of
money. "It's a little early to do what
we do, but it's
probably not too early,"
said CEO David Bohrman in

release. "I think the
that's

out

a

press

funding paralysis

there in the economy,

reel

on

Mini DV, which he then

captured into his computer using
Media Cleaner Pro, which allows the
to capture, enhance, encode and
publish streams from one stream¬
lined workflow. Using Sorenson
compression, and bearing in mind
that most people have only dial-up
connections, Uhry chose clips that
user

[which] happened after April, is what
really stopped the flow of financing
into this kind of company."
Perhaps the most well-known

would last about

demise of

which would

an

online entertainment

company has been the turbulent saga
of Digital Entertainment Network

(DEN). During its short life span, the
site raised

a

minute

or

less,

require about 2 or 3
megabytes. With a dial-up connec¬
tion, downloading the clips would
require five or six minutes, while a

$26 million in its first

faster broadband connection allows

financing but suffered
financial woes, massive layoffs,
management reshuffling, businessplan changes and a sexual-miscon¬
duct lawsuit that led to a filing for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
earlier this year. According to former

virtually seamless acquisition.
In mounting his site, Uhry
simply used the Webspace that came
free with his DSL subscription.
Various types of free hosting services
exist, but if you have a large media file
(such as a feature), you will definitely
need a hosting service to stream the
content; that can cost anywhere from
$10 to $1,000, depending on the
services and potential streams.
In terms of shooting specifi¬
cally for the Web, Uhry feels that
compression is the most important
factors for cinematographers to bear
in mind. With compression, it's best
to use a stationary camera, very plain
backgrounds, and "even" lighting. Of
course, many cinematographers will
find these restrictions creatively
limiting. "It's okay if you're trying to
do something that's strictly informa¬
tion-based, but if you're trying to
make something entertaining, you
sort of have to drop those guidelines,"
Uhry says. "Still, it's definitely good to
keep in mind what compresses most
easily; for example, handheld camera
footage does not compress very well."
Putting his reel online has been
a
great help to Uhry's career in terms
of speed and convenience. "I found
that having pieces of my reel on the
Web has been great when I'm on the
phone with a director I've never met,"
he says. "While we're talking, I can
simply direct that person to my Web
site to pull up a clip so he or she can
see what
my work is about."

over

round of

DEN President David Neuman,

important element for

success

the

is to

have financial backers with the will

to

succeed.

"Every successful major
media corporation of the past 20
years is inevitably a story of mistakes
and/or patient investors who go
through years of losing money," said
Neuman at this year's Streaming
Media East conference. "The

venture

capitalists in the Internet market¬
place do not have the enthusiasm or
patience anymore." Even Steven
Spielberg's Pop.com, which was to
Webcast video, animation and other

programming created by big indus¬
try names, shut down before stream¬
ing even one byte of content.
Until the marketplace begins
to take on a firmer shape, many film¬
makers and cinematographers are
sidestepping entertainment Web sites
in favor of their

own

sites, where they

showcase their films

can

or

reels.

L.A.-based director of

photography
Uhry has clips of his reel on his
site, www.fuzby.com, which show¬
cases his work as a
cinematographer
Matt

on

feature films, commercials and

music videos.

According to Uhry, the
technical process is easier than one
might think. He had a version of his

Worldwide Services
Canada, USA, South America
FAA certified Film Manual

Camera

Pilo$- SAG Pilots

Aerial Coordinators

-

Fuel Service

Helicopters & Airplanes for
Police, Military, Cameraships,
Certified Weapons

Systems

Wescam, SpaceCam, Gyroshpere

Tyler, Mega, Belly Mounts
Iwerks, Circlevision, Imax

Call Geoff Palmer

or

Steve Jaksi at:
Los

Angeles CA 310-474-7375

Vancouver BC 604-328-5543
Montreal PQ 514-942-5252
American Cinematographer - December 2000

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