Creative Analysis: Part 18 - Cinematographer Johnny Derango On Fatman March 1^st 2021 - 09:00 AM

Possibly one of the last features to wrap before the global pandemic effectively shut down production was Fatman, a dark action comedy directed by Eshom and Ian Nelms and starring Mel Gibson as the kind of Santa Claus who would probably exist in 2020 if one existed at all.

HDR: Part 21 - Creative Technology - The Size Of Light February 22^nd 2021 - 09:00 AM

Most people are aware that the amount of detail in a photograph is dependent on a few things. Assuming focus is right, it’s easy to assume it’s a combination of how well the lens was made and the number of pixels on the sensor, give or take the…

HDR: Part 20 - DOPs: Do We Still Need Green? February 8^th 2021 - 09:00 AM

With the recent advances in artificial intelligence, post-production rotoscope tools are now so good that some DOPs are asking if we still need to use green screen at all, or at least, in quite the same way. Suddenly, it seems any background, no matter how complex, can be replaced in…

Asia’s Golden Melody Awards Feature Stunning AR-Supported Performance February 5^th 2021 - 09:00 AM

Television production these days is tricky enough without adding virtual elements like augmented reality (AR) graphics, but that’s exactly what Taipei-based production company Getop did for the live telecast of the 2020 Golden Melody Awards (GMA). The highly rated annual televised awards ceremony - considered the “Asian Grammys” by many - cel…

Creative Analysis: Part 16 - DOP Jody Lee Lipes On I Know This Much Is True January 25^th 2021 - 09:00 AM

Allowing one actor to play two roles in the same scene has been possible, at some level, at least since 1961’s The Parent Trap, in which one of Hayley Mills’ arms disappears visibly behind a soft-edged split screen. To put it mildly, techniques have improved, but keeping the necessary technology out…

HDR: Part 19 - Creative Technology - Bayer And Beyond January 22^nd 2021 - 09:00 AM

It’d be easy to think that when Bryce Bayer’s name appeared on the Kodak patent for single-sensor color cameras in 1976, it was a new idea. Sufficiently new to be patentable, perhaps, but actually the idea of covering a sensor with a pattern of primary-colored filters goes back to the…

HDR: Part 18 - The Resolution Ruse: It’s Not All Peaches And Cream January 12^th 2021 - 09:00 AM

With Blackmagic recently introducing a new 12K camcorder, the question arises (once again) how much resolution is enough. After all, even the most fervent resolution junkie would have to agree there is a practical upper limit to resolution and how much is actually discernible and worthwhile.

Creative Analysis: Part 15 - Cinematographer Nancy Schreiber On P-Valley January 11^th 2021 - 09:00 AM

Often, performers at a strip club are fleeting characters in a film or television production, sometimes reduced almost to the level of production design. P-Valley, produced for Starz by Chernin Entertainment, is based on Katori Hall’s stage play Pussy Valley, and defies that expectation by concentrating on the lives o…

Tech + Media Predictions 2021 - Part 1 January 4^th 2021 - 09:00 AM

The industry experienced futureshock head-on in 2020. The impact will take a long time to unwind but it’s already clear that some changes will be profound and not all of them bad. These changes include remote workflow permanency, virtual production shifts from exotic to routine and genuine efforts to save t…

Creative Analysis: Part 14 - Cinematographer Sebastian Thaler On 7500 December 28^th 2020 - 09:00 AM

According to International Civil Aviation Organization rules, if an airliner transmits a certain four-digit transponder code, the world should assume that it is being hijacked. The 2019 film 7500, directed by Patrick Vollrath, takes that code as its title and stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Aylin Tezel and Carlo Kitzlinger as the crew of…