Dark moderates HD Expo panel

HD Expo panel discussion "Closing Escrow - The Movie" concentrated on HD independent production from concept to distribution. The seminar/discussion focused on how to raise funds, determine acquisition format, cost structure/budgets, post production and distribution.

Randall P. Dark, Executive Producer for Closing Escrow, moderated the event. Panelists included Scott Billups, HD Guru and Cinematographer for Closing Escrow; Armen Kaprelian, Director and Executive Producer Closing Escrow; Kristen Cox, Producer for Closing Escrow; and Kent Llewellyn, Story Editor and Co- Director.

MIPCOM Report

At a different conference, Randall Dark, president of U.S. company HD Vision, addressed the production community attending the second of two HD Track conferences of the day, entitled "Making HD Make Business Sense: How to Avoid Financial Hiccups." "If you don't go HD, you won't have any shelf life," he commented.

The higher-ups reasoned that by using HD, they could sell the programs to more markets; thus HD can be employed for financial, rather than aesthetic, reasons.

excerpt from Video Age International

Conquering "The Rock"

Randall Dark, President of HD Vision Studios and crew traveled to Banff, Alberta and captured HD footage of professional rock climbers pushing their skills to the limit. The completed program will be shown at retail stores to demonstrate DLP(TM) technology in DLP HDTVs and front projectors.

The production titled, The Rock was captured using the Sony F-900 Cine-Alta Camera and was shot in 30p. "I wanted to give the project a different look and have been doing some shooting in 30p for another client. This seemed like a good application for further experimenting," says Randall Dark.

Editing will be completed in Los Angeles in a linear HD Suite. Staff editor, Jayme Wing will assemble the hottest images in a fast-paced demonstrative form using a Sony 9100 editor to HD Cam decks.

Dark is anxious to see the fruit of his risky labor. Strapped into the side of a helicopter and circling above the climbers, he convinced the pilot to position the chopper such that Dark was able to shoot directly down the face of Ha Ling Peak as the climbers came up at him. "I only let the camera slip once..." says Randall, "...even though I knew it was tethered to the aircraft, I thought I was going to have a heart attack!"

The Rock will debut at consumer electronic retail stores and trade shows worldwide in the coming months.

from iCom Film & Video Production & Postproduction Magazine

Super Session with HD Superstars

Randall Dark participates in HD Expo Super Session: Technology & Entertainment Breaks Wide. Other panelists include Larry Thorpe, Karl Meisenbach and Richard Cheski. The discussion was moderated by Peter Caranicas. The industry event was held in Dallas, Texas.

European Getaways in High Definition

High Definition Brings European Vacations to American Homes

"The goal of a documentary has always been to document reality, without manipulation,” said filmmaker Randall Dark, cofounder and president of HD Vision Studios. “When working with the forcibly controlled medium of the motion picture, that is extremely difficult – if at times impossible – to achieve. The High Definition (HD) video format, however, has made significant strides in freeing filmmakers from the obstacles standing in the way of spontaneous, undirected reality.”

The benefits of HD have never been more apparent than with Dark’s new documentary series, European Getaways. Dark and his crew had three short weeks to capture images from 10 of Europe’s premier cities – Paris, London, Rome, Naples, Amsterdam, Venice, Monte Carlo, Nice, Athens and Barcelona. The footage shot in each city was then edited into ten, 25-minute stand-alone documentaries – one film representing each city.

Dark decided on a guerilla-style approach to the project. He divided his crew in half, and gave each team five cities, an HD camera and Maxell HDCAM videocassettes.

“The goal with this series was to show these famous places from the point of view of a first-time tourist,” said Dark. “In each city we bought tourist maps and traveled from destination to destination, emulating what any foreign visitor might do. What I wanted to achieve was an accurate representation of each locale, so that a family planning to visit one of these cities could watch our programs and decide which location, and which attractions, would best appeal to their interests.”

With this type of project, HD provided two huge advantages over film: the ease of camera set-ups and the fact that footage didn’t need to be developed. By looking through the viewfinder of his HD camera, Dark could see exactly what he was shooting and recording. The sound was also fed directly into the camera. As a result, preparation time was significantly decreased. This allowed for more flexibility when moving from location to location, without sacrificing image quality.

“Free from long hours of preparation, we were able to shoot 50-60 set-ups per day,” said Dark. “One of the best examples of this advantage was at the Vatican, in Rome. We witnessed the Pope saying mass and were given permission to shoot footage of him from just a few feet away.”

Using film, the crew would have had to meter the light, make sure the sound was synched, and record the sound separately with a DAT recorder. Because of the ease of operation with his HD Camera, Dark simply turned the camera on, white balanced, and recorded the event with the sound recorded directly onto the Maxell tapes. The shooting caused no disruptions to the mass.

“I was so confident in the footage I shot that I shipped it home without even giving it so much as a glance,” said Dark. “Thanks to the reliability of the camera, and because I trust the reliability of Maxell’s HDCAM cassettes, I was confident there would be no problems with exposure or digital glitches. What I saw was what I got, in real time.”

It wasn’t until the he got back to Los Angeles to begin editing that Dark actually saw everything the crew shot. HD Vision Studios was able to edit online, directly from the masters shot in Europe. Because he wanted to accurately represent all the familiar European icons, color correction was practically nonexistent.

“I wanted to represent each city as we saw it, not as we could perceive it through the subjective magic of postproduction,” added Dark. “Herring Broadcasting, Inc., a parent of the “Wealth TV” HD network, has purchased the series and is airing it on their network. The best way to see it is in true high definition, and we’re hoping that those who tune in have as good a time experiencing Europe as we did.”

First HD Movie Broadcast to Theaters

Bell Witch:The Movie, produced by Big River Pictures, premieres September 24, 2005, at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. In a motion picture premiere first, the entire program will be broadcast via satellite/fiber and projected live in full-bandwidth High Definition to theaters throughout the United States.

Approximately eighty theaters are currently set up to receive this digital broad-cast. During the concert, the cameras will cut away to the Director and celeb-rity guests who will then offer a prize to the first person to call in. This project is the creative realization of Co-Executive Producer Randall P. Dark. Bell Witch:The Movie explores the terror experienced by members of the Bell family during the infamous haunting of the Bell Witch in the early 1800s.

from HiDef magazine, volume 7, issue 3

HD EXPO Hosts Advertising A-List and Speed Dating With Industry Experts

Randall Dark, Co-Founder, President, HD Vision Studios, Inc. was in a select group of industry experts at HD Expo. The gathering of movers and shakers in the exploding high definition industry met to share ideas, technology, strategies for expansion, and opportunities.

Dark and other notables in the burgeoning field of high definition technology participated in interviews, panels, and workshops, including "Speed Dating with Industry Experts." Lottery winners got 5 minutes each with technology/entertainment industry expert to ask questions and get tips and knowledge of future trends.