HD Insights

While at the High Definition Summit in Los Angeles, Randall Dark was interviewed by Dale Drewery for High Def Consult.

HD INSIGHTS

Randall Dark knows a good thing when he sees it. Introduced to high definition back in 1986, he was convinced it was the future. Two decades later, HD is very much the present, and Randall Dark is one of the technology’s biggest pioneers. The creative force behind HD Vision in New York City / Dallas and HD Vision Studios in Los Angeles, Dark has recently launched his new company, Randall Dark Productions.

Dale Drewery met with Randall Dark in December at the High Definition Summit in L.A. They began by talking about Dark’s latest film Closing Escrow, a mocumentary lampooning the real estate business.

Randall Dark: “The method we used was having the cameras (HDW-F900/3 CineAltas) feed a G4 loaded with Final Cut Pro. So when shooting a complicated dinner scene, for example, we were able to edit it in real time. Then, at the end of the scene, I’d bring our first-time director into what we called “the temple”, which is where we had our HD gear. We’d look at a rough edit of the scene, agree that we needed a master shot here or there, or perhaps it was perfect, and we’d be able to move on. So, by understanding and maximizing the technology we were able to shoot an incredible amount of material (57 hours of footage, using two cameras, over fourteen days) and get exactly what we wanted.”

“On top of that we were color-timing as we went. Two reasons why this is important - number one, you are saving a ton of money in post because it’s already pretty close to being perfect. That’s because it so quick to adjust things in the field, like the lighting and the paint menu in the camera, and really nail your look. The other reason is that when you are setting up a scene that connects to something you shot days earlier, you can pull up your edited version on the G4, which allows the DP, director and actors to look at and say, “OK, I’ve got the feel, got the look, let’s light this”. And that saves a lot time.”

Dale Drewery: “What about that often-heard caution that one should wait until post to really commit to a look?”

RD: “As an artist, I just find it bizarre that, if I’m creating an oil painting and I get it close to what I want, I have to give my work to some stranger in post to finish it for me. I don’t want that to happen to anything I create, so that’s why I love the immediacy of high definition – I see what I get. That being said, if I’ve changed my mind I can still strip it down, and add and subtract. Because I’m in a digital world, I can almost do anything I want.”

DD: “How much do you estimate you saved on “Closing Escrow” by shooting it in HD and all that entailed?”

RD: “Because our movie was well under a million dollars, and we pulled the trigger a lot, we probably saved about 38%. But then every project I’ve ever done in high definition has been under budget and on time. One of the things that people don’t often take into account is that, when you shoot film, you shoot for 10 minutes maximum and then you have to change mags, which means that the director goes out for a cigarette, the actress/actor gets coffee, etc. I’ve been on film sets where they are shut down for 20-minutes, even though it only takes them four to five minutes to reload. When I’m directing, and we’re shooting 50-minute loads, we don’t let anyone know when we’re changing tapes. My AD just comes up and touches me on the shoulder, and I talk a little longer. That’s 15 to 20-seconds out of your shooting day, versus 20-minutes.”

DD: “You’ve talked about high definition technology leveling the creative playing field. How so?”

RD: “Film stock is very expensive, and so is processing. Shooting film takes years to understand and perfect. High definition is very immediate, and you can learn to shoot with it very quickly. The other thing I love is that we are looking at very different distribution streams. You no longer have to rely on the kindness of strangers, like the studios. Now if you can’t get your foot in the door, you create your own studio. Give me a camera and Final Cut Pro and I can make a movie, and one that is good enough technically that you can enter it into any film festival in the world. At the end of the day, when a movie-goer is sitting in the theatre eating popcorn and watching your story he or she doesn’t care which technology it was shot with. As long as the willing suspension of disbelief kicks in, they enjoy the ride.”

DD: “HD is also opening up new revenue streams. What has been your experience with those?”

RD: “A good example is “evergreen” material. Since I had never been to Hawaii, I wanted to go and do a half-hour show about the islands. I started by talking to technology manufacturers to see whether they needed any eye-candy for CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) or some (equipment) testing. Some did, so I got a little bit from here and a little bit from there, and put together enough financing to break even. I created Wild Hawaii and then approached broadcasters, and they bought it. Then I hooked up with Footage Bank and said, “I’ve got 40-hours of incredible Hawaii raw footage, can you sell it?” They said, “Of course.” So something that may have cost me $40,000 has already paid for itself a few times over from the auxiliary streams. And, more importantly, for the rest of my life, people will be buying my digital, widescreen, high-resolution images. You’ve got to love that.”

from High Def Consult

Randall Dark Opens Production Company

HD PIONEER RANDALL DARK OPENS PRODUCTION COMPANY

Randall Dark has gone his own way again. After nearly 14 years with HD Vision, he's opened Randall Dark Productions in Los Angeles. His inaugural projects include documentaries in China and music videos for cell phone and iPod screens--all in HD.

Dark said he sold out his interest in HD Vision to Steve Wiener, who became Dark's partner in 2002. Wiener, in turn, has rolled the HD Vision studios and broadcast center into Illuminate, a high-end production/post-pro facility in Hollywood. Dark said he was ready for name "HD Vision" to be put to rest because HD is no longer visionary. Everyone's doing it.

Dark, however, was one of a handful of people shooting high-definition projects in the 1980s, starting with a miniseries shot in Toronto.

"I bought all the first-generation HD gear," he said, including analog open reel VTRs at $350K a pop, and tube cameras. "Then everything changed from 15:9 to 16:9... so I got killed constantly."

At the time, however, Dark was more focused on pioneering HD than turning a profit. He recalled doing live HD broadcasts more than 10 years ago for Network Event Theater. The shows were broadcast via satellite to college campuses and dubbed "broadcast cinema" because d-cinema was not yet a part of the vernacular.

Dark founded HD Vision 1992 in New York, "when HD was user hostile and unbelievably expensive," he said. He eventually moved the business to Dallas to embark on multicamera productions.

"In the early years of HD, we could only afford one or two trucks, so we had to be in the middle of the U.S.," he said.

Dark intends to open offices in Austin, Texas later this year, and in New York a year or so after that, to be "positioned to see what's coming over the next 10 to years."

"The world is going digital HD widescreen broadband," Dark said. "Ten years from now, you'll be able to search for 'Randall Dark Productions,' and get our stuff," which might very well include HD videos for cell phones in China.

"We're in a world where you can close your eyes and imagine it, and you can do it. And now," he said, "it's cost-effective."

from TV Technology

Capturing HD Eye Candy

LG Electronics will soon release a brand new line of 1080p-capable flat-panel digital HDTVs—more than a dozen plasma and LCD models—which the company will showcase during the upcoming CES tradeshow, Jan. 8-11 in Las Vegas. Since these new displays have superior image resolution capabilities over previous models, the manufacturer naturally wants to strategically illustrate those capabilities at tradeshows like CES, and at retail locations. Therefore, as is common in the industry, LG commissioned specially shot imagery for such display applications.

In this case, LG turned to HD acquisition and production experts Randall Dark, president of Los Angeles-based HD Vision Studios, and Kristen Cox, president and CEO of 16x9 Productions, also in LA, to provide what Dark calls “eye candy”—brilliant footage LG could use to illustrate the capabilities of its new line of HDTVs.

Read the entire article at Digital Content Producer Magazine.

Dark takes the heat for LG Electronics

High Five
HD Pioneers Cox and Dark Take the Heat and Capture Spectacular Footage

Spectators at a drag race in Tucson, Arizona rubbernecked in amazement as an unusual looking vehicle crossed their paths over and over again throughout the day. It wasn’t a top fuel funny car or even a jet. It was an all-terrain vehicle with a portable high definition VTR, a nine-inch HD monitor, a tripod, a ton of batteries and motley HD crew piled on.

HD pioneers, Kristen Cox and Randall Dark were hired by LG Electronics to capture HD demonstration content in 1080p at 4:2:2. The content is destined for use in retail stores nationwide where it will demonstrate the capabilities of LG’s 2007 flat-panel digital HDTVs.

Equipped with Sony F-900 Cine Alta cameras owned by HD Vision Studios, Cox decided to rent the SR-1 VTR and cart the machine and monitor around.

The production team members varied from location to location. In all the production shot five separate demo programs for LG. “Nature” was shot on location at the LA Zoo, Three music videos, “Legacy,” “One Day” and “Like an Ocean” by artists Dennis Lamar and Angie Paris, were shot on location in Waco, Texas and the drag race, “Speed,” was shot on location in Arizona.

Arizona was the location where ATVs were utilized.

In Los Angeles and Waco, Cox and her team traveled on a rolling cart and a Mag Liner. Shooters Dark, Allan Westbrook and Dave Nash were tethered by coaxial cable to the cart or ATV where DIT, Sean Fairburn managed the images being recorded directly to the SR.

Cox directed from the vantage point of the nine-inch HD monitor. The cart carried the VTR, monitor batteries and small sundries. They also carried lenses, additional batteries, chargers, and other gear.

“Each location presented its own set of challenges. The one common thread was that we went through batteries very quickly and all but one of our set-ups were outdoor locations where power was not available. We had to get pretty creative when it came to finding a place to charge batteries. In Waco, we used Baylor University’s campus and had to be prepared to shoot between classes or else deal with a herd of college students passing through. The drag race presented us with a very large venue to cover and some tricky camera angles .Oh yeah, and there was the catastrophic bodily harm risk as well,” says Cox.

“Kristen Cox and Randall Dark are pioneers in HD program production, true experts in their field, always pushing the envelope of creativity and HD production techniques,” says John Taylor, vice president, public affairs, LG Electronics, USA. “So it made perfect sense for LG to reach out to HD Vision Studios and 16x9 Productions to produce unique and compelling 1080p programming for our newest full HD flat-screen HDTVs.”

from Digital Cinema Report

Pioneering Shoot in Native 1080p

LG Electronics, HD Vision Studios and 16x9 Productions Shoot Pioneering HD Content

Spectators at a Drag Race in Tucson, AZ, rubbernecked and queried each other in amazement as an unusual looking vehicle crossed their paths over and over again throughout the day. It wasn’t a Top Fuel Funny Car or even a Jet. It was an all-terrain vehicle with a portable HD VTR, a 9-inch HDTV monitor, a tripod, a ton of batteries and a motley high-definition (HD) crew piled on.

Such attention isn’t unusual for HD pioneers Kristen Cox and Randall Dark, who’ve done their share of shooting with the latest HD technologies manufacturers have to offer. When hired by digital television leader LG Electronics to capture HD demonstration content in 1080p at 4:2:2, the adventure was on. Equipped with Sony F-900 Cine Alta cameras owned by HD Vision Studios, Cox decided to rent the SR-1 VTR and cart the machine and monitor around.

The HD production team, whose members varied from location to location, shot five separate demo programs for LG. “Nature” was shot on location at the LA Zoo; three music videos, “Legacy,” “One Day” and “Like an Ocean,” by artists Dennis Lamar and Angie Paris, were shot on location in Waco, TX, and the aforementioned drag race, “Speed,” was shot on location in Arizona.

Arizona was the location where ATVs were utilized. In Los Angeles and Waco, Cox and her team traveled on a rolling cart and a Mag Liner. Shooters Randall Dark, Allan Westbrook and Dave Nash were tethered by coaxial cable to the cart or ATV where DIT, Sean Fairburn managed the images being recorded directly to the SR. Kristen Cox directed from the vantage point of the 9-inch HD monitor. The cart carried the VTR, monitor batteries and small sundries. The Mag Liner was loaded with lenses, additional batteries, chargers, etc.

“Each location presented its own set of challenges . The one common thread was that we went through batteries very quickly and all but one of our setups were outdoor locations where power was not available. We had to get pretty creative when it came to finding a place to charge batteries. In Waco, we used Baylor University’s campus and had to be prepared to shoot between classes or else deal with a herd of college students passing through. The Drag Race presented us with a very large venue to cover and some tricky camera angles—oh yeah, and there was the catastrophic bodily harm risk as well,” said Kristen Cox, Director.

The content is destined for use in retail stores nationwide, showing off the capabilities of LG’s 2007 flat-panel digital HDTVs, which will include more than a dozen “Full HD” plasma and liquid crystal display (LCD) models with 1080p display capability. LG Electronics is the world’s largest maker of TV flat panels and longtime leader in HDTV technologies, meaning that LG is well positioned to bring the latest high-definition technologies like progressive-scan 1920 x 1080 screens to market.

“Kristen Cox and Randall Dark are pioneers in HD program production, true experts in their field, always pushing the envelope of creativity and HD production techniques,” said John Taylor, vice president, public affairs, LG Electronics, USA. “So it made perfect sense for LG to reach out to HD Vision Studios and 16x9 Productions to produce unique and compelling 1080p programming for our newest Full HD flat-screen HDTVs.”

With post production complete and the demo programs in their finished form, customers will marvel at the clarity and resolution a lion’s golden, yellow eyes. They’ll see flesh tones accurately represented as Dennis Lamar walks across on a sunlit suspension bridge or as Angie Paris stands among a garden of roses. And they’ll be blown away by the contrast of a jet engine at night that suddenly lights up white-hot when flames blast at ignition.

reposted with permission from TVB | Television Broadcast

CASBAA unveils line-up for 2006 CASBAA Conference

The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) has announced its conference program for this year's CASBAA Convention, which will run from October 24-27, Hong Kong.

Themed as From Bandwidth to Brandwidth, the conference will focus on maximizing the value of newly available communications bandwidth through sophisticated brand development and innovative marketing.

The conference will feature speakers such as Charlie Ergen, Chairman and Founder of Echostar; Michael Fries, CEO of Liberty Global; Ho-Chen Tan, Chairman of Chunghwa Telecom; Irwin Gotlieb, CEO of GroupM; Kip Meek, Chief Policy Partner of OFCOM; Randall Dark, President of HD Vision Studios; Sofyan Djalil, Minister of State for Information & Communications, Indonesia and Wei Wen Bin, President of Hunan Satellite.

from Television Asia

From 70ft theatrical screen to cell phone, HD is the answer, says Dark

“Closing Escrow,” an independent film shot entirely in HD, is out of post and entering the festival circuit as Randall Dark, the movie’s executive producer seeks broader distribution.

Dark, who has long been an advocate of high definition as a viable alternative to 35mm film, hasn’t simply been content to push his comedy through post and out to moviegoers. He’s creating a smorgasbord of HD projects ranging from a 3-D feature film about World War II aviators flying over the Himalayas to deliver relief to the embattled Chinese to an expeditionary documentary, a unique, reality golf show and even music videos shot for cell phones and Video iPods.

“HD Technology Update” thought it was a good time to catch up on Dark’s latest projects and how HD is helping to make them happen.

HD Technology Update: Randall, for the past 20 years you’re always in the thick of HD production. What are your latest projects?

Randall Dark: I’m involved in four or five incredibly important projects, two of which I call the China projects. There’s a 3-D/2-D feature for an IMAX-type environment called the “High Road to China.” It’s a story about the Hump during the Second World War.

I think it’s important for a number of reasons. China obviously is an emerging power, and Americans seem to have lost sight of what an incredible country we are and the great things we have done hand in hand with nations throughout history. This is a forgotten story — how the American airmen, working with the Chinese were able to fly over the Himalayas in incredibly dangerous planes for humanitarian aid. I’m absolutely passionate about it.

I’m working on that as well as a project called “The Lost Tiger,” solving the mystery of Johnny Blackburn’s lost P40.

HDTU: What advantages and challenges does HD bring to the project?

RD: The most powerful attribute of any HD image is the sense of being there it affords. Capturing the raw emotion of Chinese and American people standing side by side as a plane that was responsible for bringing supplies to Chinese people who were starving in WWII is pulled from the murky water of a lake where it was downed is imperative to my story. It’s going to bring back a flood of emotion, and I want my viewers to feel like they’re standing on that piece of land with them.

Film is a great art form, but film distances you — it’s called poetic distancing. The frame rate and grain of film makes it look like it happened yesterday. This is a moment that’s happening in real time that I want to share as realistically and intimately as possible. HD technology will give the viewer that sense.

As for the underwater photography, I hear it is very, very murky down there, so we may have to do some animation or re-enactments. I will definitely be under the water with the camera to see what we can get, but we’ll have to wait and see if it works out. That’s just the nature of the water as opposed to the technology of HD.

HDTU: Are all the pieces in place? Is there a watertight housing for your HD camera?

RD: What’s great about where HD is today is that there aren’t any more excuses. Whether it’s underwater housing or mounts for flight-to-flight aerials or helicopter, everything I need for 3-D or 2-D projects is available. There aren’t limitations where one, it doesn’t exist, or two, it’s too expensive to have. My hands are no longer tied creatively at any level.

HDTU: What camera will you be using?

RD: I plan to use the Sony CineAlta F-900 V3 HD camera.

HDTU: And your recorder?

RD: A combination of in-camera and SR. I’ll also bring a 950. This gives me the flexibility to shot 3.1.1, 4.2.2 or 4.4.4. If there were any other new, cool toys coming out, I’d love to take them with me.

For “The Lost Tiger,” I plan to have three high-end cameras on location because that moment only happens once. I want to be sure I have a shot of the plane and shots of the people. I might include a couple of toy HD cameras just for fun. As long as I have my workhorse cameras with me, I’m always adventurous. If a manufacturer has something hot out of the design factory, call me; I’ll try it.

HDTU: When will you shoot, and what’s your distribution?

RD: We’re looking at an October-November shoot date, and we’re talking to PBS right now, but nothing’s been signed yet.

HDTU: How does HD play into the production of the “High Road to China” project, especially since it is intended for a screen as big as an IMAX theater screen? How will it hold up?

RD: First, I want to give credit to the genius behind the 2-D and 3-D “High Road to China,” Jeffery Greene. He wrote the screenplay with Geoffrey Schroeder. Greene is spearheading this, and when we talked about it, he asked that very same question. “How is HD going to look on big screens?”

We‘ve all seen what “Star Wars” looked like, and “Superman Returns” will be killer on the IMAX-size screen. It was an HD shoot with a Genesis camera, and I think that’s going to give everyone the warm fuzzy feeling that you can take HD and blow it up to any size and it looks breathtaking.

We’re seeing movies today that are captured completely in high definition — like “Superman Returns” — and a lot of the independent features — like “Closing Escrow.” I guarantee you that at the local theater, nobody in the audience knows or cares whether the movie was mastered in HD or 35mm. The quality is that good.

James Cameron has been such a huge advocate of 3-D that more attention has been brought to it and more projects are being developed in it. The technology has jumped greatly because someone of that stature has endorsed it. The same can be said about Robert Rodriguez.

Read entire interview in Broadcast Engineering.