„Just do it in HD!“ – Film Production goes digital.
Potsdam, 02/Apr/07. For six days 80 filmmakers, directors, producers and media experts from nearly 30 countries discussed the changes in production methods for film and TV. Film production’s digitalisation and globalisation were at the heart of the international INSIGHT OUT symposium from March 19-24 2007 at the Film and Television University „Konrad Wolf“ (HFF) in Potsdam, Germany. Oliver Berben, producer of the successful German TV-mini-series „Africa, mon Amour“ for which he used a digital camera fort he first time, summed up his positive experiences: „Just do it in HD!“.The digital shoot of the TV hit „Africa, mon amour“ is a success story of the international HFF Academy INSIGHT OUT: Last year, VFX specialist Solo Avital had the opportunity - as an INSIGHT OUT participant - to become acquainted with the digital filmcamera D20 of the Munich-based company ARRI. He then suggested to producer Oliver Berben to use this digital camera, which produces outstanding images comparable to the presently used standard 35mm cameras.
For the third year running, industry experts from around the world debate at INSIGHT OUT the inherent changes of the transition from analogue to digital production methods in film and television. INSIGHT OUT is being financed by the MEDIA Plus and Euromed Audiovisual II programmes of the European Union. Partner of INSIGHT OUT is the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. Many renowned companies and institutions such as the European Broadcasting Union, Elektrofilm, Apple, Kodak, Pro Babelsberg and many others could be won as sponsors.
The processes following the recording with the camera are already mostly digitised. Based on lectures, practical demos and visits at Berlin post-production companies, the INSIGHT OUT participants were able to get to know all phases of the digital post-production process – from virtual effects via colour-correction to digital editing and recording digital images on celluloid. Prof. Ulrich Weinberg, programme director of INSIGHT OUT: „At INSIGHT OUT, not only the participants benefit from the experience and know-how of our international speakers – the speakers themselves listen to the lectures of their colleagues and use the opportunity for exchange with experts from Hollywood, Europe and Japan.“
Digital projection was the focus topic of this year’s symposium. Presented was, what can be done already and what may be seen on screens anywhere in a few years time. When talking about digital projection in cinemas, „K“ is the measure: „2K“ or „4K“ refers to the horizontal image resolution that is required to project a movie image digitally onto the screen. Which resolution is to be preferred under which circumstances is currently being discussed among film experts. No longer is a strip of celluloid exposed to light 24 times per second to create the impression of movement. In the digital world, 2048 x 1080 pixel (2K) or 4096 x 2160 pixel (4K) have to be projected 24 times per second. For a 2K image, this means 2 Megapixel per frame, for a 4K image already 8 Megapixel per frame or 192 megapixel per second – that is an enormous data volume as anybody knows, who manages fotos on a computer at home.
Using the digital 2K projector at HFF, one of the first filmschools to have exchanged a traditional 35mm for a digital projector, Tom Tykwer’s „Perfume – The Story of a Murderer“ was shown. For many participants and speakers this was the first time, that they had the pleasure of watching such a high-resolution screening in a cinema. The companies DVC, MikroM and Kinoton showed a stereoscopic 3D projection, which uses radio-controlled 3D-glasses. A particular highlight was a visit at the Berlin Heinrich-Hertz-Institute (an institute of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft), where participants experienced a live demo of the multi-projection system developed there. Shown was a 5K projection, suited especially for the broadcasting of live events.
The situation of cinemas under threat from DVDs and internet video-on-demand was discussed by international experts in a public panel discussion at the Berlin film museum. Cinema may not be a „phase-out“ model as presented in a study by Prof. Hennig-Thurau from the Bauhaus-University Weimar. But the movie theatre will have to newly position itself in the entertainment market with new content, was the conclusion of the panel, moderated by Georgia Tornow.
An outlook at these new contents was given by Prof. Naohisa Ohta, digital cinema expert from the media research institute DMC of Keio University Tokyo. He presented the so-called „other digital stuff“ (ODS), that is supposed to counter the dwindling audiences in cinemas in the coming years. Using 4K projectors, live concerts, computer games competitions and TV shows are currently being tested in Tokyo.
Film school teachers from around Europe travelled to the concluding film school day, where representatives from film schools from Germany, Russia, Japan and the USA presented their plans in respect of digital cinema. It became clear, that digitalisation will force currently separate education/training fields closer together and that new co-operative training courses will emerge. However, it will also require massive investments. The debate was fuelled by Christian Maier, former RTL-journalist, who presented the education approach in virtual space by private Berlin mediaschool L4, which is broadcasted under the title Life-4U in the online game „Second Life“.
The unanimous conclusion by all INSIGHT OUT speakers and participants was: An all encompassing transition to digital technology and projection will become reality within the next five years. „Bigger and better“ that’s what the digital film image is to be, says Gary Goldman, Hollywood producer and script-writer, but the magic of cinema has to remain.
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