Class #3 Summer 08: Digital Production, Mace Camhe

Big thanks to Mace Camhe, Founder and Head of Production from The Outfit Media Group (www.theoutfitmg.com). We all benefited greatly form his first-hand experience, which he so generously shared. Mace discussed his job of wrangling talent and educating clients while managing schedules and budgets to get projects to completion. Mace was excited about how the RED ( www.red.com ) is actually transforming acquisition and how is shop is currently hot on the Panasonic HD P2 Format for its speed of no-tape workflow. He enlightened me about how Oakley makes its own “glass” and that it is of superior quality. We discussed “workflow” in the contact of production and post and how Mace keeps a Post Supervisor on staff to Sheppard the process through. Production budgets are being constantly squeezed while quality is still going up due to an evolving talent pool and excellent tools. Speed of production and post is what he says “fills in the holes” and continues to “push the envelope”. Mace talked about how his company becomes part of team that serves clients along with PR companies and advertising agencies. We discussed what makes video viral and how this is more of the future. Mace was good enough to share with us the newly minted teaser for the “Follow-Series” on Kira Plastinina, teenage fashion mogul. Thanks again Mace!

NEWS
Shannon pointed out the NYT article on the success of the latest WHERE THE HELL IS MATT, AKA “DANCING MATT” viral video accruing over 20 million views on You tube and Stride gum as a sponsor. It sparked our discussion on what makes something viral. It was reported in Wired.com that Mark Cuban’s HD NET is going to release movies on HD TV ahead of theatrical turning the traditional “Windowing” upside down. Cuban believes that this will not cannibalize a theatrical release. Nielsen has come out with its “3 Screen” product measuring consumer consumption of content across mobile, PC and TV. Someone else reported that digital cable seems to be getting better uptake than Direct Broadcast Satellite TV. Is it pricing? Quality? Content? Services? User experience? I brought up the FISA law amendment and was informed that it passed the Senate making it Law that the tacos have immunity and could not be prosecuted for complying with the government in granting access to customer’s electronic communications. Any guarantee to your right to electronic privacy has been revoked.

CLASS: Digital Production and Distribution
The Slides for this class can be viewed at this link (I added some additional detail)
We covered digital acquisition, post-production including Digital Intermediate, and digital theatrical distribution with electronic projection. There are a many HD Formats to choose from Prosumer camcorders such as the Cannon VIXIA to the high-end Electronic New Gathering (ENG) and Field Production cameras like the SONY XD Cam and Panasonic P2. The XD Cam uses optical media and the P2 records onto a flash RAM card. No transferring form tape! The higher end digital Cinema cameras include the F900, CineAlta, Viper, and the revolutionary RED. I spoke with an experienced Gaffer, Jimmy Scott who confirmed that the image quality from the RED can be as good as most 35mm shoots and in some cases can reveal even more detail because there is no grain. RED’s latest product will be a 5K-resolution camera.

Digital Intermediate is the process by which all the finishing steps of a film are done digitally. Any filmed elements are scanned and digitized. The final master is indeed digital and can be output to film via a film recorder or encoded into a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) for digital projection. The two competing digital projector manufacturers are Christie Digital and Sony. Sony has the XRD 4K model, which project mind-blowing images up to IMAX size.

3D using the REAL D or 3ALITY system is rolling out. The 10 July LA TIMES ( In 3D! Oh wait... The studios may be ready, but many theaters still aren't) reported that it is now in only 800 of the 35,000 US screens but is viewed as the antidote for flagging feature film attendance, which has dropped over 12% since 2002. Revenues have kept up due to rising ticket prices. The article goes on to herald the forthcoming increase in digital 3D releases.

Electronic Projection also enables exhibitors to show pre-show ads and special events such as the Metropolitan Opera. In the near future digital cinema 3D concerts and sports events will become common.

We also discussed that “Windows” for movie distribution are changing. Mark Cuban announced that he would release some movie on his HD NET TV Network before, or at the same time as in theaters.
Big thanks to Mace Camhe, Founder and Head of Production from The Outfit Media Group (www.theoutfitmg.com). We all benefited greatly form his first-hand experience which he so generously shared. Mace discussed his job of wrangling talent and educating clients while managing schedules and budgets to get projects to completion. Mace was excited about how the RED ( www.red.com ) is actually transforming acquisition and how is shop is currently hot on the Panasonic HD P2 Format for its speed of no-tape workflow. He enlightened me about how Oakley makes its own “glass” and that it is of superior quality. We discussed “workflow” in the contact of production and post and how Mace keeps a Post Supervisor on staff to shepard the process through. Production budgets are being constantly squeezed while quality is still going up due to an evolving talent pool and excellent tools. Speed of production and post is what he says “fills in the holes” and continues to “push the envelope”. Mace talked about how his company becomes part of team that serves clients along with PR companies and advertising agencies. We discussed what makes video viral and how this is more of the future. Mace was good enough to share with us the newly minted teaser for the “Follow-Series” on Kira Plastinina, teenage fashion mogul. Thanks again Mace! Sphere: Related Content