2018 saw the demand for 4K production equipment grow among broadcasters. At the same time, 8Kbegan to pop up in conversations about “what’s next.” But, with 4K content becoming ubiquitous, thereis increasingly the question of whether it can truly deliver on its promise of generating and maintainingviewer engagement.
I work in the Video world. I own a Production company. I recently bought a 4K television; a Samsung 65” curved UHD TV. And I love it! But the latest rumor in our business is 8K is coming… but do we need it? Or even want it? According to Will Greenwald of PC Magazine (pcmag.com), 8K televisions are at least a year away from being available in America. Even then, they will be anything but affordable for the typical consumer. And, more importantly, will there be any programming for them?
Cinematographer Adam Beck is always working. In addition to lensing commercials and shooting professional ice hockey, this year alone he’s shot three indie features – Camp Twilight, Booze and Broads and Blackjack – and just finished his latest, Killer Rose. On each project, Beck chose Schneider-Kreuznach Xenon FF-Primes, to create a distinctive look. “I constantly hear from producers that the visuals look as if our budgets were two to three times the amount they were,” says Beck. “Much of that credit goes to the crew for their hard work and dedication, but the lenses along with the lighting, also played a big part in giving us a look and feel that is associated with higher budget films.
Shooting with Panasonic AU-EVA1 5.7K cinema cameras, Director of Photography Joe Callahan has completed principal photography on a feature-length documentary about wildlife rescue and rehabilitation in India. The documentary, aiming for premium festival berths, profiles the pioneering work of Wildlife SOS, a worldwide organization dedicated to protecting and conserving India’s natural heritage, forest and wildlife wealth.
Panasonic Systems Solutions Company of North America will feature a wide range of 4K visual, 4K professional imaging and audio solutions for houses of worship at the WFX Conference and Expo at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. The EQ1 Series 4K Professional Displays, PT-RZ120U 1-Chip DLP™ SOLID SHINE Laser Projector, AW-UE150 4K 60p Professional PTZ Camera, AW-RP150 Touchscreen Remote Camera Controller, AK-UC4000 4K HDR and HD Slow Motion Camera System and RAMSA Audio Speakers will all be featured at Booth #501 from November 14-15, 2018.
Karate Combat was founded to promote the sport of Karate worldwide by creating the first professional, full-contact league. Held on the 102nd floor Observation Deck of New York City’s One World Trade Center, Karate Combat: One World took place on September 27th and was broadcasted live through Karate Combat’s website, www.Karate.com. The sports event was shot by cinematographer Greg Wilson with the support from TV Tech Managers on VariCam LTs set up for CineLive. Released in early 2018, VariCam LT’s Ver. 6.0 firmware enables broadcast shading and multi-camera control plus tally and return video management to the cinema camera. This allows a production to create a cinematic look with excellent low-light performance for live and near-live productions.
More than two dozen Panasonic pan/tilt/zoom cameras are playing key roles in live production at the Esports Arena Las Vegas at the Luxor Hotel and Casino, the first permanent Esports venue on The Strip. The camera models are the AW-HE130 three-chip and AW-HE2 compact FHD PTZs.
Ozark, created by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams, is an American drama/crime series that tells the story of a financial planner, Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman), who is forced to relocate his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks after a money laundering scheme goes awry. To make amends with a powerful drug cartel, Byrde is forced to operate a much larger money laundering operation, which he runs with local criminals. The critically acclaimed Netflix series, now in its second season, is shot by cinematographer Ben Kutchins (The Dangerous Book for Boys, Crown Heights) with Panasonic VariCam 35 cameras.
Crazy Rich Asians is a romantic comedy-drama film, which is based on the best-selling novel by Kevin Kwan, and tells the story of an Asian American woman who meets her boyfriend's family, only to find out they are one of the richest families in Singapore. The Warner Bros film was directed by Jon M. Chu (Now You See Me 2, G.I. Joe: Retaliation) and features an all Asian cast, including Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Ken Jeong, Michelle Yeoh, and many others. It is the first Hollywood studio film to feature Asians in leading roles since director Wayne Wang’s 1993 film, The Joy Luck Club.
My Breathing on Everest journey kicked off less than a year out of University when my friend and frequent collaborator Meredith Gaito came to me with an idea she knew most other people would call too ambitious or downright crazy. A year and a half later I have been to Nepal twice filming at the base camp of Mount Everest for what has become a deeply personal documentary.
Written during the McCarthy era and published in 1953, Ray Bradbury’s classic dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451, is set in a society where books are outlawed and firemen are charged with burning them. The novel has had many adaptations, most famously in François Truffaut’s 1966 film, which starred Oskar Werner and Julie Christie.
Ha Phuong, a petite dynamo with a huge heart and a big name in her native Vietnam is now a deeply entrenched New Yorker. Living there, she is more determined than ever to help make the world a better place, inspired by her upbringing in Vietnam as well as her love for her two precious daughters, Diana Phuong Chu, 8, and Angelina Tieu Phuong Chu, 6. She answered a few questions about her film Finding Julia.
When her father goes missing during a mountaineering expedition, Lindsey Lou (Jillian Clare) sets out to find him – only, she’s the least qualified candidate to do so. “Pretty Broken” follows Lindsey’s journey as she struggles with the loss of her father, and deals with how life and family can be challenging (and funny). Directed by Brett Eichenberger, the film recently premiered at Newport Beach Film Festival.
With its 13 high-speed, full-frame, prime lenses for high-quality film productions, ZEISS is focusing on maximum quality, low weight, and significant versatility when it comes to creating superb visual imagery.
Created by writer/director/producer Duane Adler, the Step Up film franchise, which consists of five films, has made over $650 million at the worldwide box office. The latest project, Step Up: High Water, is a dance drama series that is currently streaming on YouTube Red. Produced by Lionsgate Television, the show follows the students and faculty of High Water, Atlanta’s most competitive performing arts school. The ten-episode series was shot by cinematographer Joaquin Sedillo, ASC (Scream Queens, Glee, Veronica Mars) with Panasonic VariCam 35 cinema cameras.
SXSW nominated film, The Things You Think I'm Thinking, directed by Sherren Lee, tells the raw story of a black burn-survivor and amputee (Prince Amponsah) who goes on a date with a regularly-abled man (Jesse LaVercombe). When they decide to go back to his apartment, he must face his fears as he attempts to experience intimacy for the first time since his accident ten years ago.
Available for only a few months, we’re already seeing visually impressive work shot with the AU-EVA1. The EVA1 is a compact cinema camera that contains a 5.7K Super 35 sensor that delivers 14-stops of dynamic range and Dual Native ISOs of 800 and 2,500.
At Live X, we’re all about producing memorable and captivating live broadcast and streaming events for global brand leaders. We offer comprehensive solutions, from creative concept development, video and graphic design, and animation, to live production encoding and streaming. Our team is well known for its experience in delivering platform-agnostic, high-profile live streams such as the Democratic National Convention, and I originated the New Years’ Eve live webcast from Time Square in 2009 – a show I’ve been doing for 17 consecutive years. Day-to- day, we keep busy producing segments for clients like Vox Media and Daily Burn 365, for which our six-person team produces two concurrent web-based, live fitness shows every morning.
Let me ask you a question. Do you have a must have or favorite piece of gear when you get out the door to a sports production? You and I already know that answer don’t we? It is a resounding YES of course. Production is hard enough, so when we can get that gear either as a purchase or rental we know and love (most of the time) it makes the day go easier. So whether you are one hand held or in a big truck here are some of my favorites that you might just see on my shoots and a lot of others.
• A complete new system: ALEXA LF camera, ARRI Signature Prime lenses, and LPL lens mount. • Intimate and emotionally engaging images with an immersive, three-dimensional feel, pulling the viewer in. • Compatible with existing lenses, accessories, and workflows.
Panasonic Media Entertainment Company (PMEC), Division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, has announced a firmware upgrade to its VariCam LT 4K camera that sets the cinema camera up for live and “near live” multi-cam use for concerts, events, television shows, and corporate productions. Set to be released on February 19 th , 2018, the Version 6 firmware upgrade enables a new shading mode, as well as tally and return video management. Full control of the cameras will be possible by using Panasonic’s AK-HRP1000 remote control panel.
When director John Helde approached me about working with him on Brown’s Canyon, I was immediately intrigued by the project’s inherent limitations. His plan: to shoot a somewhat improvisational feature over the course of two weeks at a remote location in the mountains of Utah, with five actors, and a minimum of crew and tools. It didn’t take me long to sign up for the job. We discussed tone and technique early on and quickly decided that the Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera would suit our aims well.
As 2018 begins to unfold, the buzz-generating techniques and technologies of past years will become areal and transformative part of day-to- day media operations. Capturing, processing and deliveringhigher-resolution content will become the norm, the cloud will become an integral part of mediaworkflow, and the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to automate the generating of metadata willrevolutionize the way content owners catalog, manage and monetize their media assets.
EditShare® a technology leader in intelligent shared storage and media management solutions, announced that Irish post production and VFX studio Egg has installed the high-performance EditShare XStream EFS 450 scale-out storage platform with Flow media asset management and Ark archiving as the core infrastructure for its projects dealing in 4K, 8K and beyond. The integrated EditShare solution provides a tiered storage environment with smart media management tools for controlling media assets from ingest to archive.
London’s most famous landmarks, two helicopters and Atomos recorders were the keys to a new film to raise awareness for London Air Ambulance, a charity organisation which swoops in to rescue around ten critically injured people each day.
