Crazy As Hell for 24p HD: for cashstrapped indie productions, this film alternative is a miracle cure - High Def Watch

Post, Oct, 2002 by Claudia Kienzle

HOLLYWOOD -- Producer Michael Huens loves 24p HD. He says it's going to change the industry for the better -- creatively and technically. And he's excited that others are recognizing what he already knows: 24p HD is a powerful, legitimate medium for making movies.

"24p HD has the power to enable filmmakers to make the movies they've dreamed about making, regardless of whether a movie studio buys into the concept, and regardless of their race, gender connections or credits," says Huens, a producer and co-owner of his own production company Wolves at the Door (www.wolvesatthedoor.com) which he runs with his partner writer/producer Jim Martin.

"If filmmakers have the fervor to get their movies made, 24p HD offers significant cost and operational advantages over 35mm film, putting the otherwise daunting task of producing a movie within reach," adds Huens.

"While the film industry does have an inherent skepticism about video, when we show prospective distributors movies we shot in 24p HD, they can't believe it's video. The picture quality seals the deal," he says.

In the few years since Sony introduced its CineAlta 24p HD acquisition package, Huens has seen ft time and time again -- movies that could not have been made were it not for the cost effectiveness of this format.

JACKPOT

In 2001, he co-produced Jack pot, an independent film shot in 24p HD in just 15 days for under one-half million dollars -- a fraction of the cost of typical feature-length films. Jackpot, the first 24p HD feature to be released theatrically on 35mm in the US. has since been distributed by Sony Classics to the home market on DYD. Directed by Michael Polish, Jackpot won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Picture in March 2002, In jackpot, an aspiring karaoke singer abandons his wife and baby to set off on an extended tour of bars all over American towns where he hopes to launch a country music career.

"The most important consideration was picture quality. After extensive testing, we determined that 24p HD would give us a wonderful filmic look very cost effectively," says Huens. "While HD's picture quality is very sharp, we were able to diffuse the lighting in bar scenes by wafting smoke at times, or we simply used less light than would be required for film, And we were amazed at the medium's dynamic range in low-light situations. Another critical reason we chose 24p HD for jackpot was its immediacy. With HD, the director and DP can look at the HD monitor on-set, and see the colors, lighting, contrast, shot composition, everything the way it looks. Then, if a change is needed, you can re-shoot it"

By comparison, he says if you're shooting 35mm film, you have to wait at least a day while your film is processed and telecined before you know whether you captured the scene the way you wanted to, and whether you can strike the set and move on.

CRAZY AS HELL

In 2002, after actor Eriq La Salle (ER) saw Jackp at, he told Huens that 24p HD would be perfect for Crazy As Hell, the movie he'd been shopping around (with partner/producer Butch Robinson) to Hollywood studios for several years. Because of the comparatively low production costs, La Salle (who directed and stars in the movie) decided to self-finance his film, which he was able to make for under $2 million using 24p HD.

"If there had not been an adequate alternative to 35mm film, this movie would never have been able to be made," says Huens of the psycho thriller.

"Because we wanted the movie to have an ominous, epic quality, we decided to shoot the movie anamorphic, for a widescreen, cinematic feel. Shooting anamorphic is actually easier and less expensive to do using 24p HD than with 35mm film," says Huens.

SHRANGRI-LA CAFE

By showing prospective distributors how great jackpot and Crazy As Hell turned out, Huens has been able to attract interest in The Shangri-La Cafe, an independent film by actress Lily Mariye. The movie, based on her award-winning short film of the same title, is due to be shot later this year.

By shooting in 24p HD, the movie will be produced for under $3 million -- impressive for a period film. The Shangri-LA Cafe takes a look at racism in the 1950s by focusing on a Japanese-American family that runs a restaurant in Las Vegas.

"We will need to re-create the look of Vegas in the '50s. So, we will transfer stock footage into Discreet's Inferno and insert characters or objects into the frames of certain scenes in order to tell this story," says Huens. "We will do all the fades, dissolves and transitions electronically in the HD online bay at The Post Group, and that will save money that would have been spent on optical film printing." (The same thing was done on both jackpot and Crazy As Hell, resulting in cost savings for both.)

POST PRODUCTION

The Post Group (www.postgroup.com) in Hollwood provided all the downconversions for Crazy As Hell and jackpot, using a Panasonic UFC- 1800, from 24p HD to Digital Beta for the Avid cut. They also handled the online using an Axial edit controller and Snell & Wilcox HD switcher, mastering onto Panasonic's D-5 format A final tape-to-tape color correction pass was done using da Vinci's 2K