It's a reality - High Def - Cover Story

Post, Dec, 2003 by Christine Bunish

thanks to digital satellite and cable services, it's now easier for consumers to receive a high definition signal at home than ever before. Combined with a decrease in the cost of HD receivers, the launch of new networks and a regular line-up of quality programming, the popularity of high definition television has without a doubt grown considerably over the past year.

And more networks, receivers and programming in the market leads to the need for more high definition post services. Some studios invested early in HD gear, and the increase in the popularity of the format is now helping to keep that equipment busy. Others may have been hold-outs with a wait-and-see attitude. Perhaps that's changing today, and soon they'll be taking the plunge, making their own investments in HD gear. Here's a sampling of opinions on the subject of HD.

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MIKE BUCKNER

VP, Image Editorial (www.image-group.com), New York

STRENGTHS: The rising consumer adoption rate of HDTV and the increased amount of HD product on the air paint a clean, crisp picture of HD's future, says Mike Buckner. "Between 2001 and 2002 the American public bought another two million HD sets, an increase of 80 percent. Prices of receivers are declining; program providers like ESPN, In Demand and Rainbow Media (Cablevision) are generating and promoting HD content, and the major networks are going forward with HD. Everyone who works in the business knows that HD is now a working format."

WEAKNESSES: "Myriad HD standards and aspect ratios can make for client confusion and difficulty in supporting projects. There must be 20 different standards with different aspect ratios. VTRs will support eight or 10 standards, but you may get something shot in yet another tape format. Clients and producers may ask for something that doesn't exist or be confused, especially if there's a mix of formats."

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OPPORTUNITIES: Post houses long in the forefront of HD are the best positioned to take advantage of HD's opportunities, he says. "People who went into HD before the market came into its own now lead the way with experience."

HD's arrival also "opens up new markets for us. Indie shooters, for example, have gained the ability to produce projects that were once price prohibitive and get a quality product on the air."

THREATS: Buckner doesn't see many threats from his perspective although he notes "as early adopters we have to keep buying into high-priced equipment. HD technology is progressing at a rapid pace." An incipient threat to facilities like Image Editorial may come from program producers who invest in their own desktop HD editing systems negating the need to go to a post house."

OUTLOOK 2004: "We've definitely seen an upward swing in the whole post business. Business is better now than in a long time; a lot more production is coming into New York." Companies providing HD post "will reap the rewards" of the format.

KEN YAGODA

Executive VP, director of broadcast production & creative operations, Young & Rubicam, NY (www.yr.com)

STRENGTHS: Ken Yagoda reports a greater tendency for the commercial market to use HD as a post production vehicle. "The flexibility you can have in post is really extraordinary," he says.

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He has long felt that "familiarity and access" to HD would spark directors' creative interest. Partnering with Sony, Yagoda launched the "Dreams" series, now in its third year, to encourage directors to experiment with HD. "The idea was to take the fear out of shooting HD and to do some real creative exploration. It's about the content not the technology." The high-profile Dreams series has been so successful that directors are clamoring to be selected as shooters; some have gone on to make HD commercials.

WEAKNESSES: "HD cameras still need to be tethered. We learned to be incredibly nimble with 16mm and 35mm cameras, so we need to free HD cameras from their shackles and make them more compact." He acknowledges that HD is still evolving and such developments will come. "What's fantastic already is how many lensmakers have gotten into the HD arena."

OPPORTUNITIES: Directors who elect to work in HD will find opportunities to tell stories in new ways, says Yagoda. He points to Ananda, Will Vinton Studios' striking entry in Dreams' second-year series on the subject of joy. "I've never seen anything that uses technology in a more inviting and clever way. It mixes live action, 2D, 3D, models, compositing. People are looking for the killer [HD] app and finding it."

Y&R has been a leader in migrating spots to HD. It completed 20 to 25 HD spots this year, including an AT&T campaign and PSAs marking the bicentennial of Lewis & Clark's expedition.

THREATS: HD "is not going away" but the industry needs to "make HD standards a little more similar and work on making equipment design more user friendly."

OUTLOOK 2004: "I've given up predicting!"

JOSH TOUBER

Partner,

Chernoff Touber Associates,

LA

STRENGTHS: "The main strength of the move to HD has to be the final commitment by Fox and its transition to the 720p standard. With all major networks now committed, demand for programming, and thus equipment and services, has increased," reports Touber who's partnered with Larry Chernoff in a new consulting firm.