The new high end of post digital intermediates - Technology

Post, August, 2003 by Claudia Kienzle

This infrastructure includes a Kinoton FP30 E-Q film projection system, a DLP Cinema projector, Thomson Spirit and Cintel C-Reality telecines, as well as the daVinci 2K, Pandora Pixi and Quantel iQ systems, capable of realtime color correction of 2K or better resolution imagery. The facility's expert staff, which includes HD colorists Lou Levinson, Bryan McMahan, John Persichetti, and Michael Underwood, have all worked closely with Hollywood's A-list of directors, such as Steven Spielberg, Sam Mendes and Frances Ford Coppola, and DPs like Vittorio Storaro and Janusz Kaminski.

Director Robert Rodriguez, another loyal client, exclusively finished his latest movie Spy Kids 3D using Post Logic's digital intermediate process. In this sequel, viewers get 3D glasses so they can appreciate the over 60-minutes worth of 3D effects. "Like the two previous Spy Kids movies, Spy Kids 3D was shot entirely on 24p HD. Because there has to be a film negative for theatrical distribution, you simply couldn't do a movie like this without the digital intermediate process," says Larry Birstock executive VP of Post Logic Studios. "The extensive visual effects also made it an ideal candidate to benefit from the digital intermediate process."

As with any new technology, technical challenges often arise that have no off-the-shelf solution. To succeed in today's digital intermediate business, true pioneers have to develop their own breakthrough solutions. One such challenge is the conversion of colors between the film and video worlds.

"Many digital intermediate service providers claim that they can refer to Look-Up Tables and have the computer spit out the correct formula to convert one color space to another. We have not found that to be the case," says Snyder "We feel the data still needs to be massaged, and we always have our experienced colorists judge if the desired results have been achieved. In fact, before we deliver any version, our colorists evaluate it on its ultimate distribution format to make sure it conforms to the technical and aesthetic standards our clients expect."

SUNSET SERVICES THE INDIE AND MORE

"At Sunset Digital, we look at independent filmmakers as real people working on real budgets," says Ron Burdett, CEO/chairman/founder of Sunset Digital (www.sunsetdigital.net) in Glendale, CA. "And we feel that the digital intermediate process is very enabling to them. Using new electronic acquisition tools, like the Panasonic VariCam 720p HD and Sony HDCAM for 24p HD, independent filmmakers can get their movies made more affordably than would be possible with film."

But once their movies "get picked up" at film festivals, like Sundance, he says, they then need to have a 35mm film negative for theatrical distribution. "The digital intermediate process helps them create that film, and the quality of the HD imagery really holds up."

Of six independent films that recently went through the digital intermediate process at Sunset Digital, three were picked up for distribution at Sundance. Of the three, The Love Object was shot on film, while Dopamine was shot on 720p HD and Prey for Rock and Roll was shot on HDCAM.