Digital Cinema by Brian Mckernan
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Digital Cinema This page intentionally left blank. Digital Cinema The Revolution in Cinematography, Postproduction, and Distribution Brian McKernan McGraw-Hill New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. 0-07-146700-9 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-142963-8. All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps. McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. For more information, please contact George Hoare, Special Sales, at george_hoare@mcgraw- hill.com or (212) 904-4069. TERMS OF USE This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“McGraw-Hill”) and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without McGraw-Hill’s prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms. THE WORK IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the functions contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inaccuracy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting therefrom. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort or otherwise. DOI: 10.1036/0071467009 To Elizabeth, my favorite writer This page intentionally left blank. For more information about this title, click here Contents Preface xi Acknowledgments xiii Chapter 1 Beginnings 1 Ancient Wisdom 1 Early Discoveries 3 Dawn of an Industry 4 Storytelling 8 Technology Transition 9 Electronic Imaging 10 A New Beginning 12 Chapter 2 Computer Graphics, Digital Video, and High-Definition Television 15 Digital and Analog 16 Video and Film 19 The Pixel’s Premiere 22 Production, Post, and Projection 24 Chapter 3 Lucas Takes the Lead 27 George Lucas’ Digital Vision 30 Crew Perspective 39 Epilogue 49 Chapter 4 Digital Compression 51 Managing Digits 52 Lossless and Lossy Compression Systems 53 Expectations 53 Principles of Compression 54 viii Contents Process of Compression—Generating the Data-Sampling and Quantization 55 Color Space Conversion 56 Transforms 57 Quantization 60 Lossless Compression 61 Temporal Compression 62 Caveats 62 Compression Schemes for Digital Cinema 63 Chapter 5 Cinematography Tools 65 Ten Reasons Why Film Will Never Die 66 A List of Choices 67 Digital Cinema Cameras 68 High-Definition Video Cameras 75 The HDV Format 77 Progressive Standard-Definition Cameras 80 Interlaced Standard-Definition Cameras 82 Chapter 6 Postproduction 83 A Brief History of Film Postproduction 84 A Brief History of Visual Effects 86 Video Changes the Landscape 87 Then Along Came Digital 88 Democratization of Digital 91 Film Is Digital 92 As For Now… 95 Chapter 7 EFILM: A Case Study in Digital Intermediates 97 Full Capabilities 98 The Science of Color 99 New Workflows 102 Conforming 103 Contents ix Computer Power 105 It’s Worth It 106 Chapter 8 Sound Is Half the Picture 109 Reassociation 110 MIDI Arrives 111 Digital Advantages 113 Digital Soundtracks and Surround Sound 114 Audio Impact 116 The Sound of Evil 117 Chapter 9 Rebel Without a Crew 121 Lab Rat to Filmmaker 122 Chapter 10 Indy Dreams, Indy Realities 131 Late 2000 133 The Right Medium 134 Maximizing Time 135 Less Was More 136 Time Away 137 Tools and Talent 137 Chapter 11 A Whole New Ballgame 139 Leveraging Experience 139 Advantages 141 Digital is Film, Film is Digital 141 Cinema Vanguard 143 Chapter 12 The Best Thief in the World 145 Taking Risks 145 Hand-Held Mobility 146 MPEG IMX 148 Myths and Realities 149 x Contents Post 151 Chapter 13 Interview with Michael Ballhaus, ASC 153 Chapter 14 Digital Projection—Films Without Film 161 Setting the Standard 162 Just Add Color 163 Don’t Skimp on Details 164 Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) 164 Liquid Crystal on Silicon 165 From Analog to Digital 166 Grating Light Valve 168 Ready for the Audience 169 Chapter 15 Texas Instruments’ DLP Cinema 171 Chapter 16 The Future of the Movies 183 The Digital Difference 184 Increased Efficiency 185 Why Fix What Isn’t Broken 188 Regal Treatment 189 Alternative Programming 191 The End of the Beginning 192 Epilogue 195 Index 197 Preface Humans are a storytelling species. Throughout human history, stories have served to sustain cultures and traditions and to explain the myster- ies of life and the world in which we live. And from Gilgamesh to the latest TV commercials, whether in the mind’s eye or on a screen, stories either evoke or are conveyed using images. During the past century, moving-image media greatly expanded the ways in which stories could be told. The huge impact of film and television in commerce and culture is undeniable. Now, today’s digital technology has democratized this most powerful form of storytelling, making it afford- able enough for practically anyone to use. “With digital it’s really been giving a democracy to filmmaking,” observed Spike Lee, famed director of such films as Do The Right Thing and Bamboozled, at a recent media conference. “It’s not…to say we’re going to have better films, but more people will be able to make films. And so to say you don’t have enough money to make a film is no longer an excuse. If you have an idea, you can make a film.” This book provides a look at today’s digital cinema revolution, the technology and acceptance of which is advancing with ever-greater speed. There is no single definition of digital cinema; it generally tends to involve four major categories, which are the digital photography, post- production, distribution, and exhibition of theatrical movies. Although film may or may not be involved in any or all of those categories, film is very much a part of the digital cinema revolution. Digital cinema is a term that can also apply to Hollywood movies just as much as it does to indie filmmaking, and it can include everything from relatively inexpensive productions shot with “prosumer” camcorders to big-budget effects-laden movies made with the most advanced technol- ogy. What all have in common is the flexibility of digital imaging to render onscreen whatever the mind can conceive—and, if desired, to do so affordably. I hope that the contents of this book will inspire you to pursue your creative vision and use the tools of digital cinema to tell a story that will help to make the world a better place. Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click here for terms of use. This page intentionally left blank. Acknowledgments Special thanks to: George Avgerakis for helping to get Digital Cinema started, Scott and Minky Billups for their incredible support when I need- ed it most, Steve Chapman for his patience, Dan DiPaola for being a dig- ital pioneer, Mark Forman for his superb photography and generosity, Paul Gallo and Martin Porter for believing in the digital cinema concept, Robert Goodman for his camera expertise, Debra Kaufman for her postproduc- tion knowledge, Dale Launer for his insights, David Leathers for his intu- ition and reliability, Jim and Charlene Mathers for their kindred spirit of enthusiasm for digital cinema and their tireless efforts on behalf of the Digital Cinema Society, Dick Millais for his cheerful encouragement, Pete Putman for his mastery of projection technology, John Rice for providing me with extraordinary opportunities, Toby Sali for his unwavering support, Mark Schubin for all that he has taught me, Peter Symes for sharing his brilliance, Tim Tully for his audio advice, Bob Turner for his unsurpassed knowledge of editing technologies, and Bob Zahn for his selfless cooper- ation and his dedication to the art of the moving image.