SUSANNE STOLE MY MOUSE! Oct ’08

Posted on October 30, 2008 by Stefan Sargent

Floating around in cyberspace there’s an article entitled 12 Breeds of Clients and How to Work with Them. But only 12? Come on! What about Susanne?

The Presidio Film Center, San Francisco, 2002. Son-in-law George Lang has completed a three-day shoot for WaterGym, Susanne Paynovich’s water aerobics business. I’m to edit a one-hour training video. When the lady in question arrives, she has George’s tapes plus 50 Mini DVs of her own. No worries with George’s stuff — but another 50 hours! Spare me…

No one behind the camera, Susanne by Susanne.

SAVED BY THE MACBOOK PRO. I see a MacBook Pro in her bag. Hmmm … a crazy idea. She looks smart and savvy. I’ll teach her Final Cut Pro. She can edit it herself.
“Susanne, you know better than anyone else how this is meant to go together. I’ll transfer the tapes on to FireWire drives and teach you how to edit. You’ll need to buy Final Cut.”
And she does. Let the lessons begin!

“Move the cursor here to mark an IN point. Hit the space bar to play. Stop. Now mark the OUT, that’s the end of the shot.”

“Sweetie, let me do it.”

She grabs my mouse. I take it back; soon we are fighting over the mouse. I give up, get a spare mouse and plug it into the keyboard. Susanne moves her mouse one way; I move my mouse the other. The cursor is dancing all over the screen. We collapse in laughter.

Lessons over, she takes away the drives and works from home. After a month, she’s back with 20 separate timelines; one for each exercise, one for the testimonials, one for HOW TO USE THIS VHS, one for the interview and so on.

CUT TO THE CHASE. I assemble the show. The opening is a long ramble about the wonders of WaterGym. Now there’s 10 minutes of testimonials. Next, five minutes of HOW TO USE THE FLOTATION JACKET. Then the dreary interview with Susanne. OMG, it’s 20 minutes before the first WaterGym exercise!

“Susanne, it’s got to start faster. Get rid of the testimonials. Dump that awful TV interview. I’ll ask George to shoot an intro of you by the pool.”

Silly me. I’m talking to wonder woman, Client Breed #13.

The next day, all by herself, she sets up her DV camera, hits RECORD and runs around to the front. “Hi! I’m Susanne Paynovich. Welcome to WaterGym.” It’s perfect! What have I started? She shoots and edits. What next?

There’s a male VO reading a script. It’s terrible. “Susanne, you don’t need this voiceover. Narrate it yourself!” She goes home. Uses the on-camera Sony mike.

A week later, we have a new voiceover. Halfway into to the edit, she says it’s no good. Can do better. Re-records her VO from scratch. It is better, much better.

She brings in an underwater ballet that she shot herself — of herself.

“Sweetie, I have a question. I want the ballet to be in slow motion?”

“Under the MODIFY menu, go SPEED, try 50%.”

Susanne shoots herself dancing underwater.

BREED 13 NOW WANTS TO DO EFFECTS. “Sweetie, I have a question. This water looks green and this water looks blue. I want to match them.”

“Very tricky. Let me do the color grade.”

“No, I really want to do it myself.”

While I’m getting out the FCP manual, she is going through her own books.

“Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ve worked it out. You use this eyedropper. Find the reference color. Store it here. Then with this eyedropper…”

That was six years ago. She still phones.

“Sweetie, I’m making a DVD. I have a question about motion menus.”

Any more clients like this and we are out of business.

You can see a clip from Susanne’s WaterGym video at www.stefansargent.com/water gym.html.

Posted in 2008, Production Diary | Comments Off on SUSANNE STOLE MY MOUSE! Oct ’08

THE LAST RESORT Sep ’08

Posted on September 30, 2008 by Stefan Sargent

SEBASTOPOL, CALIFORNIA, JUNE 2008. It’s 6:30 in the morning. I’m in a frost-damaged vineyard that’s being chopped down. It’s raining. I’m shooting in close to the vines.

Every time one gets the chop, it collapses on me. I’m drenched; so is the camera. The lens needs to be dried after each shot. The DOF is four inches. Autofocus is on holiday. The viewfinder has fogged out. If the shot hasn’t got water on the lens, it’s out of focus.

Way at the far end of the vineyard is Roman, my 20’ Pole-anski. Up high on Roman is another rain-soaked Sony V1. It’s meant to be taking one frame every 30 seconds but has decided to do its own thing and flipped over to a normal frame rate.

After four hours of shooting, I have three tapes with totally useless shots. My cell phone rings. It’s some guy called Oren. Can I give a talk to the Bay Area Professional Videographers? Huh?

“Oren, I’ve had a bad day. I’m not feeling very professional.”

“Perfect. That’s exactly what we want you to talk about — screw-ups.”

“So I’m Mr. Screw-Up now?”

“Let’s call it ‘creative ways of dealing with problems.’”

HEALDSBURG, CALIFORNIA, JANUARY 2008. Friends, I can’t go on as Mr. Screw-Up. Here’s a job that went really well. You remember that I did a helicopter shoot for The Band of Pomo Indians. (Yes, you do, it’s in DV, May 2007.) It was for a new resort in Sonoma.

In ’07, they only had architectural plans, now they have a model of the resort. It’s not a big model. In fact, it’s only two feet square. I need a periscope camera like the one that shot my infamous Alveston Kitchens commercial (see here).

The periscope lens comes perilously close to our $60,000 model.


Mark Centkowski

After searching around the Bay Area, I decide to use Innovision Optics in Santa Monica. Its founder and owner, Mark Centkowski, agrees to be cameraman and TD. He flies up with his precious periscope lens while his regular kit is FedExed.

My fixed lens HDV camera is useless for the periscope. I rent a Panasonic HDX900 and a Porta-Jib from Studio B in Berkeley.

Mark, an L.A. boy, suggests shooting the model outside. Sonoma county, outside in January!

“No go, Mark. It will rain.” I’m wrong. It doesn’t rain, it pours. We shoot in the Pomo’s conference room.

Tricia buys 40 yards of blue material from Jo-Ann Fabrics and sews a “chromakey” cyc to hang from the false ceiling grid. Couldn’t be green as the model is full of miniature trees. We lift the $60,000 model from its display case to Mark’s turntable. (Can’t be an Alveston Kitchens shoot where the lens hits the product.)

NOTHING’S WRONG … WHAT’S WRONG? The camera operator from Studio B takes me to one side. (WHISPERING) “We’re missing a part.”

“Which part?”

“The jib arm. It’s coming up from Berkeley now.”

“The jib arm? No worries. We can do tripod shots while we’re waiting. I feel better now.

(SHOUTING) Good news Mark. No jib arm.”

Mark understands. “I say, ‘Nothing’s wrong … what’s wrong?’ We’re good to go.”

I wish I’d brought more lights. Foolishly thought, “It’s a little model. Won’t need much light.” But model shots need depth. Depth needs a high f-stop. My normal shooting style is wide open at f/2, but Mark wants f/8 to keep it all in focus. I’ve got loads of lights including an HMI way back at base. Why didn’t I bring them?

A screen grab of the Shake workspace. Three small icons on the right are the foreground with the blue cyc, the BG of the view and the matte to protect the blue waterfall.

SUCCESS, IT KEYS! Wow! God bless Ultimatte and Shake. It keys. A week ago I did a pan of the resort’s view. Today it’s my background in Shake. I vari-speed it to match the speed of the rotating model. Render out in DVCPRO HD. Terrific! It looks like the camera is flying around the resort.

My client is thrilled. I am too. No more Mr. Screw-Up!

You can see the result at here.

Posted in 2008, Production Diary | Comments Off on THE LAST RESORT Sep ’08

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE PROFITEROLE AUG ’08

Posted on August 30, 2008 by Stefan Sargent

Before you read another word, you’ve got to watch this.

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, 1984. Hey, today I’m a director. (So different from the usual Stefan/Tricia modus operandi.) We’re here in Will Shakespeare land, home base of my client’s client, Alveston Kitchens. Up on the second floor, right above the kitchens.
Below, there’s a team cooking dish after dish for us.

He’s smiling now. Wait until I start directing.

The camera track spans two 17’ connected rooms. I’ve hired ace cameraman John Henshall and his crew of eight.

Tricia’s our stylist. She’s bought the tablecloths, plates and props. John’s team is building a camera track with dolly, jib arm and snorkel lens. The lights are hanging from scaffolding, each one on a dimmer. A cable goes out the window to a generator.

Tricia - center frame - is our stylist

THE BACK STORY. A few months ago, I made a TV spot for graphics designer Michael Peters. Now he’s bought a “creative shop” called THE IDEA WORKS. They do packaging and PowerPoint but not TV commercials. Their client Alveston Kitchens wants a TV commercial and I’ve got the job.

Alveston sells frozen meals to pubs and small restaurants. You order “Duck a l’Orange” and lo, it comes out of the freezer and into the microwave. And there you were, imagining a French chef in a funny white hat!

Chris, the head creative, has an approved script which is pure PowerPoint. It lists about 15 of Alveston meals, change slide, change slide, change slide. Get the picture?

Sargent, well-known smart ass, says that 15 cuts to static shots is not a good idea. “Why not fly the camera over Alveston meals stretching into infinity?” Chris likes it. The client buys it.

My job: Make it.

Enter Henshall & Co. “John, I have no idea how to do this.” John gives me a leave-it-to-me look. I go off and record the soundtrack with actor Michael McLean.
Armed with an audio track, Tricia and John visit the location and time out the camera move.

DAY ONE: SETTING UP. I did tell you, I’m a director. Did I tell you, I have nothing to do?

John and his guys carry up the camera, the lights, the tracks, the video recorder, monitor and play back tape machine.

“Can I help?” No.

Tricia is setting up the six tables and working out where the food should be.

It’s tiring watching them slave away.

“Anything I can do?”

“Nope.”

“Outta here.”

DAY TWO: THE SHOOT. Here we go.

My job: “Roll Tape.”

McLean’s soundtrack starts: “If you’re a caterer or run a busy kitchen…”

Jerry is pushing the camera. Simon on the jib.

At last I can direct: “A little faster, Jerry. Simon, you need to be lower. Tricia, the plates need to be closer together.”

“If I put them closer together, Jerry will need to be slower not faster. Why don’t you stay out of it?”

Take two. “Roll audio tape… Jerry fast now… slow down… Simon keep low… go high over the candle… tilt down…”

John: “Can you stop directing? We can work this out without you.”

TAKE 13. John, Jerry and Simon have had enough.

I say “Lower.” Simon cracks. The snorkel lens hits the profiteroles.

Jerry pushes on relentlessly while the soundtrack continues: …desserts your customers will find difficult to resist… Whack! …take our morning coffee selection… Wham! Bang! There go the croissants and pies. The attack of the killer cream puffs …working with you to add weight to your menu…

We all fall about, laughing. The kitchen staff cleans up the mess and cooks more plates.

“Go sit under a tree.”

I’m banished from the set. By take 18, it is in the can.

“You can come back now.”

When I show Alveston Kitchens take 13, I say: “It’s a motion-control computer glitch. Can’t trust this modern technology.”

But I lie. The glitch was the director.

Screw-ups don’t get much better than this. Where’s my director’s award?

Posted in 2008, Production Diary | Comments Off on A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE PROFITEROLE AUG ’08

A FISTFUL OF SCHOLARS – THE GOOD, THE BAD AND A FEW DOLLARS MORE July ’08

Posted on July 30, 2008 by Stefan Sargent

Central St. Martin’s College of Art, London 1995
I am up a 14-foot ladder with my 16mm Éclair NPR camera. It’s a film about the five art colleges that make up The University of the Arts London. I’m sitting here, feeling stupid, in the television studio of the college. They have a three camera set up with a professional control room. Below, the kids below are preparing for a shoot. I’ll film them wide and high, climb down the ladder and take a few shots from the floor.

up a ladder with my Éclair16mm camera

The lecturer enters. “I guess you’ve all met Mr. Sargent up there on the ladder.” I smile and wave. “I want you to give him … no co-operation. The shoot is off and so are we!”

With that the jerk walks out of the studio and signals his students to follow. They all leave. Dummies. They’ll never make Citizen Kane – or even Plan 9 From Outer Space.

I could scramble down shrieking “Come back, come back!” But no, I get out my cell and call Sarah Young, the nice girl at the University’s head office.

“Hi Sarah.” “How did go?” “They walked out on me.” “Again! Try this then. There’s a virtual reality demo at Chelsea College of Art. It’s in two hours. Can you make it?”

THE GOOD. It all began a few months ago when my client, Entertainment Productions, won the job in competition with several other production companies. Make a twelve minute video covering all the university’s activities. With five colleges, hundreds of courses and 25,000 students, it’s one big mission impossible.

And here’s the problem: this film is to recruit high paying international students from Spain, France, Malaysia, Japan – even from the USA. For local UK students there are grants, the colleges are almost free, but for every place sold to an overseas student, there’s one less for a local. Many students and faculty members feel that the Institute is selling out. Local kids are missing places. In their eyes, I am working for the Evil Empire.

THE BAD. MONDAY. London College of Communication. I turn up to film the weaving class and the rooms are empty. “Sarah, there’s no-one here.” “They told me Monday!”

THURSDAY. Chelsea College of Art and Design. “Sarah, I’m here at Chelsea but …” “Oh, not again.” “Yep. I’m just going to grab some students and make it happen.”

FRIDAY. Camberwell College of Arts. “Sarah ….”. “Don’t tell me.”

THE UGLY. March 1995, Entertainment Productions goes bust. With no EP, the University is now my direct client.

There’s still very little co-operation so I’m gate crashing and shooting my way in. It’s tough but I’m getting there. I sneak in through a back entrance and shoot the end of year degree show at Central St. Martin’s.

Central St. Martin's Year End Degree Show

Only the formal graduation ceremony to go.

Made it. Finished! A full 18 months since the job was commissioned. The University decides to bypass EP’s receiver and pay me the last 50%. With Entertainment Productions gone, there’s no 50/50 financial split. I keep it all and double my money.

A FEW DOLLARS MORE. Then just when I think it’s all approved. More changes! Sarah’s boss hasn’t got the budget to pay me for the extra work. “Don’t worry. You need VHS copies. How about, I’ll get the best price I can and add £1.00 on each copy?”

He’s happy; duplication comes out of a different budget. They order 5,000 VHSs. I make an extra £5,000 ($10,000). A year later, another 3,000 copies. Next year, more copies. What a great deal – in all, I make an unexpected $20,000.

Almost nobody wanted this film made. Half my shooting days were aborted. The production company went bust. Life’s a bitch. I doubled my fee. But not always.

You can see a 3 minute clip at www.stefansargent.com/college.html

Posted in 2008, Production Diary | Comments Off on A FISTFUL OF SCHOLARS – THE GOOD, THE BAD AND A FEW DOLLARS MORE July ’08

OBSOLESCENCE, That’s the Name of the Game!

Posted on July 8, 2008 by Stefan Sargent

Here’s a fun game you can all play. It’s called Obsolescence. No $200 on passing GO. More like losing $200 on every dice throw.

Bought an iPhone? You’re in the game — and doing badly. Come July 11, the new model iPhone will be $200 less than you paid for yours and full of great features that you haven’t got. What to do? Upgrade? Or do nothing and sob quietly as your friends show off their new iPhone. Cheer up, their new toy will be out-of-date real soon.

Take heart. There are Obsolescence winners. I’m one.

1964: Dancer, Robert Helpmann holds pet Chihuahua, Virginia totes a Sennheiser MD421.

Here’s a frame grab from a 16mm documentary I shot in 1964. Wife #1 is holding a Sennheiser MD421 mike. And, guess what? Here we are in 2008 and it’s still a current model (the mike, not the wife). I bought mine 45 years ago for $50, and, unlike the iPhone, it has shot up in price. Will your iPhone still be working 45 years from now? Or worth more than you paid for it? Silly questions!

Winner — the MD421 - more than 45 years old and not obsolete

Out of sight is my 1964 Bolex 16mm camera — yep, you can still buy a new Bolex, exactly the same as my ‘64 model. And, again, it’s kept its value and still works. You can even buy the type of film stock I was using 40 years ago.

Your Sony EX1? Imagine it in 45 years. A museum piece.

I move forward three squares in the Obsolescence game. This is fun. I’m a winner!

Loser - EC: The Extra Collectible. Ikegami’s 1982 EC-35, now a collector’s item.

Remember the 1982 Ikegami EC-35 “The World’s first Electronic Cinematography Camera”? EC stood for Electronic Cinematography and 35 for 35mm film. Yes, way back then, there was a video camera that had “the film look.” That was the hype. Not true. It looked like video and was obsolete a year later.

My friend Michael bought two and went bust. Michael, thank you for playing…

Obsolescence — that’s the name of the game!

Here’s a sad story I found on the Web. These guys at Underdog Pictures are shooting an on-spec doc about Wikipedia. Interviews with the Wiki founder, Wiki contributors — that sort of thing. The trailer is here.

They’re using a Sony $3,400 HVR-Z1U at 60i but hankering to upgrade to something better. So they dump the Z1 and get a $14,000 Panasonic HPX500 which records DVCPRO HD at 24pi. Happy? Nope. They want to up the ante again and upgrade mid-documentary to a $48,000 Panasonic HPX3000.

The $48,000 Panasonic AJ-HPX3000 1080p camcorder

This puppy records using the AVC intra codec at a true 24p. Now they have convert their earlier stuff to the latest and greatest. Suddenly they need more disc space and a soon-to-be-out-date eight-core Mac. Ouch! Back four spaces!

The cautionary tale ends with the producers saying they “hope to show it at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival”.

My guess is that the Canadian festival folk won’t give a rat’s tooth whether it was shot on a $3,400 Sony, a $48,000 Panasonic or even a $100 Fisher Price. Content is always king.

The 1987 $100 Fisher Price PXL200 records video and audio to a compact audio cassette.

Knowing festival audiences, a Fisher Price version would win hands down.

Obsolescence — that’s the name of the game!
And each manufacturer, they play it the same!

Last year’s model, the Sony V1U.

At NAB 2007, you bought a Sony HDV V1U. Maybe a B&H Photo show special. Nice camera. Too bad, it’s out-of-date! The new Sony EX1 has a host of features that you don’t have. Upgrade at your peril because as sure as eggs is eggs, come next NAB there’ll be a newer, better version. (Oh, wait, there already is: The EX3!) Go ahead sell your V1 and buy an EX1. Now, move back two squares.

Next year’s EX camera will record at 50 and 100 Mbps against today’s EX1’s 35. The codec will move from 4:2:0 to 4:2:2. So why outlay cash on a product that will be out-of-date in less than 12 months? 2009 is only a few months away. But wait — the new 2009 models will be out-of-date in 2010.

Read the published V1U Vs. EX1 camera specs and you’ll quickly decide to upgrade:

2007 Sony V1U: 1,120,000 pixels
2008 Sony EX1: 2,073,600 pixels

Yikes! That’s twice as many picture elements. Quick, dump the V1 on eBay!

Dazed and confused, I turn to Adam Wilt, the source of all camera knowledge.

I love Adam. He remembers reading a 1986 article of mine called “Buying Obsolescence”. It was published in the Journal of The Royal Television Society, (which no one in the U.S. ever reads). Here’s Adam, 22 years later, quoting my ancient paragraphs over a Las Vegas breakfast at this year’s NAB. Even I had forgotten them. Adam is a Wiltapedia!

Q: Adam, does that mean that the EX1 is TWICE as sharp as the V1?”
A: The V1 and Z7 use diagonally-arrayed CMOS sensors, with either 1440×810 or 960×1080 photosites depending on how you look at it [Sony quotes both sets of numbers interchangeably], which effectively and with some considerable hand waving give you almost the same picture as the 1920×1080 photosites on the EX1/3’s sensors. Practically speaking, the images are 95% as good, with only some slight aliasing artifacts and reduced diagonal resolution to betray the oddball setup. In a side-by-side with a true 1920×1080 camera, I can see the difference IF there’s enough fine detail, carefully placed, to reveal the difference, but in most real-world situations they’re very hard to tell apart.

Wow. If Adam W. says that, I’m keeping my V1. For me, it’s a no brainer.

This year’s model, the Sony EX1.

But, say you really, really wanted to upgrade from a 2007 V1U to a 2008 EX1, besides going back several squares in the game, you’d be about $8,500 out of pocket. Face it, you’ll need a few SxS cards, a matte box and shade, filters, extra batteries, that’s 10 grand. Less, I guess, $1,500 for your used V1U on eBay.

Now the crunch. After spending $8,500 are you really going to be making better looking movies? I doubt it.

My advice is: Do nothing. Sit on your hands. Spend the $8,500 on items that really will improve your videos.

Let’s assume there’s $8,500 unspent in the kitty. Here’s what I’d do: Buy a second camera. Go to eBay and buy that $1,500 Sony V1U from the poor sap who didn’t read this very blog.

The best way to avoid screw ups (I should know) is with redundant equipment. If a camera has water spilt over it (oh yes, it has happened to me twice) you simply pick up the dry one and carry on shooting.

Then there’s multicam shooting. I do it all the time. Lock one camera off on a wide shot, while with the second camera you shoot tight. Two cameras means you can shoot the subject and the interviewer at the same time. Two V1s will stay frame accurate over an hour — mine do, maybe because they were bought together.

Great. You now have two identical cameras plus $7,000 going begging. And you’re winning in the Obsolescence game. Move up three squares!

Steadicam’s Pilot. Who left the gumball on the gimbal?

Next, think about ways to get some camera movement. A dolly, a crane and jib — why not a Steadicam Pilot at $3,800? Even better is the new Flyer LE. There’s a great demo by Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown here . You’ve got to see it. The demo has a strange, surreal quality with the faces in the store blurred out — one missed at the end — was the editor getting tired? You’ve got the money to buy the Pilot because you didn’t upgrade. Move up two squares!

Personally, I’ve always wanted a Polecam. But at $30K it’s a pipe dream for me.

The real Polecam.Pity about the makeshift cardboard sunshade.

Then I think, “What the hell, I’ll build one.”

Buy 20ft of carbon fiber tubing, buy some servomotors, find a local precision engineer, find a good RC (radio control) guy and I now have a fully RC home made pole camera.

I put Susie on it with either a Raynox 0.66 wide angle or the simply amazing Raynox DCR-FE180 fisheye. We mount it on the back of Tricia’s pickup with tie downs. I move up four squares. Exciting, isn’t it?

My Samsung SC-HMX20C — I call her Susie — on my 20 ft homemade RC pole camera.

We’re now down to about $3,500 in the kitty. I’m assuming you have bought some wide angle attachments and a matte box and sun shade. You have, haven’t you?

You couldn’t do worse than buy some reflectors, a step stool and blackout aluminum foil. Maybe a good diversity radio mike or a rifle mike like an Sennheiser ME66/K6 with a good windscreen — just $500 at BHPhoto .

Alzo HMI. Dirt-cheap daylight lighting.

What about lights? I love my Alzo HMI here. Just $182 complete with a 150-watt lamp that’s the equivalent to a normal 800 watts and balanced for daylight at 5200ºK. I use it on location or for shooting inside daylight-lit rooms.

Get two Xantrex @ $66.99. One for your HMI, the other to start the car and inflate the tires.

Couple the Alzo HMI with a Xantrex Powerpack 200 Plus here. Terrific for taking on location and shooting outside anywhere. I don’t know how long the internal battery lasts as it’s never died on me. The amazing thing is that it’s only $66.99 on Amazon complete with internal battery, jumper leads and a tube to inflate your tires or clean the camera lens. If it had been made for the film industry, this battery to 110 volt power unit would sell at over $1,000. Why there are 12 volt camera battery belts at $1,400 — but useless for flat tires. Buy two.

For $250 you have BOTH an HMI location light and a battery pack. Move up another two squares.

Convergent Design’s $3,495 nanoFlash records at 50 or 100 Mbps 4:2:2

Since I already have the radio mike, HMI and so on, here’s how I’m spending my remaining $3,495: I’m getting a nanoFlash recorder#mce_temp_url# to attach to my Sony V1U output. With the nanoFlash, I’ll avoid HDV compression and get MPEG2 4:2:2 at 50 or 100 Mbps recording on a $135 32GB CF card.

I do a lot of greenscreen work. The 4:2:2 will give me better keying, that’s a given. And while the EX1 boys are shooting 4:2:0 at 35Mbps on their $850 SxS cards, I’ll be shooting 4:2:2 at 100Mbps on $135 CF cards. Across two cards, I can record 142 minutes.

So… resist the temptation to upgrade. I did and got a 20ft pole camera and a solid-state recorder instead. Game, set and match!

Obsolescence GAME OVER!

You’ve got to admit that I’ve saved you a small fortune. Either you have enhanced your shooting package or you’ve have saved enough money to rebuild the kitchen. A bottle of Pinot to the address on my site would be appreciated.

Posted in 2008, Production Notes | Comments Off on OBSOLESCENCE, That’s the Name of the Game!

MY BRILLIANT CAREER OR NO ONE LIKES A SMART ASS Jun ’08

Posted on June 30, 2008 by Stefan Sargent

SYDNEY 1963 I’m working at J. Walter Thompson as an assistant in their TV department. Their on-staff television director is Hans von Adlerstein. Hans speaks, dresses and acts as if he were the German actor-director, Erich von Stroheim. Only the monocle is missing.

Han von Adlerstein's doppelgänger

We’re in the preview theater at JWT. Hans has just produced a commercial for Bonds’ nappies; diapers to you. Smiling, laughing babies are crawling everywhere.

The Bonds client is happy.

HANS MAKES A SPEECH. “Thezz commercial was tough. I can direct children and get beeautifool performances but zezz liddle kids you can’t direct them. Zee only way is to shoot a lot of film!”

“How much film did you shoot Hans?” says Mr. Bonds.

“I can tell you precisely. George has zee camera sheets.” Poor George Stephenson is Hans’ long suffering sidekick. “Shank you George. Vee zhot 20 rolls of 35mm film. 20 x 400 – that’s 8,000 feeet.”

“And how much did you use in the commercial, Hans?”

“Vee spent three days editing. Searching, searching for thoze precious moments.”

“How much film, Hans?”

“35mm film runs at 90 feet a minute. Zo that’s 90 feet.”

“What happened to the other 7,910 feet?”

“It vas rubbish.”

“If we threw away our material like that we’d be out of business. Look at this.” He’s drawing a series of cut out clothes all over the commercial’s storyboard. “We cut out here for one section. Here for another. And even this little bit in between is used. Only 4% is waste and we recycle that. Hans, I’m shocked.”

THE MAN YOU LOVE TO HATE. No longer Hans, he is Erich von Stroheim and he’s up on his feet; obsessed, maniacal, shouting.

“A feeelm is not an underpant!”

George quietly leaves the room and returns with Paul Jacklin, Head of Television. Paul sums up the situation and quickly sides with the man from Bonds. He had no choice.

“It’s very simple.” Paul says to the room, packed with agency account executives, copywriters, and production assistants, “We will make a second commercial for you, no charge. Won’t we Hans?”

“It vill be awful … I caanh’t do it.”

“I wasn’t suggesting that you do it Hans. We’ve got just the man for the job. Stefan, it’s yours. You have free rein. See what you can do with Hans’ left overs.”

Gulp. I’m cooked. Make something even half decent and Hans will hate me. Screw up and I’ll look foolish. It’s lose/lose.

CONUMDRUM. What to do? I go through the rolls and rolls of out takes. Hey, they’re funny. A wonderful collection of babies being babies. And there’s a hand in shot, picking up babies who crawl away from the camera, wiping their dribble, dragging them into position. It’s hilarious.

I lift out the funniest shots and write a voice over commentary. My JWT colleague, Jim Edmond, takes my script and a tape recorder home. He gets Matthew, aged two and a half, to mimic single words.

“Say dribble.” “Dripple.” “No Matthew, say dribble.” “Diddle.” “No say dribble.” “Dribble.” “Good boy, you got it. Now say, oops”

I join up Matthew’s words to make sentences.

“Oops. I’m starting to dribble.” A hand enters frame and wipes away the dribble. “Don’t push me down.” “I’m going to catch a lion. That’s not a lion.” “I’m all by myself with my rattle.”

MR. BONDS RETURNS – HANS IS AWAY ON LOCATION. Paul shows my edit. Mr. Bonds falls off his chair laughing. “It’s wonderful. That’ll teach Hans bloody von Adlerstein!”

For a while, my commercial and Hans’ are run on air. Mine creates a huge buzz.

The Australian Women's Weekly run a feature article about my commercial

Hans’ commercial is taken off the air.

Both Hans von A. and his doppelgänger, Erich von S. hate me – so does the copywriter. Paul Jacklin gives me witness protection but the atmosphere is grim. Even George Stephenson goes out of his way to avoid me. Poor Jim Edmond is moved to a smaller office with no window.

I resign and kick start my brilliant career.

Posted in 2008, Production Diary | Comments Off on MY BRILLIANT CAREER OR NO ONE LIKES A SMART ASS Jun ’08

LIFE ON THE BLEEDING EDGE May ’08

Posted on May 29, 2008 by Stefan Sargent

SPITFIRE TELEVISION, LONDON, NOVEMBER 1990. I’m at work early. Anna is waiting for me. She’s our graphic designer doing “The Wide Away Club” opening titles for a local television station.

me in our chromakey studio - Anna designed the background

“I’ve been here all night. We finished at 6, on the air at 7. It’s awful. I’m miserable.”

I look at her opening titles. There’re fine.

“I like it.”

“You hate it.”

“No, it’s good.”

“You said good.”

“I meant great.”

“Sarcasm.”

“No it’s terrific!”

“Stop telling me that! I know you hate it!”

“Anna, it’s only television.”

“Right, only television.” Tears.

“Erica, get a taxi for Anna and send her home.”

RENEE IN TEARS. We have the very first Avid/1 Media Composer in the UK. No one else has one. My colleagues think I’m crazy.  Maybe they’re right. We are living on the bleeding edge of technology.

Spitalot - $9,000 for 9 GB - now a noble door stop

Renée has been cutting for two weeks now.  Every night I drive her home in tears. The strain is getting to her but we are almost there.

Renée has lost confidence. Both Avid/1 and Spinalot, its $9,000, 9 GB drive, are temperamental. Every day, I phone Avid in Tewkesbury. Spinalot is tired. He’s dancing the frug. I smell trouble.

Rob, my client, is coming to see the Avid offline late this afternoon.

Renee: “I think it will run better if I consolidate.” “Sounds good. Do it.”

NICKI IN TEARS. There is screaming in the reception area. Erica and Nicki are shouting at each other. “I want you both in my office upstairs now”.  The girls arrive still shouting.

“Did you hear that? Nicki called me a bitch.”

Tricia, wife and business partner, looks up and says in the voice of sweet reason, “Well Erica, you are a bitch.”

Erica is outraged. “OK I quit. I’m outa here.” Nicki thanks Tricia. Tears.

CONSOLIDATE AND DIE. I get back to the Avid edit. Renée is distraught.

“It’s gone. Vanished”.

“What happened?”

“I consolidated. Now there’s nothing”.

“Timeline looks OK”

“It’s rubbish”.  Tears.

All the shots are there but in totally random order. The sound track too has been mangled. The voice says half a line about toothbrushes, we see sunglasses; a snip about bottle teats, we see an actor playing William Addis, the inventor of the toothbrush.

I phone Tewkesbury. I’m hysterical. They try to calm me down.

“What version software are you using? … You tried to consolidate? … You used the optical media drive? … Didn’t anyone warn you?”

THE CLIENTS ARRIVE. “Rob, Jim (his client), we have a problem – like there’s nothing to show you. We sort of made an experimental film by mistake. Just trust me. Have dinner, come back and we’ll have it sorted out.”

I find Robin, our best editor. “The Avid is a disaster. We’ve got to on-line the Addis job now. There’s no EDL, no nothing.”

We move into Edit A … three Sony BetaSPs, ADO, GVG 200 component mixer, Ampex ACE editor.

“Renée can you remember the edit?”

“I think so.”

“Open on the studio shot of old man Addis, tape three.” “Got it. What comes next?” “First line of VO, second take.” “We need the Select Effects star bed on one inch … ”

A few hours later, Rob and client come back. I have champagne ready. Dim the lights. Roll tape.  “Addis – an ongoing story of innovation in product design!”

Lights up. Client overjoyed. “Perfect.” The cork pops. We all thank Robin and Renée. More tears.

Just another day on the bleeding edge.

Posted in 2008, Production Diary | Comments Off on LIFE ON THE BLEEDING EDGE May ’08

RUDY HAS A BIG SURPRISE Apr ’08

Posted on April 29, 2008 by Stefan Sargent

GERMANY, 1979, SUNDAY NIGHT. I’m somewhere outside Stuttgart; it’s a small winding road, Rudy’s Mercedes headlights show trees on either side, no houses, no cars.

I’m tired. Just take me to the hotel.

RUDY’S MYSTERY TOUR. Where are you taking me?”

“It’s a big surprise. You’re going to love it.”

Rudy is the manager of Mercedes’ spare parts operation – at least I think he is. I met him at their showroom in Slough, near London. I was shooting the introduction to a film about how Mercedes’ spares get to England. Rudy was there and said he’d meet me at Stuttgart airport on Sunday night.

Rudy is laughing. “I had them open up just for you. You will enjoy yourself.”
So what could it be?

“A restaurant?”

“No, much better.”

“A nightclub?”

“No, no, this something very special – unique – something absolutely wonderful.”
Unique? Pleasurable? Wonderful? I’ve got it – it’s a hot tub with beer and sausages. Bratwurst. Mmmm…

to be served with beer

ALMOST THERE. “We turn a corner. Gates open automatically. Clickerty clack.

I look in disbelief. It’s the Mercedes’ Spare Parts Warehouse. All lit up with floodlights.
The doors are open. We drive right inside.

“Isn’t it wonderful. A Disneyland of spare parts. We opened tonight just for you! Come, I want to show you our automated order picking.”

Rudy is right. It IS the Magic Kingdom, chock full of yellow automated carts all going about their business. There are no tracks; they’re following invisible guide paths in the floor.

“It’s magic – just magic. We’re having fun aren’t we – come on, you can ride one.”

It’s Sunday night, well after 11 and we both are riding the order picking carts around the warehouse. Wheeee! They’re playing “Boogie Wonderland.”

Automatic Guided Vehicles

RUDY’S LITTLE JOKE. MONDAY. I shoot an order coming in from London and the automated guided vehicles (AGVs) being programmed to “go fetch.” This warehouse is over a million square feet, about the size of six Costcos.

I shoot the AGVs; run out of film, go to the office, get a new magazine, run back to Rudy, who is minding my camera – my camera – it’s gone!

“Rudy, where is it?”

“I was talking to Heinrick, I put it down.”

“YOU PUT MY CAMERA ON AN AGV?”

Like scene in a slapstick comedy, we run through the maze of racking looking for the AGV. The little, yellow critters are everywhere but we can we find ours?

Surprise! Rudy finds it. He’s laughing – it was all a practical joke. He sent it off on purpose. Rudy’s funny prank. Not your average client but you can’t help liking him.
I shoot all day and at sunset, a postcard shot of the truck leaving for London.
We dine together. An MOS meal. Translation: mit out sausages.

I WANNA GO HOME. TUESDAY. Rudy wants me to film a nearby factory where the bulk spare parts are packed individually, ready for the automated warehouse. By lunchtime, I’m finished.

“If we leave now, I’ll be able to catch the plane home this afternoon.” No such luck.
You guessed it. Rudy has another surprise. We are off to Stuttgart to visit the Mercedes-Benz Museum. A quick pizza – MOS: another day mit out sausages.

Mercedes Museum

PLEASE RUDY, NOT ANOTHER SURPRISE. WEDNESDAY. Rudy collects me at the hotel. We are on the autobahn going to the airport.

“We have time for another surprise.” Groan.

Rudy leaves the autobahn and drives through green fields, past some country houses. There’s one on the top of the hill. We drive up, get out and go inside. I smell Bratwurst.

“Stefan, I’d like you to meet my mother. Mutti has cooked four different kinds of sausages for you and your family. It’s my best surprise.”

It is too. Mmmm… delicious.

Clients come in all shapes and sizes. And then, there’s Rudy.

Posted in 2008, Production Diary | Comments Off on RUDY HAS A BIG SURPRISE Apr ’08

JAMES CAMERON and the Curse of 24 Frames Per Second

Posted on April 24, 2008 by Stefan Sargent

I’ve got to tell you about my last day at NAB. Maybe, my last day at NAB ever.
I really mean it.

I'm at the TRUE3Di stand at NAB. My 3-D hand is poking me in the face.

I stay at Circus Circus. Why?
1: I’m cheap. It’s cheap.
2: It’s on the free bus route. I hate the not-free, crowded monorail. I’m always standing.
3: If you miss the free bus or there’s a long line – it’s a quick walk from Circus Circus to the Convention Center.

The only drawback to Circus Circus is that the non-NAB guests are all vastly overweight with annoying children wearing pink, plastic shoes. I’m sure if you did a bodyweight comparison, the iBod, with, say, the Bellagio guests, you’d find an iBod of +40 lbs.

Today there’s a long line for the bus. I decide to walk. Others join me.
I have my name tag on.

“Hey, you’re Stefan Sargent! You wrote that MAD AS HELL 24p article”
“Not me. My brother. We have the same names.”
“No dice, dude. I’ve seen your photo in DV magazine. So what’s wrong with 24p, dude?”
“I just said that the raw 24p output from the Canon HV20 was jerky.”
“You should have said that CineForm Neo HD would fix it.”
“But that was the whole point. Why buy a camera that needs a fix? Anyhow CineForm Neo HD is 599 bucks.”

He’s joined by two colleagues. I can see the Convention Center in the far distance. I walk faster.
“Dan, this is the twerp who wrote that anti-24p article”
“It was crap. You said it took 16 steps to fix.”
“Actually I was just quoting an expert, who seemed to know what he was talking about.”
“I export from FCP to After Effects then back to FCP. That’s 1-2-3 steps.”
“Gimme a break. I just want to go to the NAB Dog & Pony Show.”

I move into a slow jog. Can’t shake them off.

“Yeah. And you don’t know shit about shutter speed and frame rate. You said 60i was a shutter speed.”
“OK. OK. A senior moment. My bad.”
“24p is Hollywood! Right guys. We’re DV Rebels!”
“Enough! Let’s stop walking for a moment and get real. Lighten up. 24 frames a second was a compromise chosen in the 1920’s – we’re talking 80 years ago. Your grand parents weren’t even born. Radio had just started, no TV, no internet, no Cherry Garcia.”

Mack Sennett, his hand on the flimsy camera hand crank.

At last we have stopped walking and they are listening.

“Most people think silent movies were 16 frames a second. But they weren’t. The cameras were hand cranked. And get this, when the prints were delivered to the cinemas they had a cue sheet. The projectors were variable speed. “Run this scene at 25 frames a second.” Or “Slow down this scene.”

Mack Sennett, his hand on the flimsy camera hand crank.
You can’t hand crank sound movies, there had to be a fixed speed. The faster the film ran the better the audio quality. But faster meant more film and that’s expensive. Too fast: expensive – too slow: poor sound. 24 is a compromise. It wouldn’t happen today with digital cameras and digital projectors.”

I don’t know why, the atmosphere has changed. We start walking again.
Now it time for THE BIG GUNS.

“James Cameron says 24 frames a second sucks.”
“No way!”
“Honest; he’s in last week’s on-line Variety magazine talking about “the curse of 24 frames a second.” (Read it here.) Cameron agrees with me. 24 fps is yesterday’s technology.”
“THE James Cameron?”
“Yep. Terminator. Titanic. He says 24 fps strobes and judders. He wants a new standard of 2K at 48 fps. He claims that 2K at 48 fps looks as sharp as 4K images at 24 fps – but without the strobing artifacts.”
“I love 24p. It’s better than sex.”
I murmur, “Get a life.”

At last, we are at the Convention Center. “Nice meeting you,” I say and scurry inside and flip my name tag over.

Just for the record, here’s a snip from Cameron’s April 10 Variety interview:

For three-fourths of a century of 2-D cinema, we have grown accustomed to the strobing effect produced by the 24 frame per second display rate.

Some people call it judder, others strobing. I call it annoying. It’s also easily fixed, because the stereo renaissance is enabled by digital cinema, and digital cinema supplies the answer to the strobing problem.

The DLP chip in our current generation of digital projectors can currently run up to 144 frames per second, and they are still being improved. The maximum data rate currently supports stereo at 24 frames per second or 2-D at 48 frames per second. So right now, today, we could be shooting 2-D movies at 48 frames and running them at that speed. This alone would make 2-D movies look astonishingly clear and sharp, at very little extra cost, with equipment that’s already installed or being installed.

Increasing the data-handling capacity of the projectors and servers is not a big deal, if there is demand. I’ve run tests on 48 frame per second stereo and it is stunning. The cameras can do it, the projectors can (with a small modification) do it. So why aren’t we doing it, as an industry?

Because people have been asking the wrong question for years. They have been so focused on resolution, and counting pixels and lines, that they have forgotten about frame rate. Perceived resolution = pixels x replacement rate. A 2K image at 48 frames per second looks as sharp as a 4K image at 24 frames per second… with one fundamental difference: the 4K/24 image will judder miserably during a panning shot, and the 2K/48 won’t

. Higher pixel counts only preserve motion artifacts like strobing with greater fidelity. They don’t solve them at all.
But 4K doesn’t solve the curse of 24 frames per second. In fact it tends to stand in the way of the solutions to that more fundamental problem. The NBA execs made a bold decision to do the All Star Game 3-D simulcast at 60 frames per second, because they didn’t like the judder.

So where were you James, last month, when I was being flamed for saying 24p is old hat? Some friend.

Back to NAB.
What’s new inside? Not much. RED’s Scarlet is vaporware. Pity. I was expecting more. It looks awful.

I loved my 16mm Éclair. It was part of me. You could never say that about a RED 4K or the little 3K Scarlet. The ergonomics are awful. Scarlet is not a camera for me.

That's me with my 16mm Éclair NPR. It could sit on my shoulder all day. How come the Sony EX1 and RED Scarlet got it so wrong?

The new boy at NAB is 3-D Stereoscopic movies. I’ll make a 3-D short myself this year, just for fun.
The 3-D in the Content Theater show I saw on Monday looked wonderful. You couldn’t fault it.
Today, I visit Quantel to see the 3-D Pablo demo in their private theater. The sun (you know, big yellow thing in the sky) in 3-D stereoscopic. Incredible.
The demo is hosted by Mark Horton, an ex-colleague of mine. He worked for both of my London video companies 20 years ago. Says they have sold 10 3-D systems in Los Angeles and three in the U.K.
3-D is here. This time, it really will happen.

The Iconix / 3ALITY 3-D contraption - it's dead. No camera hook-up, no power to the control unit. It wouldn't be too hard to wire up the cameras and show us a stereo image.

The Iconix / 3ALITY 3-D contraption – it’s dead. No camera hook-up, no power to the control unit. It wouldn’t be too hard to wire up the cameras and show us a stereo image.
Quantel’s excellent 3-D show over, I go upstairs to the Iconix stand. Their 3-D demo was shot from a helicopter and is showing on a consumer Samsung 3-D DLP HDTV – see the new sets here.)

Not working for me. Eye strain and dizziness. Ouch! Around me, people are saying, “Awesome.” Someone is telling me about the problems of shooting stereoscopic from a helicopter. Means nothing to me. Half an hour ago saw sensational 3-D and this isn’t.
“What’s it cost?” I ask. “Two Iconix @ $16K?”
“No, no. With the 3ALITY stereo 3-D rig and the Flash XDR recorders, well over $100K.”
Not today, thank you.

Downstairs is a 3-D demo by TRUE3Di using two LCDs and a mirror. It looks far better than the Best Buy Samsung DLP upstairs. But nowhere near as good as the projected images I’d seen at Quantel or the Content Theater. Disappointing. Sorry. And you took such a nice photo of me.

Seems that 3-D doesn’t work too well on a monitor in ambient light. My new-found friend, James Cameron, agrees:

It should be remembered that good 3-D requires a more immersive relationship between audience and screen. Unless you’re willing to sit within 4 feet of a 50″ monitor, which all but a few geeks (like me) will not do in a home setting, then you’re not going to get the same bang for the buck out of a 3-D movie on a home system as you would in a theater, regardless of whether the resolution of the image is the same.

I wander off. I’ve been coming here since 1977. I miss the old times.
Where’s Ampex? Where’s CMX? Where’s RCA?

Come to think of it, where’s Apple and Avid? It just ain’t the same!
I’d planned to stay three days but two’s enough.

This is where you are meant to eat. What a sorry site. Note the light that doesn't work!

This is where you are meant to eat. What a sorry site.
I’m reading “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell. You’d like it. About how small changes can create huge changes. Gladwell interview here.

A couple of years ago Digital Juice Inc, a relatively tiny company (which you can find here., said, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” They pulled out of NAB. Did it affect they sales? Nope. In fact, it seems to me that it gave them extra cash to do more promotions and deals. Only yesterday, I bought more of their StackTraxx multi-layed music discs. A steal at $99.95 for four. I now have all 44 StackTraxx.

Now Digital Juice and the two big As: Avid and Apple are gone. Who’s next? Adobe? Microsoft? Quantel? Panasonic? Maybe. Stranger things have happened. Could be “The Tipping Point”? There is a small revolution happening here. Watch out, NAB.

NAB needs a clean up. For the visitor, it is just too much. It’s hard to find a guide to where things are. Sure there’s a heavyweight directory to exhibits but the stupid book has no map. That’s somewhere else. Wherever it was, I never found it. So I’m looking for stand SL7828 (Convergent Design). Must be near row SL77, but it isn’t. It’s way over there.

The toilets, the eating facilities are a disgrace and there’s almost no WiFi. Time for someone from Disneyland to come and try to make sense of the user experience. It used to be fun. Or am I just getting old? Will I return? Probably not. Bye, bye, NAB.

And now the big payoff. They didn’t know I was going to write this:

I went to DV Expo last year. I paid for my own airfare, my hotel, meal and taxis bills.

For someone like me, in active video production, DV Expo beats NAB. Hands down!

Posted in 2008, Production Notes | Comments Off on JAMES CAMERON and the Curse of 24 Frames Per Second

NAB 2008 BLOG

Posted on April 18, 2008 by Stefan Sargent

THURSDAY, APRIL 17
Phew! I’m whacked and it’s only 1:30. I hurry to get here at 9:45 to go to the Content Theater for the 3D Stereoscopic sessions. It is packed but I to find a good seat next to a thick set man. His name tab says, Cedric.

“Thanks for keeping the seat for me.” I say.
“No problem. You’re from England?”
“Australia, London and now I live in San Francisco.” and you?”
“I work for the government.”
“Making films?”
“No. I just work for the government.”
I glance down at his badge. He has covered the company name with white type-out paint. The original man in black is sitting next to me.
“For the government?”
“Yes. I work for the government.”
Silence. He fiddles with his 3D glasses.
The first session is 3D PRIMER. This is given by Phil Streather, who was the producer of “Bug! 3D”. An absolutely un-missable talk with 3D PowerPoint slides and lots of 3D clips. We all watch with our RealD 3D glasses. Amazing.

At one point he shows a 3D clip from “Starlight Express.” Stops it on an exaggerated 3D effect of a mouse on a steel rod. It¹s pointing right into my face. The show is being run on a Quantel 3D Pablo post system.

Phil asks the Quantel Pablo operator to change the Z axis and the whole steel rod and twitching mouse is magically pulled back several feet towards to background. Phil explains that the left and right images were separated by about 8% of screen width, which as far as our eyes can handle. Pulling it back to 5%, gives less 3D stereo but is easier on the eyes.

He shows a shot from “Bugs! 3D” where a left green leaf cuts the left hand end of frame and loses its Z axis (3D) info. He’s in the process of showing how it can be made into 3D again when whammy he’s cut off. No more time! Shame.

The next session is a dismal panel line up of the great and famous from the 3D world. Vince Pace is nowhere to be seen nor is 3D pioneer Lenny Lipton.

It drags on and on. Six or seven panelists. No riser, so I could only see two! Who’s talking, I know not who.

Now, I’m sure that individually each 3D expert would have been great but together, it is a disaster.
“3D is so immersive.”
“3D amplifies reality.”
“I love The Mona Lisa effect of 3D.”
Huh? The Mona Lisa effect? What is he talking about? Bring back Phil and his 3D Bugs! Phil you were great!

One by one, the row in front of me empties. By the end of this dreary hour, eleven people about two thirds of this row is empty. My government friend is still with us. What does he do?

Questions from the audience. Where¹s the audience mike? Nowhere. Suddenly we are all told to exit left. Hey, I wanted to see the next session about “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D.” But no. Out we all go.

I wanna go back. I join the new line to go in again. No, that¹s only the half way break in the line. The end of the real line for the next session is way around the block. It¹s worse than Oakland airport. I give up.

OK. Where¹s the RED camera? Eventually I find it. Yet another line. I give up again. See the Ultimatte stand.

I do a lot of green screen and I’m desperate to see Jay Dunn, the in house AdvantEdge expert. Yes, there he is.
“Jay, I can’t add an external matte to AdvantEdge in Final Cut.”
“Yes, it’s a problem. We’re working with Apple – but they are really secretive about what they are doing. It’s tough … We are at their mercy … You know there was a Pro Applications update yesterday that may have fixed that problem.”
“Yesterday was Sunday.”
“Well whenever. It really is a mystery to us.”
“Jay, you’re the guy in charge and you say ‘it’s a mystery’.”
“Stefan, we have users who can’t get the program to run at all. Then we have users where everything works, everything – and users like you where the external inputs, like background and external key, don’t work.”
“You can’t track down why one works and one doesn’t?”
“In my office, we have two identical Intel Macs running AdvantEdge. On my colleagues’ everything works fine, on mine the external inputs don’t work. It’s a mystery.”
“It’s a mystery,” I repeat.
Life on the bleeding edge.

Dazed and confused, I wander back to RED. Wow! No line. I get in. See Stuart English. He’s the RED “workflow wizard”. Stuart and I go back 20 years or more, when he worked for Ampex Systems. We meet each year at NAB for our 10 to 15 minute chat.

We talk about the 3K $3K Scarlet camera. My first question is how do you feed a 3K signal into FCP. He laughs. “I guess you’ll have to convert to a format that FCP handles.”
“So who uses 3K?”
“No-one yet.”
“Does Scarlet actually work?”
“No, but we are confident it will.”
“Taking orders?”
“No.”
“When?”
He laughs. “Don’t know.”
“Deposits?”
He smiles. “Probably not it’s only $3K.”
“Does that include the lens?”
“Yes. It’s a fixed lens.”
“The brochure doesn’t give anything away.”
He nods. “We put out a press release today with more info.’

We spend the next five minutes talking about rolling shutter problems and ways to overcome them. Stuart says that a lot of cameras with CMOS chips have badly executed rolling shutters but RED pulls out the pixel info really fast and that minimizes the problems.

He’s keen for me to see the RED RAY. It’s a 4K RED DISC player that you give to your client to view his 4K movie. “On what?” I ask.
“On a Sony 4K projector. There are also a series of outputs where you can choose the resolution you want. Like 1080p for an LCD or plasma display.”
“So it’s a burner and a player?”
“No you burn on your PC or Mac using normal DVD-5 or dual play DVDs blanks and then use this player. It’s only $1,000. Comes out next year.”

Stuart is whisked away. My head is spinning.

Now to send this Blog to my editor, David Williams. Is there WiFi internet at NAB? No way. I search the South Hall for WiFi. Nothing. Search the Central Hall. Nothing. Is this 2008? Isn’t NAB all about communication?

Oh well to lunch. Again, I’m in line. Get my hot dog and apple juice – only $12. But where are the sit down tables? Nowhere. We all stand up eating our highly priced burgers and hot dogs. It’s uncivilized.

Now time for the restroom. This is true. There is just one urinal in the South Hall entrance men’s restroom. None in the ladies. A line of 10 or 12 really desperate men queue up for this single urinal. Honest, they are out the door waiting.

Madness. No WiFi internet. No sit-down tables for the nearby food concessionary and now only one urinal in the men’s room.

Mission accomplished, I wander back into the crowded South Hall. At Quantel someone knows me. He used to work at my company, Molinare in London. “You’re sort of a legend there” he says. We chat about old times at Moli and the new regime at Quantel. I’m invited to a private demo of their 3D Stereoscopic Pablo system. Come back 2:30 tomorrow. Will do.

I go to the Da-Lite screens stand. Yes, they have a 3D stereo silver screen for polarized light. I’ll buy it. 8ft across for less than $500. A bargain.

Pass the Comprehensive stand. Lots of cables on display. I want a lockable HDMI cable. The stupid things slip out of my camera all the time. Lockable HDMI? Blank looks. They think I’m mad. FireWire is even worse. I use a Sony HD Walkman on location. The firewire cable is always falling out. Lockable Firewire? More blank looks.

Eventually I track down Mike Schell, the genius behind Convergent Design. I’ve ordered their Flash XDR recorder and there it is in real life. At last! I was worried about how I’d mount it on my camera but seeing it there my worries are over. I can’t mount it – it’s too big!

Mike to the rescue.”Look at what we have in the pipeline.” The nanoFlash HD Recorder – a fraction of the size of the Flash XDR – and it takes HDMI in. It’s 4″ x 4″ x 2″ so will easily fit onto my Sony V1. It’s cheaper too.

FANTASTIC! Just what I want. Feed the output from my Sony V1U straight into it. Record on dirt-cheap compact flash cards MPEG2 4:2:2 @ 100Mbs. Drawbacks? Not until Quarter 4 ’08 – and only two flash cards against four in the XDR.

Mike’s nanoFlash has made my day. Back for a margarita at Circus Circus.

Posted in 2008, NAB | Leave a comment