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Film History & Appreciation
Iron Man 3, Marvel & The Future of the Superhero
Victoria Alonso, Marvel Studios Executive Vice President of Visual Effects and Post Production, began her career in the early days of the digital visual effects industry. We had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Victoria about the Iron Man movies, post production's evolution, remote dailies and coloring on set, 4K & HFR, and keeping the modern superhero movie fresh.
Editorial, Feature, People / Interview
Debra Kaufman |
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Cinematography
Behind the Lens: Game of Thrones with Anette Haellmigk
Cinematographer Anette Haellmigk shot two episodes of Season 3's Game of Thrones, the HBO blockbuster that returns on March 31. A native of Germany, Haellmigk was the 2012 winner of Kodak's Vision Award from Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards. A pioneering woman cinematographer, Annette's resume includes Das Boot, Robocop, Starship Troopers, Total Recall, The West Wing and many more.
Haellmigk speaks to Creative COW about her path as a pioneering female cinematographer and her work on Game of Thrones.
Editorial, Feature, People / Interview
Anette Haellmigk |
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Stereoscopic 3D
NVIDIA's GPU Technology Conference M & E Roundup
There was truly something for everyone at NVIDIA GTC, and a surprisingly rich amount of thoughtful presentations for the Media & Entertainment crowd. GTC provided many opportunities to learn the basics and, for the truly nerdy, many opportunities to dig deep. As a mere semi-geek, Debra Kaufman learned a lot and met a lot of interesting people. Read her roundup of new M&E technology thanks to super-fast GPU computing.
Feature, People / Interview
Debra Kaufman |
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NAB Expo
Tips for Attending NAB 2013 From A Convention Veteran
Walter Biscardi tells us, "Once again, springtime is upon us, so of course, it's time for the annual National Association of Broadcasters convention. Last year y'all seemed to like the before you go tips, so may I present the 2013 edition of 'Tips from an NAB Veteran to make the best use of your time'."
Editorial, Feature
Walter Biscardi |
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Stereoscopic 3D
Tim Squyres Edits Life of Pi
Tim Squyres, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Life of Pi, got hooked on film when he took an introductory film course at Cornell University in upstate New York. Squyres talks to Creative COW about the challenges of editing Ang Lee's first digitally shot feature film, which was also a stereoscopic 3D release.
Feature, People / Interview
Tim Squyres |
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RED Camera
House of Cards
Netflix is distributing all 13 episodes of its first season House of Cards at once, on streaming platforms. That's not all that makes this new political drama series unique. With David Fincher as an executive producer and director of the first two episodes, you'd expect a digitally-savvy pipeline and you'd be correct. In this story, Fincher's post production supervisor Peter Mavromates and assistant editor Tyler Nelson talk about how FotoKem's newly evolved nextLAB system played a role in streamlining the post pipeline.
Editorial, Feature, People / Interview
Debra Kaufman |
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Cinematography
The Camera Is An Eye - Not A Vacuum Or A Gun
This article is intended to be a friendly guidepost for all shooters who wish to improve their craft. At the highest level, you, the shooter, are involved in one of the greatest art forms the world has ever known. At the lowest level, you, the shooter, are still involved in one of the greatest art forms the world has ever known. Find out how to channel your "Inner-Welles" and create the majestic poetry we all crave from your art.
Editorial, Feature
David Allison |
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What Computer Should I Buy?
Jump!
NitroCircus: The Movie's stylistic leap in 3D production used RED EPICs shooting 96 fps, for up to 4TB of files a day. They relied on HP workstations to deliver the film on time and on budget.
Editorial, Feature, People / Interview
Russell Lasson |
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Business & Marketing
Suck It Up, Buttercup
The Best Excuses from New or Underemployed Filmmakers and Freelancers: "You've really really got to stop being lazy and making excuses for not getting what you want," says Creative COW Contributing Editor Kylee Wall. "Seriously. It's sad and it makes me sad for you. So sad in fact, that I've created this BEST OF compilation of stupid excuses. It's perhaps a little more brash than my usual fare. Don't mistake this for arrogance. I'm young and stupid too, but I'm still allowed to almost rant. Pseudo-rant. Pretend I made you cookies and you're eating them as you read this."
Editorial, Feature
Kylee Wall |
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Cinematography
Line of Sight: John Bramblitt's Story
Personal despair is turned into an inspiring vision of beauty and life as John Bramblitt learns to express his talent for painting - without sight. Join Stephen Menick as he relates meeting this remarkable young man and the tools Stephen used to tell John's story.
Feature, People / Interview
Stephen Menick |
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Cinematography
The Aesthetics of High Frame Rate Cinema
Any change in the way we watch movies creates a heated debate, from the introduction of sound and color to digital acquisition and stereoscopic 3D. Now, the subject of debate is High Frame Rate cinema and, naturally, the debate is emotional. From watching hundreds, maybe thousands, of movies, we all have an idea of what a movie ought to look like, and for some people, HFR doesn't fit into the picture. Other moviegoers are excited about HFR's potential -- but to fulfill it, filmmakers and technologists have a lot of work ahead of them.
Editorial
Debra Kaufman |
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Cinematography
The Hobbit & The Dawn of High Frame Rate Cinema
The technology wizards of the film/TV industry have been talking about High Frame Rate cinema for a long time; indeed, Douglas Trumbull's Showscan at 60 fps presaged the current interest over 30 years ago. But it took director Peter Jackson to take the plunge for mainstream cinema, declaring he would shoot The Hobbit in 48 fps to get momentum going. In about a year's time, manufacturers made the gear, theater exhibitors updated their movie theaters, and the studios prepared for one of the most audacious technology debuts that cinema has seen. Creative COW goes behind the scenes to see what it took for you to see The Hobbit in 48 fps.
Editorial, Feature, People / Interview
Debra Kaufman |
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Cinematography
Setting Standards for High Frame Rate Digital Cinema
Dave Stump, ASC, is a co-chair of the SMPTE Working Group on High Frame Rate Cinema. The upcoming releases of The Hobbit and Avatar 2 have highlighted a number of issues that the entire filmmaking community is going to have deal with, including exhibitors. A winner of an Academy Award for Technical Achievement as well as a cinematographer, Dave speaks from a variety of perspectives as he describes the early days of progress towards standards for High Frame Rate cinema.
Editorial, Feature, People / Interview
Dave Stump, ASC |
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Field Production
NAB 2012: Sachtler
Sachtler debuted the Ace tripod system for the first time in the U.S. With a payload of up to 8.8 pounds (4 kilograms), the Ace tripod is ideal for smaller HDV camcorders and video-enabled DSLR cameras.
Feature
Debra Kaufman |
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HD High-End
NAB 2012: Vinten
Vinten introduced its lightweight Vision blue5 pan and tilt head and tripod system, the latest member of its Vinten Vision blue family. Vision blue5 has a carrying capacity range of 12.1-lb to 26.5 lb (5.5kg to 12 kg) and offers a range of other professional features.
Feature
Debra Kaufman |
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HD High-End
NAB 2012: OConnor
Fluid head pioneer OConnor, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, unveiled a 30L carbon fiber tripod, O-Focus Dual Mini follow focus unit, and Universal Camera Baseplate at NAB 2012. Attendees also had the chance to experience hands-on the Ultimate 1030D and Ultimate 1030Ds fluid heads.
Feature
Debra Kaufman |
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Cinematography
NAB 2012: Schneider Optics
Lens and filter designer/manufacturer Schneider Optics introduced a range of new products at NAB 2012, including the 77m True-Match Vari-ND thread-In filter; iPro Lens System for iPhone 4/4S; S2000 Century/Canon 17mm T4 Tilt-Focus Lens in PL Mount; and the Schneider Kreuznach Cine-Xenar III prime lenses.
Feature
Debra Kaufman |
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Archiving and Back-Up
NAB 2012: Cache-A
Cache-A Corporation has served NAB-goers with an updated high-performance Power-Cache Archive Server, including the latest version 2.1 software release, which contains a host of powerful features for all the models.
Feature
Debra Kaufman |
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JVC cameras/decks
NAB 2012: JVC
JVC had a dynamic year for cameras and monitors. The company released the new GY-HM650 handheld mobile news camera, the result of its intention to support the Advanced Media Workflow Association "AS-10: MXF for Production" project. The company also released a 4K camcorder for $5,550, and came out with several new mercury-free monitors.
Feature
Debra Kaufman |
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GVG Edius
NAB 2012: Grass Valley
Grass Valley is charging into the file-based broadcast environment, with a host of new products and enhancements to existing ones. The STRATUS family of products has gotten richer and deeper, enabling tighter integration, more functionality and increased efficiencies. Most importantly, Grass Valley's products are open enough to encourage third party tie-ins and support a diversity of workflows and needs.
Feature
Debra Kaufman |
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