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The Digital Revolution--What You Need To Know
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| Photo: Robert Johnston |
If it was an old-fashioned kind of revolution, there would be banner-carrying marchers, shouting slogans. "We Want Bandwidth" and "Free Our Pixels." A band of counter-revolutionaries would cry, "Film Forever" and "Celluloid Rules" But there's no longer a question about the shape of the future. The digital revolution is now a fait accompli.
What's immediately ahead for moviemakers? Two recent clues: In April, at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas, the theme was "convergence." Tens of thousands swarmed the exhibits and packed into conferences to talk about media-merge. At the Cannes Film Festival in May, representatives of Internet companies were besieged by bidders seeking licenses to distribute movies via the Net. "What we thought would be happening in 2002 is happening right away," said one entrepreneur.
Is it hype? Revolution? Evolution? Maybe we should call it hyperevolution.
"It's all coming together so quickly - bandwidth plus processing speed combined with a huge demand for content," says Sally O'Steen, Director of Program Development at Video Symphony, a digital media training academy in Burbank, CA. "In my view, there's no doubt about the opportunities that will become available for those who can align their talent with the context of this fresh era."
"Visual arts may achieve a prominence they haven't enjoyed in our time. It's a renaissance of sorts, and it's happening right now. Visit some award-winning websites and look at the independent films, videos, graphics and animation already on the leading edge of the Net. The Net is a wonderful gallery space, a magnificent theatre for exposure. And we all know that patronage often follows exposure."
Adapting to the New Paradigm
Of course, moviemakers will continue to devote their minds to the flow of story, the interplay of dialogue, the tension and pacing of scenes. Today, though, as skilled as one may be with traditional methods of work, it's time to adapt. Anyone who has a passion to gather issues/34/images through a lens would be wise to get into the digital game.
Along with know-how about lenses, emulsions and the grammar of film, a moviemaker should also know how to manage a digital project, deal with compression issues, and be familiar with the methods for combining computer-generated elements with "live action."
Keeping all the above in mind, let's consider four dimensions which deserve the attention of every filmmaker: DVD, non-linear editing, 3D animation and "broadband" Internet.
Digital Video Disk
Pay attention to DVD. These shiny new platters will radically transform the way movies and programs are distributed. With up to 25 times the capacity of the familiar CD, DVD formats provide high-quality video, interactive multimedia and surround-sound. They can be played over a TV from a set-top box, or on a DVD-equipped PC or laptop.
Some crystal-ball gazers forecast 150 million DVD players worldwide by 2005, and perhaps 90,000 titles. However the numbers actually turn out, there's a lot of authoring to be done. So it's no surprise to find that facilities everywhere are gearing up for DVD production.
A whole feature film can be encoded on one disk, in several languages. Subpictures and subtitles may be added to the playback, along with a menu of other choices. One menu button might take the viewer to an interview with the director, another will switch to one of those mini-movies about the making of the movie.
DVD's interface also makes it possible for a movie watcher to actively engage in the experience and, sometimes, even decide the outcome of the experience. Let's try it this way: DVD allows the filmmaker to pre-program multiple pathways for the viewer to select. Even multiple camera angles can be provided.
New-concept titles are now being created to take advantage of DVD's dynamic interactivity. For example, a DVD-ROM in a PC can dial up a site on the Web and engage in "conversation." The host site will tell the DVD what to play, and when. The possibilities are almost limitless. A hot-buttered popcorn accessory is in the early development stages.
Briefly, the method for creating DVD content goes like this: All the "assets" are prepared in advance, whether from film, video, audio or other digital sources. The process of turning assets into a ready-to-replicate file is called "premastering." Project planning and storyboarding are the first steps, followed by asset capture, authoring, encoding, proofing and formatting. Using visual scripting, the premastering software can command seamless transitions, splice video streams, create multiple versions in several languages, and generate interactive links.
High-quality compression is the enabling technology of DVD. Using MPEG2 algorithms, the computer examines each frame and determines a level of compression consistent with the quality desired and the disk space available. Encoding a program is time-consuming and exacting, but the results can assure better-than-broadcast clarity.
A growing number of studios and service suppliers are turning out titles for entertainment, education, corporate and industrial applications. For many post-production companies and specialty houses, a multiple-station server-based DVD premastering setup will be the next major addition. Perhaps a $150,000-250,000 investment. Moderately-priced desktop authoring systems are now coming on the market, costing as little as $500.
Will DVD be huge? In a word, yes. Will it totally replace VHS? Eventually, perhaps. DVD is not yet a home-recording medium: you can't grab a broadcast of Casablanca for your archives. But today's moviemaker should seriously consider the possibilities of DVD when planning a picture.
Sites to see: To learn more, try sonic.com. Sonic Solutions is a leading developer of DVD systems. "Publishing in the Age of DVD" is an excellent primer about DVD capabilities and processes. It is available for download from the Sonic site. Also visit dvdinsider.com for more links and information.
Non-Linear Editing
Digital non-linear editing is not exactly new: it's been around since the front edge of the decade. Today, the majority of movies and TV shows are edited on digital systems. Output now equals or exceeds the highest broadcast standards.
How hard is it to master non-linear? "It does take time and practice to fully appreciate the profound capabilities of a high-end editing system," says Wes Sewell, who is both a filmmaker and seasoned Avid editor. It's true. One's mind needs time to encompass such concepts as slip and slide, layered video and nested effects. But it's worth the effort. "In the hands of an experienced editor," Sewell continues, "A top-end digital machine can perform as quickly as an idea can occur."
Rainer Standke, a veteran editor and Avid instructor who cut several of Werner Herzog's documentaries, says "In today's filmmaking environment you have to be ready to use non-linear, video-based editing. It's simply expected. It's very much a reality in film post-production today."
As when working with "organic" film, the key to success is careful project management. Digitizing and organizing hundreds of hours of source material and every iteration of the cut requires systemized thought. A digital job can get into serious disarray just as readily as can a celluloid one. Fortunately, computers are good at finding lost stuff.
If you don't have access to a major-league system, start with Adobe Premiere, or a similar program. You can learn to use it in the privacy of your own PC or Mac. When you feel you have corralled the basic concepts of non-linear, move on to Media 100 or Avid.
It almost goes without saying that learning how to use the tools is not the same as becoming conversant with the aesthetics of film. For that, one needs to soak in the brew of tradition and lore. Watching a few thousand movies is a start, but you've probably done that already.
Sites to see: avid.com/seminars; media100.com; videosymphony.com; and filmcamp.com. The latter two offer comprehensive training programs and seminars.
3D Animation
For a moviemaker used to working in film or video, 3D computer-generated graphics ("CG," as it's often called) may seem a mysterious craft, beyond comprehension except by people who think in the X-Y-Z dimensions of pseudo-3D space. In the Pixar productions of Toy Story and A Bug's Life, every gesture and eyeblink, every leaf and wisp of cloud was dreamt up and brought into existence through 3D digital artistry.
Take a look at recent movies or commercials and you will see how often CG is used in collaboration with "real" issues/34/images. Sometimes it's hard to tell which is which. Titanic employed more CG actors than human. Nearly all those unfortunate souls who slid down the deck and tumbled into the sea were pixels, not people.
Moviemakers who want to stay ahead of the curve will find it useful to learn how 3D models are built, how scenes are constructed, and how characters are made to move in such realistic fashion. Using a keyboard and mouse, an animator can make an insect smile, a dinosaur stomp, or a dancer pirouette on a cloud.
Unlike traditional 2D animation, hand-painted cel by tedious cel, 3D objects and characters are modeled like sculptures, using digital "wire-frames" to provide shape and substance. If a character is to be animated, a virtual "skeleton" with articulating joints is constructed inside the model. After texture and color are applied, the model is placed in a 3D "environment," or combined with live action through the magic of compositing.
The processes for creating digital special effects and compositing them to film are valuable for modern moviemakers to know. Consider: without 3D animation and compositing, Jurassic Park would have been an ordinary tropical island.
Sites to see: awn.com and 3dcafe.com. Both are resources for all things "CG."
And The Bandwidth Goes Marching On
Bandwidth is the buzzword of the moment. We're breathless for bandwidth: that river of digits that promises sparkling entertainment and fast information. The suppliers are breathless to deliver the goods and reap the rewards. Every day brings a news flash about yet another multi-billion dollar deal between a telecom giant or TV network and an Internet provider.
Convergence and bandwidth. When they arrive, our minds will boggle at first, but eventually the Net will be like electric light - everywhere, all the time. So much content will be flying around the cables that 500 channels of TV will seem like nothing. Care to contribute? A wired world will be waiting.
Can you tune into the Net and see indie films now? Yes. Many are already awaiting your mouse-click. If the fast wires haven't reached your house yet, you'll have to put up with a three-inch picture and so-so sound. Check out film.com, a site where you can vote on Aspen Festival entries as they trickle through your modem. More importantly, you'll see films that aren't likely to be screened at the Cineplex. If you can view the work of many filmmakers, so can thousands of others. And those thousands can view your work, too. This is the technology that will soon create the possibility of "a moviemaker in every house" and an audience for every moviemaker.
Sites to see: dfilm.com and ifilm.com. Streaming independent films.
Getting Up To Speed
How to grasp all these fast-evolving dynamics? Join the legions who get together at seminars and user-group meetings. Cruise the Net for info. Learn as much as possible about everything digital. Absorb concepts. Load your brain with tips and techniques. Professional-level software is capable, to be sure, but also complex. Invest in training. Companies all over the country (see sidebar) like Video Symphony in Burbank and the new CFVI Studios in Colorado are committed to arming you with a cutting-edge digital media education. Invest in yourself.
Another way to get up to speed is to become affiliated. Join an Avid users' group or an online forum. In addition to major groups such as the American Film Institute, others are gaining prominence. SIGGRAPH, the Special Interest Group for Graphics, has evolved into a national forum for animators, digital artists and new media professionals. Sixty thousand creative people, mostly young, gathered in Orlando last year. There software companies put on dazzling demonstrations and the seminar rooms were jammed. This summer's convocation is in L.A. Wear comfortable shoes and prepare to be wowed.
To learn the particulars, point your browser at siggraph.org/s99/
Most major system manufacturers and production software companies certify a number of facilities around the country. The true value of what you get for your dollars is exposure to expertise, proven methods of work, and the insight of production-savvy instructors. One recommendation: "hands-on time" allows a student to practice what is preached. It usually takes a few hours on a system to internalize the stuff one learns in class. Don't be intimidated by the technology. Sometime during practice, every student who struggles with the unfamiliar concepts of digital production eventually has that "I got it!" experience.
The Future Lies Ahead, As Usual
When DVD disks are spinning everywhere and films are streaming into living rooms from hundreds of sites on the Net, what will accrue to the independent moviemaker? That's the most intriguing question of all. There's little doubt that the digital future will open new venues and attract new audiences for many creative people.
As for film itself: it is far from extinct. Film remains a most elegant and perceptive medium for capturing issues/34/images - and the resolving power of Kodak has yet to be matched by CCD chips and sophisticated circuitry. As for the new digital processes, Rainer Standke says it well. "Ultimately, it is not the cuts that matter, or the method one uses to make them, it's still about what happens between the cuts. One still has to put one scene next to another within the context of the entire picture."
There's one more aspect to this hyperevolution -
new, fast pathways for writers, artists, editors and distributors
to collaborate with one another. A documentary producer/cinematographer
in Chile emails the editor in San Francisco and the writer in Toronto,
saying, "Hey guys, here are the best takes from today's shoot,
and some stills of tomorrow's location. Can you rough-cut the sequence
and rewrite the standup? Just dial my laptop when you're done.
- Cheers, C.B." MM
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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by Klark on 3/28/08 at 5:08 pm
You can use some flash menu builder to interactive your site, blog, DVD etc.
Why there’s nothing about it in this article?
This story was published in the July 1999 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
A Moviemaker In Every House
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