"Club Penton" - Ask questions to Hollywood insider "Penton-Man"

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Stacey, I haven’t forgotten about your PM, it’s just that I was out of the office all day on Friday due to a Press event and now due to a local fire in SoCal, we’re having some unexpected guests stay over whom have been evacuated from their neighborhood.

I may even have to take off a couple days from work next week to help them out, so please be patient. I’ll do what I can.

Penton,

Was the press event the one attended by all of the studio heads pushing Blu-ray?

PS Sorry to hear about your friends. Hopefully their house is OK.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

More coyotes?

Peter , the coyotes were the first thing I thought of, as unlike humans they have no fire insurance and many people see them as a nuisance rather than beautiful creatures.

You should see them run at full speed in the wild.......truly nature at it’s visual best.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by DenonCI

Penton,

Was the press event the one attended by all of the studio heads pushing Blu-ray?

PS Sorry to hear about your friends. Hopefully their house is OK.

Denon , yes, that be the one but, I wouldn't say we were pushing .....more like enlightening or educating.

Their home is fine (we think).
It was a mandatory evacuation.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Stacey Spears

As of Friday afternoon, I believe everything is OK. I have signed and shipped the necessary paperwork.

lol, so I hear.
What I would like to know is how the hell do you have all of our e-mail addys!
How many different people did you contact, four or five of us……..or more?

I hope you keep that sort of contact information confidential as we don’t need the artifact hunters flooding us with junk 'analysis' e-mails.

[Stacey Spears]

What I would like to know is how the hell do you have all of our e-mail addys!

In the last 10 years I have been on emails with one or another via my day job. Its funny, if you look at the credits on the WHQL DVD Test Annex disc, you will see a lot of familiar names. Pretty much everyone participated in that project. Andy (Rosen) know's a lot of people.

Posting someones email addy would be like posting someones phone number. The CE, computer and entertainment industries are too small. No reason to burn bridges when you will most likely be working with them at some point in the future.

Several of us made plans to have drinks at NAB. One invited another and it turned out everyone knew each other. You had Disney, Apple, Microsoft, Deluxe, OneK, Paramount, and many more. Its a small world!

What is it with So. Cal and fires? I don't recall that many when I lived there. I do recall coyotes though. I lived in Pasadena, by JPL, and they would come done from the hills and knock over trashcans.

[Bobby Henderson]

Originally Posted by Penton Man

The raw 4k images were converted to TIFF files and some of these (at least of a portion of the frame) was magnified to be used as part of the picture on billboards in various parts of the world for advertising the product with David Beckham as the face man.

Despite the fact that the blown-up images on the billboards looked soft compared to the 4k TIFFs, they looked pretty dang good from a distance……..considering.

Printed billboards can have a relatively low resolution level. A 48' wide by 14' tall billboard may be printed with only 18 pixels per inch resolution. But multiply that 18ppi level by 576 inches across and 168 inches up and you get a 10368 X 3024 pixel image. Seen from a speeding car on a freeway the image will look very sharp. It only gets soft looking when you get about 20 or so feet from it.

LED-based full color billboards have even lower levels of resolution. The RGB LED cluster pixels are measured in terms of pitch. A 20mm center to center pitch is very adequate for a large billboard display or sports stadium jumbotron.

Of course, if you take an image with a limited amount of resolution and artificially blow up a portion of it to a large size it's certainly going to look soft -probably regardless of how it is displayed. Interpolating pixel counts upward usually doesn't yield very good results. Upconverting DVD players do an okay job with interpolation. But when you see the same image in native 1080p that upconverted image looks like garbage.

In my experience, vector-based artwork is the only thing that seems immune to problems in resizing.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Peter , the coyotes were the first thing I thought of, as unlike humans they have no fire insurance and many people see them as a nuisance rather than beautiful creatures.

You should see them run at full speed in the wild.......truly nature at it’s visual best.

I imagine. I worry about the wildlife in those hills and canyons in times like these.

The only thing I don't like about the coyotes is when they behead house cats (this is one reason I recommend to people they keep their cats indoors). Not a pretty sight when you're out walking to school in the morning.

[Objectivity]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

It is against the law to make money from someone else's copyright, and using the world "Blu" in a Blu-ray product will be in violation of that law.

Yes and No. The out to this is whether the name has become so common that it's entered the common lexicon.

That's why Google tries (or tried) so hard to get people to not use Google as a word. At some point, if Google becomes synonymous with search, people could start saying "I'm going to google something on Yahoo" and nothing could be done.

Same thing regarding Kleenex and Xerox.

At this point, the differentiation with Blu-Ray is between it and standard def. But, at some point when everything is Blu-Ray (but before the next format comes out) if people call everything "Blu" rather than "HD" an argument could be made that Blu is synonymous with that message.

For the short term though, implying an association with Blu that doesn't exist could get you in trouble without permission.

[Jeff Kleist]

People still cannot sell tissue or copying products and call them Kleenex or Xerox. That's the point being made here

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by DenonCI

Penton,
Sorry to hear about your friends. Hopefully their house is OK.

We are attempting to do a reconnaissance mission today as the area in question was still smoking yesterday (see pic). It’s not looking good at this point.

Reportedly the firestorm in the area had 200 ft. flames.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Bobby Henderson

Printed billboards can have a relatively low resolution level...........

Agreed, like I said, the billboard poster thing was just an unexpected ancillary benefit and was good……..considering.
When you factor in four wardrobe changes and make-up, the camera crew only had David Beckham for about 45 min. so by oversampling at 4k with master shots, the crew only had to acquire a few prime shots and the post guys could take the images and push in (magnify) without destroying the image quality too much, since the material was to be finished in SD for the commercials in Europe.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

If I started a web search and advertising company called Googol, I would get sued into oblivion.

How about a soft drink called Koka Kola?

Sorny? Panaphonics?

I Scotch taped them to my Windows.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Stacey Spears

What is it with So. Cal and fires? I don't recall that many when I lived there. I do recall coyotes though. I lived in Pasadena, by JPL, and they would come done from the hills and knock over trashcans.

For those somewhat familiar with this area in SoCal, what the press is not reporting on the networks, or seems incongruous to, is that the state park in the area (roughly 10,000 -12,000 acres) was just about entirely leveled by the fire. From Chino on the east to Brea on the west, Olinda on the north and Yorba Linda on the south. The state park apparently now looks like the surface of the moon.

It’s a shame, because a fire started in that area about 5 years ago and they defended that state park keeping the area of damage to a minimum. I guess this year the firefighters were so stretched due to fires in Sylmar and around Santa Barbara that their only goal this year was to try to prevent damage to the homes that ring the periphery of that particular state park, which is one of the largest in SoCal.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

For those somewhat familiar with this area in SoCal, what the press is not reporting on the networks, or seems incongruous to, is that the state park in the area (roughly 10,000 -12,000 acres) was just about entirely leveled by the fire. From Chino on the east to Brea on the west, Olinda on the north and Yorba Linda on the south. The state park apparently now looks like the surface of the moon.

It’s a shame, because a fire started in that area about 5 years ago and they defended that state park keeping the area of damage to a minimum. I guess this year the firefighters were so stretched due to fires in Sylmar and around Santa Barbara that their only goal this year was to try to prevent damage to the homes that ring the periphery of that particular state park, which is one of the largest in SoCal.

That really hurts, & I don't even live there...

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

You should see them run at full speed in the wild.......truly nature at it’s visual best.

My vote goes to pack of 8-9 timber wolves running down what looked like a 10 point whitetail buck. It actually was pretty scary, and for about 10 seconds I thought I might have to high tail up a tree if the wolves decided *I* was an easier meal.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Sorny? Panaphonics?

I Scotch taped them to my Windows.

Would you believe:

Panashiba

[Alan Gordon]

A question has been bugging me for a while, and I've been meaning to ask "the experts", but I've been busy lately, so here goes:

Sony announced the DVD release of "Fireproof" the other day. No announcement of a Blu-ray release at this time... if one will even come... which is not surprising given it's intended demographic.

Though I enjoy films of "faith", I'm not a big fan of "preachy" films per se, and this one seems to be the latter. HOWEVER, my interest in this film is more personal as it was filmed down the road several miles from me. Given it's filming locations, a Blu-ray release would be an instant-buy for me, but a DVD-only release will force me to borrow the film to watch.

Now to get on with my question:

The film (according to IMDB) was filmed with a Panasonic Varicam with Apple Pro Res 422. This means VERY little to me, though I did see that "Torchwood" and "Arrested Development" was filmed using the same camera.

The makers of "Fireproof" also made the film "Facing The Giants" (also filmed down the road from me, and also released via Sony). It was also filmed with the Panasonic Varicam AJ-HDC27V, with the DVC Pro HD (720p) Cinematographic process, and the 35 mm printed film format (according to IMDB.com). Again, this means nothing to me.

My question is this, should these films EVER get the Blu-ray treatment, how will they be handled? Is "Facing The Giants" relegated to 720p resolution? Is "Fireproof"? If they are, would they be upconverted to 1080p?

This is a technical question regarding a couple of movies filmed near me, and I ask that we please keep the answers (or replies) related to the technical aspects of the films and Blu-ray, and not the content of the films (so as to abide by Forum Rules).

~Alan<~~~~~~~~~~~Who thinks it's cool that the only local video rental store is now renting Blu-ray...

[Jeff Kleist]

Sony music just released a tenacious d concert in 720p. I would imagine they'd leave it native

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

A question has been bugging me for a while, and I've been meaning to ask "the experts", but I've been busy lately, so here goes:

Sony announced the DVD release of "Fireproof" the other day. No announcement of a Blu-ray release at this time... if one will even come... which is not surprising given it's intended demographic.

Though I enjoy films of "faith", I'm not a big fan of "preachy" films per se, and this one seems to be the latter. HOWEVER, my interest in this film is more personal as it was filmed down the road several miles from me. Given it's filming locations, a Blu-ray release would be an instant-buy for me, but a DVD-only release will force me to borrow the film to watch.

Now to get on with my question:

The film (according to IMDB) was filmed with a Panasonic Varicam with Apple Pro Res 422. This means VERY little to me, though I did see that "Torchwood" and "Arrested Development" was filmed using the same camera.

The makers of "Fireproof" also made the film "Facing The Giants" (also filmed down the road from me, and also released via Sony). It was also filmed with the Panasonic Varicam AJ-HDC27V, with the DVC Pro HD (720p) Cinematographic process, and the 35 mm printed film format (according to IMDB.com). Again, this means nothing to me.

My question is this, should these films EVER get the Blu-ray treatment, how will they be handled? Is "Facing The Giants" relegated to 720p resolution? Is "Fireproof"? If they are, would they be upconverted to 1080p?

This is a technical question regarding a couple of movies filmed near me, and I ask that we please keep the answers (or replies) related to the technical aspects of the films and Blu-ray, and not the content of the films (so as to abide by Forum Rules).

~Alan<~~~~~~~~~~~Who thinks it's cool that the only local video rental store is now renting Blu-ray...

Alan, in regards to the imagery acquisition and what Jeff didn’t cover, this is the same camera that captured the vast majority of the footage for the Blu-ray (s) Planet Earth series.

The reason why it is usually chosen by lensers is that it has variable frame rate capture in single frame increments from 4 or 5 on up to 60p. Regardless of how you set the camera, the bottom line is that the recording format is DVCPRO HD (720/60P), so, if chosen, the variable frame rates and related variable shutter speeds create some very interesting ghost like motion blur effects and warp speed zoom effects similar to what one might see in music videos, sci-fi dramas and dream sequences.

You can then take that material and finish it in 720/60p using a standard linear tape based post production chain like was done with Facing the Giants, or the material can be converted to HD 1080p 24-fps, or 25 as the BBC did with Planet Earth.

Bottom line is that the material started life at 720/60P……no matter what anyone decides to do with it later by uprezzing and frame rate converting it, either at the VTR stage or further down the post production pipeline.

[Penton-Man]

People, unfortunately, my friends’ home was indeed a victim of the SoCal fires. Not completely burned to the ground but, significantly destroyed and subsequently red-tagged. To complicate matters, this is a single Mom (whose husband [a great friend] passed a couple years back from a massive myocardial infarction) with two pre-teen/teenage children, so, there is no ‘man of the house’ to assist in a crisis like this. This is going to be an especially difficult time for them as Thanksgiving Day is soon approaching.

For the foreseeable future, since I plan to devote much of my extra time and energy to helping them get back on their feet, you’ll have to excuse my inevitable decrease in posting behavior on this thread.

I will remain attentive to any concerns and problems that crop up and also try to jump in when I can……. to *chew the fat* with fellow members, however, I don’t want this recent mishap to deter anyone from communicating with each other or me in the Club, as this thread also seems to serve as a general clearing house for Insider questions and musings that might not fit into one of the other threads we have.

I intend to read every future post here……….there just may be more of a delay in my doing so and/or responding, plus I might not have the time to answer all queries, esp. if I figure one of the other Insiders or knowledgeable members are fully capable of handling those for me.

Later.