Digital Studio February 2018

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BROADCASTING A FUTURE OF IP

CONTENT, THE NEW

CLAPPERBOARD CINEMATOGRAPHER MANU ANAND BELIEVES THAT UNLESS CONTENT IN FILMMAKING GETS INTERESTING, AUDIENCES WILL STEER TOWARDS ONLINE PLATFORMS LIKE NETFLIX AND AMAZON

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FEBRUARY 2018 VOLUME 10 ISSUE 02 EVENTS CALENDAR 2018 CABSAT Show

14th to 16th Jan Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE

BES Expo

26th to 28th Feb Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India

BVE show

27th Feb to 1st March, ExCeL London, UK

Convergence India 2018

7th to 9th March Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India

NAB Show

7th to 12th April Las Vegas Convention Centre, US

Broadcast Asia

Manu Anand believes that unless content 18 Cinematographer in moviemaking gets interesting and inspiring, audiences will steer towards online platforms like Netflix and Amazon

10 DOMESTIC NEWS 14 INTERNATIONAL NEWS 26 ADAPTING SCRIPTS INTO IMAGES

There is no denying the writing on the screen – the story chooses the camera.

36 SAY CHEESE!

Cinematographer Rajesh Gupta’s narrates how wedding photography has become a lucrative profession in India.

38 IP: GET, SET, GO?

Standfirst: Given the mounting evidence that broadcasting companies are keen to invest in IP solutions, how long before they transition to it?

4 FEBRUARY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO

26th to 28th June Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, Singapore

BIRTV 2018 Show

22nd to 25th August Beijing, China

IBC Expo

14th to 18th September Amsterdam RAI, Netherlands

Broadcast India Show

25th to 27th October Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai Digital Studio India Channel Partner Awards

26th October Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai

Inter BEE

14th to 16th November Tokyo, Japan

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VIEWPOINT Vol. 10 | Issue 2 | February 2018

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Through The Looking Glass

VINITA BHATIA

What does a cinematographer do? They project a director’s ideas, which are usually in words, and give it a visual form.

They bring out expressions and emotions in the characters in films, TV programmes, and now, in the OTT serials to enthrall audiences. They use a variety of cinematographic styles including documentary, surrealism and neorealism to create different types of imagery for this purpose.

The pressure is increasing on cinematographers to produce content that will suit the evolving demands of audiences for high quality visuals. They are relying heavily on their cameras to help them deliver this. Our theme of this issue is, therefore, cinematography.

In this edition of Digital Studio, we present a tête-à-tête with eminent cinematographer, Manu Anand, who tells us how content is the most critical element in the entertainment business. In his opinion, unless filmmakers create content that is thought-provoking and stimulating, audiences will soon move to other platforms like digital.

We also have a report about the importance that digital cameras play in a cinematographers’ ability to relate a narrative in the best manner possible. Improvement in sensor quality, higher resolution and compact designs has now become the order of the day. With affordable cameras emerging regularly with great features, cinematographers are spoilt for choice.

In this issue, we also explore the adoption of softwaredefined infrastructure, IP-connected network in the industry.

In addition to increased flexibility, significant reduction in space and power, we find out the other advantages of this technology.

This is just a primer of what is in this issue. There is a lot more. So go on, read it, and let us know what you think about this edition.

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CIRCULATION Distribution manager James D’Souza T +91 22 6154 6006 james.dsouza@itp.com

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ADVISORY BOARD

ADVISORY BOARD DIGITAL STUDIO INDIA ADVISORY BOARD 2017 We are happy to introduce the Digital Studio India Technical Advisory Board for 2017. The board—comprising Indian television and broadcast industry veterans and thought leaders—offers insights about market happenings, ideas for features and news, thoughts on technology and trends, editorial contributions. The board also lends its knowledge and experience to help Digital Studio India continue to offer the most timely editorial features, case studies, and information relevant to the industry.

DINESH SINGH

K YEGNESHWARA IYER

Chief Technology Officer, NDTV Limited Singh has over 22 years of experience with companies like NDTV, NVL Ltd - Sony Broadcast equipments, Thomson, etc. Some of his notable projects include India’s first digital production set up with robotics camera in the Parliament, film-based project in Ramoji Film City and turnkey project of Bangladesh National Open University, Bangladesh that includes four studios with PCRs, radio audio studio, microwaves and FM transmitter.

Head Of Technology Technical & Broadcast Operations, Times Television Network Iyer has spent more than three decades setting up networks and developing business software for various broadcasting companies. A co-applicant in a patent application for real time graphics on TV, he conceptualised and delivered innovative technical processes in news broadcast television, developed mobile apps and mobile app back-end architecture.

PIYUSH GUPTA

MANAS RANJAN MATI

Group CTO, India Today With over 19 years of experience in TV and broadcast, prior to managing technology and integration within India Today Group, Gupta has been with Network 18 for almost 15 years and has headed operations and technology development for CNBC TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNN-IBN, HomeShop18 and Colors.

Executive Director & Head of Technology, Walt Disney India Mati heads Walt Disney India’s technology initiatives since the last four years. Prior to that, he was responsible for information technology, business applications and media technology functions for Disney Channel and Disney Media Distribution businesses in Asia Pacific and Japan.

RAJASEKHARAN HARIKRISHNAN

AK MADHAVAN

VP and CTO, Viacom 18 Media Harikrishnan heads the technical operations of Viacom 18 Media since the last four years. He has a rich experience in broadcast TV industry, production and post-production environment and also in designing and systems integration. He earlier headed technology and operations at Neo Sports Broadcast and has also worked with NDTV.

Founder and CEO, Assemblage Entertainment AK Madhavan launched his entrepreneurial venture, Assemblage Entertainment, at 55, after spending 14 years as CEO of Crest Animation Studios. Previously, he has managed senior roles with Dalal Street Journal and with DDE-Org Systems, a information technology solutions provider, where he also began his career.

SUBASH SAHOO VP – FWICE and General Secretary –WIMPTSEA An alumnus of FTII Pune, Sahoo has been part of Bollywood for over 22 years as sound designer. He has won the National Award twice, besides bagging several state awards. Sahoo is currently the general secretary of Western India Motion Pictures & TV Sound Engineers Association, and VP of Federation of Western India Cine Employees.

8 FEBRUARY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO

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THIS MONTH IN THE BROADCAST AND PRODUCTION INDUSTRY

MOVIEBUFF, 2D ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE FIRST CLAP SEASON 2 FILMMAKERS HAVE TO CREATE A COMPELLING STORY WITHIN THREE MINUTES

The launch of First Clap Season 2, a talent hunt for aspiring filmmakers.

Moviebuff and 2D Entertainment have launched of First Clap Season 2, a talent hunt for aspiring filmmakers, where they have to create a compelling story within three minutes on any subject.

Knack Studios is supporting the initiative by extending its postproduction facilities for processing the Digital Intermediate and 5.1 audio mix, free of charge, to the top five winners prior to the theatrical screening. Moviebuff’s partner, Little Shows, will handle the online public voting process, just like they did last year.

First Clap brings aspiring filmmakers, production houses, cinema halls and audiences under one roof. The maiden edition of the contest in 2017 was screened in 170 theatres across 40 cities in Tamil Nadu, with a minimum viewership of 34,35,432.

10 FEBRUARY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO

The top three contestants will win cash prizes from 2D Entertainment and Moviebuff.com. The winner earns INR 3 lakhs in prize money while the first runner-up receives INR 2 lakhs and the second runner-up INR 1 lakh. The winner will be given an opportunity to narrate their script to actor Suriya’s 2D Entertainment film production and distribution company, including an opportunity to intern with them.

“A platform like First Clap helps identify raw new talent and exposes us to various innovative stories. If scripts are finalised, we will be interested in working with this new class of creators as bringing such artists under one common platform gives us more options on the projects we want to support,” said Suriya.

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DOMESTIC NEWS

AMAZON PARTNERS WITH SAREGAMA USERS CAN ACCESS THE LABEL’S CATALOGUE OF 1,17,000 TRACKS ON AMAZON PRIME Amazon has partnered with Saregama the foremost ways of consuming muto stream the label’s catalogue of 1,17,000 sic in India. We are excited to partner tracks across 15000 albums on Amazon with Amazon Prime Music, in bringPrime Music when the ad-free music ing our extensive and rich catalogue streaming service launches in India latof songs from our label to their plater this year. Members who subscribe to form, ensuring that we reach out to Prime’s services will soon be able to disthe fast-growing base of Prime memcover and listen to melodies on the platbers. We believe this digital experiform from movies like Guide, Don, Kati ence would only enhance the level of Patang, Waqt, CID; contributions from popularity of our songs across a wide legends like Lata Mangeshkar, Mohamdemographic of people in India.” mad Rafi, Jagjit Singh, Ghulam Ali, MS Amazon has also signed a deal with Subbulakshmi, Asha Bhosle, R.D BurZee Music Company as well to add man, Kishore Kumar, and more artists. over 450 film soundtracks in Hindi Sahas Malhotra, director, Amazon and regional languages as well as 250 Amazon has also signed a deal with Zee Music Company Music, India, said, “We are excited to independent artist content to its adto add over 450 soundtracks. partner with Saregama to add classics free music service. This streaming over the decades in several Indian languages especially hand-curated playlists across their service is currently available to Echo custo boost our always expanding Indian and favourite eras, genres, and artists”. tomers in India on a preview basis and upon Vikram Mehra, MD, Saregama India, added, launch will be available to Amazon Prime international catalogue. At launch, Amazon Prime Music listeners will enjoy hundreds of “Music streaming has fast emerged as one of subscribers at no additional cost.

YUPPTV EQUIPS AASTHA GROUP’S TV DIGITAL WORLD YUPPTV WILL POWER ITS TV CHANNELS AND VOD PLATFORM Global provider for South-Asian content, YuppTV, will power Aastha Group’s TV channels (Aastha, Aastha Bhajan, Vedic and Arihant) voyage into the world of OTT. Aastha, a spiritual and cultural brand, will utilise YuppTV’s whitelabelled video platform to be present across the digital world of web, mobile, and connected TVs. Aastha’s mobile app was launched recently

by Swami Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishan. On this occasion, Ramdev stated that this was the beginning of a new era in the journey of Aastha, an Indian channel dedicated on spirituality and natural wellness through yoga and Ayurveda. He added that the Aastha app would bring people across the world closer to Indian spirituality and meditation as they could watch their favourite programmes anytime anywhere.

Commenting on this association, Uday Reddy, founder and CEO of YuppTV, noted, “We are glad to associate with Aastha channel and ex-

12 FEBRUARY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO

Uday Reddy, founder and CEO YuppTV.

pedite its reach across digital channels via our multi-screen white-labelled video platform.

While the channel promotes spirituality and culture amongst the youth and elderly alike, our white labelled OTT platform will ensure the channel’s direct reach and accessibility to the users.”

Elucidating upon the partnership, Pramod Joshi, CEO of Aastha TV added, “The presentday user is equipped with digital mediums, smartphones and tablets and their viewing habits have changed. Hence, it is important for us to be present where our users are and make it convenient for them to watch our content and have a direct connection with them. We thank YuppTV’s white-labelled OTT Platform for helping us successfully navigate through the world of OTT and make Aastha channels directly accessible to users via iOS and Android mobile apps, websites and connected TVs.”

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DOMESTIC NEWS

CREATING CONTENT THAT MATTERS THE 2ND EDITION OF THE GLOBAL CONTENT BAZAR WAS HELD AT MUMBAI The 2nd edition of India’s first-ever content market, the Global Content Bazar 2018, was held on 19th and 20th January at World Trade Centre in Mumbai. The event was envisaged as a one-stop marketplace for content creators and innovators to showcase their work to potential buyers and distributors, while also engaging in collaborations pivotal in the creation of content for various fields.

According to the organisers, Saicom Trade Fairs Exhibitions, this year the show witnessed more interest as compared to the first edition.

Around 70 companies from China, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, UAE, Russia, Austria and India participated this year, which witnessed a visitor footfall of more than 1600 delegates.

The event showcased strides in content for film, television, animation, documentaries short films, virtual reality, OTT-IPTV-VOD, 3D, music, radio, interactive gaming, mobile, etc.

Leading content providers, buyers and sellers like the China Pavilion, Sony Pictures, NH

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Studioz, Fashion TV, Ultra Media and Entertainment, Arthavi Creations, Green Gold Animation, Golden Egg Entertainment, One Take Media, Global One Enterprise, Astute Media, etc, made their presence felt at the show and in the Indian content industry.

The ‘Monetising of Moving Images’ confer-

ence, which saw the participation of around 24 speakers, also saw the presentation of papers on the latest trends in monetising content in a constantly-evolving industry. The 3rd edition of Global Content Bazar will now take place on 11th and 12th January 2019 at the World Trade Centre in Mumbai.

DIGITAL STUDIO | FEBRUARY 2018 13

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Ahmed Al-Menhali, director of projects, Abu Dhabi Media.

ABU DHABI MEDIA UPGRADES CENTRAL INFRASTRUCTURE, PLAYOUT FACILITY IMAGINE COMMUNICATIONS DESIGNED THE TECHNICAL FACILITIES TO ACCELERATE TRANSITION TO IP Imagine Communications is providing a full upgrade of the central technical facilities at Abu Dhabi Media, a media company in the MENA region. The center includes playout facilities for 15 HD channels and was first established 10 years ago.

Central to the design of the refreshed technology platform is the flexibility to update seamlessly to meet changing market demands. The system currently supports baseband/SDI, but is future-proofed to incorporate IP connectivity, as required.

It supports 4K, HDR and other potential technical developments. The hybrid architecture supports a mix of on-premises and cloud-ready solutions, including Imagine’s Broadcast Master and xG Schedule for traffic and programme scheduling. In 2017, Imagine and Abu Dhabi Media implemented a proofof-concept cloud playout system for disaster recovery in cooperation with du Media Cloud.

“Today, the direction of technology is more towards software-defined solutions and away from hardware,” said Ahmed Al-Menhali, director of projects at Abu Dhabi Media. “The concept of software-defined technology is helping everybody. Imagine is following that

14 FEBRUARY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO

direction, and that serves the roadmap we have planned to roll out.”

The new installation provides an end-toend broadcast chain, from ingest to delivery.

The new ingest and asset management system is based on the Imagine Nexio Motion, which manages all content workflows across the system while the Imagine Versio playout solution, running as software instances on Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) workstations, supports the playout automation, including Nexio+ AMP, branding and master control switching. The Nexio Motion also provides browse access to content and lowresolution editing. High-resolution editing software has direct access to content on Versio IOX storage solutions for efficient post production. Also incorporated into the network at the software level are other key applications, including QC, file transfer and production graphics, which reside alongside the central archival storage.

Abu Dhabi Media has elected to make a managed transition to IP, primarily to protect its capital investment in legacy equipment.

“Currently we do not feel the need to invest in replacing the existing infrastructure,”

Al-Menhali said. “We have the HD-SDI infrastructure in place, and we intend to continue with this infrastructure for routing until we decided to move on, perhaps to some form of UHD. The important thing is that what we are building now will survive the coming four or five years, but is capable of shifting the underlying routing from SDI to IP without changing anything else.”

The continuing relationship between Imagine Communications and Abu Dhabi Media and the availability of support in the region were key deciding factors in awarding the contract to Imagine. “We have been working closely with Abu Dhabi Media for over a decade,” said Anas Hantash, head of Imagine Communications for MENA. “We have been extremely impressed with their initiatives to transition their business towards hybrid SDI and IP, software-defined solutions and virtualised environments. They wanted to be sure that IP was a coherent route for the future, and with Imagine they feel that this is being delivered.”

This major programme of work has now been designed, with installation starting at the beginning of 2018 for an on-air date in May.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

MBC COMPLETES MIGRATION OF PLAYOUT OPERATION (l to r) Tom Gittins, CEO, Pebble Beach Systems with MBC Group’s Emad Dabbah, Nick Barratt, Bassam Faour and Samir Isbaih.

Pebble Beach Systems, an automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, said that MBC Group, a free-to-air broadcast network in the Arab world, has now completed the process of migrating playout of all 23 channels to the company’s flagship Marina automation solution.

Originally an ADC facility, MBC initially deployed a Pebble Beach Systems Neptune playout automation solution several years ago. The phased migration across to Marina automation was completed late in 2017. Nick Barratt, senior manager – broadcast at MBC Group expanded on the rationale for migrating to Marina, which presents the operator with a single unified operator interface, regardless of the underlying technology being controlled. “Unifying under the common user experience of an open system, with an extensive and evolving library of API integrations, allows us to take advantage of the technology changes currently happening in the broadcast world, regardless of manufacturer. We aim to make it totally immaterial to the operator not only what systems underpin the channel they are working on, but also if those systems are physical, virtual or even their location.”

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16 FEBRUARY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO

in our decision to upgrade with Marina was Pebble Beach Systems’ track record of supporting an open approach to systems and suppliers.”

MBC and Pebble worked closely together throughout the process, starting with a six-week parallel run before the first two channels, the Al Arabiya and Al Hadath news channels, were transferred to Marina control.

“This parallel run period highlighted any issues and resulted in a complete non-event during switch-over,” confirmed Barratt. His colleague Emad Dabbah, senior manager – transmission and digital archive, stated, “As we embarked on the migration, we worked closely with Pebble to fine-tune the system’s performance for the fast-paced news environment.”

Samir Isbaih, Pebble’s regional manager for the Middle East and South Asia, explained, “In this region, where Neptune is the dominant automation solution, we offer a flexible migration strategy with little or no disruption to the end user’s operations. Firstly, user’s existing Neptune database is fully migrated onto the new platform with no data loss and, as at MBC, both systems can run in parallel so that migration can be done gradually to suit the end user’s timescale.”

ACCEDO COLLABORATES WITH GOOGLE CLOUD

Accedo, a video experience pioneer, has collaborated with Google Cloud to provide media and entertainment companies ready access to a single, unified cloud platform to build, transform and grow their video experiences. Powered

by Accedo Studio, media and entertainment companies of any size can move beyond templated apps and build customisable video experiences. They can create or update designs and navigations unique to their brand experience across multiple screens in the way that best suits their infrastructure and organisation. The cloud-based UX management capabilities of Accedo Studio make it easy for video channel managers and producers to tune the user experience that’s just right for every audience by configuring and testing apps in real time.

Through the Accedo and Google Cloud collaboration, Accedo is able to make those experiences dynamic, enabling media and entertainment companies to adapt the video experience according to a number of different factors, based on data gathered in realtime and to ultimately better monetise and manage their content.

“Google Cloud has an impressive track record when it comes to creating scalable media solutions, as well as in-depth knowledge about big data, AI and machine learning – all important assets for the future winners in the media landscape.”, said Fredrik Andersson, SVP, business development and partnerships.

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COVER STORY

CONTENT, THE NEW CLAPPERBOARD Cinematographer Manu Anand believes that unless content in moviemaking gets interesting and inspiring, audiences will steer towards online platforms like Netflix and Amazon

BY VINITA BHATIA

18 FEBRUARY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO

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COVER STORY

anu Anand believes these are exciting times for cinematographers, at least those who are willing and open to newer avenues. Those who have worked on feature films are shifting to television series that offer them the scope of trying something different, like 24 or Dharma Productions’ Powder. Working on such creations, helps them differentiate themselves from their peers, in an industry that is becoming increasingly content-driven.

That explains why Anand has always chosen films that have had unconventional storylines, like the critically-applauded Dum Laga Ke Haisha, which is about an unusually paired couple (Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar) Fan, a story of an obsessive fan (a dual-role played by Shah Rukh Khan) or the soon-to-be released Aanand L. Rai directed Zero, where Shah Rukh Khan plays a dwarf.

He explained how this democratisation of content and its visual delivery bodes well for cinematographers, as long as they continue to educate themselves on ways to convey the subject to the changing expectations of viewers.

M

Does choosing the right camera help a cinematographer in conveying the story better?

You know, I am a camera-neutral person; whichever camera suits the project is good enough for me. In today’s day and age, with the digital intermediates (DI) and other image control techniques available, the audience can’t really tell the difference between cameras. Only DOPs can say if there is some discernible difference.

Does this mean that all cameras are homogenous in their qualities?

I think some cameras are good for a particular set of things; others are good for another set of things. So it depends on the project one needs them for. It isn’t that any single camera is the Holy Grail.

I have shot films using RED Digital Camera and ARRI Alexa cameras – they are all great devices.

Ultimately, it all boils down to the nature of the film one will need it for though – whether you need a small camera or a big one, or the resolution and dynamic range required. All these factors determine the choice of the device.

Usually producers decide the camera for a movie, considering various factors. If you had a say, is there any particular brand that you would prefer?

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That too will depend on the kind of film I am doing.

For instance, I shot Dum Laga Ke Haisha on a RED Digital camera. Later, I shot Fan on the RED Epic Dragon. The reason for choosing this camera was because I was doing plenty of handheld shots with lots of running around and I was pretty confident that I could get the look that I wanted from that camera. In this movie, I did not want to use a heavier camera like the ARRI Alexa. So, the camera’s ergonomics and to some extent its higher resolution determined that decision. For my current film Zero, I am shooting on the Alexa because it suits the project more.

In this day and age, all cameras are so good that the technology is not what’s important in telling a good story. The story is important not the tool that tells the story. Most of the cine cameras are very capable of translating a director’s vision.

With technological improvements, camera prices have also become more affordable. So, while choosing a camera, what factors matter the most – its technical aspects, its price, or ease of maintenance?

I have been fortunate enough to work in projects where the DOP can choose the camera, in consultation with the director and producer. The producer’s buy-in is important, as there are different rates for different cameras. Since most the top line cameras more or less fall in the same price bracket, cinematographers don’t really have an issue.

The challenge arises in the case of a low-budget film where the producer might want the DOP to shoot on a particular camera because he is getting a good deal from a vendor, and the DOP may not like it. So, if it is a low-budget film, I have no qualms shooting it on the cine camera the producer provides as most are amazing in terms of image quality and what they can do.

Also, overall, we are still projecting content in 2K in India. So, the cameras sort of get levelled out in terms of resolution. The most important tool that cinematographers have in their thought process is the will to be brave and innovative. You can have the best device like an ARRI Alexa 65, but if you don’t use it creatively, it doesn’t matter what camera you used.

So, it is a lot like photography, right, where the medium is as important as the process involved?

Yes. In photography, you can have a beautiful shot, but the printing is equally important for the final image to look impressive. In the older days of photography, one would go to the dark room to print

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COVER STORY

“I shot Fan on the RED Epic Dragon.

The reason for choosing this camera was because I was doing plenty of handheld shots with lots of running around and I was pretty confident that I could get the look that I wanted from that camera.”

camera is sensitive, you still need to mould the light, when you have a certain look in mind. You might go to a location and depending on the lighting conditions and the look you want to achieve, you might want to get more light or balance it. So, for a DOP, lighting will always remain an important element of his work; it is not really going to go away.

Of course, the amount and extent of lighting will change. So where, I was using two big lights, I might end up using one big light.

a photograph, and unless you followed the process properly, the print would not look good. This is the same with film – if the colour timing isn’t done well, your image won’t look good. The same is true for digital. If the colour correction isn’t done properly your image won’t look good.

There are some people who are even shooting on iPhones. Technology is advancing so fast, that even a small camera like the Panasonic GH5 is so powerful.

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Production companies are now investing more in digital cameras because they feel that it means lesser investment in lighting equipment and other paraphernalia. Even DOPs feel these smaller cameras give them a lot more flexibility. Do you agree?

Digital cameras are way more sensitive than the film versions and do not need as much light. However, this doesn’t mean that lighting doesn’t have to be done. Though the

How do you learn about the latest camera equipment – do you rely on camera manufacturers to hand you that information or do your research on your own?

We are at an age where cinematographers have to keep studying and update themselves with the latest technologies. The onus remains on the cinematographer, though the manufacturers do their bit to train us. They do a good job at making the tools accessible.

For instance, recently, Panasonic held a workshop in Los Angeles for some DOPs to showcase the Varicam and show us what

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COVER STORY

cameras at times because the projection is only 2K. For example, the Alexa is a 3.4K camera but for a 2K projection 3.4K capture is enough.

What is the reason behind this resistance to change?

It will take time. The manufacturer has the products, but is India ready? Indian producers are not yet pushing 4K content, it is companies like Netflix and Amazon who are saying that the minimum requirement of image capture from a camera shall be 4K RAW. The reason our producers aren’t insisting on transitioning to 4K yet is that the audience experience is still in 2K and it is going to take time for our projectors in cinema halls to transition to 4K. There are very few 4K projectors and these are expensive investments. Any exhibitor will think twice before this upgrade.

Additionally, 4K post-production has to become a little more economically friendly.

The post-houses will need lots more data space and more processing power since the machines have to work on a heavier load.

Hence, I think it will be awhile before we start projecting and mastering on 4K.

”The choice of the camera depends on the kind of film I am doing. For instance, I shot Dum Laga Ke Haisha on a RED Digital camera.”

it was capable of. These kinds of technical workshops help us to stay ng updated about the latest technologies. However, at the end of the day, a lot of this is self-motivated and about a DOP’s inclination towards learning the nuances of new technologies.

Which is apparently happening since there are a lot more DOPs in the industry than there were a few years ago?

That will happen, right? The entry barrier in the industry is now much lower. Now, you can join the industry as an assistant and perfect your skill by learning on the job with cheaper digital cameras and if you are good, then you can start shooting much earlier.

So, has the learning curve reduced because information is easily available?

The learning curve has not reduced; I think it is actually never ending. However, the entry barrier in terms of economics is lower. Earlier, when we were doing photography, you had to buy a film, process it and there was a cost involved. Today, since photography is the base of cinematography, all you need to do is invest in a digital camera. So, you can start very early learning composition, lighting, etc. This has given people from varied backgrounds the freedom to explore this field better than they would probably have done earlier.

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“PANASONIC RECENTLY HELD A WORKSHOP IN LOS ANGELES FOR SOME DOPS TO SHOWCASE THEIR VARICAM AND SHOW US WHAT IT WAS CAPABLE OF. THESE KINDS OF TECHNICAL WORKSHOPS HELP US TO STAY UPDATED ABOUT THE LATEST TECHNOLOGIES.” Another interesting thing that one sees and hears about is how 4K has become the de facto standard for capturing content.

Do you think it has come to pass in India?

4K has become the de facto standard in countries like the USA thanks to Netflix and Amazon however, despite that many cameras are not 4K. We shoot in lower resolution

This essentially means we will be constantly playing catch-up, because by then the industry would have moved on to 8K. To an extent, yes. But the real difference and change shouldn’t be in resolution or 4K vs 8K. I believe content will drive change and also get people to the cinema hall. If the content is not good, they will be driven to YouTube, Netflix or Amazon on their smartphones. In the US, a lot of small films don’t even go to theatres anymore; they come straight to Netflix and Amazon, because that is where consumption is happening a lot faster and also that is where they are able to leverage their work.

While the bigger film production houses have this well-oiled juggernaut, YouTube, Amazon and Netflix have managed to infiltrate and get the audience’s attention.

Cinema and online consumption will be facing off. It is inevitable. But for me nothing beats watching a film in a dark theatre on a 40-feet screen.

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ADAPTING SCRIPTS INTO IMAGES

There is no denying the writing on the screen – the story chooses the camera

BY VINITA BHATIA cinematographer is known as the director’s eye; they bring to life the latter’s vision. Most of them have a proclivity for celluloid, having used it for the better part of their career. But over the years, they have moulded their craft to adapt to the era of digital filmmaking.

While most graduated to the digital medium because it was simpler and a faster process, others opted for it because of the strides the entertainment industry was making and the changing expectations of the audience.

A

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A VIRTUAL BOON3 Digital cameras have been a boon to cinematographers across various genres as it allowed them to shoot in a better resolution, high frame rate and low light conditions, thereby facilitating a better view of the grand set designs and other minute details in filming. Another high point about the digital dawn is that cinematographers can now think about owning their own camera – something they could not have considered while working on film.

Cinematographer Manoj Paramahamsa recalled how till a few years back a cinematographer owning a camera was a far fetched

dream because it was not only expensive, but they would also need to spend on film stocks and laboratories and plenty of man power.

“I own a digital cinema camera now, in order to be an indie filmmaker. Though I do mainstream movies, I also produce some good, independent films within pocket friendly budgets, because I have my own digital camera and much more portable support systems, so I can go out shoot a movie, whenever and whatever I want!” he exclaimed.

However, K Ramachandra Babu, ISC, cautioned that owning a tool does not a creator make, because today cameras are available to shoot film for any budget. Digital has

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less waste, keeping the entire project within the allotted budget and timelines.

democraticised filmmaking and with prices of smartphones with stunning cameras, DSLRs and camcorders going southwards, these are available to prosumer filmmakers at very cost effective rates.

“Now almost every other person has become a film maker. Quantitatively, there is a massive increase in the numbers, but unfortunately when it comes to quality only few meaningful films get made. Digital should be treated as a tool only, the person behind it is the real creator,” Babu claimed.

This is a point well made. Eddie Udagawa, VP, consumer imaging and information centre, Canon India, pointed out that film making needs a lot of research on the subject, as it involves a tremendous amount of studio and equipment cost apart from skill sets to utilise those resources. Furthermore, filming doesn’t end with the end of shooting, cinematographers need to be involved in grading/post production process. With digital cameras making inroads in filmmaking, filmmakers and production companies complete their shoot with

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MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE Choosing the right camera makes all the difference when it comes to creating content, whether for the big screen or the smaller ones or even the digital formats. The availability of digital products that offer a lot more flexibility has definitely made filmmaking easier.

When it comes to selecting the apt camera, what cinematographers seek is a product that will help them capture and translate a scene into a high-quality footage in the best and most accurate way possible. However, capturing a visually compelling and technically superior video can be challenging and therefore requires a good understanding of different types of cameras and their settings, to be in absolute sync with the story.

According to Paramahamsa, who has worked on Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, it is a cliché that the camera is the key tool for any cinematographer. Although it is definitely true that the choice of camera is a vital factor for a cinematographer, there are numerous other components to the decision.

But the first step of prep work of any film starts by choosing the right camera based on the script and the project.

Fellow cinematographer Babu agreed with his opinion that the choice of the camera depends on the movie’s subject and budget for which it is being used. “Whether the images to be created are raw and realistic, or smooth and glowing depends on the kind of visual treatment given by the creators for the narration. The situation where the camera is to be used is also important. Small handy cameras are preferred for cramped locations and unobtrusive naturalistic style of shooting. The choice of lenses is also of prime importance as it influences the image creation to a large extent,” he added.

Babu prefers the ARRI Alexa cameras because of their ergonometric design and the film-like latitude. In his opinion, its image quality, both in terms of dynamic range and colour reproduction are excellent and he felt that the user-friendly menus and ease of operation makes it the top choice of cinematographers like him.

“WE WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH RENTAL HOUSES TO INTRODUCE THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY TESTING AT VARIOUS OUTDOOR AND INDOOR SHOOTS. WE ALSO TAKE CONSISTENT FEEDBACKS FROM THEM ON THE CAMERAS AND EXTEND COMPLETE BACK END SUPPORT AND TECHNOLOGY TRAININGS.” - EDDIE UDAGAWA, VP, CONSUMER IMAGING AND INFORMATION CENTRE, CANON INDIA. Director West Saharat underlined this with his experience while shooting his debut Thai feature film ‘Bug KookJe Go Inter’. To showcase the vast experiences of village folk, there were many outdoor shoots in rural Thailand.

So, his team needed a versatile camera outfit that was light and powerful enough to capture high-quality images, and adaptable to different lighting situations and spaces. “We had a full Blackmagic Design camera set, consisting of an URSA Mini 4K camera, a Blackmagic Cinema Production Camera 4K and a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. In one scene, a buffalo got really agitated and charged towards us. The crew just grabbed the nearest gear and we legged it. Luckily everything was light enough for us to just grab and dash!” he recalled, while explaining the merits of a light camera-based on the storyline.

Udagawa said, “The phrase ‘4K video recording’ has become a buzzword and the relevance of 4K video is more in the professional segment. Our professional video cameras

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When it comes to selecting the apt camera, what cinematographers seek is a product that will help them capture and translate a scene into a high-quality footage in the best and most accurate way possible.

XC15, XC10 and recently introduced XF 405 has 4K video feature enabled in the camera.”

WHAT MATTERS MOST Till a few years ago, cameras were merely a mechanical device used by cinematographers to transport the film in specific frames per second for normal 24 fps or a high-speed 150 fps. The choice of lens or film stock barely affected the camera’s performance because film stocks and film laboratories helped cinematographers achieve the look and feel they wanted.

With the advent of the digital era, the choice of camera combines everything in one shell – like the sensor which is equivalent to film emulsion and the processing capacity, which is equivalent to the film lab. Hence, Paramahamsa feels that the camera has to be chosen wisely. “The last few years have been very crucial because lots of companies kept on introducing new cameras and updating their sensor technologies to produce stunning images. New-age digital cameras offer plenty of choices for resolutions, conventional cinematography, visual effects-based cinematography and also for stereo vision-based cinematography. Even RED Digital Cameras have an option to swap their sensors for an monochromatic images with their interchangeable sensor technologies,” he pointed out.

Babu feels that cinematographers and

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“IMPROVEMENT IN SENSOR QUALITY, HIGHER RESOLUTION, COMPACT DESIGNS IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY. AFFORDABLE CAMERAS WITH MANY GREAT FEATURES ARE COMING OUT REGULARLY. IT IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO MAKE A CHOICE,” – CINEMATOGRAPHER K RAMACHANDRA BABU, ISC. content creators are more concerned about the technical features of cameras than the price and maintenance, which comes under the ambit of equipment rental companies.

“Improvement in sensor quality, higher

resolution, compact designs is the order of the day. Affordable cameras with many great features are coming out regularly. It is becoming increasingly difficult to make a choice,” he pointed out.

Udagawa added that there are number of things that are factored in when the cinematographers or professional content creators choose a camera. This included simplicity of handling of the camera as well as workflow of data files from production to post production/ grading. The other important thing to keep in mind was skin tones, textures, colour sampling, resolution 4K Raw with 60 fps to 240 fps, 13-15 stops of dynamic range and even low light sensitivity depending on project to project needs.

“These are some of the key features which is important in today’s competitive world. It has also become predominant to have majority of the key features with a well-priced and cost effective cameras. Therefore, Canon has a wide range of cameras in the cinema cameras ranging from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 42 lakh,” he stated.

Adding to this, Darren Tan, creative director of Singapore-based Little Red Ants Creative Studio said that good ideas and great people create the best works. “Together with our clients, we constantly seek new ways to deliver top visual content. We rely on DaVinci Resolve as our go-to colour grading software

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BROADCASTING

because of the set of tools that allow us to add finesse with colour,” explained Tan. “I also like its flexibility when it comes to taking in various camera formats and codecs.

Being able to edit, colour grade and master out makes it an indispensable tool in our workflow.”

PUT THE MONEY WHERE THE TECH IS Increasingly, production companies are investing in digital cameras because of shift of technology from analog to digital format.

Workflows with digital have become cost effective and flexible, whether for the cinema, TV or online media.

Udagawa added that digital technology has got its own advantages in its features, where low light performance, high resolution and high frame rate have become key features to bring up the production value to higher standards.

There is a prevalent myth that digital cameras require very less light. While it is true that those high ISO rating can shoot well, even in low-light situations, “such scenes shot in actual moonlight looks flat and appears as if it was shot in day time. In creative cinematography light and shade is used in a controlled manner to express an emotion.

So lighting units cannot be done away with”, said Babu.

Camera manufacturers are taking lots of initiatives to educate cinematographers about the latest tech developments. They conduct demo sessions, screen footage and offer comparison sessions. Paramahamsa added, “Manufacturer forums like reduser. net are useful in understanding various aspects like depth, because the various posts made by the senior cinematographers really help the beginners to understand the technology more precisely than the marketing manifestos.”

Babu, however, rued that the fact that most manufacturers hold demos in major filmmaking centres like Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad, where only a handful of cinematographers and industry people can attend. “Due to their work schedules, most don’t get enough time to try out the new equipments. Hence, we have to do our

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FUNDAMENTALS FOR CHOOSING A CAMERA • Know the budget for the camera package. Then decide on whether to rent or buy it.

• Choose the lens based on the compatibility of corresponding sensor image circle, and their ability to shoot different aspect ratios.

• Keep in mind the selection of lens choices like Super 35mm, anamorphic lenses, full frame lenses or still photography lenses that offer high speed filming options.

• Always choose good quality lens without any blemishes and aberrations.

• Decide the form factor size and weight; these play a key role in choosing corresponding camera grips and rigs.

• Factor in the sensor quality, type of sensor, HDR, latitude range, pixel density and the sensor’s age.

• Research about the camera’s hardware, including its ease of use, menu options, recording formats, ergonometric design, and how well it is suited for the project.

• Also find out the accessories available with the camera.

K.Ramachandra Babu, ISC, Cinematographer

“COMPANIES KEEP ON INTRODUCING NEW CAMERAS, UPDATING THEIR SENSOR TECHNOLOGIES TO PRODUCE STUNNING IMAGES. NEW AGE DIGITAL CAMERAS GIVE LOTS OF CHOICES FOR RESOLUTIONS, CONVENTIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY, VISUAL EFFECTS-BASED CINEMATOGRAPHY AND ALSO FOR STEREO VISIONBASED CINEMATOGRAPHY.”CINEMATOGRAPHER MANOJ PARAMAHAMSA.

own research about the trending equipments. Since the camera is rarely bought by the cinematographer, the marketing people too are not interested in contacting them.

They go after the rental companies or studio owners,” he complained.

Cameras have specific features with a cost involved, hence purchasing them becomes difficult for filmmakers or production houses.

This is where the rental companies play an important role. Manufacturers, therefore, have a tie-up with rental houses to provide them with cameras with the latest technologies and with specific requirements.

Explaining this, Udagawa said, “We work very closely with rental houses to introduce the latest technology testing at various outdoor and indoor shoots. We also take consistent feedbacks from them on the cameras and extend complete back-end support and technology trainings. We also take extended high priority after-sales services for all leading rental houses for their equipments.”

Any project is fraught with expectations and pressures, and a cinematographer has to ensure that despite these, the director’s concept is manifest picture-perfect. While they will leverage the best of technology, they will have to embed their creative stamp, and that will have to be left irrespective of the equipment used. Ultimately, the technique differentiates from the tech, and don’t we all know it!

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CONSUMER CONNECT — PANASONIC

ABOUT DONALD ⊲ Donald McAlpine is a member of the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) and the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). ⊲ He was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in the 2001 Queen’s New Years Honours List for his services to Australian society and Australian film production.

VARICAM PURE’S PALETTE CLOSEST TO FILM THAN ANY OTHER CAMERA Celebrated an Oscar Nominated ASC, ACS Australian Cinematographer, Donald McAlpine, is impressed with Panasonic Varicam, particularly Varicam Pure. He claimed that DOPs can use it to shoot in practically low-light situations and create the realism that used to take them hours to achieve in the older days Which is the first camera that you used?

My first experience was during my teenage years when I bought a black and white camera and shot a lot of stills. My first brush with cinematography was when I was at the university, training to

30 FEBRUARY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO

be a physical education teacher. I started using a 16mm camera for capturing sporting events, particularly to film athletes who were preparing for the Olympic Games in Melbourne. My film career started in 1972.

Every cinematographer wants to control the light. What are your thoughts about this? How do you do without sunlight and how does the Panasonic Varicam help you with this?

I think in the past, cinematographers tried

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CONSUMER CONNECT — PANASONIC

SOME KEY PROJECTS: • Predator • Romeo + Juliet • Mrs. Doubtfire • Moulin Rouge!

• Peter Pan • The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe • X-Men Origins: Wolverine • The Dressmaker • Ali’s Wedding

their best to control the light. This comes from the fact that film was so sensitive that you had to introduce a lot of artificial light.

Of course, that has changed, particularly with the Varicam Pure. Now, you can shoot in practically low-light situations and create the realism that in the older days, we used to work for hours to achieve. It is really a matter of controlling the situation better.

How has your experience been using the Panasonic Varicam?

I remember I was shooting a film in Australia when the possibility of shooting with Varicam came up because I had heard about it at ASC. I tested it against other cameras from the competition and found it was much more accurate. The file sizes are reusable and generally you need it to be changeable with the 800. And I used the camera on that film, which gave a fantastic result.

How does Varicam help you to frame your shots better?

The palette of the Varicam Pure is close to film than any other camera. Of course, with the digital world, you can actually correct any aberration, especially in the 4K digital wonder. But the real hook is its 5000 ISO speed range – when you shoot at that number without sacrificing any detail whatsoever. On my last movie, particularly, I interchanged between 800 and 5000 on the same scene and yet manage to get a solid depth of focus.

India has varied weather and tempera-

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ture conditions. How has it been working in the country where the colour temperature is different? How has Varicam helped in this?

For this film that I am working on currently in India, called ‘Rajma Chawal’, I have adopted the approach of trying to make India look as realistic as I can. From my foreigner’s viewpoint, I see these special qualities particularly in the city of Old Delhi, where we are shooting, which really appeal to me, and I believe will also appeal to the audience. And I am trying to pick up many elements that the viewers will accept. It has been a really great experience trying to capture the essence of what makes India, India.

How does Varicam help in achieving realistic and expressive cinematography?

With every film, you start a new approach. It does not matter if it is something elaborate like ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ or ‘Rajma Chawal’, which we are trying to make as realistic as possible. You just start your approach, stick to it and generally people like what you do.

Colours define a film’s mood. How are the colours by Varicam?

The colours captured on Varicam are quite pleasing. It is a totally personal thing for everyone looking at it – nobody sees colour exactly the same as anybody else. However, coming back to 4K, one has so much flexibility in post to change, re-adapt and rethink in the colour space – that it is never a problem.

What is your favourite element of nature – water, air, fire, earth or space?

It guess it would be water to a degree – of course, if you are underwater for too long, air would become very important to you!

QUICK BYTE ⊲ Super 35mm Native 4K Image Sensor ⊲ 4K/ 120p RAW Recording ⊲ Dual Native ISO (ISO 800/ISO 5000 ⊲ 14+ Stops of Dyanmic Range with VLog

To Experience these cameras contact: MUMBAI • Solo Films - 1st Floor, Vijay Mahal, Kasturba Road, Kandivali West, Mumbai - 400067 Tel.: 022 -28780077, 28071297 Mr. Mohan: 9820027698 • Moving Media - Unit-11-12, Suryamukhi C.H.S.Bldg. No. 26, B-Wing,Shastri Nagar, Shastri Nagar Rd Number 1, Mitha Nagar, Goregaon West, Mumbai - 400 104 Tel.: 022 2878 3121 Mr. Kuldeep 9819806400 • Prasad Group - Plot Nos.99/100, Road No.16, MIDC Industrial Area, Marol, Andheri(East), Mumbai - 400 093 Tel.: 022-28259623 - 27 Email: jnaidu@pdfl.in Web: http://prasadgroup.org HYDERABAD • Prasad Film Laboratories Prasad Group L.V.Prasad Maarg, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500 034.

Tel.: 040-23608014 / 23608015 : Email: anand.v@pdfl.in Web: http://prasadgroup.org CHENNAI • Prasad Film Laboratories Prasad Group Arunachalam Rd, Shanthi Nagar, Vadapalani, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600026.

Email: anand.v@pdfl.in Web: http://prasadgroup.org BANGALORE • Felis Creations First Floor No 480, 11th Cross, Upper Palace Orchards Sadashivnagar, Bangalore-560-080 Landmark: Near Starbucks Coffee.

Mob: +91-8023603508, +919483521578 Web: http://www.felis.in Varicam India website: http://www.varicamindia.com/ https://www.facebook.com/VaricamIndia/ Varicam global website: http://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/varicam/ index.html

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CONSUMER CONNECT — PANASONIC

CONVERSING USING HIS LENS Noted cinematographer Anil Mehta used the Varicam Pure at varied temperatures while shooting for an upcoming Bollywood movie ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’ at Delhi, Jhulaghat and Uttarakhand. He was delighted with the overall experience

In his almost two-decade long career as a cinematographer Anil Mehta has gathered many accolades – he won the National Award for Best Cinematography for ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ in 2000, and IIFA and Guild Award for Best Cinematography for ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’.

According to him, translating words into evocative images is a challenge for any artist, more so for a cinematographer today, when there is a constant bombardment of visuals around us. But Mehta, who has wielded the camera for films like Lagaan, VeerZaara, Rockstar, Cocktail, Highway, and Badlapur said that he has always gone with the spirit of the movie and his gut instinct when it comes to how he shoots. While he did stress that despite being recognised as a skill, cinematography is still underrated, he also emphasised, “A film is never made with just good and pretty shots.

It is made with narrative, and you should accept this.”

Currently this ace cinematographer is shooting for upcoming Bollywood movie ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’. This movie was Mehta’s first time experience with the Varicam Pure camera. He used it in varied temperatures while shooting at Delhi, Jhulaghat and Uttarakhand, he was delighted with overall experience. When a cinematographer of Mehta’s calibre – who has consistently displayed to give a veritable visual identity to a director’s vision, gives good feedback about camera – one knows that it has to be good.

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LIGHTS, CAMERA AND ACTION! My approach to testing a new camera or sensor (Emulsion) has always been very basic and simple. I put a human or live element before of the camera, with a mid gray reference and colour chart, and shoot the same frame in exposure steps. This usually gives me an idea of the image I can expect. That aside, the nature of the film that I am working on determines my hardware choices.

When I first heard about the Panasonic Varicam Pure, I was told that it was a top-league camera and that had an additional feature of two native ISO settings – 800 and 5000. Coincidentally, I was in talks for a feature film that had a lot of dark spaces built into its screenplay. In a way, the timing was right for such a product and the resultant tests with the camera held up really well.

The colour reproduction remained faithful over the entire exposure wedge. The Indian skin tones reproduced well and with ease.

The raw files had the usual wealth of information on both sides. The highlights seemed to hold up better than the shadows at the extreme ends. The clincher for me was the 5000 ISO setting; especially that it had clean shadows and the fact that there were no colour shifts.

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CONSUMER CONNECT — PANASONIC

THE EYE OF A MASTER For his upcoming Indo-american feature film, ‘Sin’, celebrated cinematographer-director-producer, Santosh Sivan, used Panasonic Varicam to capture cinematic storytelling in an engaging fashion

RECOGNITIONS & AWARDS: Noted cinematographer, film director and producer Santosh Sivan is known as a stickler for details. This is evident from the quality of his films – from Roja, Dil Se, Ravaan, Before the Rains to Lies We Tell, where he was the cinematographer. A founder member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers, Sivan is the only Indian cinematographer who is a member of American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). Sivan is also particular about the equipment he uses to capture the images for each of his movies.

For his upcoming Indo-American tri-lingual movie, ‘Sin’, he chose the Panasonic Varicam Pure. This film will be released in India in Hindi and regional languages, and in English for the international markets.

Santosh Sivan Productions is co- producing this project with Los Angeles-based production house, Invar Studios. The latter

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specialises in augmented and virtual reality as well as related advanced technologies, and requested to work with Sivan because of the cult following he has in India, especially as an ace cinematographer and director.

While using the Varicam, Sivan was impressed with Panasonic’s 4K monitor which comes with higher resolution and accurate colour judgement with LUT import.

Sivan shot ‘Sin’ using Varicam’s unique strengths, which include its high dynamic range of 14+ stops, low light sensitivity due to dual native ISO and also ability to provide high speed shots at 4K at 120 fps. While using the camera at low-light conditions, he also found the sensor to be sensitive enough to capture beautiful images. This helps to complete the project within the timeline.

As with all his other movies, there is a lot of buzz attached to the visual imagery

Sivan is the only Indian cinematographer who is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC); he is also a recipient of the Padmashri Award, and the Kodak Crystal Award (USA).

In addition, Sivan has won the National Award for best Cinematographer for the following movies: • Perumthachan (Malayalam/1991) • Kalapani (Malayalam / 1996) • Mohiniyattam (Malayalam / 1991) • Iruvar (Tamil/1998) • Dil Se.. (Hindi/1999)

that will come out in Sin. But anyone who has watched Sivan’s movies will know that they will be spellbinding without a doubt, especially now that he has versatile camera in Panasonic Varicam with features which aid low light photography.

DIGITAL STUDIO | FEBRUARY 2018 33

CONSUMER CONNECT — PANASONIC

VARICAM IS WIDENING THE HORIZON FOR CINEMATOGRAPHERS Cinematographer Aseem Bajaj was extremely impressed by the Panasonic Varicam when he first tried it while shooting ‘Sacred Games’ Do you remember the first digital camera that you used?

The first digital camera I used was a little Kodak film camera. I was travelling with my wife to Edinburg where I picked up a use-and-throw camera, which was my first camera. It never struck me that my cinematic journey would go this far.

Is there any particular reason why you chose Delhi as your film location for the current movie, ‘Rajma Chawal’?

Delhi was the director’s choice because this movie is a story about a close-knit family that went away and how it returns back because of the surroundings. This movie is about the old and new, where we talk about people, values and families. Slowly and gradually, we have become satellite families where we don’t like interacting with our parents.

As a producer, how was your experience working with international cinematographer, Donald McAlpine?

We were scouting for an experienced and brilliant eye to look at Chandni Chowk differently, because ultimately we take things for granted after seeing them daily.

There might not be anything unique about this location for us, having seen it several times. But when someone who has not been to this part of the world sees it, they visualise it in a different light. We needed for someone to look at all these elements

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Cinematographer Aseem Bajaj with Kenji Takei, Varicam expert, Panasonic India.

SOME KEY PROJECTS • Shivaay • Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?

• Golmaal: Fun Unlimited • Shabd • Chameli • Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi • U Me Aur Hum • Parched

from a new perspective and present it differently.

As a cinematographer, what qualities do you seek in a camera?

I always look for a camera that does not have too many buttons, which is simple and friendly – which is what Panasonic Varicam is.

Why did you decide to shoot ‘Rajma Chawal’ with Panasonic Varicam?

It was my cinematographer’s choice, and not mine. I did not even think of Varicam. I had not considered Panasonic Varicam at all until one fine day Don McAlpine said that he would like to use Panasonic Varicam.

My reaction was, “What’s that?” He told me that it was a brilliant camera and he was surprised that I had not seen it. He asked me to get hold of it and insisted that he would like to use that for this movie.

This was his remark when I had sent

him an email about all the cameras and lenses available in India and Varicam was not mentioned in that list! So when Don McAlpine asked for Varicam, I called Omkar Talwar of Panasonic India enquiring about this camera. Thankfully, Panasonic India helped in sourcing three units of Varicam Pure from their rental equipment partners.

I was shooting Anurag Kashyap’s Sacred Games for Netflix and on using the camera, I was amazed. For an instant, I thought that the result was because of the monitor!

I never thought the camera could capture something so perfectly. So, I took it to the DI suite to confirm whether this was metadata or data. To my surprise it was data that we were dealing with — which was much more sensitive than my eyes. With it, we can now do things that we could not think of. Varicam is widening the horizon for cinematographers, photographers and people who are dealing with digital media – whether it is a director, production designer, cinematographer or a filmmaker.

What are the pros and cons of shooting in film and digital?

The pros of film are more of nostalgia – I miss the smell of it! Cinematographers initially resisted digital for a very long time and were very condescending towards digital cameras. I did not see that coming and look where they have reached. The best part about digital capture is that it has made film making so democratic and I love it.

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Cinematographer Rajesh Gupta’s journey is an impressive narrative about how wedding photography has become a lucrative profession in India

T

here was a time when Indian weddings were an intimate and traditional affair between families and well-wishers. Now, it has metamorphosed into a spectacular event where couples want grandeur and glitz, warmth and cuteness, all packaged into a digital format that they could always relive. They want memories of every aspect of the special day to be captured in a unique fashion, and showcased on social media platforms for the aww-factor.

And no one seems to be complaining, especially not the cinematographers who are enlisted especially for these services. In fact, over the past few years, a new segment of cinematographers have started concentrating on high-profile wedding portfolios.

One of them is Kolkata-based Rajesh Gupta, who started as a photographer before

36 FEBRUARY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO

shifting to cinematography and now works exclusively on high-profile wedding shoots.

We ask him about this burgeoning industry and also share his advice on how budding wedding cinematographers can get into this frame of growing action.

As a cinematographer, what value do you bring to a wedding shoot?

I can present the tacit emotions of all the people involved in the wedding on cinema. I started shooting for coffee table books, then slowly did videos and realised that if I can tell a story in 10 photos, why not do it in 10 or 30 frames. That’s how I started making 3- and 4-minute snack-bite films that can be watched repeatedly. Later, I moved to wedding shoots.

What kind of investment is needed to start out as a wedding cinematographer?

My suggestion to people starting out in this business is not to invest too much in the equipment initially, because technology keeps changing quickly. You can start with a Canon Cinema EOS camera, Cine Prime lens and Cine Zoom lens. Later, as you build up your body of work, add to your equipment, either by upgrading it or by buying it.

Even if you start with basic equipment, ensure that your work, your techniques and style should be good. And as you invest in equipment, also invest in understanding how to use it better. I can take great photos with my iPhone as I can with a DSLR and a layperson might not know the difference – especially if I were to post that photo on a social media platform.

I strongly recommend that people learn the process of using the dark room and the editing software in parallel. When I started

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“MY SUGGESTION TO PEOPLE STARTING OUT IN THIS BUSINESS IS NOT TO INVEST TOO MUCH IN THE EQUIPMENT INITIALLY, BECAUSE TECHNOLOGY KEEPS CHANGING QUICKLY. LATER, AS YOU BUILD UP YOUR BODY OF WORK, ADD TO YOUR EQUIPMENT, EITHER BY UPGRADING IT OR BY BUYING IT.”

out, we learnt the process of using film, which most youngsters don’t know, but it helps to learn.

What kind of equipment would you recommend for a beginner?

I would suggest that they invest in a good camera like Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. You can buy it or rent it out and then build your kit gradually with a good quality DSLR and a prime lens like a 50 mm or 50 mm 1.4 lens.

If you have a 50 mm and one 24/70 lens, you can cover most imagery in a wedding.

Of course, you will also need a nice flash and speed lights. However, if you use good quality lenses, you would not need much light and can start shooting in low light too.

Besides equipment, what else do they need to do?

They should attend workshops and study

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the work of other people in this field. I am a big fan of Rob Adams, and find his work very inspiring, and always find something new to learn.

Also, one should understand that as a cinematographer, you have to grasp every aspect of the business – you have to understand sound, select the right songs, background scores, select photo montages and learn editing. Most importantly, you have to remember that you are a storyteller.

So while you focus on the technological aspects, don’t forget that you are projecting human emotions.

Over the years, what are some important things that you learnt in the wedding cinematography business?

Firstly, I have realised that there are all types of clients – some who will go the extra mile to make your team and you

comfortable, and then there are others who will try to extract more from you because they have paid you a certain amount. The best way to deal with the latter is have an ironclad contract where the deliverables are mentioned clearly.

Also, most people start clearing vendor payments a couple of months after the wedding, and the caterers and photographers are amongst the last to be paid. It is best, therefore, to take part of the payment in advance and outline the payment schedule in the contract to avoid any disappointment.

With so much buzz around pre-wedding and nuptials imagery, how do you manage to create an interesting storyline every time?

You have to remember that you are creating an experience rather than just documenting an occasion. You can’t have a template, therefore, for every wedding and just fill it with the images and video. Instead, you have to spend time to understand each of the people who will be part of the story and see how you can use their emotions to craft a memorable story.

DIGITAL STUDIO | FEBRUARY 2018 37

BROADCASTING

IP: GET, SET, GO?

Given the mounting evidence that broadcasting companies are keen to invest in IP solutions, how long will it be before they transition to it?

BY VINITA BHATIA

t has been flaunted as an enabler of innovation and the path that will lead broadcasters to become agile and effective enough to meet the continually evolving needs of their viewers. But is the move to a software-defined infrastructure, IP-connected network truly the way forward?

Many companies providing IP solutions seem to think so. Imagine Communications, especially, believes that the mobile market is a particularly exciting place at the moment, because an outside broadcast truck is a complete and self-contained infrastructure that can be built as all-IP from the ground up. In addition to increased flexibility that enables mobile production units to accommodate a variety of client requirements, moving to IP provides a significant reduction in space and power, which are of critical importance in a mobile environment.

IP also offers opportunities in remote production, especially for sports production,

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as most personnel and technical equipment can be kept at the home facility, significantly reducing the effort at the venues. This results in savings for equipment, personnel and travel costs.

“The other obvious opportunity is in distributed production, which includes cloud-like hosting of distributed resources, which can then be flexibly mapped to certain productions. To a certain degree this might include remote productions, but it also works for fixed facility installations,” explained Hilmer Andreas, marketing and communications director, Lawo.

WHY SHIFT TO IP? While industries like telecom and finance have been accepting IP technology since 2000, broadcasters have yet to adopt it fully, especially while considering an infrastructure overhaul. They are now realising that the real benefit of this shift is in the network itself.

Like Olivier Suard, VP, marketing, Nevion pointed out, replacing SDI equipment, such

as a camera, with its IP equivalent brings little intrinsic value.

“SDI equipment can work with IP easily with adaption equipment, or adaption functionality contained in media nodes. Over time, once the IP network is in place and previous equipment replaced or upgraded for business or technical reasons (e.g. the need to support 4K/UHD or HDR), then it makes sense to go for IP,” he said.

Given IP’s agility, broadcasters can manage the contemporary growing needs of their broadcast facilities and more importantly, ensure their ability for future expansion. It is precisely this technological agility that makes the concept so appealing – high data rates, wide bandwidth and a system that is both format agnostic and scalable for whatever the future brings.

Somu Patil, VP, sales, Asia, Grass Valley, said, “An IP infrastructure based on open standards provides broadcasters with maximum agility and flexibility to adjust business models, capitalise on new revenue opportuni-

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BROADCASTING

ties, and add new capabilities and services without having to constantly rebuild their infrastructure.”

According to Sylvain Merle, COO, Globecast, the associated shift to virtualised technologies and cloud services really changes the business narrative, which is vital for servicing the ever-growing OTT market and the associated growth in access devices. “IP offers the ability to use off-the-shelf, commoditised hardware and virtualised software. For our cloud playout services, all the on-premise and cloud technologies we are deploying work this way. That is a very significant change and radically alters the commercial aspects of playout,” he said.

The operational side also benefits, as new standards and specifications for handling uncompressed media over IP have defined a clear and common set of protocols for video, audio and data flows over a network. This brings added flexibility – all sources are available to all receivers as multicast addresses on the network.

Andy Warman, director of playout solutions at Harmonic and board member and marketing working group chair at AIMS added, “Management becomes easier since the various sources of video, audio and data flows can easily be found and connected automatically, rather than needing manual methods to determine if sources and destinations are present and match. That creates a plug-and-play environment for devices that join and depart the system. Possibly the most exciting aspect is that, when using the SMPTE ST 2110 standard, video, audio and data are separate from one another, but synced so deembedding and re-embedding is not required throughout a workflow.”

FUNDAMENTAL ECONOMICS Few broadcasters would consider replacing an existing SDI network with IP unless there is a clear technical or economic need. They would do this only if it offers them an opportunity to recoup any price premium through operational cost reductions such as pooling of human resources through remote work. And some companies have already realised this, like the Vitec Group.

Dave Dougall, VP, sales, EMEA Vitec Group revealed that of its some of its major clients

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Sylvain Merle, COO, Globecast

have indicated that they have found a 10% premium for IP, but that the pricing differs from SDI pricing in that it swings more heavily towards revenue and support costs.

Other broadcasters might consider IP network because it means that they need not move premises, which is required when they need to rebuild SDI networks in expensive real estate locations. Another compelling reason could be that the capacity might be running out on the MCR, requiring replacement.

Suard pointed out that even if such a shift is not imminent, there might be a compelling event that drives the transition to IP. “The move to high-bandwidth formats such as HD, 4K/UHD and HDR, or the increase in studios or camera feeds could also cause such a situation. This could be the right time to consider either a full move to IP in the network, or at least a partial one, where the additional capacity needed can be provided by an IP network running in parallel with the existing SDI network. In any case, the economic fundamentals are largely driven by the need to invest in the network,” he said.

However, one needs to bear in mind that the equipment for an IP facility most likely won’t be cheaper than a traditional baseband approach.

In fact, it might be even more expensive.

Hilmer justified that this still pays off because of streamlined workflows, a higher degree of equipment utilisation and production concepts like remote production. “For

Andy Warman, director of playout solutions at Harmonic

the decision process it is fundamental to not only look at the capex side of things, but also at the operational costs. And this is where the shift to IP immediately starts to pay off,” he noted.

OPENING UP OPPORTUNITIES Often, broadcasters think that shift to IP is a like-for-like network replacement. Instead, they need to view it as an opportunity to harmonise their local and long-distance media networks around a single technology — the so-called LAN/WAN (local and wide area network) convergence. What this effectively means is that they can share equipment, studios and control rooms — even production staff — across locations in much easier fashion, leading to increased further savings and better production flexibility.

In fact, in current times, going IP can literally be deemed a pre-requisite for any aspirations that a broadcaster might have to moving towards a cloud-based infrastructure – be it private or public. Like Jan Weigner, CTO of Cinegy pointed out, this makes sense as their ultimate goal is cost reduction – both in capital spending and operations. “Video infrastructure and IT infrastructure always were separate. This can now be converged.

Ultimately the respective departments, if they still exist, as well,” he added.

Another benefit of IP, according to Dougall, is that it offers new benefits and opportuni-

DIGITAL STUDIO | FEBRUARY 2018 39

BROADCASTING

Somu Patil, VP, sales, Asia, Grass Valley

ties including lower installation costs, simple and flexible integration, and responsive workflows. IP also allows broadcasters to be format-agnostic and reduces the cost of trying and deploying new technologies.

At the same time, the move to softwaredefined systems running on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware opens up the chance to rethink not just the architecture but the whole business of creating and delivering content. Like Raj Yadav, regional sales head, South Asia, Imagine Communications, stated, “Traditional architectures defined the way that broadcasters work – with highly flexible software systems broadcasters can determine what is best for their organisation, which could be a radically new approach to the whole endto-end workflows. With this chance to take a fresh look at how you work, allied to the cost reductions implicit in running operations on COTS hardware, broadcasters become more responsive to changes in the market, while enjoying reduced lifecycle costs.”

TEACHING THE SYSTEMS INTEGRATORS As IP gains traction in broadcasting, vendors are now working on educating systems integrators and solutions providers on how and when IP technology can impact a broadcaster’s business model, and accordingly develop workflows that best suits their needs.

Yadav emphasised, “The real benefits from IP connectivity will come when you take a

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Jan Weigner, CTO, Cinegy

completely fresh approach to workflows and architectures. That, along with the need to understand the design and implementation of IP networks, calls for big changes in broadcast engineering principles and practices. Where broadcasters are ready to move forward, we have also collaborated closely in proof of concept projects, ensuring that everyone understands the practicalities and what can be achieved.”

Every other vendor has been promoting an IP-first strategy as well, highlighting the fact that an IP prompting workflow is ultimately more flexible and cost-effective.

The challenge, however, arises when their customers decide to go for an IP but find a dearth of solution providers who are experts in its deployment.

The reason behind this is simple – until now, broadcasters have been experts in media networks, and picked products based on their clearly-defined needs, focusing on features and cost. However, IP expertise is in short supply among broadcasters, and so they are (or should be) more wary of the choices they make.

Suard said, “Products, their functionality and their costs matter of course, but the biggest decisions they need to make are much more fundamental: how to architect, design and control their IP network to get the true benefits of IP (including from LAN/ WAN convergence). In short, broadcasters need help in the form of consultancy,

Hilmer Andreas, marketing and communications director, Lawo

services and solutions.”

Over the years, Nevion has assembled a group of highly competent and experienced people, who have an excellent knowledge and understanding of IP networks. These people have been providing ad-hoc support in presales situations, to help media companies, broadcasters and telcos architect and plan their media IP networks. Other companies are doing the same and are using global events, like NAB, IBC as well as regional ones like CABSAT in Middle East to demonstrate their cloud playout developments to various customers and display its possibilities.

EASY TO BUILD AND OPERATE The ultimate goal of the IP user is the kind of IP infrastructure or functionality they should choose. This, according to Weigner, is important is because he believed that all IP is not equal. “As IP is popular, all of the sudden everything is ‘IP this’ and ‘IP that’. Some of the ‘new’ IP standards are already dead and await replacement. TICO is a good example of something that does not fall in my definition of IP. SMPTE 2022-6 is another good example as, in my view, it’s just thinly cloaked SDI. SMPTE 2110 is ‘newer’ but inherently bonkers and evil, especially if you want to do anything with Cloud or virtualisation,” he stressed.

At the same time, Yadav felt that IP and the technologies it opens up, like softwaredefined architectures and virtualisation and

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BROADCASTING

Olivier Suard, VP, marketing, Nevion

the cloud, is very much a reality. The work of standards bodies like SMPTE, and the drive of cross-industry bodies like AIMS have ensured that systems are practical and deliverable today.

A good example is the compact, cloudnative disaster recovery solution that Imagine Communications developed for ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Limited in Mumbai. This IP-connected solution provides a full business continuity solution, supporting 15 ZEE channels, running on Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) servers

42 FEBRUARY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO

Dave Dougall, VP, sales, EMEA, Vitec Group

on a virtual platform that mirrors the main playout centre.

Patil added that common standards are the key, and the passage of SMPTE ST 2110 is a giant step for the industry. “Interoperable solutions based on widely accepted, open standards have driven the industry’s growth and success for decades by accommodating broadcasters’ current needs and ensuring they’re ready for future advancements. Just as the industry did with SDI, broadcasters must maintain this approach with IP—utilising a single, standardised interface for transmis-

Raj Yadav, regional sales head, South Asia, Imagine Communications

sion of video to ensure that widespread signal transport interoperability continues.”

Hilmer also underlined that as proven at IBC and NAB, and in several real-world live installations, IP is up and running and allows to design and operate interoperable, futureproof infrastructures . So it is not just more realistic, it is real!

Merle of Globecast noted that by and large, vendors are now ready with their products and those that aren’t may well begin to struggle.

“Yes, there’s still standards work going on with SMPTE regarding uncompressed video over IP, and standards are vital, but in our experience there’s now a genuine market there from which we have been able to select products after in-depth exploration and evaluation. Our strength not only in the technology but even in the way we operate it is to serve our customers with adaptable and efficient workflows supporting their businesses,” he stated.

Going by these opinions, it might look that the move to an IP-connected is unstoppable.

This technology not only allows broadcasters to move to software-defined architectures, but also gives them exceptional scalability and flexibility. And if they need to add new streaming services, or channels, or trial new formats like UHD, they can simply add the required functionality without further investment in hardware. Additionally, they can save on manpower and management costs and use that time to seize the opportunities presented by new ventures.

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HORIZON Meet the Future

’The Expanse’ has a hard-edge look without being clinical.

AN EXPANSIVE VISUAL OPERA SyFy’s space opera ‘The Expanse’ relies on Cooke 5/i Primes to accentuate its captivating visuals for season 3

BY PRADEEP SUVARNA n 2014, when Syfy announced a commitment to 10 one-hour episodes of The Expanse, it was (and still is) the most expensive show the channel has ever produced. Based on the bestselling book series collectively known as The Expanse, written by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (under the pen name James S. A. Corey), critics highlighted the series’ beautiful visuals, captured by Canadian-born cinematographer Jeremy Benning.

The series was so well received that in the same month it began airing on SyFy (December 2015), the network ordered 13 episodes for Season 2 (premiering February 1, 2017), and quickly followed with a renewal for a 13-episode third season to air in 2018, which

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44 FEBRUARY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO

wrapped production on December 5, 2017.

The Expanse is primarily shot via 2-cameras using ARRI ALEXA Minis at 23.98fps, ProRes 4444 UHD 16:9 with a third ALEXA Mini brought in when needed. These were stabilised with a MOVI M15 3-Axis motorised Gimbal. Benning, who was the DP for all three seasons of The Expanse, decided to use Cooke lenses for the series.

“I’ve been a long-time user of Cooke’s S4, miniS4/i and 5/i lenses, and for The Expanse, I wanted a gritty, hard, but human look — Cooke 5/i primes were the natural choice from day one. With digital cameras, the Cooke 5/i lenses deliver something gentler that takes the edge off the crispness — it’s still super sharp, but I get rounder and more gentle faces, great defocus, and wonderful fall off between foreground and background.

DPs always talk about ‘The Cooke Look’ and for me that means a creamier, softer, threedimensionality with great bokeh.”

NO FILTERS, PLEASE Benning prefers not to use any filtering for The Expanse, having done some tests during season one, although he will make use of the occasional 1/16th, Classic Soft.

A major percentage of the show’s visuals are in-camera, with VFX being used for set extensions and exterior space shots. For example, in seasons two and three, there are very dark, almost cave-like environments that needed to show bioluminescent particles and walls. Using ultraviolet pigment built into the sets and UV light to fluoresce and almost totally light the set, Benning was able to capture an ethereal look that would just need

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PHOTO: NBC SYFY

BEHIND THE SCENES

BEHIND THE SCENES

PHOTO: - RAFY

Cinematographer Steve Yedlin, ASC behind the camera while on location.

PRODUCTION OF THE EXPANSE IS 90% STUDIO BASED. THE SETS ARE MOSTLY COMPLETE 3600 ENVIRONMENTS WITH WALLS, FLOORS, AND BENNING WORKED CLOSELY WITH THE SHOW’S PRODUCTION DESIGNER TONY IANNI TO WORK LIGHTING INTO THE SETS, AND THE MATERIALS THE LIGHT WOULD PASS THROUGH. used. Benning also makes use of Cooke’s /i Technology lens metadata protocol, which enables ARRI’s Lens Data System (LDS) in the ALEXA Mini to automatically record key lens

PHOTO: NBC SYFY

some VFX augmenting in post. This UV effect meant extremely low light levels on set: the T1.4 Cookes and 800 ISO Minis handled that very well.

“The Expanse is visually different from a lot of typical television science fiction,” said Benning. “The series has a hard-edge look without being clinical. The sets are often techie and harsh, and the lenses help take some of that edge off and add more character, sort of a graphic novel look to the images.”

Production of The Expanse is 90% studio based, with one location day per episode.

The sets are mostly complete 360-degree environments with walls, floors, and ceilings.

Benning worked closely with the show’s production designer Tony Ianni to work lighting into the sets, selecting the type of lighting and the materials the light would pass through. The sets are virtually entirely lit practically.

“Primarily, we use LED ribbons mixed with some various film-based and theatrical/ rock-and-roll lighting,” explains Benning.

“We did extensive testing to make sure we had no flicker or any other issues. During season two, we started making our own lights for our standing sets – it’s just so much more economical to build rather than to rent, and we can replicate most things the rental fixtures can do.”

For The Expanse, Benning had the full 9-lens set of 5/i primes, consisting of 18mm, 25mm, 32mm, 40mm, 50mm, 65mm, 75mm, 100mm, and 135mm with T1.4 speed, shared between the cameras, with all lenses being

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data for every frame shot and provide it to the show’s multiple visual effects vendors digitally.

This includes focus, iris, and zoom data, so that visual effects used to extend the sets or add in a new background can be seamlessly tracked to match the in-camera element. This saves a couple of hours per shot that would normally have to be done manually.

“My goal is to keep the audience in the world of the show, making them believe that whatever they are seeing is real,” said Benning. “I often shot the Cookes wide open, to take the edge off the set aspect of the environments, keeping the focal point on the actors’ eyes. That takes the emphasis away from the artificiality of a space craft set.

With a defocused background, everything blends so it helps sell the idea of being in a real place — that wass our main goal.” Cookes make the background a lot look more like a painting than a set. For cinematographers looking for a modern look with less of a clinical feel, Benning recommends Cooke as it has a modern performance factor, plus the slight softness in handling defocused backgrounds and faces, which is differently from any other lens.

Produced by Alcon Television Group (a division of Alcon Entertainment) and The Sean Daniel Company, ‘The Expanse’ is broadcast by Syfy and streams on Amazon Prime in the United States. In all other countries where Netflix is available, seasons 1 and 2 can be streamed.

DIGITAL STUDIO | FEBRUARY 2018 45

Cinematographer Steve Yedlin fitting a camera on the set.

WHEN THE FORCE IS WITH YOU

PHOTO CREDIT: JONATHAN OLLEY

BEHIND THE SCENES

(l-r) Producer Ram Bergman and director Rian Johnson on the set of ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’

Working hand-in-hand with Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s filmmakers, FotoKem’s creative and technical teams supported the movie’s global production on a massive scale

BY PRADEEP SUVARNA

F

46 FEBRUARY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO

FotoKem was engaged prior to the beginning of principal photography, and devised an intricate workflow tailored to accommodate the goals of production. A remote post production facility was assembled near the set in London where film technician Simone Appleby operated two real-time film scanners, digitising up to 15,000 feet a day of 35mm footage at slightly above 4K resolution.

Johnson said, “For me, it is simple – FotoKem helped me tell the story I was hoping to tell.

They invented solutions and made it easy for us to work the way we wanted to work.”

Supported by a highly secure network,

FotoKem nextLAB systems ingested the digitised film and file-based camera footage, providing ‘scan-once instant access’ to everything, and creating a singular workflow for every unit’s footage. By the end of production, over one petabyte of data was managed by FotoKem’s nextLAB, enabling the filmmakers, visual effects teams, editors, and studio executives to securely and easily share large volumes of assets for any part of the workflow.

A COHESIVE WORKFLOW Bergman had worked with FotoKem

PHOTO CREDIT: JULES HEATH

otoKem, a digital and film post production facility was chosen for providing comprehensive creative and technical services from pre-production through final deliverables on the ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ from Disney/Lucasfilm. The facility built technically advanced solutions that supported the creative team through their interplanetary production from dailies to colour grade.

These services included a customised workflow for dailies, editorial and VFX support, conform, and a colour pipeline that incorporated all camera formats (film and file based) while adhering to critical studio guidelines. Working collaboratively with key people involved in the project – including director Rian Johnson, cinematographer Steve Yedlin, producer Ram Bergman, Lucasfilm’s head of post production, Pippa Anderson and Lucasfilm’s director of post-production Mike Blanchard – the post process allowed them to operate with speed and flexibility while enabling maximum creative freedom served by the technology.

The filmmakers behind ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ had an ambitious vision for the second installment in the sequel trilogy.

Director Rian Johnson on location.

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BEHIND THE SCENES

Cinematographer Steve Yedlin, ASC behind the camera while on location.

previously and therefore was well acquainted with their capabilities. This project clearly required a high level of support to handle global locations with multiple units and production partners. He said, “We had a lot of requirements at this scale to create a consistent workflow for all the teams utilizing the footage, from production viewing dailies to the specific editorial deliverables, visual effects plates, marketing, and finishing, with no delays or security concerns.”

Before shooting began, Yedlin worked with FotoKem’s film and digital lab to create specialised scanner profiles and custom Look Up Tables (LUTs). FotoKem implemented the algorithms devised by Yedlin into their nextLAB software to obtain a seamless match between digital footage and film scans. Yedlin also received full-resolution stills which served as a communication funnel for colour and quality control checks. This colour workflow was devised in collaboration with FotoKem colour scientist Joseph Slomka, and executed by nextLAB software developer Eric Cameron and dailies colorist Jon Rocke, who were on site throughout the entire production.

“With the knowledge of an HDR deliverable, we set to work to make sure the look captured on set matched the vision of the filmmakers and was carried throughout the workflow for the ultimate control of colour from camera to screen,” noted Slomka.

Yedlin observed, “As cinematographers, we work hard to create looks, and FotoKem

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(l-r) Cinematographer Steve Yedlin, ASC and director Rian Johnson discuss a shot on the set.

made it possible for me to take control of each step in the process and know exactly what was happening. The colour science support I received made true image control a realised concept.”

Calibrated 4K monitoring and the high availability SAN on site managed by nextLAB created a world where visual effects and editorial could instantly access full fidelity footage during and after production. Through the nextLAB interface, these teams could procure footage, pull shots as needed, and maintain exact colour and metadata integration between any step.

PHOTO CREDIT: JULES HEATH

PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID JAMES

MULTIPLE DELIVERABLES WERE CREATED BY FOTOKEM INCLUDING STANDARD DCP, HDR10, DOLBY VISION, HLG, 3D (IN STANDARD, STEREO DOLBY AND 2D DOLBY HDR), AND HOME VIDEO FORMATS. For the colour grade, FotoKem colorist Walter Volpatto fine-tuned raw images, as well as those from ILM, with Johnson and Yedlin using the colour and imaging pipeline established from day one. FotoKem also set up remote grading suites at Skywalker Sound and Disney so the teams could work during the sound mix, and later grading for HDR and other specialty theatrical deliverables.

“The film emulation LUT that Steve (Yedlin) created carried nuances he wanted in the final image and he was mindful of this while shooting, lighting both the film and digital scenes so that minimal manipulation was required in the colour grade,” Volpatto explained. “Steve’s mastery of lighting for both formats, as well as his extensive understanding of colour science, helped to make the blended footage look more cohesive.”

Volpatto also oversaw the HDR pass and IMAX versions. Ultimately, multiple deliverables were created by FotoKem including standard DCP, HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG, 3D (in standard, stereo Dolby and 2D Dolby HDR), and home video formats.

FotoKem worked with IMAX to align the color science pipeline with their Xenon and laser DCPs and 15-perf 70mm prints as well.

Mike Brodersen, FotoKem’s chief strategy officer, said that his team’s objective from the beginning of this project was to provide a process for the creative talent associated with the project to flourish, without worrying about the technology. “It’s not every day that we would ship scanners to remote locations and integrate a real-time post environment that would rival many permanent installations.”

He added that his company’s approach of combining decades of film and digital expertise with intense artistry and post production workflow knowledge went a long way in ensuring this iconic project was delivered on time and as desired by the filmmakers.

DIGITAL STUDIO | FEBRUARY 2018 47

BES EXPO 2018

THE CAPITAL BECKONS With a slew of prominent speakers and exhibitors, BES Expo 2018 promises to be an impressive affair

48 FEBRUARY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO

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BES EXPO 2018

he excitement is palpable as the Broadcast Engineering Society Expo 2018, popularly called the BES Expo 2018, a conference and exhibition on terrestrial and satellite broadcasting, draws near. The event will be held from February 26 to 28, 2018, at Pragati Maidan in Delhi.

This conference and exhibition on terrestrial and satellite broadcasting is the

T

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24th in the series of events to be organised by the Broadcast Engineering Society (India). Last year, the event witnessed participation of nearly 300 exhibitors from 25 countries.

Nearly 4,000 engineers, managers, cinematographers, consultants, entrepreneurs, and policy and decisionmakers from radio and TV broadcasting organisations as well as studio and postproduction units in India are expected to visit the event this year. The expo is

DIGITAL STUDIO | FEBRUARY 2018 49

BES EXPO 2018

approved by the ITPO and the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Govt. of India, endorsed by DRM, UK, and supported by Prasar Bharati, Ministry of Communications & IT, Govt. of India, AES India, ABU Malaysia and SBE U.S.A. Nearly 300 companies from 25 countries are expected to display their products at BES EXPO 2018 directly or through their dealers in India. Exhibiting companies include those from Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, U.K. and U.S.A. Last year, nearly 1,000 delegates attended the conference.

The expo is open for participation from manufacturers, dealers, distributors and suppliers of products, equipment, systems and services related to terrestrial and satellite broadcasting for radio and TV as well as studio and post-production, analog as well as digital.

SOME TOPICS AT BES CONFERENCE 2018 • OTT – Broadcasting strategies, delivering video in advance and immersive way • Cloud: Game changer in media and entertainment • IP for broadcast • Mobile technology – The changing face of broadcasting • VR & AR – Revolutionising video • Digital Radio – Business strategies • Future broadcasting- 4K, Ultra HD and immersive audio • Evolving trends in TV transmission technology • Development in broadcasting in South East Asia.

50 FEBRUARY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO

KNOWLEDGE PLATFORM The broadcast and media industry is going through a transition phase as disruptive technologies transform business models.

Technology and business models that were tried-and-true in the past are losing their relevance, and the way in which media and content is consumed, communicated and produced is changing at a fast pace.

Exploring all aspects of this ongoing revolution, the theme of the three-day BES Conference 2018 is ‘Non-linear broadcasting – technology and business models’. There will be sessions on OTT technologies, digital terrestrial TV transmission, and digital India-enabling technologies for broadcasters. It will also have presentations on current and future broadcast technologies in radio and TV broadcasting.

As broadcasters face numerous challenges due to the proliferation of new technologies, topics like challenges in 4K/8K UHD and digital radio broadcasting and the role of regulation in the digital broadcasting era have also been included.

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