ProFusion

“It’s beautiful,” I quipped to the fellow beside me. “I can’t take my eyes off it,” he shot back. “Amazing, isn’t it?” “Yep,” I answered.

A prospective CSC member stops by the booth.

Credit: Ernie Kestler

The two of us were mesmerized by the images jumping out at us from the 65” screen of a Sony XBR 4K Ultra HD TV. If plain old HD makes you swoon, this 4K baby – with four times the clarity of HD – will make you positively giddy. And this was only one of the hundreds of new cine imaging and photographic products that could be seen, touched and listened to at ProFusion 2013, held in June at the Toronto Congress Centre.

Capitalizing on the success of previous years, ProFusion, which is produced by Vistek, added another 50,000 square feet of showroom space to accommodate more than 100 vendors, many displaying cutting-edge gear never seen before in Canada. What better magnets to attract the crowds.

“ProFusion’s key demographic is the professional image maker, an individual who is earning a living in the photo and video marketplace,” Vistek Creative Director Christopher Huchensk said.

More than 4,000 people walked through the doors of ProFusion 2013, many of them stopping at the CSC booth, manned by CSC Co-education Chair Ernie Kestler, CSC Executive Director Susan Saranchuk, Executive Assistant Karen Longland and yours truly, when I could be dragged away from the fascinating gadgetry at everyone else’s booth.

“This is a very important and successful event for us,” Saranchuk said. “Not only do we get to mingle with our sponsors and potential sponsors of the CSC, but we can actively recruit for our membership, education programs and many other CSC initiatives.” The CSC also made footprints, with three of its members conducting seminars at ProFusion 2013. Hot on the heels of publishing his memoirs Adventures in Filmmaking, CSC Award winner Peter Rowe csc conducted a seminar on extreme adventure cinematography. To bring adventure home to his audience, Rowe remotely piloted his AR Drone above the tradeshow.

“I call it a camera disguised as a helicopter. I flew it up above the audience and the floor. That got the attention of everybody,” Rowe said. “I was showing off its internal camera, the image it was creating and sending to an iPad.”

It was CSC associate member Sarah Moffat’s third year as a workshop leader and presenter at ProFusion. Her seminar, titled “Cinematography Choices for Indie Projects,” navigated the ins and outs of shooting indie and included a walkabout on the show floor to introduce participants to some of the tools talked about in her workshop. According to Moffat, there is an aspect of ProFusion that is often overlooked.

“It’s a great networking opportunity,” she said. “To meet people on the show floor, in the seminars. It’s a chance to get industry connected. “

For CSC associate member Bentley Miller, it was his first time on stage at ProFusion. His seminar, “LEDs in the REEL World,” showed that LEDs can light an entire production or work in concert with traditional lighting sources. Miller feels that ProFusion hits the right balance between seminars and the show floor merchandizing.

“Whether you are just kicking the tires or you are seeking serious information to help you make decisions on your next production, the information is there for the asking,” Miller said.

As the imaging industries continue to change and converge at lightning speed, it’s obvious that professionals need to be riding the technological curve to survive. A trade show like ProFusion could be the right vehicle for many to climb aboard. So what’s ahead next year? Hmm, too soon for an 8K TV?

CSC associate member Sarah Moffat giving a seminar on “Cinematography Choices for Indie Projects.”