Subtitled “Crossing the Digital Divide,” Digital Day Three kicked off the morning with seminars on the latest options in HD, DV, Mini DV and HDV cameras in Theatre One, while Theatre Two’s audience learned about DVD authoring and the looming battle between the new HD-DVD and Blu-ray technologies, reminiscent of the conflict that raged between VHS and Beta decades ago. In Theatre Three representatives from AVID showed off the latest things that can be done with their editing program and Apple’s Mac operating system OS X Tiger, before turning the space over to the Apple reps who gave a presentation of HD workflows in Final Cut Pro. Theater One’s second seminar gave the audience a peek into the future of digital cinema projection and delivery systems. It was standing room only in Theatre Two as Directors Randal Kleiser and Pitof showed filmmakers how they integrated virtual sets into their films Red Riding Hood and Vidocq, followed by USC Assistant Professor Paul Debevec’s overview of his new digital process for relighting scenes in post production. These innovative techniques for translating the fantastical into the filmable seemed a perfect appetizer for the feast given in the keynote speech by legendary author Ray Bradbury.
Following a welcome message by DGA Special Projects Digital Day Sub-Committee Chair Kleiser, Director Peter Hyams whose upcoming film, A Sound of Thunder, is based on a Bradbury short story, thanked the author for instilling him with a “ceaseless sense of wonder,” and for making him want to “dream, and dream without limits.” Upon taking the stage, Bradbury continued to perform the same service for the audience who sat rapt while he delivered wisdom, inspiration and the occasional left jab as he recalled some of his experiences in the industry, starting with his early desire to work with John Huston which ultimately led to his being hired to write the screenplay to Huston’s Moby Dick. While not all of his crossings of the cinematic divide have been smooth passages, Bradbury confessed he still loves movies and, moreover, loves the creativity and ingenuity and sacrifice that goes into their making. He urged the filmmakers to return that sense of joy to their audiences by “witnessing and celebrating the universe.”
After the lunch break, attendees returned to the process of sharpening their tools with seminars covering topics ranging from
how directors work with VFX supervisors, to how to make
a no-budget movie make money. Demonstration pieces continued in Theatre Three as Morgan Freeman’s production company Revelations Entertainment, Internet movie distribution company Clickstar the and computer manufacturer Intel gave a presentation on the digital home of the future where security protected video content will be legally downloaded from servers much in the way it’s presently done via the legitimate online music services. On the flip side of that coin, the MPAA’s John Malcolm gave a chilling report on rapid growth in both the trade and techniques of digital piracy, where the half-life between the release of a film and pirated versions appearing for sale has been reduced from weeks to a matter of hours.
Another highly popular demonstration was Digital 3D, where new techniques of creating three-dimensional movies, both from scratch and from previously created material were presented along with highlight reels. Although touted as the future, the experience evoked an image from the 1950s as the audience sat wearing computer controlled polarizing glasses that resolved the onscreen images into ones that literally popped off the screen.
Although the concept of hour-long seminars sometimes meant that presentations ran short on time, at the end of the day those who might have considered themselves neophytes in digital filmmaking came away armed with more than enough information and materials to begin an in-depth exploration on a variety of issues and ideas. These new technologies will bring with them new challenges for the DGA as in the example of members who worried that the new process for rendering 2D movies into 3D movies could be done without the filmmakers’ consent by studios seeking new sources of revenue. Perhaps it was DGA Special Projects Committee Chair Jeremy Kagan who best summed up human element of Digital Day when he said "It's wonderful that these new tools exist, but one thing is going to remain the same — directors need to retain creative control over their work."
