While new technology is making HD field production practical
at last, shooting in HD is different from shooting standard
video or film. Knowing the differences in advance can save
mammoth headaches both on the set and down the road.
Comparing Costs The relative cost
of working in HD depends on the medium to which you compare
and the type of material you are shooting. "The video
person goinginto HD has to be aware of the added cost of the
tape stock and thedownconversions to Digital Betacam or Beta
SP," But the cost difference between Digital Betacam
and HD may only amount to a small portion of the overall production
cost. "You have the actors, the crew, the set, the location,
and the lighting," he says. "So paying $1,300 dollars
per day for an HD camera instead of $600 for a Digital Betacam
package is not that big a deal."
Online editing is another area
where HD can significantly affect total costs. The best quality
comes from posting in HD and down converting only for final
delivery. But customers should be advised to shootin HD even
when HD posting is beyond the budget. "Even if you down
convert to Digital Betacam before post, you will still be
getting a better-quality product than shooting in Digi-Beta."
Shooting in HD can also cost less
than shooting film. "An HD camera package rents for about
the same as a 35mm package, even if the Digital equipment
is much more expensive and includes more equipment and technicians
than the film package such as professional HD monitors ".
"Where HD becomes most cost-effective is when you have
a high shooting ratio. If your ratio is 3:1, then shooting
film is not that much more than HD. But if it's30:1, like
nature documentaries traditionally are, then HD saves you
a lotof money." On The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne,
producers were able to save $5 million out of a $40-million
budget by shooting in HD. You can shoot and post in HD and
then transfer to film. Overall, the process will be less expensive
than shooting film because film stock is only required for
the edited master.
Top directors as Karahadian state
that HD can yield a better product than film. "You can
move faster with HD, doing more setups and more takes,"
he explains. "And with a 40-minute tape instead of a
10-minute load of film, you don't have to manage short ends
or worry that you've used up all your film before finishing
your episode." He adds that HD is helpful for special
effects shots, since you can check what you have done and
then move on. karahadian agrees that HD's instant replay capability
is an asset. "People like the immediacy," he says.
"You don't have to go through a process to get dailies.
You shoot the tape, and you can start editing immediately."
To get the quality, you have to
approach HD with the same culture that you have when you shoot
film. If you take away the production values, you end up with
HD product that looks like regular video."
On the Set On location, it is important to realize that set
imperfections that do not even register in NTSC may appear
as obvious flaws in an HD picture. And lighting techniques
will be counterintuitive for those with a background in film.
"In film, people generally light for shadows and don't
worry so much about highlights," Fletcher says. "In
HD, you need to do the opposite because you can bring as much
as four stops out of the shadows, but you can't bring detail
out of the highlights." Aspect ratio is another crucial
consideration. "Are you going to letterbox your 16:9
image? If not, you have to adjust the active area in your
viewfinder while you are shooting so you won't lose anything
of importance on the sides," notes Liman another experience
director. "That affects the way you stage the actors
and block out the scene."
With the adoption of HD as part
of the ATSC DTV standard, Karahadian sees the movement to
HD as inevitable. "There's no doubt that it is going
to be an HD world," he says. "There are a lot of
projects that could be done inHD right now-without compromising
the project or costing a fortune-that would allow the crafts
people, the bean counters, and the creative people to all
learn how to marshal an HD production successfully. In the
long run ,it's not going to work for people to be afraid of
HD and to hide."
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