The final installment of my interview with journalist, author and new media aficionado Scott Kirsner. In it, I ask him about his site, Cinematech.com and what motivated him to start blogging about cinema technology. Then, we talk about his new book,  Fans Friends and Followers: Building an Audience and a Creative Career in the Digital Age. Some of the things he writes about in it are; ways to connect with your audience, the Internet as a distribution channel, coming up with new business models and monetizing your work. We go on to speak about Boxee and some of the stumbling blocks that are delaying the ability to play media from the Internet on your TV. And finally, I mistakenly let Scott do the wrap-up, in which he bestows all too much praise upon the work we do at HDFilmtools.com in a sinister effort to get your humble interviewer to blush.

In Part II of my interview with Scott Kirsner, I ask for his take on the current state of the Hollywood studio system. How is it adjusting and transforming as a result of new technologies and the explosive growth of online media content? What are the opportunities emerging as a result of these changes? How does he see craftspeople and labor unions adjusting to the new realities of the current economic slump and business environment? Finally, I ask him to cite some examples of people who have been successful at monetizing independent new media projects for film and the web.

More from this series
	QuickTime Movie HD 768×432	Part I	Part II	Part III
	iPod/iPhone/iPod Touch 640×360	Part I	Part II	Part III
	Windows Media Format 640×360	Part I	Part II	Part III

Alex Proyas has never shied away from utilizing the latest digital technology to make his films. I remember getting a call from him back in 1994 when I was cutting “Civil Wars” for Steven Bochco Productions, one of the first network shows to be edited digitally on the Avid. The company had given the director my name to give him some feedback on what is was like cutting long-form on the Media Composer as he was considering using the system on his first American feature, “The Crow”.  So it came as no surprise to me when I heard he and his cinematographer, Simon Duggan were shooting his latest film “Knowing” with the RED ONE digital cinema camera. The film, which opened last week, is the largest budget film to date to shot with the RED.

From Wired

Alex Proyas has made plenty of films in traditional fashion, shooting Dark City, The Crow and I, Robot on old-fashioned celluloid.  For his new sci-fi thriller Knowing, the Australian director decided to go digital for the first time and put the ultrahigh-resolution RED camera to the test.  Now that he’s worked out the kinks, Proyas says, “There’s no going back.”

ASL Gear is a company that designs and manufactures accessories for the Red ONE and other HD camera systems. The Remote Interface Box, or RIB Kit is comprised of two of the company’s products, RIP and RIB (remote interface breatkout box) designed to provide crews using the RED some more robust interface options for getting video, audio and timecode signals in and out of the camera.

From the company’s website.

Now you can finally plug full size XLR’s and BNC cables directly into your RED ONE® without the need for adapters. You also get Genlock and Timecode functions via the BNC panel. The ‘RIP’ provides quick and easy access to the RED’s I/O interface. The RIP easily attaches to the connector side of the camera and can be used in Stand Alone Mode, or with the ‘RIB’ Break-Out Box

In the video above RED user Jay A. Kelley reviews and explains how this product came about and how it can be used to make camera crews lives a bit easier when shooting with RED  in the field.

As editors, who often live with a film for an extended period of time, it becomes like one of your children. In this segment I ask Chris about sequences from Slumdog he is especially proud of, or ones that hold a special place in his heart. We talk about some of the directors he admires who have influenced him, his fondness for stories told in a non-linear way and how his director Danny Boyle encouraged him to take risks and try new ideas while cutting the film.

More from this series
	QuickTime Movie HD 768×432	Part I	Part II	Part III	Part IV	Part V
	iPod/iPhone/iPod Touch 640×360	Part I	Part II	Part III	Part IV	Part V
	Windows Media Format 640×360	Part I	Part II	Part III	Part IV	Part V

Avid Technology had released the latest version of it’s flagship Media Composer software. Version 3.5 boasts the ability to harness a 3D Stereoscopic workflow to accommodate the increasing number of films produced and distributed in 3D. Another added feature is native support for Sony’s XDCAM HD and EX formats allowing editors to quickly ingest material captured in these emerging standards. The latest version of the software also delivers a variety of new features designed to help editors work more creatively and efficiently including; streamlined HD audio and video workflows; addional offline editorial effects including keyframable color correction and a new “Fluid Stabilizer”; CPU and GPU acceleration of visual effects and improved interoperability with Digidesign’s Pro Tools. This upgrade also applies to Media Composer Symphony and NewCutter and is shipping now. For more information see Avid’s website.

EDITGROOVE…FOR FCP

ANOTHER cool tool for FCP released today, EditGroove. This bit of software manages preferences and user settings for multiple users…on one machine or across a network. If you are working on one machine one day, then move to another, you can load your keyboard layouts….

Don’t get me wrong I have nothing against Premiere Pro, but for starters the CS4 version, which the article refers to, hasn’t even been released yet. This obviously precludes it from having been evaluated by professional editors. What I find more remiss is the failure to mention the real tools of choice for the majority of professional editors such as offerings from Avid Technology and their Media Composer, Sony, with its hugely popular PC editing package Vegas or Apple’s Final Cut Pro.

Anyone with even a peripheral knowledge of the professional editing tools market knows Premiere is not “the pro’s choice”. And while it does offer professional level features, it is certainly not as widely used in professional circles as products from the vendors mentioned above. This is reflected in the reader comments, which turn out to be the most educational and frankly, most entertaining part of the article.

Information Week should stick to subjects it knows best, otherwise it might become known as “Bad Information Week”.

Adam Wilt Reviews the Panasonic AG-HPX170P 1/3”, 3CCD P2 Camcorder

The first review on the net of the successor to Panasonic’s hugely popular HVX-200. Adam gives his usual in-depth analysis of what is expected to be one of this year’s “next big things” in digital cinematography. This article will be of particular interest to indie-filmmakers, production houses and cinematographers…(more)

Richard Recco/QC Central

Cineon/DPX Pro for Final Cut Studio 2 3.0.3

This is a professional set of QuickTime components to read and write Cineon or DPX images. Features include:- Full Integration with Final Cut Pro 6 and Compressor 3
- Solid playback with FCP 6. (If system meets recommended requirements.)
- Sequence Presets for Cineon or DPX based projects
- 32-bit float pixel support during import and export. (more)

IFSS/International Film School, Sydney

Dual-System Sound Sync Options

One particular production workflow that can be a sticking point for many projects is working in post with dual-system sound requiring synchronization.

Dual-System (aka Double-System) sound is simply that where the audio has been recorded separately from the picture, to a physically separate recording device and medium. The main unit used in the school for dual-system is the Marantz solid-state field recorder. This records 2 channel audio to compact flash memory cards in standard 48k 16bit…. (more)

Merinews – India

Video editing: The visual cut

VIDEO EDITING has become an inseparable part of today’s media and entertainment industry and hence the increased demand for video editors. The secret behind making art aesthetically appealing lies in the techniques of editing… (more)

Today we have the 3rd installment of our 3-part interview with cinematographer John Leonetti, ASC, about his experience shooting his latest film, “Hybrid”, with the RED ONE digital cinema camera. In this last segment John and I talk about the state of screening dailies in present day Hollywood and whether he had a DIT (digital imaging technician) on set while shooting “Hybrid”. I then get down to brass tacks and ask John my two most pressing questions; his feelings about the future of celluloid and if he thinks the RED digital cinema camera is revolutionary enough to change the balance of power in Hollywood.

iPod/iPhone/iPod Touch – Small
Windows Media Format

Link to Part I
Link to Part II