HD Production on The 4400
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Hopefully the second season will be 16:9 on DVD.
I haven't been watching this season because USA is showing it 4:3.
I haven't been watching this season because USA is showing it 4:3.
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Interesting article - thanks for the post. Nice to see that some location video (i.e. racking - colour balancing etc. live) work is still possible - rather than leaving everything to the grade in post. Nearly every article I read on HD production seems to include the line "we underexpose and used a fixed setting on a memory card, I hated the idea of all the adjustments that could be made whilst shooting" from an ex-film DoP...
It is interesting to see how "what goes around comes around" in this industry. In the 80s and 90s, almost all BBC Children's - and some Adult in the 80s - drama was shot on location in standard def video, with specific "looks" designed on location, not in post. Single camera - but not camcorder - techniques were introduced, though 2 or 3 camera set-ups were also popular as they were very time-efficient (which is a real issue when working within British "Child Actor" laws designed to ensure the wellbeing of young actors, which have very strict limits on the amount of time a chile can shoot each day)
They used standard def still stores (just as was routine in telecine suites) to ensure consistency between and within scenes, whether they were shooting single or multi-camera video. The Outside Broadcast vision supervisors who were responsible for colour balance etc. on the shoot often went into post-production to assist on the "grade" - or TARIF as it was known in the BBC (a legacy term for the BBC Technical Apparatus for Rectification of Inferior Film device)
The only difference seems to be that the guy performing this role on The 4400 has a post-production colourist background, whereas the vision guys on BBC location video drama were from a live production background (and were as at home making the grass consistently the same green at Wimbledon, as providing fantasy sequences for Children's stuff) I think colourists usually earn more than vision engineers as well...
It is nice to see that some skills and techniques are re-invented.
| Originally Posted by DaveFi http://www.uemedia.net/CPC/videograp...er_13359.shtml |
It is interesting to see how "what goes around comes around" in this industry. In the 80s and 90s, almost all BBC Children's - and some Adult in the 80s - drama was shot on location in standard def video, with specific "looks" designed on location, not in post. Single camera - but not camcorder - techniques were introduced, though 2 or 3 camera set-ups were also popular as they were very time-efficient (which is a real issue when working within British "Child Actor" laws designed to ensure the wellbeing of young actors, which have very strict limits on the amount of time a chile can shoot each day)
They used standard def still stores (just as was routine in telecine suites) to ensure consistency between and within scenes, whether they were shooting single or multi-camera video. The Outside Broadcast vision supervisors who were responsible for colour balance etc. on the shoot often went into post-production to assist on the "grade" - or TARIF as it was known in the BBC (a legacy term for the BBC Technical Apparatus for Rectification of Inferior Film device)
The only difference seems to be that the guy performing this role on The 4400 has a post-production colourist background, whereas the vision guys on BBC location video drama were from a live production background (and were as at home making the grass consistently the same green at Wimbledon, as providing fantasy sequences for Children's stuff) I think colourists usually earn more than vision engineers as well...
It is nice to see that some skills and techniques are re-invented.
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It's kind of bizarre that we now have shows that are now being produced in HD, yet we have no way to see them that way. The 4400 is one and my personal favorite, BSG (yes, I'm one of the wretched majority who's wretched provider [TWC] still can't seem to manage to add UHD to its lineup).
Who predicted this sad state of affairs?
Who predicted this sad state of affairs?
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So many of my favorite shows are now on basic cable -- mainly Sci-Fi, USA, and especially FX, and none of that stuff is available in HD. It's really sad. I hope this situation will change soon.
OTOH, since my HD DVR is the tiny harddrive Moto 6412, having stuff that isn't in HD to record means that my standalone TiVo continues to be useful.
OTOH, since my HD DVR is the tiny harddrive Moto 6412, having stuff that isn't in HD to record means that my standalone TiVo continues to be useful.
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I'll second that, I thought it was very, very good...the analog broadcast looks pathetic compared to the DVD.
| Originally Posted by DaveFi The one saving grace is that this is one of the best TV to DVD transfers out there. I highly recommend picking up S1 on DVD. |
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I've noticed that a lot of Viacom productions eventually wind up on HDNet.
I believe USA (NBC/Uni) have the on-air rights for the HD broadcast for the 4400 (and Dead Zone and others) regardless of the production company in the US market.
Should there be a NBC/Uni cable HD channel or USA HD channel, I would expect to see it there. I think there is close to enough content to get a USA HD channel going just as Fox has decided to start some up (hopefully some of the FX original content filmed in HD will start to get some visibility). Unfortunately, getting satellite/cable operators to carry these channels will likely be difficult though.
Rasheed
Should there be a NBC/Uni cable HD channel or USA HD channel, I would expect to see it there. I think there is close to enough content to get a USA HD channel going just as Fox has decided to start some up (hopefully some of the FX original content filmed in HD will start to get some visibility). Unfortunately, getting satellite/cable operators to carry these channels will likely be difficult though.
Rasheed
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I'm surprised you can't see it in HD over in the US.
The HD quality in Australia is very good. These are heavily compressed JPEG snapshots:
http://img291.imageshack.us/my.php?image=4400hd5wp.jpg
http://img291.imageshack.us/my.php?image=4400hd25mg.jpg
The HD quality in Australia is very good. These are heavily compressed JPEG snapshots:
http://img291.imageshack.us/my.php?image=4400hd5wp.jpg
http://img291.imageshack.us/my.php?image=4400hd25mg.jpg
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