This isn't just huge news for people in the digital cinema business: it's huge for everyone in any aspect of show business, including slobs like us.
I saw the news of Sony's new 4K projectors on the front page of Variety.com.
Variety is barely peripherally related to the projection side of the business. This message is directly aimed at the people who make the movies: 4K is here...and the ideal use of a 4K projector is NOT the projection of 4K images. Its primary intent is for a full 2K for eacheye!! You can kind of get that from the last frame of the animated ad that you can see in the grab above -- and, uhm, the name of the product. The first 2 frames of the animation are even more on the nose, but in case there's any doubt, I saved you the effort of typing in the link to Sony's site as posted at Variety:
And just today (March 30 as I write this) our pals at AMC -- the same ones who committed to 1500 RealD screens
just yesterday -- have announced a "commitment in principle" to add
5000 Sony 4K digital cinema systems. They've already rolled out 150 screens at 11 theaters, and 29 of them are 3D-capable. Now it seems to me that dang near every new screen going in should be 3D-capable, and it looks like the next ones will be (at least in principle). I have no idea how this fits in with yesterday's announcement between AMC and RealD, but that's not my problem.
Except, if I'm going to keep writing about stereoscopic production and projection, it kind of IS my problem. This is insane. AMC has movies to show. I have movies (and TV) to watch, and frankly, other things to do. It's clear that there are going to be new 3D announcements more or less every day of the week. I ain't making any promises, but I'll try to at least pass along some the biggest.
Several things to note:
--That Sony intends this projector primarily for the stereoscopic projection of 2K images (that is, one for each eye) lines up exactly with what we reported from both Panavision's Senior Vice President of Advanced Digital Imaging, John Galt (below), and The COW's own Russell Lasson, that 2K is where it's at for digital cinema. (John
talks about deployment here, and Russell talks about actually
posting 2K for digital cinema here.)
Both of these fellas wrote in
The COW Magazine's New Visions issue, well worth a download for these and many other reasons.
--Not that practical 4K projection isn't perhaps coming. But I don't see the existing thousands of 2K digital cinema projectors upgrading, nor do I think they should.
--One of the big draws of these digital cinema projectors is that they provide an experience that can't be duplicated at home. Here's the problem with that argument: I've seen people actually putting 4K projectors in their home theaters since the year 2000 AND FRAKING FIVE.
There are a ton of great reasons to sign up for an account at the AV Science Forum (aka AVS.com), not least of which is to read stories
like this one, of a real-life installation, first reported in January 2006. I'm pretty sure you'll need an account to read the story (the usual name & email form/email activation link), but here's a photo of our happy owner:
You can also read reviews of the
Sony CineAlta SRX-R220 and
Meridian 810 (pictured below) 4K projectors in HOME THEATER MAGAZINE last year.
--A Creative COW programming note: smack in the middle of the Variety front page pictured above is a note that, after dangling over the precipice almost since the day it first aired 3 seasons ago, "Saturday Night Lights" has been given a 2-year, 26-episode commitment. This isn't just a big deal for fans of quality television, but for The COW's own
Todd McMullen, a camera operator on that show. He told a couple of great stories about it, as well as a career that began on Martin Scorcese's Casino (!!! Talk about starting on a high note!), in Creative COW Magazine's Film Values issue.
Here's the online version of his article.
I love his thoughts on Cinematic Style. Short version: it ain't shooting at 24P or adding a filter in FCP:
To me cinematic style is big and ballsy. A shot that makes the viewer look at it and think about it. It's tough to explain, but the norm just isn't as interesting to me.
I like to go for what's not normal, especially with composition and lighting. I love a long lens profile shot. I like having foregrounds in a shot, especially a master. I prefer having the camera low, looking somewhat up. I like dolllies and cranes when it makes sense, although most of the time it doesn't. I also like the reverse over, basically, coverage from behind the actors.
And I really like it when a director wants to cover a whole scene in one camera move. Good stuff.
Now, you can't have all this for every shot, but I try to make a frame as interesting as possible. Because, for me, the story is in the surroundings. It isn't always told through the words.
Yet another reason to subscribe to
Creative COW Magazine.
--Well, I've once again veered off topic, so here I'll veer back on. The fact is that there's no clear home standard for stereoscopic viewing. Here's what the world leader in theatrical stereo viewing has to say on
home viewing: "We are already working with top consumer electronics manufacturers to bring these new technologies to fruition in the highest possible quality. Please keep checking this space for updates!" In other words, nada. Bupkes. No soup for you. Nice picture though - check it out. That'll have to do for now.
--Except for the two-color glasses, of course. No need to settle for the cheap, cardboard ones. You can get
really snazzy ones at Amazon.
Of course, there are two different sets of colors for these anaglyphic glasses, and they're not compatible. At $3 a pair, it's hardly a platform war, but it also barely hints at some of the issues confronting home viewing. But that's another post.
Hey, and it turns out that there's some huge breaking news on that front that came down just today. Patience, patience. I'll get to it soon. After I've had a long nap.
