DP Mauricio Rubenstein gave the XDCAM a tough test if you‘re thinking about how well it shapes up to film. The piece, Puccini for Beginners, needed an absolutely traditional film look–the one that goes with Romantic Comedies. “It has to be so that the girls look pretty,” Mauricio says. “It has to be so that the look is crisp and a little bit glossy.” He knew the colors had to saturate in that Romantic Comedy kind of way, with a kind of polish that belied low budget indie.

Of course, plenty of people are achieving film look and film style with digital cameras, but not all in this style. Yet Rubenstein says, “for this particular project this turned out to be the right camera” (with Canon HD primes and a cinelike zoom). “I don‘t tlak only in the level of how saturated the colors, how deep the contrast or how the chip is performing. This combination produced a very cinematographic look.” He mentions selective focus, something he says digital cameras had trouble with in the past, as well as the scale of distance and size. He mentions night exteriors lit with lampposts and describes dark exteriors as having “body and definition.” more

Press Release: New York City Salutes its Presence at Sundance Film Festival

“Made in NY” productions once again have a leading role at this year‘s Sundance Film Festival. The Mayor‘s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting congratulates our City‘s films which are playing at the Festival:

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, directed by Dito Montiel and starring Robert Downey Jr. and Rosario Dawson, the coming of age story of a boy growing up in Queens in the 1980‘s who believes he is saved from choosing the wrong path by various saints.

Flannel Pajamas, a Jeff Lipsky character-driven production which tells the story of a couple who become instantly attracted on their first date, and what happens to their relationship over the following two years. more

Wanted to comment on Trevor’s mention of HP’s xw4300 workstation in a couple of his postings (Jan 20th).

I have my own xw4300, running a dual-core Pentium D (you can get one with a single core Pentium 4, but why bother? See the following.).

So why choose a dual core workstation? One word: Multitasking.

While a faster CPU might make a difference in some situations, if you’re anything like me, a day at the computer is less about speeding through one action and more about doing many things at once, jumping among various programs, checking something on Google, buying and downloading an image or video file from the ‘net– all things that can tie up the standard, single-core CPU, since everything has to go through that one gateway.

With a dual core CPU, one of the pair can work in the background, downloading, compressing, rendering, and doing whatever other intensive chores you need. This makes even more sense if, again, you’re like me, and run dual monitors. I can keep windows open and active without worrying about my interactivity taking a nose dive.

Press Release: Sony Unveils Tapeless HD Production System for Cinematographers at Sundance

New XDCAM HD System Combines Optical Disc Technology with HD Resolution to Put Powerful Production Capabilities in Cinematographers‘ Hands

At this week‘s Sundance Film Festival, Sony is taking the wraps off of the next generation of its XDCAM™ Professional Disc™ system - a line of high-definition optical camcorders and decks that offers cinematographers and directors of photography a toolkit of flexible, digital production options.

The XDCAM HD system is the latest Sony digital innovation to debut at Sundance, and marks the continuing evolution of optical technology as video professionals shift from standard definition production. more

My blog is intended to be daily, but as German Field Marshall von Molke noted, no plan survives contact with the enemy, in this case the blitzkrieg of screenings, parties, panels, new equipment displays, music performances, and endless chance encounters that Sundance inflicts. Plus that all-night jam session in the basement of New York entertainment attorney Jonathan Gray’s condo. Not my fault they needed a bass player.

Speaking of sleep deprivation, not one but two Sundance films from veteran directors tackle the topic of sleeplessness: Alan Berliner‘s Wide Awake and Haskell Wexler‘s Who Needs Sleep? Berliner‘s film explores the personal consequences of insomnia, while Wexler‘s examines the dangers, even lethality, of sleep deprivation among film industry workers, especially those who routinely put in days of 14, 16, even 18 hours on the set, then drive home woozy. more