| While his session was interspersed with clips from Stuart
Little - behind-the-scenes footage and computer modeling, Minkoff
finally stressed that digital technology was nevertheless just a tool
and it eventually required a good animator to create great work. His
presentation also touched on the differences in the process of animation
versus live-action and how they influenced each other.
With high definition (HD) production becoming the future trend
of filmmaking, filmmaker and author of best-selling books Shot
by Shot and Cinematic Motion, Steven D Katz elaborated
his views on the source of many myths and misunderstanding of electronic
cinematography.
Under the topic "Creating HD Content: From Pre-Production
to Post-Production", Katz provided his insider's advice on
when to use HD, where at present budget is among the premier concerns.
He also analysed the advantages and disadvantages of using HD at
various production stages, touching on technical issues encompassing
lighting, special visual effects, resolution, editing, and finally
on the digital intermediate (DI).
With DI becoming the single most powerful innovation in the production
process, Katz highlighted its revolutionary ability to change colour,
lighting and composition of images, as well as introduced various
types of DI for different production budget.
Another speaker, Dr Man-Nang Chong, Chief Executive Officer of
GDC Technology brought forth how the new digital technology in Digital
Cinema Multiplex was revolutionising the way worldwide audiences
enjoy entertainment such as films, concerts and live events.
Providing an overview on the current state of digital cinema solutions
and their existing worldwide installations, Dr Chong stressed that
digital cinema was able to deliver knockout pictures as well as
stunning sound quality again and again. He also laid out the other
advantages of digital cinema solutions from the producer's and distributor's
perspectives.
"With no physical media to steal, there's no privacy problem.
Moreover, the interface of delivery is reliable and secured, and
it allows centralised control for managing content delivery,"
concluded Chong. GDC Technology pioneers in digital post-production,
delivery and presentation technologies. Committed to innovative
engineering work, quality products and state-of-the-art technology,
GDC Technology offers solutions on film transfer, post-production,
delivery and presentation of digital content.
Hong Kong's Information Technology (IT) flagship project at the
Cyberport was introduced by Dr Krates Ng, Centre Manager of the
DMC from Hong Kong Cyberport. "The Digital Media Centre (DMC)
is a uniquely state-of-the-art digital multimedia creation facility
located at Cyberport, set up to help startup companies by providing
the latest digital technology and services at an affordable price."
Ng provided a comprehensive recap on the set of facilities offered
at DMC, highlighting three key technologies, which could enhance
the industry in outputting their next digital production, 3D Scanner,
Motion Capture and Rendering servers. With vivid demonstrations
and case studies, Nang also illustrated the technology involved,
the process behind and the uniqueness of these systems and technology.
The conference ended with a panel discussion, with all the speakers
exchanging their views on hot topics encompassing whether digital
technology has reduced the barriers to entry and democratised the
film industry, and if Asian animation was changing film aesthetics
and consumer taste.
And the unanimous answer was yes. "The sad part is that distribution
has not been democratised," said Katz. "While anybody
with a DV camera can make a movie, the small time independent movie
maker still does not have a window to show his work as distributors
prefer to work with big studios and names."
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