book

High Definition Cinematography, 3rd Edition

by Paul Wheeler

March 2009

Intermediate to advanced

320 pages

7h 57m

English

Routledge

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1.1 What Do We Mean by High Definition (HD)?1.1.1 The Knowledge Base1.1.2 What Does It Mean to the Producer – Saving Money!1.1.3 What Does It Mean to the Director?1.1.4 What Does It Mean for the Director of Photography?1.1.5 What Does It Mean to the Other Crafts?1.1.6 Editing and Post-Production1.2 Context
2.1 Progressive or Interlace?2.2 How Many Pixels Do You Need?2.3 Recording Formats2.4 HDV – Can You Get Away With It?
3.1 What Does HD Look Like?3.2 HD Images Compared with 35 mm3.3 Anamorphic 35 mm3.4 Comparisons with Super 16 mm3.5 Comparison with Digi Beta
4.1 HD Shown on Television4.2 HD Written to Film and Projected Mechanically4.3 HD Shown on a State-of-the-art Digital Projector4.4 Digital Projectors
5.1 Introduction5.2 Examples of Venues5.2.1 The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)5.2.1.1 The venue5.2.1.2 The digital projectors5.2.1.3 Digital handling5.2.1.4 What does it all get used for?5.2.2 The National Film and Television School (NFTS)5.2.2.1 The venues5.2.2.2 The projectors5.2.2.3 Digital handling5.2.2.4 What do they get used for?5.2.3 The Odeon Leicester Square, London5.2.3.1 The venue5.2.3.2 The digital projector5.2.3.3 Digital handling5.2.3.4 What does it all get used for?5.3 How HD Cinema Projectors Work5.4 Adding Color5.4.1 Single-chip Projectors5.4.2 Three-chip Projectors
6.1 For Delivery on Film6.2 Higher Resolution in Post-Production6.3 Multiformat Delivery Requirements6.4 HD Projection6.5 Encryption6.6 Broadcast Delivery6.7 Convertibility6.7.1 Picture6.7.2 Sound6.7.3 Time Code
7.1 Multiple Standard Sales7.2 Multiple Venue Sales7.3 Additional Sales to HD Users7.4 Future Proofing
8.1 Savings8.1.1 Origination Costs – Different Formats8.1.1.1 Stock savings – film to HDCAM8.1.1.2 Insurance savings8.1.2 Savings in Print Costs8.1.3 Shooting for Anamorphic Release8.2 Added Costs8.2.1 Camera Kit Rental8.2.2 Editing Costs8.2.3 Writing Out to Film8.3 A Cost Comparison Example – Oklahoma!8.3.1 Stock and Processing Savings8.3.2 Camera Rental8.3.3 Additional Costs8.3.3.1 Overall savings8.3.4 Competitive Pricing
9.1 Should the DP Operate?9.2 Do You Need a Focus Puller?9.3 Do You Need a Loader?9.4 Naming the Camera Assistants9.5 Do You Need a Clapperboard?9.6 Do You Need a Dolly Grip?9.7 Sound9.8 Electricians9.9 A New Member of the Crew – the Data Wrangler or Downloader
10.1 The History of Digits10.2 Digital Tonal Range10.3 Linear and Logarithmic Sampling10.4 Image Resolution: Why So Many Pixels?10.5 Required Resolution for HD10.6 Data Quantity
11.1 A Little of the History of Television11.2 Interlace Scanning11.3 Progressive Scanning11.4 Traditional Cinema Flicker11.5 How are Images Captured by the Two Scanning Formats?11.6 Printing Out to Film
12.1 Line Summation12.2 Apparent Picture Quality12.3 1080 Versus 720 in Television12.4 Conclusions12.5 Is HD Worth the Trouble?
13.1 Additive Color Imagery13.2 The Three-chip Camera’s Beam Splitter13.3 The Image Sensors13.4 The Sensor Chip
14.1 What is Available?14.2 CCD Sensors14.3 CMOS Sensors14.4 CCDs versus CMOS Chips14.5 Color Filtering in Single Sensors14.6 Bayer Pattern Filtering14.7 Sequential Filtering14.8 Comparative Resolution14.9 Using Sequential Pattern Filtering
15.1 RAW Data Files, etc.15.2 4:4:4, 4:2:2 and All That15.3 Look-up Tables (LUTs)15.4 De-Bayering an Image
16.1 The HDCAM Format16.2 Helical Scan Recording16.3 Mechanical Considerations16.4 The Drum Lacing Mechanism16.5 Operational Considerations16.6 A Jammed Mechanism
17.1 An HD Camera’s Equivalent ASA Speed, or ISO Rating17.2 Tonal Range17.3 Lighting Ratios17.4 Lighting to a Monitor17.5 Highlights and Shadows17.6 Exposure17.6.1 Using a Monitor17.6.2 Using a Meter17.6.3 Auto Exposure17.6.4 Exposing Using a Waveform Monitor
18.1 White Balance18.2 What is White Balance?18.3 Neutral Density (ND) Filters18.4 A Warning!18.5 Setting the White Balance Using a White Card18.6 Setting the White Balance Using a Colored Card18.7 Setting the White Balance Under Fluorescent Lighting18.8 The Outer Filter Wheel on a Sony HDW Camera18.9 Black Balance
19.1 The Camera Body19.1.1 Menus19.2 Lenses19.3 Electronic Checks19.3.1 Dead Pixels19.3.2 Ringing – Or Whatever the Manufacturer Calls It19.4 Temperature19.5 Matching Cameras19.6 Matching Lenses19.7 Lens Vignetting19.8 What Does It All Mean?
20.1 How to Choose a Lens20.1.1 Resolution20.1.2 Contrast20.1.3 Perceived Sharpness with Regard to Contrast20.1.4 Color Rendition20.1.4.1 Overall color bias20.1.4.2 Color fringing20.1.4.3 What is fringing?20.1.5 Breathing20.2 Setting the Back Focus20.2.1 Zoom Lenses20.2.2 Prime Lenses20.3 Focusing the Lens Using Back Focus Charts – Beware!20.4 Back Focusing Using the Oval Rings Chart20.5 Comparative Focal Lengths20.6 Depth of Field20.7 Calculating Depth of Field20.8 Neutral Density (ND) Filters20.9 Limiting Apertures20.10 Filtration20.10.1 Color Correction20.10.2 Diffusion
21.1 What Kinds of Monitor are Available?21.1.1 Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Monitors21.1.2 Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Monitors21.1.3 Plasma Screens21.2 Lining up Your Monitor21.2.1 An SMPTE Line-up21.2.2 Lining up Using EBU Bars21.2.3 Using an Exposure Meter21.3 Cabling your Monitor21.3.1 Single Coaxial Cables21.3.2 Triple Coaxial Cables21.3.3 Termination21.3.4 Serial Monitors21.4 Best Practice
22.1 It’s Not ENG!22.2 Shipping Lenses22.3 Transit Cases22.4 Camera Set-up when Shipping22.5 Size and Weight22.6 Batteries
23.1 Synchronization23.2 Time Code on Location23.2.1 Lock-it Boxes23.2.2 Script Boy23.3 Time Code in a Studio23.3.1 Genlock23.4 Menu Set-ups23.4.1 The Sony RMB 15023.4.2 Using Memory Sticks23.5 Matching Lenses
24.1 Resetting the Trips24.2 Water24.3 Heat24.4 Cold24.5 Dust24.6 Gamma Rays
25.1 Fluid Heads25.2 Geared Heads25.3 Remote Heads25.4 Under Water25.5 In the Air25.6 Motion Control Rigs
26.1 Art and Design26.2 Costume26.3 Make-up and Hair26.4 Sound26.5 Script Supervision and Continuity26.6 The Second Assistant Cameraperson or Ex-Clapper Boy
27.1 Stating the Obvious27.2 Problems and Solutions
28.1 The Studio Shoot28.2 The Location Shoot28.3 Exterior Tracking Shots28.4 Interior Lighting28.5 Adding Gain28.6 Hand Holding28.7 Editing Birthdays28.8 Viewings
29.1 The Project29.2 The Schedule29.3 Preparation29.4 Rigging and Equipment29.5 Camera Equipment29.6 The Shoot29.7 Practical Matters29.8 Monitoring, etc.
30.1 How It Came About30.2 The Shoot30.3 How Did It Come Out?30.4 Conclusions
31.1 The Choice of Cameras31.2 In This Edition31.3 My Disclaimer!
32.1 The Camera32.2 Significant Improvements Over the D-2032.3 The Camera Sensor32.4 Interface32.5 Lenses32.6 Recorders
33.1 The Dalsa Origin33.1.1 The Look-through33.1.2 The Sensor33.1.3 Interfaces33.1.4 Conclusions on the Dalsa Origin33.2 Currently Available Recorders33.3 The Codex Digital Media Recorder33.3.1 The Touch Screen33.3.2 Monitoring via the Codex33.3.3 Conclusions on the Codex33.4 The Dalsa Evolution
34.1 The Camera34.2 Frame Rates34.3 Exposure Times34.4 The Chips and the Processor34.5 The VTR34.6 Time Code34.7 An Overview
35.1 The Camera35.2 Menus35.3 White Balance35.4 The Camera Sensor35.5 Formats, Outputs and Interface35.6 Solid-state Recording35.7 Viewing Logarithmic Images
36.1 A Little Background36.2 First Impressions36.3 The Camera36.4 The Mysterium™ Sensor36.5 Shooting Costs36.6 RED Marketing36.7 Design Philosophy36.8 Recording Media36.9 Which Drive to Choose?36.10 Basic Camera Specification36.10.1 The Mysterium™ Sensor36.10.2 Image Processing36.11 Conclusions
37.1 Frame Rates37.2 The Camera Body37.3 Add-in Boards, etc.37.4 Image Control via the Menus37.4.1 Multi Matrix37.4.2 Auto Tracing White Balance37.4.3 Color Temperature Control37.4.4 Selectable Gamma Curves37.4.5 RGB Gamma Balance37.4.6 Variable Black Gamma Range37.4.7 Black Stretch37.4.8 Adaptive Highlight Control (Auto Knee Mode)37.4.9 Knee Saturation Function37.4.10 The Triple Skin Tone Detail Control37.4.11 Level Depend Detail37.5 Metadata Handling37.6 The Sony Tele-File System37.7 The Optional HDSDI Adapter37.8 An Overview
38.1 The Camera38.2 The Chips38.3 The Processor38.4 Additional Facilities38.5 Menus38.6 Overall Impressions
39.1 Some Background39.2 Basic Specifications39.3 Why Introduce These Cameras?
40.1 The Camera Body40.2 Outputs from the Camera40.3 The Hard Drive Recorder40.4 The Beam Splitter40.5 The Viper’s CCD Array40.6 The Mechanical Shutter40.7 Frame Rates40.8 Resolution40.9 The Camera’s Processor Configuration40.10 The Camera Back40.11 The Arguments for a Logarithmic Recording Format40.12 Lenses for the Viper40.13 Monitors for the Viper40.14 Camera Accessories40.15 Shipping the Viper40.16 Conclusions
41.1 HD Cameras41.1.1 Broadcast Cameras41.1.2 Cameras That Really Emulate 35 mm Film41.2 Recording Formats41.3 Entertaining our Audience

Overview

High-definition is now ubiquitous in video production and High Definition Cinematography, Third Edition provides the explanations, definitions, and workflows that today's cinematographers and camera operators need to make the transition. Paul Wheeler will explain the high-definition process, suggest the best methods for filming, and help you choose the right camera and equipment for your crew with this comprehensive book. You'll also learn the different formats and when best to use them, how to create specific looks for different venues, and learn how to operate a wide variety of popular cameras.