RED And More @ NAB
I attended NAB New York on Wednesday and as I promised I�m here to report on what I saw.
Keynote Editor Craig McKay
After arriving in the late morning around 11 I got in just in time to catch the opening of the keynote interview session with editor Craig McKay. He has much history with Ted Demme as you can see from his credits and started as an assistant in the editorial salt mines like most classically trained editors did. Using the upright Moviola, hauling around millions of feet of film, a very physical job. The thing is, you learned. You really learned what the motivation for a cut was by actually watching a master walk you through the process, an apprenticeship that is virtual non-existent now. The interview itself was kind of stale due to McKay�s interviewer, not sure who he was. The man just seemed ill prepared with long gaps, reaching for things to say after we saw clips from what McKay edited. I did take some notes on the nuggets that McKay threw out at the audience.
- Big rule of thumb � never let the audience get ahead of the story, never.
- Story is story regardless of commercial, narrative film or documentary.
- Find the truth in the moment of every scene.
- When the narrative is simple the emotion must dominate (he used the film Philadelphia as an example)
- Some editors impose their style while others bring out what is already there.
As an example of how editing has changed he used the example of the film Reds that he cut for Warren Beatty. There were 64 people involved in that editing department. Now he works with 2 maybe 3 assistants. That film took 2 years to edit on a Moviola with millions of feet of footage. That whole scenario would not exist in the film world of today.
The session was then opened up to Q&A.
- What was the first film he edited using a digital non-linear editor? Copland.
- What is the average turnaround time for an edit on a film? 10-11 months on Moviola, 7 months on Avid.
- What is your relationship with the director? Be honest, be a friend and of course there will be a little politics thrown in.
The Exhibit Floor
After the keynote I checked out what was on the floor. Who I really wanted to see was AJA. They released the Kona 3 card not too long ago and I wanted to see it in action and man, was it nice. All real time, conversion on the fly. Lotta gear envy there but my system can’t handle it, it makes no sense to put a Ferrari engine in a Chevy. I am looking into the full HD system upgrade in the future and it was good to see what is available.
Another exhibitor booth I stumbled upon was Da Vinci’s. That is a serious color grading tool or shall I say color enhancement tool. The rep told me that they have a three day training program down in Florida but it’s for people with a knowledge of basic color correction as a jumping off point. I remember in pre-production for my short film the DP suggested when we go to post we should color correct in a Da Vinci suite. What am I made of money?!? I should have fired him right there on the spot. This is where you go for serious color grading and you have the deep pockets to do it.
RED
A sizable crowd gathered to see the much hyped 4k footage. Yes, it boasts variable frame rates. Yes, it can produce 4K footage. You do need to witness it though and you will see what the hype is about. There is nothing I can tell you spec wise about the camera that you can’t find on the website or HD For Indies. Take a look.
First I want to talk about Ted and the RED Digital Cinema company. Ted Shilowitz is the RED team’s salesman or “Leader of the Rebellion” as he’s been dubbed. Fun and not very shy, he’s the guy that is SELLING this camera. Video products largely depend on marketing to rise above the competition and RED is no different. The RED team is the Wild Bunch because they are willing to step out of the typical R&D and put it out there, informing us all every step of the way. This will either be what makes them succeed or fail, only time will tell. My bet, I think the camera will live a prosperous life because it has built a following before it has even put the camera on the street. Marketing. DV as a format did this not too long ago (1994 remember). This “empowered” the indie filmmaker and made the cost of making a film relatively low. This spawned a new indie revolution. With a low price point (a hard $17,500 for the body, RED zoom $10,000) the RED camera will be that middle ground between the lower end Canon and Panasonic HD cameras and the higher end ones like the Viper and Varicam. This product will incrementally change before it is released that is for sure.
So what does the footage look like? What can I say other than I was impressed with what I saw. Great color sampling, depth of field. Blacks are blaaaaaack which is what I always look for. 4K in 4K. All 4520 X 2540 of it. It is looking bright for RED but as with everything else the proof is in the pudding. Want one of these mothers? Better flex that credit card fast because the cut off point for reservations is October 31st. Trick or treat?
Conclusion
After RED I sat in for a Editing 24p Workflow workshop as a refresher. I haven’t been to the Vegas show so I can’t compare but I’m sure there really is no comparison. This is a scaled down version but it still works on some level. I got out of the cave and got to see what I came for for the price of cab ride.
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