News Stories

‘Harry Potter Deathly Hallows’ premiere to broadcast live on Sky 3D

[By Catriona Wightman, TV Reporter]

The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 premiere will be broadcast live and in 3D, Sky has announced.

The red carpet, which will air exclusively on Sky 3D, will be filmed by eight different cameras for around three hours.

The event will follow the stars of the movies and celebrity guests as they arrive at the premiere of the final Harry Potter movie.

Alex Zane and Edith Bowman have signed up to present the coverage, which comes from Trafalgar Square.

Sky Movies director Ian Lewis said: “The Harry Potter movies have continued to delight audiences across the globe for a decade and the world premiere of the final installment is without doubt one of the most eagerly-anticipated events in film history.

“By broadcasting the premiere live in 3D, Sky will grant viewers beyond-the-barrier access to what promises to be an extraordinary event.”

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Premiere Live will air on July 7 from 4pm on Sky 3D.

See the original story here: http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a327665/harry-potter-deathly-hallows-premiere-to-broadcast-live-on-sky-3d.html

Hollywood May Be Bribing Projectionists To Show 3D Movies Right

[Author: Josh Tyler, Cinema Blend]

There’s been a lot of discussion in the past few weeks, over whether or not movie theaters are doing their job, when projecting Hollywood’s movies up on their screen. At the center of all the controversy are 3D movies, which must be projected differently from 2D movies. In particular they must be shown brighter and the truth is that a lot of theaters, trying to save money on expensive bulbs, simply aren’t doing this. 

The movie industry’s starting to get worried. There’s a growing movement against 3D and there are hints scattered throughout the box office, for anyone who wants to look for them, that audiences may be getting sick of the whole 3D thing. That’s making it more critical than ever that those 3D movies are being shown correctly, if there’s any hope of 3D and its higher ticket prices sticking around for awhile. 

That’s probably why last week Transformers: Dark of the Moon director Michael Bay sent a letter out to projectionists begging them to project his movie properly. That seemed like a big deal at the time, but apparently it’s not. Projectionists claim letters like this are commonplace and have started speaking out on the subject through Reddit. Several of them claim that most filmmakers go a lot further, resorting to actual bribes as a way of convincing them to do their job. In particular this theater employee claims Pixar goes the extra mile in this, saying:

I was a projectionist during the release of UP and Walle, and both times PIXAR sent a letter directed at the projectionists. If I remember correctly, the letters were warm and somewhat personal, and showed a lot of pride in the directors work. I am desperately searching to find the letter from andrew stanton for Walle. Many directors plead for the projectionists to not cut up the film too badly, check the brightness on the digital houses, and turn the volume to the correct level. Pixar, unlike Michael Bay however, not only sent me a letter with each print, but also sent tshirts, hats, trading cards, and a sweet contest. For every major release, pixar’s perfect projection contest sends out secret techs to the theaters, and does a drawing out of the best theaters and gives the entire booth staff a trip to pixar studios.

Backing up that claim, another post left by a different projectionist insists much the same, saying: 

Every single Disney and/or Pixar movie has come with a letter, they will even send little trinkets and toys, even t-shirts. If I remember correctly, Bay sent out letters for the last two Transformers as well.

The fact that studios like Pixar are going through so much trouble to try and convince projectionists to do their job suggests that in a lot of cases, as we’ve all suspected, they probably aren’t. You can’t really blame the projectionists for this, it’s the job of the theater chains that hire them to make sure they’re going through the trouble necessary to show their movies in a way that people might actually want to see. But since theater chains don’t really seem to care, Hollywood has apparently resorted to bribery as a way to convince other people’s employees that it might be worth their time to do their job. 

This has all come to a head because of 3D but it’s not just affecting 3D movies. Last week Ebert ran a long and detailed post on the way lazy projectionists aren’t swapping out 3D lenses when showing 2D movies, resulting in dim and depressing images projected up on screen for 2D audiences. The good news here is that according to this projectionist it’s only a problem with Sony 3D projectors, and if you’re seeing your movie in a theater with Christie projectors, it’ll never be an issue. 

A projectionist at the Alamo Drafthouse has chimed in on the issue as well and confirms that not only is it fantastically difficult to swap out those Sony 3D lenses to show 2D movies, a lot of the time even they aren’t changing out everything. He says: 

If we know we are showing 2D ONLY on a given screen, Alamo projectionists will swap out the 3D dual lens for the 2D lens. We are one of the only theaters in the country that routinely does this swap. If we are running a complex schedule with 2D and 3D on the same screen on the same day, however, we DO leave in the dual 3D lens for the 2D presentations. However, we DO remove the polarizing filters from in front of the lenses for 2D screenings. The polarizing filters are what drastically reduce the light.

Bottom line here, the place you choose to see your movies matters. If theater owners want people to keep showing up and buying tickets at their establishment, maybe it’s time they start paying attention to the details. Theater owners need to care just as much about the way they’re showing these movies as the people who made them do. 3D may be dying, but unless you want it to take 2D with it, now seems like a good time to start paying attention to what you’re showing your audience.

See the original post here: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Hollywood-May-Be-Bribing-Projectionists-To-Show-3D-Movies-Right-25447.html

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Specification for Naming VFX Image Sequences Released

ETC’s VFX Working Group has published a specification for best practices naming image sequences such as plates and comps. File naming is an essential tool for organizing the multitude of frames that are inputs and outputs from the VFX process. Prior to the publication of this specification, each organization had its own naming scheme, requiring custom processes for each partner, which often resulted in confusion and miscommunication.

The new ETC@USC specification focuses primarily on sequences of individual images. The initial use case was VFX plates, typically delivered as OpenEXR or DPX files. However, the team soon realized that the same naming conventions can apply to virtually any image sequence. Consequently, the specification was written to handle a wide array of assets and use cases.

To ensure all requirements are represented, the working group included over 2 dozen participants representing studios, VFX houses, tool creators, creatives and others.  The ETC@USC also worked closely with MovieLabs to ensure that the specification could be integrated as part of their 2030 Vision.

A key design criteria for this specification is compatibility with existing practices.  Chair of the VFX working group, Horst Sarubin of Universal Pictures, said: “Our studio is committed to being at the forefront of designing best industry practices to modernize and simplify workflows, and we believe this white paper succeeded in building a new foundation for tools to transfer files in the most efficient manner.”

This specification is compatible with other initiatives such as the Visual Effects Society (VES) Transfer Specifications. “We wanted to make it as seamless as possible for everyone to adopt this specification,” said working group co-chair and ETC@USC’s Erik Weaver. “To ensure all perspectives were represented we created a team of industry experts familiar with the handling of these materials and collaborated with a number of industry groups.”

“Collaboration between MovieLabs and important industry groups like the ETC is critical to implementing the 2030 Vision,” said Craig Seidel, SVP of MovieLabs. “This specification is a key step in defining the foundations for better software-defined workflows. We look forward to continued partnership with the ETC on implementing other critical elements of the 2030 Vision.”

The specification is available online for anyone to use.

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