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"Fight or Switch"--Shooting Titus in 24p.
"Pasadena DP Embraces HD"

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"24p Pioneers"
"Meanwhile, Back at 30fps..."
"20th Century Fox Jumps In"
"Tips for 24p"

Although the arrival of 24p high-definition camera technology in the last year has garnered technical Emmys and intrigued episodic television producers, it has hardly flooded into production. Such camera packages, after all, were scarce in the United States until recently, and they still tend to cost slightly more to rent than equivalent 35mm or 16mm film packages, according to several producers. Nevertheless, a steady, and growing, 24p production trickle has begun, and some producers insist that trickle will eventually become a tsunami.

“For episodic television — hour-long dramas and half-hour sitcoms — everyone will be shooting digitally sooner or later,” says Rod Holcomb, executive producer and a director on the new CBS drama, The Education of Max Bickford, a show currently in production that switched to the 24p format following a traditionally filmed pilot. “There is no reason not to do it right now for most shows. Our early experience is that we can save lots of money because of massive post savings. The figure being thrown around is 30 to 50 thousand dollars an episode. If you shoot 22 episodes for an hour show like ours, at 30 or 50 grand savings per episode, then you do the math. Others will argue you have higher costs in other areas, which is true, but even if those numbers are too optimistic, there is still a definite cost savings. I think it's important for producers to consider using technology that can help us lower costs because that can contribute to keeping American TV productions from leaving this country, which is a big issue these days.”

Still, since CBS' Diagnosis Murder, now out of production, became the first U.S. single-camera drama to switch to 24p more than a year ago, followed by A&E's three-camera drama, Sidney Lumet's 100 Centre Street, and Fox's three-camera sitcom Titus, (see the February, 2001, issue of Millimeter), only a handful of shows have jumped on the bandwagon (see accompanying list). Instead, most producers of episodic fare still choose to shoot film or earlier-generation, 1080i HD tape, and later, to conform that material, if necessary, into 24p masters in post to protect for future rebroadcasts.

Episodic producers currently using 24p technology think the slow proliferation of the format into TV results from several factors. For one thing, they say that many producers, DPs, and camera operators do not yet understand how to make HD costs and images match their film counterparts.

“I'm a bit surprised more shows aren't doing HD-cam production,” says John Amodeo, producer of Titus. “I thought this would be the season more shows would get involved, especially after the proven success that our show, and a couple others, had last season, both creatively and financially. Probably, some producers are still confused because it's a bit more expensive to rent [24p] camera packages, and they don't understand where their savings will come from. And lots of film DPs are probably hesitant because they don't see how they can make HD images match what they are used to in the film world. But I can say from firsthand experience that a multi-camera, 24p production can work smoothly with a film-style crew and budget.”

Among the major primetime shows shooting in 24p are the WB’s Reba (Top) and A&E’s 100 Centre Street.

Last season, Amodeo arranged to have the same film crew that shot Titus in 35mm the previous year produce the show using the so-called “Panavised” version of Sony's HDW F-900 24p cameras (with first-generation Panavision Primo Digital 11:1 zoom lenses and a cine-style viewfinder). Amodeo says production of those 24 episodes “went great” and saved the production “significant money.” Nevertheless, this season, he switched camera vendors in order to collaborate with producers of another show — a new WB sitcom, Reba (both shows are produced by 20^th Century Fox TV) — to add more production savings to the show's significant postproduction savings from last season.

“This year, we are renting our cameras from Plus 8 Video [Burbank, Calif.], and we're using Fujinon [HA20×7.5 cine-style zoom lenses] instead of the Panavision lenses,” says Amodeo. “That decision had nothing to do with any problems last season — the Panavision lenses are great. We did it because the arrangement is cheaper. Since we share a production company with Reba, and the two shows shoot on different days, we decided it made sense to rent a single camera package from Plus 8 and split the cost between the two shows. This way, Plus 8 sets the cameras up for us Wednesday mornings; we shoot Wednesday and Friday, and Friday night, they take them down and bring them over to the Reba set, where they shoot on Mondays and Tuesdays. That move has effectively cut our camera-related costs in half from what we spent on the Panavision package last season. It was strictly an economic decision.”

Jason Shubb, Reba's producer, says the concept of sharing camera packages is “not that unusual” for TV shows in the film world, and says it made “a world of sense” for the four-camera Reba, which, unlike Titus, is shot videotape-style on pedestals, rather than with moving cameras.

“The whole issue was how to find the most financial incentives while still having a network-quality, classy-looking show,” Shubb explains. “So the production company, 20^th Century Fox, urged us to try 24p after having a good experience with it on Titus. We shot our pilot with it in April and had no problems. Creatively, in our case, we shoot in a more traditional videotape style than a show like Titus, so we are used to having a video engineer on set, performing basic color correction and other tasks. Stylistically, we took the approach of a traditional videotape project, except in 24p 16×9, while Titus uses the same cameras with more of a film approach.”

Shubb also claims that for producers and crews used to shooting videotape, 24p has helped them actually move closer to a film look and production style.

“Having worked in videotape a good part of my career, I'm learning that HD is the closest thing to film that I have seen yet,” says Shubb. “Our crew is learning to grow into this technology, and that is why we strategically put together a hybrid crew that has both film and tape experience. We are learning together how to give our show a high-end look with this technology.”

Max Bickford's Rod Holcomb was also urged by 20^th Century Fox to use 24p to produce the single-camera, hour-long drama for CBS. (20^th Century Fox has thus far been the most aggressive TV production company where 24p is concerned. See accompanying story, page 23.) The show rents a single Sony HDW F-900 camera, configured with French lenses from New York's Liman Video Rentals (LVR), and has saved “significant money” by eliminating film and lab costs, according to Holcomb.

He claims, however, that the real accomplishment of the setup is creative in nature — the Bickford production team has “accomplished a film look” mainly by discovering and adhering to “a set of rules” when it comes to shooting 24p, particularly on location.

“We had about a month for tests before we started shooting, and our camera team figured out a few basic things that allowed us to maintain the cinematic look,” says Holcomb. “Use lots of backlight for exteriors, avoid flood lighting, keep the camera moving, use longer lenses, be careful with the use of whites and blacks, things like that. By adhering to these rules even more strictly than we would if we were shooting film, and paying more attention to production design, we've been able to put the show together smoothly while maintaining a cinematic look.”

Holcomb says the Bickford production design team, headed by production designer Stephen Hendrickson, has also made strides in building sets that reduce the impact of HDs superior depth-of-field capabilities.

“Just through trial and error, we figured out that the addition of different kinds of geometric forms, like abutments or other things to make the walls seem non-flat, are really helpful,” he says. “Various other architectural elements, like railings to break up flat surfaces, also make a big difference. Such designs give us texture, which is the key to taking advantage of HD's strengths and minimizing its weaknesses. Our set has all sorts of nooks and crannies that reduce the flatness of our backgrounds. We've learned lots of little things like that.”

(Top) The Reba and Titus crews share a Sony HDW F-900 camera package, configured with Fujinon lenses by rental house Plus 8 Video. (Bottom) Titus camera operator Peter Hapke uses the rig, which then moves to the Reba set.

Mike Mayers, DP for The Education of Max Bickford, had “a little” video experience when he took over the show following its season-opening pilot, but he “hated” that earlier experience. He says, however, that segueing into 24p proved simpler than he had anticipated.

“I had used a pre-24p version of Sony's HD camera for a PBS special a while back, and I wasn't very happy with it,” says Mayers. “I didn't want to migrate away from 35mm, but producers of this show asked me to do some tests with 24p, and those tests convinced me the format does a good job mimicking 35mm. After that, it was more a question of which configuration of the 24p cameras to use. I'm a Panavision guy from way back, but I decided, in this particular case, not to use their version of the cameras. I wanted to take a feature-film approach, not a video approach, but I also wanted to use feature-quality lenses in a smaller housing to take advantage of the benefits of a lighter-weight camera. Therefore, we picked the Angenieux HD lenses, a more compact system, and we've been having good luck with them.”

Mayers says that decision, the addition of a video engineer to the Bickford crew, and his use of a 20-inch Sony HD monitor as his main “viewfinder” are the only real differences between the Bickford setup and a typical 35mm setup for an hour drama shoot.

“Using the monitor was a bit of an adjustment, but now, I find it very seductive,” he says. “I have excellent operators, so I can still compose shots through them by studying the monitor. I sit a few steps away from them, off to the side, watching the monitor, and I get an incredible HD image. I communicate wearing a headset with the gaffers and grip, and can easily tweak anything I need to. So the setup works well, and now that I've learned to always shoot into backlight on exteriors, avoid white walls, and use a long lens, I've been pretty successful.”

Ron Fortunato is another DP who has been successful jumping into 24p technology. A first for a DP of an episodic drama, he earned an Emmy nomination in cinematography for an episode of 100 Centre Street shot using 24p technology. He came to the show last year upon its inception, having never shot video of any type, and agreed to work on the project solely because the show's producer, Sidney Lumet, asked him to, presuming it would be a film shoot.

This year, Fortunato went with Panavision's 24p package after renting cameras and lenses elsewhere last season. He made the move largely to permit him to work as if Centre Street were “more like a film project,” a seeming contradiction that, he maintains, is no contradiction at all.

“We have three cameras, and each camera has an operator and an assistant — all film-trained assistants who have learned to adapt to the video format,” says Fortunato. “In my opinion, focus pulling is every bit as hard on a show like this with HD cameras as it would be with 35mm cameras. I have no doubt this is like shooting film — it's just a film show that happens to use tape. Other than that, everything we do and need is just the same — grips, assistants, we need them all. We light very carefully, just like we would with film, so I use the same mindset I've used in the past on film shoots.”

In Centre Street's case, producers switch and color-correct three camera signals in realtime in a permanent-location truck, producing, in essence, a rough cut as the show is filmed. Such benefits are particularly useful for such shows, according to Fortunato.

“Because we have engineers on set, we are basically finished when we shoot,” he says. “I can see what I'm shooting live and make instant corrections. In post, I might ask for a little power window here or there to touch up certain spots, but those are mainly needed only because we shoot multi-camera, and I can't always shade specific areas live on set. But in any case, this ability to look instantly at what we shoot, to nail it down right then and there, is a great benefit, from a creative point of view.”

Such capabilities “make it logical” that most episodic TV work could eventually evolve into the 24p realm, Fortunato says. “I'm dying to do a TV movie with it, so that I can try something using a single camera, lighting without having to worry about multiple angles.”

Max Bickford DP Michael Mayers (top) composes a shot using a Sony HD monitor. Below: Mayers and operator Peter Fernberger on location with a Sony HDW F-900 camera configured with Angenieux lenses.

Still, such endorsements from Fortunato, Mayers, and other film-trained experts working in HD does not mean that they don't have wish lists for 24p improvements they hope to eventually see filtering onto their sets.

“Panavision has really improved their lenses in the last year, but I'd still wish they would develop larger CCD sensors with focal lengths more comparable to a 35mm field,” says Fortunato. “These cameras have about 2/3-inch sensors, rather than 1-inch sensors that would be more comparable to a real 35mm camera lens. It would be comparable to upgrading from a small TV screen to a larger one. Even with this issue, I still feel the current Panavision lenses are superior to others out there.”

Mayers would also like to see improvements made to the eyepiece viewing area on 24p cameras.

“On a film camera, in the eyepiece, there is an area outside the photographed area, that so-called ‘extra area,’” Mayers says. “It lets the operator see what is about to come into the frame, like a sort of warning track, which helps him prepare for his next shot. That view appears in the camera viewing area and on the videotape, so the boom operator knows if the camera operator is about to switch to another shot. With the HD view area, there is very little underscan area available, so the boom can sometimes dip into a shot through no fault of the camera operator, but simply because the eyepiece gives him no warning area outside the frame. It would be nice to see the manufacturers improve that problem.

“There are other things I'd like to see — an NTSC output would be nice, and so would an HD serial digital interface, and, of course, the variable frame rate issue is important. I'm interested in seeing what Panasonic is doing about that issue. I'd also like to see an additional ‘address’ track on the tapes, to put auxiliary camera timecode on one track, and sound recorder timecode on a separate track, without giving up any audio tracks to do that. That would facilitate synching sound when working double systems.”

Despite these issues, Mayers feels that, after using the 24p cameras for months now, DPs experienced primarily in film should have “no real problem” transitioning to 24p HD production.

“I think if you are a DP or operator used to video, and then you come in and step up to 24p, you will have a harder time transitioning than if you are a film guy primarily,” he says. “This experience has taught me that it's actually easier to come to these cameras from 35mm because you are already used to exercising extremely high levels of control. If you are used to Betacam, then HD is really a new animal. In my opinion, HD is much closer to 35mm than Betacam.”

DP Ron Fortunato received an Emmy nomination for his work with a Panavised Sony 24p camera on 100 Centre Street.

The big change for film-style TV shows evolving into 24p production, of course, is the addition of video engineers to their crews. Some new productions rely heavily on engineers for more than technical solutions — they ask them to perform creative collaborations with directors and DPs to color-correct images in realtime, among other things. 100 Centre Street, for example, continues to rely on two veteran video engineers — partners Abby Levine and Barry Minnerly, both of whom have been working with various HD formats since the 1980s.

“In particular, our show does something different than a lot of other HD productions — our primary recording is made separately to the truck, rather than on the camera tapes, and so we had to create a system for that specific purpose,” Minnerly says. “Therefore, we designed a custom fiber-optic camera interface that permits us to transmit all HD information from the set to the truck and back again to the monitors. We improved on the system we used during the show's first season by plugging SMPTE standard fiber into special boxes that we built onto the side of each camera, which sends the signal everywhere we need it to go simultaneously. In other words, this year, we can do everything we need to do with the signal using a single camera cable. Last year, we had to use five or six different cables, so that's a big improvement. We also changed, due to software and tape deck advances, the edit process in our offline room. We just deliver tapes to the Avid guys directly from the truck, and they now play a [Sony HDW-F500] recording deck, digitizing the material directly into our Avid. They can now digitize the images from the recording deck, controlled by the Avid. That has really helped us simplify issues like timecode and audio synch.”

Minnerly points out that film-trained crew members working on Centre Street aren't the only ones adjusting their methods for 24p. He and Levine have also adjusted some of their procedures in order to better collaborate with a traditional “film” DP like Fortunato.

“As an engineer, you have to have a steady hand, both figuratively and subjectively,” he says. “When we're working, we can't just whack the knobs left and right because that would drive the DP crazy. Instead, we've learned to operate the equipment and adjust things quietly. The DP often prefers to come into the truck and sit with us while we are working. When we started on the show, Abby and I tended to hold back a bit, but now, we can offer the DP different shifts and types of control over the image, and let him pick what he likes. But we have learned to do that quietly, without disturbing his concentration. A multi-camera HD shoot requires a lot of restraint, because the DP is focusing on the monitor. We can't experiment as much as we might like with the picture. Instead, we try to set up an F-stop that he likes at the beginning, and then we don't deviate from that unless he asks us to.”

Minnerly adds that the Centre Street production team also worked with Panavision to add another improvement this season: iris control for the Panavision lenses.

“Last year, we had iris control because we were renting video lenses,” says Minnerly. “This year, we switched to Panavision and film-style lenses. At first, those lenses had no iris control, which is important, because on a film shoot, the camera assistant normally takes care of F-stops or iris pulls that shots require. Panavision built a special box for us to attach to the camera that now permits us to control the iris from the truck. The camera assistant doesn't have to worry about it, and it gives us more precise control over the lenses.”

Sidebar

Tips for 24p

Use lots of backlight for exteriors
Avoid flood lighting
Keep the camera moving
Use longer lenses
Take extra care with blacks and whites
For a job-by-job breakdown on how crew members adapted to 24p on Titus, see millimeter.com.

Sidebar

20^th Century Fox Jumps In

At press time, 20^th Century Fox Television was deep into 24p HD production on four sitcoms (Fox's Titus, Greg the Bunny, and Bernie Mac, and the WB's Reba) and one hour-long drama (CBS' The Education of Max Bickford) using Sony's HDW F-900 cameras.

Ed Nassour, Fox's senior VP of postproduction, points out that dozens of other shows are currently being shot on film and then conformed in post for 24p masters. Many of those, he theorizes, will eventually transition into 24p production, despite concerns by some in the production community that HD's proliferation will eliminate traditional “film” jobs on television sets. (Producers and certain labor guilds will be trying to reach agreement next year on whether 24p shows should be classified and staffed as film or tape shows. See Millimeter's February 2001, issue for more on that subject.)

“You might lose certain positions, but you gain others, like engineers and cable pullers,” says Nassour. “As producers, we'll obviously save money in post by eliminating film and lab costs, but we'll also save time, which is just as important. I have talked to DPs who love it because they can see their shots at broadcast quality instantly, without waiting for dailies. That gives them more creative control, which gives them time to figure out methods of maintaining traditional film aesthetics that many of them might prefer. It's also interesting because many of our shows report they are shooting more material in the same amount of time, with HD tapes being so inexpensive.

“Digital image acquisition will replace film for TV production. You don't need a crystal ball to know that.”
M.G.
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Sidebar

Meanwhile, Back at 30fps…

While 24p likely represents the future of episodic television production, it hardly represents the entire HDTV production story. The move to HD in American television production actually launched with the earlier generation (30fps) of Sony HD technology three years ago when NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno — an eight-camera shoot — became the first regularly scheduled network television show to originate and be broadcast in 1080i high definition, taping using Sony's HDC-700 cameras on pedestals and HDC-750 handheld HD cams.

Fast forward three years, and the show still uses those cameras successfully with “no need” to move up to 24p production, says Jim Powell, NBC's VP of production operations.

“The switch a few years ago was a great move,” says Powell. “We shoot and edit in HD, and at the last minutes before going to air, we output both an NTSC 4×3 version and an HD version at 16×9, and we transmit them from the same tape machine for airing in both formats. Since this was always a videotape show, this was a perfect format for us. If we were previously a film show, like many dramas and sitcoms, then maybe 24p would interest us. But right now, I guess you could say we are the great ancestor of the coming high-definition TV production universe.”

Powell adds that frequent offsite, remote segments seen on the Leno show are still shot onto traditional Betacam tape, microwaved back to NBC's Burbank studios, and are then upconverted digitally during the edit phase and inserted into the rest of the show.

“Stuff done remotely that needs a microwave link, we can't yet shoot HD because of the high frequency,” he says. “There might be ways to do it, but not on our kind of schedule.”
M.G.
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Sidebar

24p Pioneers

Following is a list of episodic U.S. television shows that, as of press time, were either already airing, or in production for broadcast later this year or in 2002, using 24p high-definition cameras. Note that the list incorporates only episodic half-hour comedies and hour dramas, not specials, documentaries, movies-of-the-week, sports, or news broadcasts, nor programs being produced exclusively for broadcast in countries outside the United States. At press time, a handful of other productions were considering the use of 24p cameras for image acquisition, but this list includes only those programs that could be confirmed as of press time. The list also does not include shows that were shot in 24p last season but are no longer in production, including Diagnosis Murder (CBS) and That's My Bush (Comedy Central).

Bernie Mac (half-hour comedy, Fox)
Greg the Bunny (half-hour comedy, Fox)
Reba (half-hour comedy, Fox)
Titus (half-hour comedy, Fox)
Pasadena (hour drama, Fox)
Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension (kids' half-hour, Fox Kids)
The Education of Max Bickford (hour drama, CBS)
Trial & Error (half-hour reality, NBC)
One on One (half-hour sitcom, UPN)
An American Family (hour drama, PBS)
100 Centre Street (hour drama, A&E)
Earth: Final Conflict (hour sci-fi, syndicated)
Flatland (hour sci-fi, Sci-Fi Channel)
Lexx (hour sci-fi, Sci-Fi Channel)
Witchblade (hour drama, TNT)
Doc (hour drama, PAX TV)
Mysterious Ways (hour drama, PAX TV)