The Future Of Film
I en intervju med Richard C. Sehlin, Kodaks tekniske chef och vice president of the Entertainment Imaging division, ger han här sin och förtagets syn på filmens framtid.
Kodak has introduced two new members of the VISION2 family of motion picture films with lower speeds, KODAK VISION2 100T Color Negative Film 5212/7212 and KODAK VISION2 200T Color Negative Film 5217/7217. Both films use Kodak’s high-tech VISION2 emulsion science to render truer colors and cleaner images, and offer greatly reduced grain structure and more flexibility in postproduction, from under- to over-exposure. The films are designed to work well with digital postproduction technologies in a hybrid world.
In light of these introductions, Richard C. Sehlin, Kodak’s chief technical officer and vice president of the Entertainment Imaging division, was asked how the new films fit into the long term future as envisioned by Kodak. Sehlin is responsible for all film, digital and hybrid motion imaging research and development for the Entertainment Imaging division. He discussed the convergence of film and digital technologies and the role that he expects Kodak to play in the future of the motion imaging industry. Following are excerpts of that conversation:
QUESTION: What do you mean by hybrid technologies?
SEHLIN: We believe that the blending of film and digital technologies is a key to the future. This isn’t a new concept for us. We have been pioneering the development of convergence technologies that have allowed the industry to move freely between film and digital domains.
QUESTION: What about the future of film?
SEHLIN: We will bring an unparalleled depth of knowledge in color and motion imaging science to the future, which by definition is still undefined. I believe film will remain an extremely viable medium, and that some of the most interesting progress will be made in the convergence of hybrid technologies. The entertainment industry is interesting because the creative people have shown time and again they will embrace the tools that work best for them. Their questions are what look can I get, and how creative can I be? I don’t see that changing.
QUESTION: Can you foresee a time when Kodak will abandon film in favor of digital image capture?
SEHLIN: I’ve been in this business for more than 25 years, and I can say that this is easily the most fascinating time I’ve seen. The next few years are going to be a lot of fun, watching how the creative community uses the new film, digital and hybrid tools. We make some of the best digital still cameras available today, so we have that as a frame of reference. There are still fundamental differences in the ways that film and digital images are recorded, perceived and stored, and I don’t see that changing.
The new VISION2 film stocks are the best demonstration of Kodak’s commitment to emulsion technology. A significant portion of the R&D money spent by Kodak’s Entertainment Imaging division is spent on advancing film science. We’ve been able to create films that give filmmakers the tools they need while simultaneously making them mesh with the digital tools. The two together make a stronger and more flexible imaging system. The fun part is watching how the visual storytellers put that system to use in creating their art. And the possibilities for the future are wide open.
QUESTION: How involved is Kodak in developing digital imaging technologies?
SEHLIN: We have an amazing history of putting digital tools into the hands of filmmakers. One example is Cinesite, which has built up a long list of digital firsts since its inception. Another is the Thomson Spirit DataCine, a tool that has revolutionized the use of digital imaging techniques. We’ve developed technology for new high-speed scanners that are about five times faster than current scanners. This new scanner captures uncompressed image data and does it at rates that were unheard of just a few years ago. We’re seeing this technology help drive the move toward digital intermediate processes. Digital intermediate was science fiction a few short years ago. Now filmmakers routinely use it as a creative tool. This new scanner is making digital intermediate much more affordable, and putting the power of digital manipulation into the hands of many more filmmakers.
Another barrier that is falling is film recording. We are still a film-centric business. For feature films, the images need to be recorded back out to film. Kodak pioneered film recording 10 years ago. As we look to the future, we believe recorder technology will soon be available with film recording speeds at 10 to 20 times faster than what is available today. The economic equations that underlie our business are changing.
QUESTION: Does Kodak perceive digital cinema as a threat?
SEHLIN: Not at all. In fact, we have demonstrated our own prototype digital projector. We believe that if you are going to have an alternative to film projection, it has to be an improvement. Part of our role in the entertainment community is to raise the image quality bar higher.
QUESTION: One of the arguments made by vendors selling digital image “capture” tools is that they don’t have to match the resolution or dynamic range of film because you lose image quality in optical postproduction and also in display on television and cinema screens. Is this a valid argument?
SEHLIN: They are aiming at a moving target. We have scientists and engineers working on digital intermediate technologies that mesh with the strengths of film to dramatically improve quality. We’re driving advancement in computer processing techniques that make 16 mm film look like 35 mm film, and 35 mm film look like 65 mm film. We’re seeing fundamental changes in the marketplace as a result. For example, film production in the Super 16 mm format is enjoying a renaissance. The key to all this is that there are more details on the original film than we were able to access before, and now advancements in digital systems are starting to allow us to take advantage of the full measure of information in a frame of film. If we take a step backward in resolution and dynamic range in “capturing” images we will never get it back in any future systems. This is what we mean when we say, “Kodak will only advocate changes which improve quality, not those that reduce it.”
QUESTION: Can you share some more details?
SEHLIN: Film is still a physical medium, and it has artifacts, as does digital imaging. Another important aspect of our approach to improving the images of the future is what we call image management. One of the advantages of digital intermediate technology is that, in principle, images can be stored in a common file format. Once you’ve established that industry standard, you can have standard files that are going out to the Internet, on satellite to the home, on network cable, or out to film. Whatever the distribution method, you can manage the image in a way that’s going to give you the optimum, perfect image in any delivery system, exactly the way the filmmakers envisioned it. To me, that optimum look is the film look-that’s what people really want, and what the other formats strive to achieve.
Television screens are all different, so one of the real issues is calibration. If you can calibrate the systems and manage the images that go through them, you can achieve more consistency in the look. Kodak is well positioned to do that for the industry. In fact, we’ve always provided those types of control tools for projectionists and labs. As the systems become more numerous and complex with other technologies-digital scanners, recorders, digital inputs and outputs-we’re still in the best position to manage the system. We really know how to do this.
We’re also determined to protect the image from forces that would alter it or change it in any way down the road. Let’s say that in 50 years, someone is doing a restoration of O Brother, Where Art Thou? That person might look at the yellowed scenes and think that there’s been a terrible mistake, not realizing that Roger Deakins carefully created that look using digital techniques. One key to preventing that kind of error is what we call metadata technology. That is essentially a record of all the manipulations that have been performed on the image. A creative person whose heart and soul is in the project can feel pretty much assured that their intentions will be maintained forever.
QUESTION: What about the storage of digital data?
SEHLIN: That’s the biggest roadblock. Film is the ultimate storage medium for moving images. Properly archived films will last for hundreds of years. Digital files are much more volatile. I believe that all of the major Hollywood studios are now making black-and-white protection masters of their films for posterity, and I imagine they will ultimately decide to convert titles originated in digital format to film for archiving. One problem is, what do you do with the outtakes you might want in the future?
En tredje Vision 2 film är också ny: Expression 500T 5279/7229. Red. anm.
Skriven av .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) | 2004-03-01, kl. 22:37.
Kategori: Artiklar.
« Grattis Russell Boyd
| HEM |
Nya Kodak Vision2 filmer »
