Happy Halloween - a treat for you all

This Halloween, why not treat yourselves to some classic horror films, available to download for FREE and LEGALLY at the PublicDomainTorrents.com site.

Yes, the copyright on these films has lapsed so check out the 'Horror' section of Public Domains Torrents, where you can download and enjoy classics such as Driller Killer, Carnival Of Souls, The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, The Vampire Bat, Nosferatu, and Night of the Living Dead (the original, not the Bunny re-make below) plus many more in Divx, iPod or PSP format.

And as always, don't download copyrighted films - or the MPAA will come and get you!

Post-ShowEast news summary

No sooner is ShowEast over then a slew of news appears in both US and Europe, which I thought could be worth drawing you attention to.

My colleagues at Screen Digest have published a report that I strongly urge you to check out. This came a day after another digital cinema report from a consultancy that I can't say has ever impressed me (methodology, what methodology?). The Screen Digest report is focused on the very clever Digital Cimema Conversion Index. The Hollywood Reporter was so impressed that it devoted an entire article to it. New system advised for digital theater. In other European digital cinema news European film agencies call for speedy action on digital cinema, according to Screen International. I agree that action is called for but the article itself does not seem to clear on precisely what action should be taken.

Meanwhile back in the US there is certainty of sorts now that the Digital Cinema Lab is re-locating from the Pacific Theater. USC d-cinema initiative set for new digs, says the Hollywood Reporter. It's the end of a short but important era in the history of digital cinema and I was glad to hear that Charles Swartz was able to attend the recent 2K-4K demonstration. He , plus Thomas MacCalla and Paul made that place what it was. I wonder if Jack Warner's ghost will rest more peacefully with all the digital equipment gone. Finally, Sony feel they are on a 4K roll after the recent tests went well and the showcase in Orlando was positively received. 4K camera screened by Sony an article in Hollywood Reporter tells me that then goes into detail about how well it will look with the 4K projector which, "met or far exceeded every Digital Cinema Initiatives specification from color and contrast to resolution," the article (or Sony) claims.

Digital Fear and Loathing in Orlando

I was not able to make it to ShowEast this year as there was simply too much going on back in Europe to take time out. Things are storming ahead, I am feeling very optimistic, we got an AMAZING price on hard drives, plus there is some exciting news to come from Norway/NORDIC.

However, there has been some fireworks in Orlando and fortunatelly Variety was there to capture the moment. Apparently our friends at Technicolor got beat up pretty badly on the digital cinema panel, at least as recounted in the Hollywood Reporter article "Panel: Cooperation key to digital future" where it says:

Technicolor president of theatrical services Joe Berchtold, who is launching a beta digital program in theaters, parried with competitor Chuck Goldwater, president of digital theater provider AccessIT Media Services Group, over the failure rate of current digital projection.

"Up to 5% of digital screens have problems where you miss one or more show a day," said Berchtold, though Goldwater and others disputed that number.

20th Century Fox senior vp and general sales manager Chris Aronson said his company had a 99.5% success rate, and Rave Motion Pictures CEO Tom Stephenson cited a 1% failure rate.

Berchtold added that digital cinema needed to become less complex and that there needed to be more accountability from suppliers.

"We are accountable," Goldwater said. "We started before everyone else, which is why we are where we are today. We began with no conflicts and no legacy in the business we're seeking."

Ouch! Once again I'm glad we at Deluxe decided not to roll-out digital equipment, not least as our help line is nevertheless sorting out equipment and integrator problems in cinemas that have nothing to do with the DCPs we make and send out.

In other news, there were details on the Beowulf digital 3D screening (An epic 3-D bow for 'Beowulf' - THR; 'Beowulf' gets 3-D bigscreen bow - Variety) and news about how well Sony's SXRD performed in the test with the DLP 2K, which resulted in a both a press release (Sony SXRD 4K Technology Gains Major Studio Support Following Industry Technical Assessment) and an article (Sony 4K projector gets go-ahead from Hollywood), though no sign of Disney or Universal joining the 4K party still yet. All this AND Rocky Balboa. But like I said I did manage to get a top deal on hard drives in the meantime.

Exclusive view of DFS's Perivale centre

Feast you eyes on this! Here is a look at DFS's facility for prints out in Perivale. It reminds me of the last scene in Indiana Jones, though that was achieved with false perspective canvass scenery. This is the real thing.


This gives you a glimpse of the industrial efficiency with which new prints are handled. But like I said before, the real genius is not renting a large hangar and filling it with prints, but the quality of service, physical and electronic infrastructure that no photo will do justice.


There is a rumour that Perivale was chosen because it was a sufficient distance from central London, so that if the Luftwaffe - who knew that tons and tons of highly flamable nitrate prints were stored here - bombed it, there would not be the mother of all firestorms created as a result. It survived the war undamaged.

Turning a hangar into a digital hub - quite easy!

It's been a while since I provided an update of my digital cinema activities here at Deluxe and frankly, its the routine of it all that keeps me from doing it more regularly. Every day is a variation of the routine formula of meetings with distributors and others, working on staffing and building issues, installing and testing technology, planning future feature releases and so on. Of course, we do have 'Alcazar' keeping us extremely busy at the moment, but that is so top secret that I cannot write anything about it. Sorry. But you WILL like it.

Instead I will share with you my first trip to the Deluxe ETS distribution facility in Perivale, at the western outskirts of London, out towards Heathrow airport. I had already visited the DFS (Deluxe Film Services) facility in Van Nuys in Los Angeles that handles both 35mm and digital, so I knew roughly what to expect. I did not bring a camera, so instead make do with a photo of the famous Hoover building (now a Tesco supermarket inside), which our facility is located behind.


The Deluxe ETS handles over 100,000 prints per year for almost every single UK & IE distributor. No wonder they are situated in an aircraft hangar size building with the equivalent of four floors of 35mm print on pallets stacked high. There's half a wall full of just one particular boy wizard's latest celluloid outing sitting in storage. The efficiency is breathtaking and anyone who thinks that simply because it is 35mm it is all analogue is wrong. They have an ingenious software Web tool for cataloguing and tracking every single film print anywhere in the UK. Pulling up an example at random, I can exclusively reveal that the 35mm copy of "Superman I" sat in storage between 2001 and 2006 and I even know which two cinemas had it in those years, the dates and more, though it's too confidential for me to reveal anything further.

This is the basis on which Deluxe Digital Cinema Europe's distribution services will be built. Why re-invent the wheel when there is a fully functioning film distribution service that nearly everyone is using already? My task is thus made that much easier thanks to the hard work and development that Nigel, Chris and everyone at ETS had already been doing for years.

Of course, substituting 35mm film prints for hard drive is not a complete one-for-one, which is where service and support (primarily the call centre) comes into play. But again, Perivale is already ready for this expansion, though I'd rather invite you over and show you around once it's all set up, rather than to bore you with the details here.

Ulimately this is the USP of DDCE. The people you have booked film copies replacation with before (Deluxe), who do the subtitles and versioning for you (Capital FX) and who make sure that it gets sent out and lets you track it in real time (Deluxe ETS) are the same people who will do it for you in digital. Not that we are complacent about it, far from it, we just want to make this a seamless transition rather than a new set of headaches.

BARCO 6th BAFTA Digital Cinema event

Doremi (sponsors of the event)

Doremi have a staggering 90 per cent market share of JPEG2000 server market, having been "first to market" in July 2005 with player and mastering system. Herve goes into technical detail. He goes into details about Mastering and I realize that my presentation will be a breeze because I will only have to summarize what all the speakers before me have said. DMS-2000 specification (read it on their website).

Over 40 films have been mastered using the Doremi, including several European films. One is Norwegian - Uro, the first in Scandinavia - which will be screened here and was also be showing in the NORDIC project's partner cinemas in Norway. Details about Paris Je T'Aime. Standard Powerpoint.

UIP - David Kerr

"A man who can trace his roots back to the projection room," we are told. What do we need? Why do we need it? What if we don't get it? Those are his three Questions. Q1A - Conformed elements, complete elements, creastive elements. Talks about problems and costs with localizing title and insert sequences. Q2A - Release dates in over 50 countries, multiple versions and making/shipping 10,000 prints. What if they don't get it - the consequences are too horrible to recount here.

So what should UIP do for digital? Set up infrastructure, get post up to speed on what's required, educate film makers. "Final question - is the bar open yet? If so, mine's a pint." Short and straightforward presentation. Raises questions and provokes thought, rathen then lecturing the audience. Good.

Fraunhofer

Talks about specifications, standardization and interoperability. Background to DCI and FFA specifications provided. Gives detailed diagram of workflow. Animated diagram of an ideal distribution workflow - a little neater than my real world one. Tools and Standards. This presentation would have worked better as a handout. Testprocedures and Interoperability test for digital cinema. DCI / Fraunhofer Compliance Test Proceedure. EDCF test project with NORDIC and CST. Also lists their developments and software tools.

Ascent

Paul talks about DI and the workflow to digital cinema. Too much graphs and text to summarize. Again, would have worked better as a hand out.

Éclair

"Paul has just said everything we need to say," Gwendal jokes. He is much to humble. They started same time as EFILM in US and were the first to create DCPs of European films - corrects himself - "continental films." 'In JPEG2000', I'm guessing he should add, unless you discount XDC's MPEG efforts. Talks about their project in Denmark. Outlines their experience, closely linked to Doremi. Talks about the experience of working on Paris Je T'Aime, which he calls the first European film to play at the Entertainment Technology Centre (hang on, didn't March of the Penguins and Harry Potter both play at the DCL? Maybe I'm nitpicking the definition of "European". Let's agree it's the first foreign language title to do so.). Time for creating 4K DCP of Paris was 10 days, same as for Da Vinci Code at Deluxe, as Gwendal quotes Jim Whittlesey on.

Talks about the problem of the fragmented European market. Good speech from Gwendal but presentation very heavy on text. I'm tempted to tell him that he is too good to need it, but going cold turkey on Powerpoint has to be an individual's choise. (Yes, I've now fully signed up to Tufte's anti-PPT movement).

HDDC

Peter Wilson talks about the business model of digital cinema mastering. Goes into issues such as active picture selection. Too technical for me, I'm afraid, and I'm also mentally running through my presentation in my head at this stage to fully focus.

Deluxe

I do my presentation as a show-and-tell, as it is Friday and also because I'm the last thing standing between the audience and the Doremi sponsored beer and nibbles. I use just one PDF image illustrating the workflow at Deluxe and the industry in general.

A look at some recent digital cinema news

As one of Lasse Svanberg's great achievements was to be founder, editor and writer for the magazine Teknik & Människa (Technology & Man), I thought that the most fitting tribute would be for me to get on with relaying news in the digital cinema world. Lasse is also remembered on the homepage of the Swedish Film Institute (in Swedish) and I'm sure the EDCF will follow soon.

I read in the Hollywood Reporter that Deluxe's sister company Panavision has just bought digital camera rental company Plus 8 Digital ("Panavision zooms in on Plus 8"). It seems like a smart move, though I don't know what if any impact or synergies it will have with Deluxe. We might have security guards employed by a MacAndrews & Forbes company (Allied Barton Security Services), but we don't get any discount on Revlon cosmetics.

There's been a few interesting developments, not least AccessIT's announcement that Christie/AIX has now installed its 1,000th digital cinema system. Congratulations and hats off to Chuck, Bud, Dave and all our other friends for this historic milestone and hope to see them rolling out in Europe as well soon, now that they are 1/4 of the way to achieving their US goal.

In-Three has been granted three new patents for their Dimensionalization(tm) process. The press release does not seem to have been put up on their website, so here is the first paragraph from it:

In-Three, Inc. is very pleased to announce that it has just been granted 3 additional patents covering its proprietary 2D to 3D conversion technology. In-Three’s unique 2D to 3D conversion process, called Dimensionalization®, can convert any full-length motion picture into high-quality 3D regardless of the age or origination of the image source. Using its Dimensionalization® process In-Three can convert any 2D image content into fully authentic and believable 3D, whether it was derived from live photographic action, cell animation, CGI animation, computer effects, in color or black & white, and is fully resolution independent.

20th Centry Fox, always one of the most new thinking studios, is setting up a distribution operation for Christian-themed films. An article called "20th Century Fox wooing faith crowd" pokes fun at the fact that this is the same studio that brought you "Temptation Island" but ends by noting that Carmike expects to have converted 2,200 of its 2,400 cinema screens by this time next year, so Deluxe might very well be supplying these films as well for Fox in digital before too long.

And finally I would end with a recomended reading from Film Journal International, where the always-readable Andreas Fuchs looks at how the World Cup played out in digital cinemas across the globe, called "The FIFA Code - Fan Celebrate World Cup at the Movies." (The fact that I and Unique Digital are mentioned in it in no way swayed me to recommend and praise this piece.)

If I get time will upload a review of the "Paris Je T'Aim" digital demonstration that I have neglected to complete for over two weeks now.

In Memoriam: Lasse Svanberg (1937-2006)

My colleague, friend and mentor Lasse Svanberg died last night after a long battle with cancer. He did more than anyone else to educate and bring digital cinema to the forefront of the Swedish film and cinema industry's mind, as well as being a major force for unifying the many voices and views of Europe when it comes to preparing for the digital future. A promised land that he helped lead us to but was destined not to enter himself. I will miss him terribly, miss arguing with him, miss sitting through his thoughtprovoking if sometimes repetitive overhead slide presentations (he never succumbed to PowerPoint), miss his raspy voice and above all miss how he combined an understanding of cinema as an art with a firm grasp of tecnology, but never let either overshadowed by his humanity and warmth.

Jag kommer att sakna dig enormt, Lasse, och jag är ledsen att jag inte fick tillfälle att ta farväl av dig och säga hur mycket du har betytt för mig.