Variety strikes again...

[Ken Corben]

Any press is good press...

Any press is good press...

Since Ted posts so infrequently, I always make it a point to read what he has to say on reduser.

Clearly to the point from a year ago, "First time shame on them," when they rejected your significant effort to offer important and timely information to the entertainment industry.

Producers know the numbers. We study them.
Digital production and post production pipelines continue to increase in resolution while decreasing in overall cost,
while film has gotten more expensive yet continues to remain the "resolution standard" in more than one genre/venue.
We know the cost ratios and we know the results.

"Second time shame on you," for assuming a different reporter from the same periodical would have the integrity, work ethic and writing skills in today's world of journalism to get an article of this nature both unbiased and accurate.

Trust me, I understand your frustration Ted. Misinformation does still penetrate the community.
In a very recent meeting with producers from Europe of a 3D film in pre-pro, I was told that one could not shoot 3D with the RED ONE (they must have read the article).
I showed them my 3D R1 reel (fits on a thumb drive) and reset that rumor.

There is a reason that EVERY production one sees in LA has RED ONEs on set.
Producers, the ones that make the sales, know the production numbers.

The reason for the production statistics are the capitalization costs.
That we all know is the revolution at RED.

How many of us are waiting in line to pay RED for our EPICs?
My guess, at least 1,000 more people than read the article being discussed...seriously.

I hear the periodical in question is in financial trouble.
You could do a "Rupert Murdoch" to remedy the situation.
Simply buy them, install your Editorial Chief and then move all the offices to Vancouver for the "Tax Credits."

Here is what the article missed - The Pulse of the Production Community.
During the past 6 months in every meeting from pitch to development in every genre I work in, it is the same question.
This includes major studios, cable broadcasters and independent filmmakers alike.
When will the EPIC be available?

And my personal favorite...

"The Giant Screen Industry is comprised of over 300 screens worldwide. Most of them are film and 33% are 3D. The average production cost for a 40 min 3D film shot in 15 perf/70mm film is $12M. If I produced the same film shot in 3D with EPICs, cost is $6M. The entire production community is waiting and discussing EPIC. Will the 5K image work on the Giant Screen across the board?"

My answer, "We'll see. One thing for certain. RED will get us there before anyone else."

So leave this battle to the seasoned production community and sleep well Ted. You have given us an unparalleled tool and support system in this industry and we all know it.

We need you on other battle fronts. Especially right now.

Sharky

 

[Emery Wells]

It's definitely a mix of creative and technical issues, but it's also an issue of the chain of events from what you put in front of the camera all the way to how it's presented, and thus it can be hard to break it down to find out where something is starting to drift in the wrong direction. Was it the make-up? Did the HMI light have a color spike problem? Does the lens have a color tint? Was there a stray color coming from some bounce source? Was the transcoding, processing done correctly? How was it viewed during correction? Was the master made correctly? The copies? Is the display device calibrated correctly?

But beyond all of that, I do think there is an overall "issue" with skintone reproduction in digital systems, cameras, recorders, and codecs seem to want to push certain pastel and complex/mixed colors in certain directions, which affect color-correction decisions pro and con later, etc. But I also think we are talking subtleties here for the most part, but subtleties are what skintones are all about. Despite all the creative issues involved, there has been a tendency for Red-shot movies of the past to have what could be called an Agfa-look, sort of the impression of brown and cyan, and I don't know why. It can't entirely be due to creative choices. I'm waiting for more Red-shot movies to work in a more Technicolor/Kodachrome palette, not the Autumn-Winter colors of so many Red movies -- maybe "Spider-Man 4" with that red and blue outfit...

This is really well articulated David. I've graded some really beautiful skin tones with RED footage but I've also seem my fair share of 'off' skin tones. The Agfa brown look can actually be really hard to overcome sometimes when grading Red. As you mentioned there are challenges with all digital systems but from my experience with RED specifically, it can tend to get very monochromatic with a heavy bias towards brown/orange. I have't had a chance to really experiment with the latest color science but with Red Color/Red Gamma I still felt like I wasn't getting a consistent response. Of course as you mentioned this can very much be about lighting, lenses, makeup, etc.

 

[Edmund Boyle]

Next time on camera only

Next time on camera only

In addition (and far less important) the way they skewed some quotes from me was really disturbing, and why I've discovered it's much better to do on camera interviews where it's much harder for a reporter to take things out of context or try and drive home a point that isn't really what was said from the overall perspective. * That and omitting much of what I did tell him about the key important points that separate the RED from the other devices and why it's become so overwhelmingly successful for so many projects worldwide. *Lesson learned there by me.

I think Ted that you have been bitten twice by very selective reporting if you could even call it that. You even took the time and effort to engage with him in a way that I would consider was very supportive to prevent him publishing misinformation and save his **s if not his reputation. That seems to be well shot now. The next time Variety looks for a quotation from you or information (which they will) on Red tell them, sure no problem as long as its done on camera and preferably a Red!