While the Federal Aviation Administration has begun to allow the use of drones in film and TV production, there are still too many restrictions, according to filmmakers. Particularly around camera weight and night time shoots.
The UAV or unmanned air vehicle is also popularly called a drone. Once the province of the military, they are now available for commercial purposes and to the consumer. In this new series, John Watkinson looks at how they work, what they can and can’t do, with an emphasis on safety.
A camera’s gamma setting greatly affects the “look” of the resulting video. Understanding how gamma affects the image is the key to unlocking a wealth of new creative options.
The SD Association, a consortium of companies that sets standards for SD memory cards, has launched its fastest speed class to deliver real-time multi-file recording and to support for 8K video resolutions.
In early 2001, Patrick Grosswendt was working as a gaffer on Robert Altman’s Gosford Park, a murder mystery that was in production at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England. Like so many creative people working behind the scenes in film production in the pre-digital era, Grosswendt was constantly thinking of how the process could be improved.
Every video related trade show has to have an area to fly drones, it seems, and professional AV show Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) is no different. The Drone Arena has met with a “phenomenal” response on its debut according to Mark Wilkins, CEO, Stampede Global, a proAV distributor. His company is sponsoring the exhibit which features products from DJI, DragonFly and Yuneec. What is different is that drones for the professional or corporate AV market have arguably more business potential than the more narrowly focussed broadcast and film capture application.
Today, except for the few studio tent pole 3D movies, the format has become all but irrelevant for most non-theatrical applications. Digital photographer Barry Braverman says we still learned from the experience.
This year’s Super Bowl 50 live telecast, on CBS, will feature the typical grandiosity that is “The Big Game,” with roughly three dozen “traditional” broadcast high-definition cameras, 36 more POV HD cameras and a few 4K versions as well capturing the action. As in past years, there will also be some “pioneering” technology that usually exemplifies the world’s most watched single day sporting event. Last year’s Super Bowl was the most watched television program in US history, reporting more than 114 million viewers, and Super Bowl 50 looks to top that.
