Film & Digital Times Issues 36-38 - Imago

The first Whole Earth Catalog came out in 1968. Like this issue of
Film and Digital Times, it didn’t sell anything. It was a resource,
like an early Google: tools and where to find them.
Stewart Brand, the editor, wrote in his introduction, “The Whole
Earth Catalog functions as an evaluation and access device. With
it, the user should know better what is worth getting and where
and how to do the getting.” About the NASA images on the cover,
“They gave the sense that Earth’s an island, surrounded by a lot
of inhospitable space.” Not coincidentally, the first Earth Day was
celebrated in 1970. It was a pivotal moment. People suddenly realized
that our planet was a fragile place, handle with care.
Fast forward to 2007. Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency
launched Kaguya (SELENE), a lunar orbiter that included an HD
video camera developed by NHK. At IBC 2010, one of the hits of
the show was NHK’s new 8K video camera and the spectacularly
life-like images it could produce.
Which brings us to December 2010 and this Whole Film and
Digital Times Catalog of Cool Tools. Our cover says “Converging
Worlds.” Although convergence and 3D certainly has everyone’s
attention, this is the historic year of convergence and collision
between consumer and professional equipment. New cameras
for high-end production were previously introduced at a leisurely
pace of one or two a decade. Now, an annual outing to NAB or
IBC is no longer sufficient; equipment is introduced at a startling
rate with each season, and our pages swell.
This December 2010 issue is a window on where we are in the
technique and technology of motion picture production. Soon,
more people may be “capturing” than viewing images.
The Whole Earth still looks like a fragile place. As Thomas Friedman
recently wrote, 2010 was Earth’s hottest year on record. 98
out of 100 scientists will tell us that our continued carbon emissions
pose enormous risk. 2 out 100 scientists say it doesn’t. A
betting person would bet on the 98 who worry about climate
change. Are we feeling lucky?
Where do we go from here? In 2011, I think we’ll see the unleashing
of 4K. Anamorphic wide screen will lure us back into theaters.
PL mounted lenses will continue to be the standard for high-end
productions. Film will continue to be the standard against which
everything else is compared in 2011. Happy Holidays and may all
your images be beautiful in the New Year.
4 Dec 2010
Left: The Whole Earth Catalog
was published by Stewart
Brand between 1968 and
1972, and sporadically until
1998.
Right: The Astronomer.
Johannes Vermeer. 1668.
Oil on canvas
51.5 × 45.5 cm
(20.28 × 17.91 in.)
Musée du Louvre,
Richelieu, 2nd floor, room 38
Three hundred years before Earth became a brand name on
Brand’s Whole Earth covers, Johannes Vermeer focused our
single-source attention on The Astronomer, with perspective lines
conveniently converging on his celestial globe. It was an excellent
year for astronomy. Isaac Newton completed the first successful
reflecting telescope (using mirrors instead of lenses). In 1668,
astronomy was an excellent profession; celestial navigation was
essential to the Netherland’s thriving economy based on global
trade. Which is why the Astronomer’s green robe is significant.
Christiane Hertel explains, in Seven Vermeers, the Japonsche
Rok was a kimono tailored into a kind of house robe. The
kimonos were given to Dutch merchants on their annual visit
to the Imperial court in Edo (Tokyo), the only time they were
permitted on the Japanese mainland. The remainder of the year,
the merchants were required to live on the island of Deshima. The
Dutch empire was at its height, with spices, silks, teak, coffee, and
tea being shipped from its colonies around the world.
Remember Shogun? The year is 1600. John Blackthorne, English
navigator on a Dutch trading ship, is shipwrecked on the coast
of Japan. He becomes an ally of Toranaga, falls in love with his
interpreter, and is assimilated into Japanese culture.
Banjin, by Andrew Laszlo, ASC (the distinguished cinematographer
and author) continues a couple of centuries later, 1843. Another
shipwreck. A Japanese boy, Masahiro, is rescued by American
whalers and brought to New Bedford, Massachusetts. The
boy is well educated at Exeter, advises Congress, goes back to sea,
joins the Gold Rush in California, and returns home to Japan. He
becomes a political advisor, and helps open Japan to the west as a
leading character in the Meiji Restoration.
Our worlds continue to shrink, along with the size of our cameras,
while their sensors become larger, the number of users multiplies,
as, hopefully, does the appreciation of gorgeous Vermeer lighting.