AmericanCinematographer201201

Go
Flow
AC’s
withthe
technical editor surveys
evolving digital workflows and
some of the challenges they pose.
By Christopher Probst
•|•
Workflows have existed in some form since the birth of
cinema itself, but today, as digital-imaging techniques
become more and more prevalent, the very concept of
a “workflow” can be difficult to define. In practice, a
digital workflow truly begins the moment a manufacturer lays
down a set of specifications for a digital camera system. Those
choices affect the quality of the outputted image, establish its
recorded format (tape or a file-based alternative) and have a
major impact on post pathways.
Once specs are established, the workflow branches out
in both physical and theoretical directions. On the physical
side, data-handling protocols must be established for hardware
and software usage both on and off the set. One must
also properly address issues related to color space, transforms
and the file-format containers in which image data is stored,
converted and used to communicate with different platforms
and devices.
Each step on this path is slippery enough to cause
stumbles, either through human error or through the loss of
information as image data is transferred and/or translated.
Pitfalls can include errors or limitations introduced during
image acquisition; mishandling of the physical data itself;
problems involving the integration, manipulation/processing
and delivery of the digital imagery during post; and, finally,
complications related to digital exhibition.
To define the concept of a digital-image workflow, we
should begin by breaking down and analyzing the entire
image-making chain.
When film was the prevailing capture medium, on-set
protocols were established for handling the camera negative
and safely conveying it to the lab. The lab, in turn, had its own
set of procedures for creating dailies off the developed negative
and preparing those original elements for final assembly
and printing. Further steps were established for editorial,
sound syncing and so on.
In today’s industry, which finds digital-imaging tools
introduced and supplanted with head-spinning frequency,
workflows are evolving in new ways and at breakneck speeds.
“Post is no longer a ‘place,’ it’s a state of mind,” states Michael
Cioni, founder and CEO of Light Iron, a post facility that
targets productions with file-based workflows. “As soon as you
pull the card out of the camera, post has started, even though
you’re still on set. On [the upcoming feature] The Amazing
Spider-Man, all of the data backup, sound syncing, Avid
dailies and color-corrected dailies — in other words, the
footage that would be sent out to the studio executives and all
the filmmakers — was created without a brick-and-mortar
post house. On a movie that large, that’s a profound thing.”
The creative potential of emerging digital technologies
is vast, but the importance of handling data correctly on set is
often overlooked. Brook Willard, a digital-imaging technician
whose credits include The Muppets (AC Dec. ’11), The
Amazing Spider-Man and Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby,
says, “My biggest pet peeve regarding on-set data handling is
the cavalier attitude people have about it. With film, we hand
the negative over to the lowest-paid member of the camera
department. With digital data, it’s even scarier. Everybody has
a computer, and everybody has copied files to a hard drive
74 January 2012 American Cinematographer