Featured Stories

Shooting Digital, Reluctantly

Tue, 09/22/2015 - 11:31 -- Nick Dager

Two-time Oscar nominee John Mathieson BSC (Gladiator, The Phantom of the Opera, Robin Hood, 47 Ronin) recently completed work on The Man from U.N.C.L.E., an update of the stylish 1960s television series of the same name. Mathieson says that he would have preferred to shoot film, but that the demise of some of the major film laboratories in the U.K. made it impossible. He did shoot a little bit of 16mm film on a wind-up Bolex (processed at Bucks Laboratories) for the opening of the film, to bridge some archival footage from the period with the main storyline. In some ways, the colors and textures of the period production design lent themselves to digital, he says.

Post Haste Digital Forms Strategic Alliance with Larson Studios

Mon, 09/21/2015 - 12:32 -- Nick Dager

Independent post-production facilities Post Haste Digital and Larson Studios have joined forces to extend audio and video post-production services in West Los Angeles. As part of the arrangement, Hollywood-based Larson will operate the Main Stage in Post Haste’s Culver City facility, where the studio will service its Westside clients and also lend talent to Post Haste projects. Upcoming projects to be mixed in Larson’s new Stage 10 include Fox’s re-boot of the cult sci-fi series The X-Files.

Tim McVey, Gamer Legend

Fri, 09/18/2015 - 11:45 -- Nick Dager

If you grew up in the ‘80s it’s likely that at one time or another you found yourself inside a video arcade playing video games for hours on end at just 25 cents a pop. It was during this time period that a farm boy named Tim McVey from Ottumwa, Iowa—the Dodge City of video games— became the champion of Nibbler, the first arcade game with a scoring threshold of one billion points. It took McVey more than forty hours—and only cost him one quarter—to hit this milestone.

Maze Runner Sequel Opens in Barco Escape

Thu, 09/17/2015 - 13:16 -- Nick Dager

Last year Barco Escape debuted to audiences in the United States and Europe with The Maze Runner, earning rave reviews from moviegoers and critics. Directed by Wes Ball and released this month by 20th Century Fox, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials picks up where the original film left off, with Gladers facing a new set of challenges on the open roads of a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles.

The Colonie Posts Taste The Excitement for McDonalds

Thu, 09/17/2015 - 12:45 -- Nick Dager

The Colonie showcased the full range of its editorial, visual effects and post-production services in a McDonald’s spot that creates a fun, carnival ride mood to generate excitement about its new touch-screen Kiosk ordering system, introduced in select locations across the country. Cut by editor and partner, Bob Ackerman, “Taste The Excitement,” a :30 spot via Burrell Communications/Chicago, delivers a highly stylized, slightly surreal McDonald’s environment where customers can skip the counter and order a customized meal from a kiosks with a tablet-like screen offering a wide range of options.

Cognition Installs Six Mistika Systems

Thu, 09/17/2015 - 12:12 -- Nick Dager

Cognition, the recently launched hybrid post-production facility, has purchased six Mistika systems from SGO. The package includes two top-end 4K color grading and mastering systems, two assist workstations and two laptop systems for on-set and near-set use. The company has also acquired an SGO high-speed SAN. The installation is part of a multi-million dollar facility expansion that will include a pair of DCI grading theaters, expanded visual effects resources and creative production workspace.

Restoring Ken Burns’ The Civil War

Wed, 09/16/2015 - 15:01 -- Nick Dager

When Ken Burns’s 11-hour documentary The Civil War first aired on PBS in 1990, it set new standards for television documentaries through its astonishingly detailed, sweeping and often heart-wrenching recount of the epic conflict between the North and South. Working under the direction of Burns and restoration producer Daniel J. White, Technicolor PostWorks New York participated in a meticulous 4K restoration that brings the classic documentary vividly back to life. The project was done in preparation for the 25th anniversary rebroadcast of The Civil War on PBS and its Blu-ray release this month, and also coincides with the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination and the end of the war.

ECA Conference Convenes in London October 19

Wed, 09/16/2015 - 14:50 -- Nick Dager

The Event Cinema Association’s annual ECA Conference will take place on October 19 in London. The only event of its kind in the world, this annual conference is a highlight in the calendar for anyone involved in the event cinema industry. The conference is being held at the newly launched Picturehouse Central cinema complex in the Trocadero site in London’s West End.

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