The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers 2008 Pre-Conference Symposium How Did They Do That? Innovations in Filmmaking and Live Event Broadcast will be held October 27 at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood. The Symposium will present interesting applications of new technology used to capture the dramatic images from two extremes of programming: live fast-action coverage of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics and the methodical production of the landmark nature footage in the BBC's award winning Planet Earth series. Attendees will hear directly from the engineers and producers that refined the production techniques built the systems and applied innovative fixes as unexpected challenges arose. The Symposium will provide a rare opportunity to view never before seen behind-the-scene footage of these extraordinary productions. It will be divided into two sessions: Morning Session: Coverage of the Beijing Olympics with moderator Dave Mazza senior vice president NBC Olympics Engineering and panelists from the NBC Olympics Engineering team. Afternoon Session: Making of Planet Earth with presenter Dr. Jonathan Keeling BBC Natural History Unit and other members of the production team. Each session will be illustrated with examples of the challenges solutions failures and successes in the field. Behind-the-scenes footage will reveal the technical approaches used. SMPTE www.smpte.org
