The European Audiovisual Observatory has announced that the theme of this year’s must-attend Cannes afternoon workshop will be Digital Cinema Tango: Getting the right rhythm for the digitization of European cinemas. The event will take place in the Palais des Festivals on May 16th. The Observatory’s director Wolfgang Closs says “We feel that it’s imperative to address the financing of the digitization of cinemas in Europe.
Element Technica designer and manufacturer of 3D rigs has delivered its 50th Quasar 3D rig. The Technica 3D Quasar mounts full-sized and equipped digital cinematography cameras such as the Red One Sony F23/35 and 1500 ARRI D-21 and Genesis in stereoscopic pair configuration. The Quasar 3D rigs have been quickly adopted by both feature film producers and live sports and entertainment venue productions because of the precision control the rigs afford the stereographer ease of configuration and the rigs’ ability to shoot in either the side-by-side or beamsplitter mode.
The International Colorist Academy has increased the number and types of colorist training courses available providing students with more opportunities to expand their knowledge and learn directly from an experienced colorist. ICA offers colorists a wide variety of technique-based courses including basic color theory digital intermediate and film workflows telecine and lab grading client interaction and looks and styles. The classes and workshops cover a broad range of manufacturer color grading systems and many are not system specific.
National CineMedia has entered into network affiliate agreements with Metropolitan Theatres and Rave Cinemas for the presentation of cinema advertising and NCM Fathom entertainment events. The exclusive multi-year agreement covers 17 Metropolitan movie theaters with 77 screens in California Colorado Idaho and Utah with select screens exclusively presenting NCM’s FirstLook digital pre-feature program and NCM Fathom’s live and pre-recorded in-theatre events beginning in the second quarter this year.
To help reduce overall cost NEC Display Solutions has adopted the Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA family for three models of its DLP Cinema projectors including the NC3200S for screen sizes up to 32 meters in width the NC2000C (20 meters) and NC1200C (12 meters) with capability for the recent fast-growing 3D content. The three models are capable of projecting all existing 3D video content. The company has started shipments in stages.
India's film and entertainment services company Reliance MediaWorks and Japan's lab and post-production company Imagica have formed an alliance to provide film restoration image processing and enhancement and HD conversion services to Japanese broadcasters and studios. The needs of the Japanese marketplace is growing for film restoration of aged and deteriorated great pictures for digital broadcasting.
Screenvision has entered into a long-term agreement with Harkins Theatres which has 30 locations representing 428 movie screens across Arizona California Colorado Oklahoma and Texas. They have a high concentration of theatres in the Phoenix area; 89 percent of Harkins Theatres are located in top 20 DMAs. “Harkins Theatres operates state-of-the-art megaplexes within key demographic areas. Securing such a high profile and sought after theatre operator is a coup for Screenvision ” says Darryl Schaffer executive vice president exhibitor relations Screenvision.
Muvico Theatres one of the earliest adopters of Sony digital cinema 4K technology has completed the current phase of its digital conversion. The exhibitor now has five theatres equipped with Sony 4K digital cinema technology for a total of 89 screens of which 17 are outfitted for 3D by combining Sony’s single-projector 3D lens system with RealD 3D technology. Muvico’s locations have had great success with 3D screenings and the exhibitor is gearing up for the heavily anticipated release of Sony Pictures’ Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D.
In anticipation of the Shanghai Expo Hong Kong digital intermediate specialist Digital Magic expanded their 4K DI pipeline by integrating a second DVS Clipster into their workflow. Digital Magic will be responsible for footage shown at the Shanghai Expo’s Hong Kong Pavilion the China Theme Pavilion and the Oil Industry Pavilion – and were looking for a high-performance real-time 4K DI gateway.
By Stephan Faudeux Manager Dimension 3 Preparations are underway for the annual Dimension 3 Expo which is being held at the Saint-Denis in Paris France. As part of that effort the show’s manager Stephan Faudeux asks and answers thirteen of the top questions surrounding the development of stereoscopic 3D. Stereoscopic 3D is currently under the limelight with successful films such as Avatar and the arrival of 3D TV sets. Do you believe this is a fad or rather a logical evolution of the market? If S-3D is only a gimmick then an impressive number of people are falling for it!
