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HDV, Ready for the Big Time?

William over at this savage art... went to a seminar on Final Cut Pro 5 at Tekserve. If you don't know what Tekserve is, here's how William 'splains it:

Tekserve=Iggy Pop where the Apple Soho=Clay Aiken.

I try to stay up on the latest in DV tech. If you like to too, read what he has to say about it.

His commentary reminds me of an argument I had with a cinematographer friend EM this week. EM is consulting on a $100k budget sci-fi feature. He's telling them to shoot on HD. I say shoot DV @ 24p and put the budget into the effects. Special fx are a lot easier at the lower resolution and since theatrical release is less and less important these days, having something that looks good on the small screen is where to concentrate. EM disagrees.

We both know the director and if anyone can pull it off, he can. So I'm holding my breath. Still, my opinion on indies is either go whole hog with super-16 or 35mm film or go budget-optimized with 24p. If your story is good and you have a decent d.p., no one is going to care what you shot it on.

One last c.y.a. There are probably smart producers out there securing lots of funds from the HDTV channels to make exclusive movies on HD. I can forsee successful deals involving a price for broadcast rights being the entire budget, with the producer retaining DVD rights and making a handy profit. Whatever makes your movie...

RELATED: Apple touts the tapeless HD workflow.

About J. Ott

John Ott is a writer, filmmaker and futurist. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.