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Case Studies
By Gordon Tubbs, Assistant Director,
Broadcast and Communications Division at Canon U.S.A., Inc
High definition electronic cinematography has officially arrived both as an art form and a viable production model. As the market grows, so do cinematographers’ needs for equipment that will allow their work to be competitive with the best of what’s on the big screen. With Canon’s introduction of the new ACV-235 Anamorphic Converter, the world’s first anamorphic lens converter developed for the 2/3” format, HD moviemakers can save time and money as they bring their digital vision to theaters.
The ACV-235 makes the prospect of bringing an HD production to CinemaScope ® sized (2.35:1 aspect ratio) screens far less complicated than it has been in the past, and should be helpful in convincing many film-based DPs to make the leap to HD electronic cinematography. Before the ACV-235, HD cinematographers had a dilemma: footage recorded in 16:9 HD needed no adjustments in editing or post production for TV broadcast or DVD release, but if they wanted to release the production to movie theaters, compromises were needed.
Due to the differences between the CinemaScope 2.35:1 aspect ratio and the true HD aspect ratio of 1.78:1, footage recorded in HD without an anamorphic converter can’t be shown in cinemas without cropping the base image’s upper and lower sides in post – a move that obviously removes information and decreases vertical resolution in the process. Besides degrading the pristine imagery that HD cinematographers worked so hard to capture, this post process costs the production team time and money.
Fortunately, the maturation of the HD electronic cinematography industry means many standards have emerged, including the B4 bayonet mount that is now common to all 2/3” HD cameras. For manufacturers like Canon, a standardized mount makes it possible to create universal solutions like the ACV-235 that advance the art of HD electronic cinematography, with the potential of bringing it to a much larger audience.
The ACV-235 is a cylindrical device that mounts in between the camera and any B4 zoom or prime lens and, once in place, squeezes the image horizontally without affecting it vertically, compressing the image before it can be recorded in the standard HD aspect radio of 16:9 (1.78:1). Cinematographers who are viewing their dailies will notice that their video will appear squeezed since it has not yet been uncompressed. When the footage moves to post, however, it is easily expanded in one of two ways to perfectly fill the CinemaScope 2.35:1 format for the filmout. The HD video is either fed to a special monitor that has been set up to display a 2.35:1 aspect ratio – in which event the monitor will automatically unsqueeze the picture and portray it as full widescreen in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio; or the HD video is sent to a converter box that will readjust the video to be letterboxed within the 16:9 format so that it can be viewed on an HD monitor, with the accompanying black bars. No cropping is required, and the production can move to the theaters in full resolution, exactly the way its creators envisioned.
Since HD electronic cinematography arrived on the scene, two of the chief advantages it had to offer over film was the increased speed it brought to production, as well as the significant cost savings of shooting digitally as opposed to the expense of film. Whether it’s being used on a major feature, documentary, or short indie movie, the major benefits that Canon’s Anamorphic Converter is going to bring to DPs and the rest of the production team is the higher speed at which a production can move through post once shooting is completed, and therefore reduce the overall cost of the project. By simplifying the life of the DP and being a time/budget saver for the project’s front end, the increased efficiency of the ACV-235 stands to make a positive impact on its bottom line, allowing the team to move faster to market and recoup their investment more quickly.
The development of the ACV-235 is a great example of how and why Canon brings new HD electronic cinematography tools to market. After analysis of the worldwide market revealed a strong need for this device by DPs, and the ACV-235 became a reality. The reaction at its introduction throughout NAB2004 confirmed that there is a deep pool of users who are eager to evaluate the ACV-235 and move it into their production chain.
Viewed alongside our recent introduction of the new Canon FJs series of six prime lenses, as well as the HJ8x5.5B KLL-SC zoom, the ACV-235 is part of a product line that brings extremely high quality optics to productions without necessarily carrying a high price tag. From rental house to post production, the result is a breakthrough in HD electronic cinematography that makes it simpler and less expensive to bring uncompromising digital cinema to the big screen.
Gordon Tubbs is Assistant Director, Broadcast and Communications Division at Canon U.S.A., Inc. He can be reached at gtubbs@cusa.canon.com
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