Worm In The Apple

Apple has long made a selling point out of its supposedly virus proof operating system. I vaguely remember running some version of Norton on my Mac based Avid’s back in the late 1990s, but that went away with OSX. I don’t know anything about the dissemination of malicious code, but I’ve always assumed that there were no viruses invading Mac OS because there wasn’t enough interest from virus creators to attack an OS that only has about five percent of the market share. But the Ibook and Iphone have changed that equation. There are millions more mac users now than there were a few years ago, and I can’t help but imagine that they represent a big collective bulls eye.

I’ve never used the virus proof argument to tout the benefits of Mac OS. It just seemed like bad karma that would come back to bite me someday. But Apple’s “virus proof” marketing angle and those mildly obnoxious “Mac vs. PC” commercials have flushed good karma down the toilet. If the pervaiors of malicious code weren’t bothering with Mac OS before, we’ve certainly got their attention now.

Video Color Grading – The Sober Truth

My first year in Los Angeles, I spent 7 or 8 months as a Telecine assistant in the Valley. The shop was a really low budget operation without many clients, or much working equipment, and the colorist that trained me was a drunk. He would roll in sometime after 10:30 each day, and, teaching through his hangover, he imparted to me the basics of cinematic color, in theory and practice.

I subconsciously use that information on a daily basis, but I hadn’t thought about the philosophical and psychological concepts of color grading for some time, until I found this post on Mike Jones blog, Digital Basin. Mike Jones isn’t a drunk like my old mentor, but he’s got a great take on the psychology of cinematic color grading. The post is called “Colour Grading – Concepts and Paradigms.” Firstly, any reference to “Concepts and Paradigms” in regards to post production is automatically intriguing, because post production tends to be myopicallyworkflow oriented, often avoiding the larger philosophical considerations behind the choices that we make in method and technology.

The post neatly packages the basics of video color grading theory, an art form that seems to have gone out the window in the age ofprosumer video production. Access to very powerful color manipulation tools (I use Color Finesse and Colorista pretty regularly) have created a wealth of color styling opportunity, but I have witnessed an inversely proportional dearth of knowledge about how to apply those tools effectively. Mike Jones breaks down the use of these tools into a set of values that allow the intention of the filmmaker to inform color choices. That sounds like a basic concept, but its easy to overlook when you start fiddling with the color corrector before you’ve mapped a clear aesthetic plan for the project.

Final Cut Pro 7 – I Want To Believe

It seems like I’ve been doing a lot of Apple bashing lately. There was my post about the American Cinematic Editors vs. Final Cut Pro, and a couple weeks before that I predicted the imminent death of Final Cut Pro. I’m not not coming down on the products they provide, but I do have a bad feeling that Apple isn’t betting long on Pro Apps.

This fact was most evident in 2006 when Apple ceased development on Shake, the immensely popular composting software they acquired in 2002. The rumor mill claimed that Apple was developing the “next generation” of the technology for release in 2008, but that never materialized and former Shake users moved on. Shake was finally dropped from the Apple website last week.

I actually wrote a first part of this post a couple weeks ago, then the next day Apple released Final Cut Pro 7, the first major upgrade in two years. There are a few much needed fixes, and some additions that should have been standard features three versions back. The only real innovation is theIChat Theater, which integrates the output of Final Cut Pro into a live video chat for real time playback over the Internet . Its interesting that the feature I find most innovative comes from the integration of a freeware app that comes with every new mac. I appreciate the upgrade toFCP 7, but I won’t hold my breath for another major upgrade. I still think Apple is going to withdraw from the the pro apps market, andFCP as we know it is doomed.

Most of the other apps in the Final Cut Suite were also upgraded. The suite has always been a mixed bag of functionality. Motion and Sound Track Pro have been borderline useless since version 1. If this upgrade gets them operational with reasonable stability, it would be a victory. DVD Studio Pro is conspicuously missing from this upgrade, which I’m thankful for. I use DVD Studio on a regular basis, and I don’t have many complaints. I would prefer that Apple not mess with it unless they want to addBlu-Ray support, but I won’t hold my breath for that either.

Brand Cameron

James Cameron made a big splash at Comic Con San Diego by previewing 24 minutes of Avatar for an eagerly receptive audience. Cameron has been hyping the 3D imaging technology behind Avatar for the last two years, only to spend the last 6 months tempering expectations in advance of the Comic Con preview. The preview scene was generally well reviewed, and Cameron went on to give interviews touting the fact that Avatar is an original script, without ties to an existing brand. Comic Con is an odd place to take a dig at movies derived existing properties like, say… comic books, but Cameron is proud of his effort, and the movie looks cool.

What Cameron failed to mention is that, in the absence of an existing brand property, Cameron is the brand. He certainly has the cinematic pedigree to prop up an original sci-fi movie. Furthermore, Cameron leveraged his personal brand into branding Avatar as the movie that will revolutionize the theatrical industry with groundbreaking 3D technology. In the current media economy, Cameron faces the same dilemma as many of us. He can’t get financing for an innovative new property unless he promises to reinvent the entire game in the process. Its a genius marketing scheme that probably helped finance Avatar’s $200 million production, and helped the movie receive an advance wave of press that other movies don’t enjoy. Comic Con was the first time the public had seen a frame of Avatar, but we’ve been reading about the production since early 2008 in everything from Variety to Wired. The technological brand of Avatar even outshines the A-list talent in the film. I realized a couple of weeks ago that Sigourney Weaver stars in the movie, but even her press blurbs are tethered to Cameron’s technology talking points.

Its a $200 million dollar gamble, leveraged by Cameron’s personal brand and hedged by his massively successful box office performance. If it hits, he’s at the helm of a billion dollar franchise. If it tanks, Hollywood will forgive him. But if Avatar is just plain bad, and those core fans are displeased, the credibility of brand Cameron will take a serious hit.

Cinematic Color Grading Theory

In my first year in Los Angeles, I spent 7 or 8 months as a Telecine assistant in the Valley. The shop was a really low budget operation without many clients, or much working equipment, and the colorist that trained me was a drunk. Most of what we did was one light dallies for low budget movies, which constituted about two hours of actual work each day. The rest of the day was spent discussing the art and science of cinematic color grading. The colorist would roll in about 10:30 every day. Teaching through his hangover, he imparted to me the basics of cinematic color, in theory and practice.

I subconsciously use that information on a daily basis, but I hadn’t thought about the philosophical and psychological concepts of color grading for some time, until I found this post on Mike Jones blog, Digital Basin. Mike Jones isn’t a drunk like my old mentor, but he’s got a great take on the psychology of cinematic color grading. The post is called “Colour Grading – Concepts and Paradigms.” Firstly, any reference to “Concepts and Paradigms” in regards to post production is automatically intriguing, because post production tends to be myopically workflow oriented, often avoiding the larger philosophical considerations behind the choices that we make in method and technology.

The post neatly packages the basics of video color grading theory, an art form that seems to have gone out the window in the age ofprosumer video production. Access to very powerful color manipulation tools (I use Color Finesse and Colorista pretty regularly) have created a wealth of color styling opportunity, but there’s an inversely proportional dearth of knowledge about how to apply those tools effectively. Mike Jones breaks down the use of these tools into a set of values that allow the intention of the filmmaker to inform color choices. That sounds like a basic concept, but its easy to overlook if you start fiddling with the color corrector before you’ve without a clear aesthetic plan for the project.