INTERVIEW WITH PRODUCER SIMONE GOVIC
by Mithila Gupta
If you have worked with HD, how did you find it?
Have not
worked with HD as yet.
Is their a resistance in your area to high definition video? If so, why do
you think this is?
Not at all - looking forward to using it.
As a
producer, have you found working with digital equipment easier/more convenient?
Sometimes faster and more convenient for digital shoots, but if you have a good
crew, film shoots can be the same.
What do you lose, as a producer, when you use HD?
Quality of the end output - depth of colour. Other than that, you actually gain
more when using HD, easier post production, and cheaper, as well as greater
flexibility in the distribution options.
What is the cost and accessibility of shooting on digital formats?
The cost of equipment is a little less, the cost of film stock, processing and
telecine is removed - but added is the cost of transfer to a digital online
suite where consumer systems are still not able to work in high resolution HD.
Accessibility is still an issue with not many equipment vendors having a great
deal of HD cameras as yet (and appropriate lenses) thus the cost right now is
still about equivalent to shooting on film (when talking about HD - if talking
about shotting on Digit or SP beta or miniDV format - these issues do not apply
and it is absolutely cheaper shooting on digital format, on lining and exporting
to finish on tape).
Finally, the cost of shooting on HD also involves the soft cost or re-education - of the director, DOP and crew on what the best lenses, camera etc is to choose. This is trial and error.
Which format do you currently prefer to shoot on and why?
Always prefer 35mm, but am leaning now for accessibility toward HD, however the costs have not come down enough to really be the most preferred option.
How absolute will the change over to digital be?
The change over to digital will never be completely absolute. Film will always
exist as long as there will be theatres that have spent a lot of money fitting
our film projectors (a significant investment historically around the world).
There will of course be a greater adoption and move toward digital on the
principal photography side, but until the distribution of the world's cinemas
are completely re-fitted with digital projectors, this move to the digital realm
will not be complete.
Once the cinemas are digital and the availability of cameras (with good lenses) and post production is cheaper as well (final cut pro current sd cards are approx $10,000), then the accessibility to use digital will be greater for all filmmakers. Once the barriers are down, there will be nearly 70-80% adoption (in my mind) but this will take 7-10 years. There will always be old school theatres where film is the preferred format, and larger media conglomerates and Hollywood will really dictate how quickly we move to digital, and whether completely. Finally, the online digital distribution model is the model I am most passionate about in the coming age of downloading movies directly, obfuscating the large corporate distribution and production houses, pod casting, TV and short films, etc. This model is the one I believe will be the most successful for the independent filmmakers.