USA hit series The 4400 adopts Blackmagic technology

For the third season of USA Network's critically acclaimed series, 'The 4400', Director of Photography (DP) Tony Westman CSC, Digital Imaging Technician (DIT) Chris Oben, and their crew, have opted to shoot HD instead of film. Oben explains, "The 4400 has been shot using HD from its inception however, film has been seriously considered each year." The first season was shot using Thomson Vipers while the second and third seasons were lensed with Sony F900/3's supplied by Panavision. "Tony and I know that there are many pros and cons to HD acquisition vs. film. Shooting film offers unsurpassed picture quality with freedom from cables; on the other hand, HD offers savings on stock and the immediacy of 'what you see is what you get'. All things considered, the decision to shoot HD ultimately must make sense to the production's workflow and bottom-line. The way we approach shooting HD, using our DeckLink powered 'Magic Lantern HD Framestore™', gives us the ability to completely control the quality and consistency of the HD image during acquisition and saves production time and therefore money.

In 2004, Westman and Oben acquired a Blackmagic DeckLink HD card as an experiment to capture HD stills on the set of the MGM television series "Dead Like Me". The idea being that they would use the full resolution HD stills as lighting reference frames. Oben recalls, "I had experimented with an SD playback system which just didn't do the HD image justice..." The DeckLink HD card was installed into a 'new' Dual 2.0GHz G5 and immediately put to service. Their initial tests were successful and proved that the DeckLink hardware and the Blackmagic HD codec were capable of preserving and accurately displaying stills captured via HD-SDI directly from the cameras.

The Blackmagic DeckLink HD card is the hub of the Magic Lantern HD Framestore™ capture / playback system developed by Westman and Oben. Still frames can be grabbed in full 10bit resolution or the incoming HD stream can be captured using the Blackmagic HD-JPEG or DVCProHD codec for full motion playback. The system provides non-destructive review of a full HD resolution image on true HD reference monitor. By immediate real time comparison of live image versus a captured reference frame, the DP and DIT can maintain exact shot-by-shot lighting consistency as well as day-by-day lighting continuity using established location reference stills. This tool has allowed unprecedented control over the subtle color balancing necessary to achieve a consistent look in their High Definition production setting.

Oben recalls his reaction after capturing their first still frame, "It was a magnificent moment for us . . . suddenly we could compare a live image from the camera to a perfect still on our own HD reference monitor on set." Westman speaks nostalgically about the significance of the capture tool, "In the 1600's the wagon-sized, traveling, 'Magic Lantern' seized little moments of something previously intangible and presented these ethereal images to an enraptured audience - this new 'Framestore' gives us the modern day equivalent . . . in High Definition. Now we can capture and critically assess each of our little moments without technical compromise.

"Some unexpected benefits came from Westman and Oben's choice to develop the Magic Lantern HD Framestore™ using a Blackmagic DeckLink card. "We wanted to use the 'Framestore' as a lighting continuity tool. What we didn't realize at the time is what a profound effect it would have on the rest of our process," says Westman. Westman remembers the initial timing session he did on his first HD series, "I sat down to the un-color corrected, auto assembled show . . . It was a dog's breakfast - I was very disturbed by the variations from shot to shot in both density and colorimetry. Try as we might to manage the image on set, even with detailed notes to record and remember the particulars of our shot setups, it was impossible. We are only human and are therefore fallible. Fast forward to color timing the first episode which we used the 'Framestore' . . . the on-line was a breeze . . . we had already done half the job of the post-production colorist. He didn’t have to spend all that time just matching shots. What the colorist could then do, in consultation with the producers and myself, is take the show up another level and create a broader arc of color and mood shifts."

"A framestore is typically the tool of the post-production colorist", Oben continues, "We had discovered that using the Blackmagic HD card in our OSX based system could put that tool into our hands on set." The series post production supervisor Ben Bronffman (Dead Like Me, The 4400) comments, "In post we have seen remarkable consistency of contrast and color in the footage shot while using the 'Framestore' system." The series supervising colorist, Achim Kapitza (Rainmaker Digital imaging) confirms, "The raw footage on the 4400 has a consistency which is as a good as a film best light transfer".

Oben soon realized that the new tool could also be used in other ways on 'The 4400' to make both his job and other departments' jobs easier: "We no longer had to keep both cameras cabled up to do color matching and balancing. We just recalled the image and matched to the master." Tim Atkins, the second unit gaffer, had this to say, "There is no comparison between a VHS or DVD playback and the full original quality on an HD monitor. The proof is in the pudding . . when the footage we shoot on 2nd unit cuts seamlessly into main unit material we know that the 'Framestore' system is working.

"The Blackmagic DeckLink series offers seamless integration with industry standard applications such as Final Cut Pro HD and Adobe After Effects. Oben and Westman were now able to offer the visual f/x department an on-set preview of green-screen composites - in full HD quality. The visual effects supervisor Roberto Biagi, is impressed, "the 'Framestore' is a marvel to have on set. From colour timing to previewing composites, it has allowed me the ability to line up and preview visual effects shots (Keys, Tracking, Motion Control, etc.) via a rough composite – The system got us out of trouble before we even saw it coming.

"Westman adds, "Most series use recurring locations and standing sets. Our consistency is amazing simply because we have the ability to recall an image that perfectly matches the color and contrast of the previously filmed scene."

"At this stage we have three HD 'Framestore' systems using Blackmagic HD capture cards, two Macs and a PC. The first Mac lives on main unit and the other is dedicated to second unit. The DeckLink HD card gives us full 10 bit quality in an existing, familiar platform. Comparable stand-alone systems that do what the Blackmagic card is capable of cost upwards of US$ 45,000. Our systems were created and implemented on standard platform Macintosh G5's and a Windows PC. Each of these has more functionality than any dedicated studio still-store.

"Initially Oben had reservations about the choice to use Blackmagic products, "I asked myself, how can a company continue to offer reduced prices and still suggest that their products could offer the highest quality? Well, both the hardware and software combination proves itself on-set every day. Whether it's matching a tight shot from a wide master or previewing a chroma-key composite for motion control . . we have put the hardware through its paces continuously since August 2004." In addition, 'The 4400' has also adopted three HDLink HD-SDI to DVI convertors for on-set monitoring.

Yet another unforeseen feature of the 'Framestore' system is the portability of the files. The DeckLink card uses all the native resources of the host computer whether it's a Mac or a PC. "Our system today allows me to wirelessly transfer HD stills from main unit to the HD workstation on 2nd unit via an Internet connection! In this way I can support the second unit crew by sending HD stills from main unit so they can compare them to the new footage as it is actually being shot."

Westman and Oben share some final thoughts:

Westman - "I've often thought of technology as a solution looking for a problem . . . the Blackmagic card existed before we knew what we we could do with it - now that we have integrated it into our 'Framestore' - we are asking ourselves . . . how did we ever do without it!?"

Oben - "What we need most in the film industry are reliability and predictability. We have found both of these qualities in the Blackmagic DeckLink as well as unsurpassed quality.”

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