When a film school bought its first HD cameras, some problems were new and some were not. Leonard Guercio shares lessons from making the switch.
We recently acquired five Sony HDV cameras: four Z1U’s and one HC1. This was our school’s first investment in High Definition camera technology. Some of the production faculty and tech staff were eager to test the Sony cameras since there were other HD/HDV camera systems we’re also considering to purchase. After testing, we would integrate these cameras into our curricula and make them available to our students. Having worked in both film and video for twenty years, I was especially eager to see if the higher resolution (1080i lines) of the new Sony HDV cameras had a significantly different look and feel than standard (525 lines) NTSC video. So I booked the Z1U and devised a simple shooting plan. Not having time for rigorous testing, I chose a very basic approach: I would shoot solely in the camera’s 60i mode, in broad daylight, using fully automatic functions. My simple intention was to see what the higher resolution of HDV really looked like. What I discovered reinforced the quintessential consideration inherent in all moviemaking.
After shooting about 40 minutes of footage on the Sony-recommended Digital Master HDV tape, I felt I had gathered enough information to assess its performance. At home I set the camera into deck mode, rewound the tape and, using the HD-to-component cable, I plugged into my new Sony 57” HD television. (I hadn’t ordered home HD cable service yet so I still didn’t know what to expect from an HD image.) Containing my excitement, I pressed play and prepared myself for the high-resolution images –from a camera that uses Mini DV/DVCam tape! The images were startlingly alive and sharp – in stark contrast to the low-resolution images from the single-chip JVC MiniDV camera that I used to document family events. On first seeing my HDV footage, I had an immediate urge to reach out and touch the screen; the images were so vivid and present. Impressed, I sat back and absorbed the flow of high resolution images. I was mesmerized – that is, for about 10 minutes. Then it happened, imperceptibly at first but it still happened.
The first thing I became aware of was that, after a short while, I began observing my camera work. Now I haven’t worked as a shooter in about 10 years and it showed. I began to notice how many times I had to re-start a pan/zoom camera move before I got it right. Then I began thinking about how I should have composed a particular shot, and why I didn’t tilt a little lower to fully frame a young mother pushing a stroller. That certainly would have added more interest, balance and vitality to the shot.
This went on for about 30 minutes until I reached the biggest and most shocking revelation of all: I had stopped discerning the higher resolution of the images! After a half-hour or so, I had actually stopped noticing the differences between the higher resolution of the HDV footage and that of standard definition video to which I was accustomed. I was unable to see the higher resolution with the same immediacy and vigor as when I first played back the footage. Perhaps something was wrong; I could have incorrectly set the menu. Double-checking, I soon eliminated that possibility. It seemed my brain somehow adjusted itself to the higher resolution and now focused only on what I was seeing: that is, the content. Could that be right? I had to test this possibility.
So I called my son – a serious standard-def TV viewer – to come check out the footage. He sat down and watched. When the picture played, he sat bolt upright and uttered, “Whoa”, in his best Keanu Reeves impersonation. He went on for a while about how awesome the footage looked on our HD television, taking the opportunity to remind me to order HD cable service. At this point, I told him I had to check something in another room and asked him to continue watching. When I returned about 20 minutes later, he asked me about a couple shaky shots I had made. Dismissing his sharp observations, I asked him if he had noticed anything else. He didn’t know what I meant so I asked him, point blank, if he stopped noticing the higher resolution. “Well, yea, now that you mention it, I did stop noticing.” I thanked him for his help then repeated the same test with my daughter – with very similar results.
My simple test reminded me how the human brain perceives images and how quickly it adjusts to differences in visual quality. After a very short time, it seems we reach a saturation point where, even though we may be watching higher definition images, we lose our ability to appreciate the differences unless there is a simultaneous contrast. We need to compare and contrast things to see their differences.
Since higher definition images are inevitably part of our visual future, it’s clear we must adapt to it and adopt it as the new standard technology. However, my HDV camera test revealed that it isn’t visual quality at all that is ultimately important to us. Without doubt, the most important consideration is content – especially content charged with emotion. In the long run, it supersedes the visual form every time. As long as the look (or form) is consistent from shot to shot, our brains will easily adjust to the images – no matter how low or high the resolution. The popularity of the video iPod is a compelling example of this fact. Otherwise who would watch episodes of Desperate Housewives on a two-inch screen?
So while higher definition camera imaging may allow moviemakers greater control of the subtleties of the visual form, in the final analysis it’s the emotional substance of the imagery that we remember most. This may very well be one of the few constants in the continuously changing world of high definition video technology.
Leonard Guercio is an independent filmmaker and an adjunct film professor at Temple University in Philadelphia.
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