• Facebook Share
  • Twitter Share

Digital Day 2011: Game Changers Past Present and Future

July 30, 2011

A Special Projects Committee Event
 
Digital Day audience gathers in Los Angeles Theatre 1
See more photos in the gallery below

On Saturday, July 30, 2011, nearly 600 DGA members and guests gathered at the Guild's Los Angeles Theater complex for the ninth annual Digital Day symposium to experience some of the new technologies they have at their disposal.  In keeping with the theme of the Guild’s 75th Anniversary celebrations, this year's event, was entitled Game Changers: Past, Present, Future … What’s Next?, featuring an entire day of learning and networking around the creative, technical and business issues emerging from the latest digital technologies.

 

1st AD Josh McLaglen demonstrates a Cutting Edge App.
Cutting Edge Apps 

The day kicked off in DGA Theater One with a welcome from DGA Special Projects Committee Chair Jeremy Kagan and Digital Day subcommittee chair Randal Kleiser. Kleiser also served as moderator for the first panel of the morning, Cutting Edge Apps which featured five presentations. In Light Stage Advances, Paul Debevec, USC ICT Graphics Lab’s Associate Director of Graphics Research, demonstrated the latest advances in digitizing facial performance and full-body reflectance to show how actors can be scanned, turned into avatars, and then animated and lit in post. Next, Executive Producer/1st AD Josh McLaglen and Visual Effects Producer/Associate Producer Ron Ames delivered a behind-the-scenes look at how they did the Real Time Performance Capture on director Shawn Levy’s upcoming robot boxer sci-fi drama Real Steel. Livescribe CEO & Founder Jim Marggraff demonstrated how the new Livescribe Smartpen can be used to share notes and audio to enhance productivity and communication. Silverdraft Mobileviz’s Director of Business Development Michael Cooper and Commercial Director/VFX Supervisor Alex Frisch revealed the capabilities of Silverdraft Mobileviz’s virtual production studio on wheels. In the final Cutting Edge Apps presentation, Sony Digital Cinema Production’s Market Development Manager Keith Vidger demonstrated the latest 4K Advances in Capture and Projection with cinematographer Curtis Clark who screened The Arrival, the first short shot with the ultra-sharp 4K Sony CineAlta F-65.

 

 
The Show Me the Money panel looked at producing professional content for the web.
Show Me the Money: A Realistic Look at Producing Professional Content for the Web

The panel discussion that followed was entitled Show Me the Money: A Realistic Look at Producing Professional Content for the Web. Director Jessica Landaw (The Booth at the End), Executive Producer Hieu Ho (The LXD) and Director/Executive Producers Kim Moses and Ian Sander (Ghost Whisperer) screened examples of their work for the evolving internet marketplace and discussed the challenges and opportunities with moderator Brent Weinstein, UTA’s Head of Digital Media.

 

 
The 3D What's New panel.
3D - What’s New

After the lunch break, things shifted into the next dimension with 3D - What’s New, a set of presentations moderated by AD/UPM Council West’s VFX/Digital Technology Committee Chair Susan Zwerman on the technology that’s revolutionizing the industry. Beginning with Making Great 3D, Sony Pictures 3D Technology Center Instructor and Stereoscopic Supervisor Grant Anderson demonstrated the benefits and challenges of shooting in 3D vs. post production conversion. In-Three/Digital Domain Stereoscopic Supervisor Matthew DeJohn followed up with Types of 2D to 3D Conversion, where he explained common approaches to achieving a 3D effect through conversion. Venture 3D Lead Stereographer Todd Cogan then revealed the New Tools & Techniques for Theatrical, Legacy & Hybrid 3D Conversion, and Sony Electronics Director of 3D Business Development Rob Willox revealed how the technique can be utilized for live broadcast in 3D on the Fly. Wrapping the 3D section of the program with a presentation on Complex Composite Conversion, Legend 3D’s President Rob Hummel explained how conversion works in a visual effects-heavy film.

 

 
The Production in the Cloud panel explored
the usesof cloud computing for production.
Hollywood Production in the Cloud 

Leaving explorations of the third dimension, the program next delved into the possibilities for collaboration offered by cloud computing, where information once stored on a single computer now exists on a virtual network and is accessible via a wide variety of devices. The panel was called Hollywood Production in the Cloud: From Film to Digital to Virtual...What Does the Cloud Have to Offer?, featuring Cinematographer Curtis Clark (Talent for the Game), Casting Society of America President Pam Dixon (Green Lantern), Co-Producer/VFX Producer Steve Gaub (TRON: Legacy), Internet Entrepreneur/Author Andrew Keen (The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture) and Co-Producer/UPM Sally Young (Modern Family) in a conversation moderated by Pensé Productions CTO Art Hair.

 

 
Digital on a Dime 2 revisited frugal
production through technology.
Digital on a Dime 2

Closing out the day was the return of a popular series of discussions on low cost production methods entitled Digital on a Dime 2 and moderated by Randal Kleiser. In Stargate Studios Virtual Backlot, Stargate’s Vice President of Digital Effects Mark Spatny and Virtual Backlot Systems Manager Erik Nelson gave a behind-the-scenes preview of the virtual sets for the upcoming period dramatic series Pan Am. In The Wereth Eleven, Lumiere Media President Frederic Lumiere revealed how he helped to create an action-packed war movie with director Robert Child with just five actors, no extras and a limited budget. Directors/Writers/Executive Producers Michael Koerbel and Anna Elizabeth James (Goldilocks) unveiled how to get large scale results from a small scale platform in Using Your iPhone to Shoot & Edit a Feature Film.

 

 
DGA members get hands-on demontrations of
the latest devices.
Other Presentations

In addition to the presentations and panels in DGA Theater 1 and the exhibits and hands-on demonstrations in the DGA lobby, Digital Day participants also had the opportunity to see highlights from the AD/UPM VFX/Digital Technology Committee’s Game Changer event, From TRON to TRON: Legacy: Game-Changers in VFX, as well as the Image Quality Geeks’ Comparative Evaluation of the Top Digital and 35mm Film Cameras that ran all day in Theater 2. After the symposium, all attendees were invited to an After Party at Occidental Entertainment’s new Sound Stage and Production Facilities in Hollywood.

 

 

Pictures

photos by Byron Gamarro
video coming soon

View slideshow
DGA members and guests sign in for the ninth annual Digital Day symposium.
Directors Eytan Keller and Booey Kober get a demo of the new RED camera.
DGA Board Member Cleve Landsberg chats with a Digital Day exhibitor.
The Lightspeed web based production management system is explained an attendee.
2nd AD Elaine Wood, Director Janice Cook and guest Faye Cottrel view a new 3D system.
Digital Day attendees move from one panel to the next.
Attendees pick up their glasses for the 3D presentation.
Digital Day attendees gather in DGA Theater One in Los Angeles.
DGA Special Projects Committee Chair Jeremy Kagan welcomes the audience.
DGA Special Projects Committee Chair Jeremy Kagan welcomes the audience.
Digital Day subcommittee chair Randal Kleiser introduces of the first event of the morning, Cutting Edge Apps.
Digital Day subcommittee chair Randal Kleiser introduces of the first event of the morning, Cutting Edge Apps.
Light Stage Advances was a demonstration of how actors can be scanned, turned into avatars, and then animated and lit in post.
Paul Debevec, USC ICT Graphics Lab's Associate Director of Graphics Research presents Light Stage Advances.
Paul Debevec demonstrates the latest advances in digitizing facial performance and full-body reflectance.
Visual Effects Producer/Associate Producer Ron Ames and Executive Producer/1st AD Josh McLaglen speak about Real Time Performance Capture.
Josh McLaglen shows how they did the Real Time Performance Capture on director Shawn Levy's upcoming robot boxer sci-fi drama feature Real Steel
An illustration of Real Time Performance Capture from Real Steel
Josh McLaglen reveals the Real Time Performance Capture workflow.
Livescribe CEO and Founder Jim Marggraff
Livescribe's Jim Marggraff holds up the smart pen.
Livescribe's Jim Marggraff demonstrates how the tool can be used to enhance productivity.
Commercial Director/VFX Supervisor Alex Frisch and Silverdraft Mobileviz's Director of Business Development Michael Cooper.
Frisch and Cooper reveal the capabilities of Silverdraft Mobileviz's virtual production studio on wheels.
Commercial Director/VFX Supervisor Alex Frisch speaks about Silverdraft Mobileviz.
The last discussion in this section covered the latest 4K Advances in Capture and Projection.
Sony Digital Cinema Production's Market Development Manager Keith Vidger speaks about the latest 4K Advances.
Information is shown onscreen about the growth rate of 4K projection systems.
The audience is seated for the Show Me the Money presentation.
Brent Weinstein (moderator), Ian Sander and Kim Moses, Hieu Ho and Jessica Landaw form the Show Me the Money panel.
The Show Me the Money panel took a realistic look at producing professional content for the web.
DGA Third Vice President Betty Thomas gets her glasses for the 3D presentation.
Rob Hummel, Rob Willox, Matthew DeJohn, Susan Zwerman (moderator), Todd Cogan, and Grant Anderson form the 3D panel.
DGA AD/UPM Council West's VFX/Digital Technology Committee Chair Susan Zwerman serves as moderator of 3D - What's New.
Sony Pictures 3D Technology Center Instructor and Stereoscopic Supervisor Grant Anderson speaks about shooting in 3D vs. post production conversion.
Anderson explains the process that creates the 3D illusion.
Anderson explains the process that creates the 3D illusion.
In-Three/Digital Domain Stereoscopic Supervisor Matthew DeJohn explains common approaches to achieving a 3D effect through conversion.
DeJohn illustrates the 3D conversion process.
DeJohn illustrates the 3D conversion process.
Venture 3D's Lead Stereographer Todd Cogan reveals new tools and techniques for Theatrical, Broadcast and Hybrid 3D Conversion.
Sony Electronics' Director of 3D Business Development Rob Willox explains how the technique can be utilized in live broadcasts in 3D on the Fly.
Willox displays a 3D conversion workflow.
Legend 3D President Rob Hummel.
Hummel illustrates how the 3D conversion process can work in a visual effects-heavy film.
Sally Young, Curtis Clark, Art Hair (moderator), Pam Dixon, Andrew Keen, and Steve Gaub form the Hollywood Production in the Cloud panel.
Randal Kleiser introduces the Hollywood Production in the Cloud panel.
Pense Productions CTO Art Hair explains the process of cloud computing.
Cloud computing is explained.
A chart shows how cloud computing can be used to assist production.
Co-Producer/VFX Producer Steve Gaub.
Gaub speaks about how they used cloud computing on TRON: Legacy.
A chart reveals how information can be swiftly moved across distances.
CSA President Pam Dixon explains how the process assisted production like the recent release Green Lantern.
Dixon illustrates how Breakdown Services uses cloud computing.
Co-Producer/UPM Sally Young.
Young reveals how they use cloud computing on the show Modern Family.
Internet Entrepreneur/Author Andrew Keen (The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture), Cinematographer Curtis Clark (Talent for the Game), and moderator Art Hair take the cloud computing discussion onto the stage.
Randal Kleiser (moderator), Mark Spatny, Erik Nelson, Anna Elizabeth James, Michael Koerbel, and Frederic Lumiere form the Digital on a Dime 2 panel.
Randal Kleiser, Stargate Studios VP of Digital Effects Mark Spatny and Virtual Backlot Systems Manager Erik Nelson speak about the virtual sets for the upcoming period dramatic series Pan Am.
Lumiere Media President Frederic Lumiere.
Lumiere reveals how they contained costs on director Robert Child's WWII movie The Wereth Eleven
Directors/Writers/Executive Producers Michael Koerbel and Anna Elizabeth James.
Koerbel and James illustrate how the iPhone can be used to shoot and edit a feature film.
Randal Kleiser gets a hands-on demo of iPhone cinematography from Koerbel and James.
DGA members and guests gather at the Los Angeles Theater complex to experience some of the new technologies.
Digital Day exhibitors stand ready to explain their new technologies.
An attendee gets a hands-on demo of the Techno Jib crane system.
Digital Day attendees check out a new camera system.

Calendar

6/5/2025 - 6/11/2025