Pablo Toledo, a USC Film School graduate, is a Tuscon-based filmmaker who is shooting his first feature-length film, Runnin’ At Midnite, in HDTV. I recently spoke with Pablo, asking him to discuss why he made this decision, and what impact it will have on his production.
Why did you decide to shoot in HDTV?
We've been asked that question a lot lately. When I sat down with our director of photography, Mr. Robert Ballo, we quickly decided to shoot on a digital format rather than film. This was a decision based mainly on the screenplay, rather than budget concerns or being "trendy." Although the obvious advantages of digital (higher shooting ratio, quick post-turnaround, etc.) are great, the aesthetic of digital is not suited to every story. Our film, Runnin' At Midnite, is a character study of several kids growing up in the barrios of South Tucson and the midnight basketball league they turn to for salvation. The film is full of thematic contrasts (such as cold days and warm nights; sanctuary in a closed, dark gym, and danger in open, bright, warm places such as parks, alleys, and vacant lots). It's these types of "thematic" story contrasts we felt would benefit from the inherent nature of digital, which is high-contrast. We both feel that story and format must benefit each other, and that was our main concern when choosing a format.
Once we settled on digital, we had a lot of choices to make. Originally we felt miniDV would be our choice, since I have a great XL1 package and miniDV editing suite in my office. Still, as we began exploring the pros and cons of not only miniDV, but DVCAM, digibeta, Digital-S and JVCPro, it soon became apparent that all digital formats suffered from a tremendous lack of resolution. Naturally, when we began to explore HDTV, we were amazed at the advantages it offered over all other formats and how easy it would be to integrate high definition into an NTSC post. Through the process of down-conversion, we will be able to get a high-quality NTSC dub from an HDTV master with relative ease (and the dub will still be better than any NTSC original) and archive our HDTV master for an HDTV online and possible "blow-up" to 35mm. As a filmmaker, this essentially allows me to create a "film" for the present, but assure my format for the future. Also, as we move closer to DTV, there is a tremendous lack of HDTV-originated programming, thus creating a possibly very lucrative market for an HDTV film after a theatrical run (or in place of one). My main concern was the market. All of a sudden you have a huge flood of XL-1, VX1000 digital films saturating the market. As an indie filmmaker, you need to look at your budget, your script, and style, and always look to set yourself apart from the pack. HDTV gave us such an opportunity without too many compromises. In using HDTV, I'm not too worried about it looking too "video" - HDTV is what it is: it has its own look, feel, etc.
Is there a significant difference in resolution with HD in comparison to miniDV?
Yeah, there is a huge resolution difference. 1080 x 1000, I think, for HD, whereas NTSC is around half that. Plus that, resolution is covering 16 x 9, closer to film, and NTSC has less resolution on a different aspect ratio. A downconverter was donated for the shoot - a $44,000 machine! You can send in your HD tapes to a lab, but this way we save on that cost. The downconverter is a big ol' box that takes the signal to whatever we want - NTSC 625, 525, 720i, etc. We are going out to Betacam. Even if we sent it to a lab, it would be 100/ HD tape, whereas you’re talking thousands of dollars to get the same amount of minutes processed. The savings are remarkable.
What about the cost of the camera?
Now, there is no comparison between the cost of an HD camera and an miniDV. To buy, you’re looking at $100,000 versus $5,000 – a big, big difference. To rent an HDCam, with some help and some connections and some favors, you could get a $5,000/week rental. For all the up sides, I'd rather spend $15,000 on a rental for a three-week shoot than $5,000 for a miniDV camera. Tapes run expensive for HD-- $77 -- yet miniDV runs in the $20s, so you’re looking at a $50-a-pop difference. The way I look at it, miniDV is much more affordable. But hey, if you’re making a movie, you are putting it all on the line. You have one chance to shine, and then it's over. I can't imagine why anyone would skimp on the capture format. Everything else you can somehow work around, but resolution and bit depth and all that camera stuff is either there or it's not - period. My advice: go HD on complicated projects that you want to be the cornerstone of your career, and use miniDV on documentaries and small, intimate projects that don't require a lot of other resources. This project has over 15 locations, over 30 characters, etc., so we're making sure we're coming correct and getting the best picture we can.