Atlantis Not Shot on Film!

[Heimdal]

I notice from the preview on the Volume 37 DVD that Stargate Atlantis is being shot on Panavision's 24P High Definition digital cameras and not on 35mm film like SG-1. An interesting move but sadly the greater depth of field of HD gives the material a more "video" look. It also appears that the HD material included on the DVD is ungraded and may well look quite different when the show airs. It's an interesting move considering that SG-1 started out on 16mm and then moved to 35mm.

[Ugly Pig]

You are correct. I believe SG-1 season 8 will be shot on HD as well, although I am not 100% certain.

[Anthro Girl]

Very cool. Can't wait to see it. Now I really hope it doesn't suck!

When will SciFi start broadcasting it in HD, is what I want to know. We could upgrade to the HD receiver, but there isn't anything on TV right now that I'm dying to see in HD...

[Heimdal]

I'm guessing that this move is partly as a result of the two shows being shot concurrently and the additional demands this places on the VFX guys at Rainmaker and the other houses that the show uses. Not having to process the film overnight and then telecine to tape and disk doubtless saves valuable time. Hope it doesn't adversely affect the look of the non-VFX shots though, particularly exteriors with characteristic Canadian bright overcast skies! Night-time stuff should be a snip, though. We'll just have to wait and see. New cast, new look, new galaxy, they're taking a lot of risks. I really hope the show doesn't tank. Personally, I can't picture a Stargate without Jack and Sam!

[David85]

The move prob is because in America the Federal Government said that most (all?) chanels need to be showing in HD by the end of 2008.

[Chevron_nine]

The move prob is because in America the Federal Government said that most (all?) chanels need to be showing in HD by the end of 2008.

That has never been said. It surprises me how many people have been misinformed. It simply states that all channels must be broadcast DIGITALLY. The stations have the choice of broadcasting in standard definition digital TV or HDTV. And also, DVD is not in any way equivalent or even close to HDTV. DVD is almost standard definition, so anything on SG-1 DVD's won't be HD.

[Anubis]

It doesn't really matter, just that the quality is higher quality!

[Heimdal]

Before this shifts waayyyy off topic, although the series is being shot HD at 1080x1920 it's still being down-converted to SD (standard definition) for broadcast. The benefits to production in the short-term represent a faster turnaround than film AND in the longer term they have an original that is future proof (up to a point). Equally, the picture remains SD on DVD's at 720x480 (NTSC) and 720x576 (PAL). The recent ratification of H.264 as the way that DVD's will be encoded in the future rather than MPEG-2 is a move toward HD-DVD but currently Hollywood are uncomfortable about providing an even higher quality retail product until issues of piracy and DRM are resolved.

[Anubis]

I agree. The resolution and special effects will just look a bit better

[Mio]

currently Hollywood are uncomfortable about providing an even higher quality retail product until issues of piracy and DRM are resolved.

Which doesn't make any sense in my mind, of course. People will pirate whatever is available, irregardless of quality.

[Anubis]

I agree. You'll NEVER be able to stop pirate copies and I mean NEVER. You wouldn't believe how easy they are to get hold of in the UK and I have to say, the quality of them is becoming a hell of a lot better this year. They're even adding stuff such as animated menus and scene selections

[Mio]

Personally, I see high quality as a good antipiracy measure.

If the media used by the industry can't be written to in a home PC, then the people creating the pirate copies would have to reduce the quality. And if you really wanna see the movie, you'll get the better quality version.

[Anubis]

I do agree, however, the resolution of pirated copies have improved tremendously over the past two years alone. Now, something like Shrek 2 has all the features built in like behind the scenes footage and how it was made and the actual movie, almost as high quality as a genuine DVD. The interactive menu, animations, special features, scene selection and programming that you can do. I have to admit, if they want to stop piracy they need to release the films at the same in EVERY country. This will reduce pirate copies by a large percentage, but I do say not totally

[Heimdal]

Which doesn't make any sense in my mind, of course. People will pirate whatever is available, irregardless of quality.

Hollywood bosses have never been big on sense, particularly when it comes to matters of developing technology. I cite the following example:

When George Lucas sold Pixar to Steve Jobs in the late 1980's it was because he "saw no future or application for 3D computer generated imagery in motion pictures"! And that's a fact, in spite of whatever revisionist version he now maintains. (Remember that he now has Greedo shooting first!) Bare in mind also, that Photoshop 1 was developed by John and Thomas Knoll while working for ILM and yet Adobe are the one's who made the millions. What happened there?

[Anubis]

Who knows. But the fact remains that it will be difficult to control. Like I said, they are easily available to get anywhere in the UK. Apparently, we have some of the biggest pirate copying industries