Saturday 6 February 2016

Open Source future : Film Production


Dear All,

It feels the right time to re-introduce myself to this blog and explain why we are further approaching Open Source for Film Production in 2016, which I have been researching and working on now for over two years, with a lot more explaining and development, but that is why I have found myself involved, it is exciting and could revolutionise the industry over the coming years.

I have a background starting in cameras (assisting and focus pulling) then graduating up the ranks to Camara Operating for F1, BBC Dramas then 2nd Unit Cinematography for Feature Theatrical Productions.

During this time I also started and ran privately a camera rental house supplying digital cameras plus an onset/location company providing location Post and digital camera workflows.

This culminated just recently with a 2-3 year stint at Technicolor as their locations digital dailies supervisor, looking after projects such as Jupiter Ascending, Mortdecai and The Man from UNCLE.

During this long time servicing and working I have seen a few changes and re-iterations of the current digital workflows and it has struck me over time how much we do rely on proprietary systems for most delivery. And perhaps quite rightly so as the delivery requirements for VFX to DI to onset LUTs and more need that service.

I then made contact with ApertusÂș in Vienna, who were funding and developing an Open Source 4K camera. I went to see them and was immediately struck by how little Open Source, for both software and hardware, is utilised by Film Production community.

Certain single elements are there, Blender for 3D, DCP creation, but nothing has seemingly been created and developed for an entire production workflow for shooting films digitally, from the sensor and how it is used and manipulated, the colour science and the workflow (utilising both software and hardware).

It is quite a wide scope and the subject has many more strands to it, such as sensor processing, transcoding, VFX, DI and colour, LUTs and more, plus add in the actual cameras themselves then we have a very deep set of requirements needed for the entire Production pipeline and workflow.

But by continually approaching the subject now, and also introducing and researching ethical approaches to feature film production, I am hoping that we can create a community of like minded contributors who would like to see Open Source for Film production become stronger and a more realistic proposition as it continues to thrive and develop.

Thank you for reading,
Daniel Mulligan
February 05th 2016

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