In addition, to help retain the feel that this episode was a "live" event, Bagdonas strove to "keep imperfections in the lighting, which meant sometimes leaving practicals unbalanced." This included gelling practical fluorescents so they went green and adding other lighting imperfections that would have been glaringly wrong for the usual tone of the series, but correct for the context of this particular episode.
D'Elia says that he initially found the experience of directing the show to be virtually the same as his previous experiences using film. However, while looking at the high-def monitor a few days into shooting, he noticed a problem. "We have two distinctly different kinds of sets on our show, which include an office wing, the ER and the operating theater. The operating rooms are rather subdued and the offices are monochromatic, but the ER has some color and other different elements — it's a bit sloppier.
"During the first couple of days, when we were in the monochromatic offices, I didn't notice a difference. It was the same as shooting film. The day that we went into the ER I had the hardest time because — to me — it didn't look good on the high-def monitor. I couldn't intellectualize why. It just was wrong.
"What I later realized was that because the colors on the set looked so accurate in HD, I could tell for the first time that I was on a set. I've directed dozens of Chicago Hope episodes, and I've never had a problem believing we were in a real hospital; this was the first time I had that problem. Once I realized what was happening, we knew that we needed to cut some light here or use a longer lens there, and that we couldn't go too wide on this shot or that. Other people shooting HD for broadcast will find that they're going to have to be more certain that their sets look really good, because otherwise you'll be able to tell that they're sets.
D'Elia's observation about color rendition from the HD cameras is on target. The HD camera provides virtually the same color-imagery response as the human eye. Unlike NTSC video, HD reproduces the shades between the primary colors very accurately. However, the director and cinematographer are able to discover any potential problem during the shoot, not the next day when the film comes back from the lab. That was a big plus for Bagdonas, who maintains that "the episode was basically a cakewalk, because we could walk over to the monitor and see what we'd just lit."
In order to give D'Elia the images he wanted, the crew sometimes found themselves more concerned with keeping light off the monitor than off certain parts of the set. Canning points out that the ambient lighting environment is very critical for judging a high-def picture. It's so critical, in fact, that Sony has provided an easy way to ensure that the light level is correct. "There's a light gray 'HDVS' symbol on the upper right corner of the metal frame surrounding the tube," Canning notes, "and if you can read it, there's too much ambient light falling on the monitor. In order to get a true picture, the light needs to be turned down to the point where the symbol disappears."
Then there's the matter of shooting in 16:9 instead of the standard 1.33:1 TV format. Bagdonas attests, "The 16:9 format is a wonderful for compositions; there's so much more peripheral vision. The compositions that are possible in high-def are such a plus that I wish we could have aired the episode in 16:9." (Unfortunately, "The Other Cheek" was broadcast in 1.33:1.)
Bagdonas adds that he didn't experience any compositional problems because of his unfamiliarity with 16:9. "Even if you're not protecting for 16:9, you're always protecting a margin of error, giving yourself room on the sidelines in case you want to pan left or right."
D'Elia concurs, but notes that the filmmakers "didn't compose for 16:9, because nobody has 16:9 sets yet. We protected the 16:9 area, but still composed for the regular TV ratio. We just made sure there wasn't a grip stand or an extra waiting for a cue in that extra area of the screen. As a director, I find it exciting that in the future, when 16:9 is the norm, we'll be able to compose shots as you would for theatrical features."
[ continued on page 4 ] © 1999 ASC