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THEFUTURE
TALK ALL ABOUT IT
News Digest
gramme there is ever present fear of bugs in the system, or hackers breaking into it. Then again programmes might be
developed to erase or disable a feature from being played after a particular time period has elapsed, which would allow strict leasing agreements to be observed. But as time passes processing, distribut- ing and exhibiting movies in this way is sure to become even more cost effective.
“I’m sure film prints will continue to be shown at places like the National Film Theatre for many years to come,” adds Richard Boyd, the NFT’s Head of Technical Services. “But one would hope that as digital is introduced it would make getting a lot of classic films that much easier, because then it won’t be the case that there is a good print held in an archive somewhere. It should make it eas- ier for the general public to see these films shown well.”
A more moderate voice in the debate, Boyd admits that his first impression of a digital feature film was that it was “absolutely stunning”. The truer test will come when live action films are routinely screened digitally. Tests have already been carried out with Bicentennial Man and Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace, with George Lucas apparently an enthusiastic advocate of this process.
But a wise old head, while recognising the many virtues, counsels care in the
transfer of existing film to digital format and storage.
“I’ve no objection if the quality is good,” explains Ossie Morris, an Oscar winning cinematographer for Fiddler on the Roof. “Any system that retains the quality has my support. But if you ask me the perfect set up for the next 20 years, it’s that the original should be made on film. I don’t think that originating on any other format will ever have quite the same subtle quality that it has on film.”
Such subtleties were painstakingly learned by men like Ossie Morris during long and illustrious filmmaking careers. One can only hope that, as technology moves on at increasing speeds, there is still the opportunity for visionary camera- men to adapt the format to their work, rather than getting lost in a baffling maze of hardware.
If this is the case then
digital film technology should become the brave new filmmaking world the industry wishes
it to be. ■ Anwar Brett
From a ninetysomething’s account of filming in a balloon for Pathé Freres in 1912 to no fewer than 17 hours of Sidney Gilliat’s forthright reminis- cences... That’s just part of a fascinating oral history initiative aimed at gathering together the recollections of individuals who’ve worked in the British film and television industries.
To date some 500 people - from plas- terers to producers - have been recorded on thousands of hours of audio tape, whose masters are stored permanently at the NFTVA while listening copies are available in the BFI Library.
This unique and independently-mind- ed History Project, carried out by volun- teers belonging to ACTT (now BECTU), has enjoyed a handsome donation from the BAFTA/Shell Initiative and is presently preparing an application for a major Heritage grant to extend its use.
For more information about a fasci- nating and rewarding enterprise (volun- teers to help?), you can fax on 0870 088 9760 or e-mail.
histproj@bectu.org.uk
BEACONSFIELD BONANZA
Michael Grade CBE has become the holder of the first Chair of Television Production at the National Film & TV School, created in honour and memory of his uncle Lord Lew Grade.
This autumn, he’ll join students in Beaconsfield as part of a drama work- shop to discuss how to exercise their critical faculties in relation to the selec- tion of watchable programme material. Said Grade: “I’m thrilled to be asked to pass on whatever I have learned, and what my late uncle taught me, to the whizz kids of tomorrow.”
In one of several separate initiatives at the NFTS: Bloomberg TV is to fund a three-year scholarship at the National Film and Television School, with its first award goes to Belgrade student Zorana Gudelf. Meanwhile, Channel 5 and Warburg Pincus Ventures, the venture capital partnership, have donated a gift of £1.6 million to the NFTS Foundation.
And in yet another NFTS boost, Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes
offered a top German Scholarship to final year Beaconsfield producing stu- dent Hugh Welchman. The award was in the gift of Mendes after he himself had received The Shakespeare
Prize from the Hamburg-based Alfred Toepfer Foundation.
www.nftsfilm-tv.ac.uk
PATHÉ PRIZEWINNER
Bernard Wright, 38, one of the three winners of the inaugural Orange Prize for Screenwriting last year, was awarded the first Pathé Production Prize for Frankie’s Comeback.
Ex RSC actor Wright’s comedy, about a washed-up showman with a disappear- ing act that losing its glamour, will now be filmed by Pathé Pictures with distribution guaranteed by Pathé Distribution.
According to Andrea Calderwood, Pathé’s head of production: “Bernard is a truly original and imaginative writing talent and we are delighted the prize has given us the opportunity of working with him.”
www.pathe.orangeprize.com
EDINBURGH’S SILVER VENUE
With the number of delegates growing each year and the increasingly com- plex session formats, the majority of this year’s 25th Anniversary edition of the Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival will be held in the city’s International Conference Centre.
Director Fran Barlow said that with a choice of five dynamic festival strands, moving to the EICC will allow delegates to network and move between sessions with ease. The dates for this Silver event are August 25-28.
www.geitf.co.uk
SHORT FILM FESTIVAL FOCUS 2000
The major focus at this year’s BBC British Short Film Festival – September 21-28 at Leicester Square’s UCI Empire – will be on Film Schools and student film-makers.
There will be a series of screenings highlighting the work of the UK’s major centres of film-making excel- lence and a round table discussion on How To Promote Your Short Film To Maximum Effect.
The invitation-only Gala Awards Ceremony will, for the first time, take place not on Closing Night but on September 27 instead. This will enable members of the public to view the out- standing award-winning films on the last day of the Festival. For more info, e-mail:
lisa.murray.02@bbc.co.uk
www.ti.com/dlp/
Photos opposite page: Woody The Pullstring Cowboy in Toy Story 2; inset: Dinosaur
Photos this page top: Robin Williams (left) with
Oliver Platt (centre) in Bicentennial Man; above left: Brian De Palma’s Mission To Mars; above right: Titan AE
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