Archive for September, 2008

SANTA MONICA, CALIF.-It’s not every day that an audio mixer is asked to recreate the past, but such an opportunity did arise recently for Margarita Mix’s Jimmy Hite. The occasion was an ad for the 2009 Nissan Maxima. For the spot, the automaker’s ad agency, TBWA\Chiat\Day, had licensed the classic 1972 song “Join Together” by The Who, and Hite was asked to provide flexibility for the final mix by separating the vocal and instrumental elements. more

INDIANAPOLIS–In A Place Productions, a boutique post production house newly-launched in Los Angeles, has acquired a Cine-tal Systems Cinemage LCD display for use in critical monitoring of color grading sessions. The Cinemage display is installed in the company’s DI theater and will be used in tandem with a Quantel Pablo 4K color grading and finishing system to perform grading and other post work, in HD and SD, for commercials, music videos and television projects. The DI theater is also equipped with a digital cinema projector for grading film and commercial projects. more

The Chemical Brothers spectacular “We Are The Night� tour has just finished its second summer run – back by popular demand on the international festival and touring circuit this year, after enjoying massive success in 2007.

The show is renowned for its amazing visuals – created by Adam Smith and stored and played back via a Catalyst digital media server – which is absolutely central to the performance. more

London. – FilmLight’s Baselight colour grading system recently played a crucial role in the restoration of The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II and the creation of a new Digital Intermediate of the Director Cut of The Godfather, Part IIII for Paramount Home Entertainment’s highly anticipated release of The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration Collections on DVD and Blu-ray. Under the direction of Francis Ford Coppola and cinematographer Gordon Willis, the painstaking restoration of the films was supervised by master archivist Robert A. Harris, whose past work includes acclaimed restorations of such classics as Lawrence of Arabia, Spartacus and Rear Window. more

SANTA MONCA, CALIF.-Ascent Media Group has appointed Erika Callahan to the newly-created post of Vice President, Global Marketing and Communications. Previously a partner in the independent marketing and distribution firm Beyond the Box Productions and a former Vice President of Worldwide Corporate Marketing and Promotions at Warner Bros., Callahan brings broad expertise in strategic marketing, market analysis and brand development within the media and entertainment industry. Her role will be to direct marketing and communications for all Ascent Media Group business units worldwide. more

CHICAGO-Director/designer Daniel Garcia, whose work spans commercials, music videos, broadcast design, interactive media and environmental design, has joined the production studio Vitamin. Winner of the Best Music Video Award at this year’s SXSW Festival, Garcia has earned high praise for his unconventional artistic approach and facility in working with a variety of media, including live action, Flash animation, stop motion, print and still photography. more

On-the-Fly Recording and Transmission Capabilities Mean Television Journalists are Never at a Loss for Pictures When Being First-to-Air is Very Important

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS—Solid State Logic (SSL), world leading media technology innovator, demonstrated how professional journalists who are on the go can benefit from the new Gravity Mobile Record application for SSL’s Gravity news production system. more

Universal City, California, September 24, 2008—NBC Universal announces the re-opening of the Staff & Moulding Shops at Universal Studios to external clients in the entertainment industry and architectural industry including film, television and commercial productions along with related building industries.

The Staff Shop offers Vac-U-Form, mould making, flex moulding, casting, fiberglass, concrete, plastering, sculpture as well as custom fabrication. The Shop was closed to production in the early 1990’s, but continued work on maintaining the facades on the Universal backlot. Andrew Spencer, Shop Foreman, is a 16 year veteran of the Staff Shop. In fact, the Shop is a little bit of a family business. Andrew’s father, Steven Spencer, was with the Universal for 35 years and spent 27 of those as Staff Shop department head. more

Record, Pause, Rewind, Re-Record Into a Single File Ready for Air

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS—At IBC, world-leading media technology innovator Solid State Logic (SSL), demonstrated its new Studio Recorder application, a new standalone application within SSL’s MediaWAN family of products. more

Speech-to-Text System Provides Comprehensive and Fully Searchable Metadata Allowing for Faster Media Production

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS—At IBC, world-leading media technology innovator Solid State Logic (SSL) demonstrated how its Gravity media production management system can now automatically populate ingested media with detailed, fully searchable data generated from audio content via a new Speech-to-Text system. more