19 Months, a high-definition romantic comedy produced at the Canadian Film Centre, was screened on three occasions at the recent VIFF. I screened it twice and noted variations in presentation that detracted from the hard work and effort invested in the production.

Theatre 7 at the Granville Cineplex Odeon seats 664 and was equipped with a JVC M5000 projector. I am familiar with this 5,000-lumen unit and calculated 7.5 foot-lamberts on the 44-foot-wide screen – a level of illumination that is far too dull.

The second occasion was in Theatre 5, seating 225. In this case, a Sony VPL-SX50 projector was illuminating the 24-foot-wide screen. As generous as Sony was to provide four projectors for the festival, the black level was regrettably set too high. Blacks were gray and colors were not particularly good, but guess what – the audience loved every minute of the movie.

The production’s choice to originate on HD came through – thank goodness director Randall Cole and cinematographer Harald Bachmann captured a snappy image to start with! A few standard-def productions I briefly auditioned in this theatre had no ‘snap’ at all.

It is well known that HD cameras have a limited white-on-white dynamic range, whereas the hybrid of film origination and HD presentation has, in my estimation, successfully been able to portray the effect of light-play upon surfaces. While there are differences between static and motion studies of light, it is our subliminal perception of color that tells us something is interesting or different, which again is at the mercy of the delivery system – in this case the HD digital projector.

Poorly calibrated projectors, washed-out images and incorrectly set black levels will prevent these critical visual components from stimulating the psychophysical elements of our visual response. But fortunately at this year’s VIFF, under the watchful and critical eye of John Savage, engineering director of Matrix Professional Video Systems, the Sony VPL-FE110 projector, with all of its 4,000 lumens, was tweaked to perfection in Theatre 3, with its 29-foot-wide screen. These were clearly the best digital pictures ever at VIFF.

Then there is the case of Free Range Pictures’ Honeyboy, a doc about 87-year-old blues musician David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards, directed by Scott Taradash and shot by Eric Kay. The film was originated on various film stocks with Panavision 35mm cameras and a Super 16mm Aaton. Taradash was so impressed with the sound and picture quality of the VPL-FE110 24p HD presentation that afterwards he said it was ‘the best I have seen projected.’

Deft color correction and mastering to HD videotape on Honeyboy was performed at Optimus, Chicago. Why master in HD? Taradash: ‘Cost… but wow! What a picture HD is! I love the stability of image, the lack of film weave. No dust, dirt, or scratches… just perfect.’

Learning lessons not taught in university is brought to life as young love collides with old-world values in Various Producers’ Various Positions, directed by Ori Kowarsky and shot by Robert Aschmann with the Sony/Panavision 24p HD camera system. Winning the Prix de Montreal for best first feature at the 2002 Montreal World Film Festival, this film, with a 35mm release format, further illustrates the unique aspects of an HD/film hybrid.

A technical seminar was held a week prior to the screening of Various Positions at VIFF, during which the audience had the rare opportunity to evaluate HD footage digitally projected alongside 35mm answer prints.

The results of careful camera, printing and lighting tests were apparent from the opening frames. I preferred the HD projected image to the release print with its significantly lower color temperature.

In the Q&A session that followed the screenings, members of the audience questioned the excessively crushed blacks in a few sequences in the film print: ‘Why does the girl look washed-out?’ ‘Why does the color shift from scene to scene?’ ‘Why do some interior shots look so orange [warm]?’

I asked James Tocher, president of Vancouver’s Digital Film Group, which provided the film-out, to shed some balanced light on a few of these issues. He explained that the final look was precisely what Kowarsky and Aschmann had in mind from the outset.

‘The film print is the show if that is the release/distribution format – and tests are a must,’ Aschmann said during the technical Q&A.

The exploration of revolutionary techniques such as these creates an experience film festival audiences appreciate. Various Positions garnered a mixed reaction, but by any measure this HD/film hybrid is an important work. Film as a release format will be with us for a long time. Combining that knowledge with the rapid growth of HD origination calls for post and timing facilities designed to optimize the complex electronic and chemical issues balanced with all creative elements.

Significant investment by leading labs such as Burbank, CA’s IVC and FotoKem are providing digital intermediate theatres where timing and scene-to-scene color correction in the electronic domain can be verified with side-by-side digital and film projection. Canadian facilities would be wise to follow this lead to help producers and distributors maximize the potential of this exciting new merger of two disparate worlds.