Cinematic Arias

… or the myth of the $7,000 film.

(You do remember Rocky & Bullwinkle, right?)

Film Independent sought to demystify the world of deliverables with help from Patrick Canedey from ElektroFilm as well as a young lady from Lions Gate and an older woman – I think she was from Union Station Media but I forgot to write that down. I can’t speak for all in attendance but I felt like I was scared straight (regarding deliverables, that is).

Truth is, no doe-eyed filmmaker ever thinks about deliverables until they’ve sold their film at SXSW and they’re scrutinizing the contract on the plane ride home. That’s when they wonder, “why do I have to deliver 3 HD masters , 3 NTSC masters and 3 PAL masters… and why the hell do I have to pay for them out of my pocket?!”

In short, deliverables are all the materials you hand over to your distributor so they can get your movie in front of an audience. As I am no expert in this field, and as this is a highly technical topic, I’m gonna jump WAY back and explain some of the basics in very broad strokes.

HD vs SD – In a world where high definition cameras are getting cheaper (you can now buy a 24p HDV camera for just under a grand), everyone wants you to deliver an HD master. From the HD master, high quality standard definition down converts can be created. So it’s cool to deliver an Apple ProRes 422 Quick Time of your movie? No. Distributors want HDCAM SR, HDCAM or D5.

NTSC vs PAL (and sometimes SECAM) – There are different television systems throughout the world and it’s for the same reason you need that wacky converter when you want to plug your American hair blow dryer into a Parisian outlet. That’s why none of your friends can play that DVD of LOST HIGWAY you bought in England.

Speaking of DVDs, what’s the deal with regions?

(deep breath)

Regions were created to stave off piracy and to preserve the distinctions between sales territories. For now I’ll say that the US is region 1, that LOST HIGHWAY DVD is region 2, my cousins in Colombia have a region 4 player and that girl from China that keeps bugging me needs to learn that her region 6 DVDs will never work on my home system.

Plan on selling your movie to German television? Then you better have a 4×3, 1.33:1 D5 with a full M & E comp mix on channels 3 & 4 and it better not blow the IRE or the headroom.

Is your head spinning yet? Let’s explain.

4×3 refers to the size of the frame. That rinky-dink television your Grandma owns has a 4×3 frame size. The bitchin’ LCD monitor you bought with your bonus, that’s 16×9.

1.33:1 refers to the size of the image (note the distinction between frame vs image size). When your Nana watches the edited for TV version of GOODFELLAS on CBS, the image is taking up the entire frame of her television. When your Grandma borrows your re-issued DVD of GOODFELLAS, she’s gonna see black bars top and bottom. Why? Because Warner Brothers is preserving the original aspect ratio of Scorsese’s masterpiece. Why don’t you see those bars on your LCD monitor? Because your 16×9 television closely approximates the 1.85:1 aspect ratio Scorsese was working with (now some of you smart monkeys are saying, “doesn’t 16×9 = 1.78:1?” and I’m just gonna say that we’re Americans and we like making things hard for ourselves and others).

D5 refers to the tape (as opposed to HDCAM SR or HDCAM) you deliver.

Full M & E comp refers to the music and sound effects tracks that have been mixed together. Why are you delivering a mix w/ only music and effects to Germany? Because German actors are gonna dub your dialog. Hey, your German Auntie, her eyes aren’t so good anymore so she can’t really read subtitles, especially not on her rinky-dink TV. Maybe you should buy her a nicer one for Christmas… but I digress.

So why is this mix delivered on channels 3 & 4 and not 1 & 2? Because those channels have your discreet English language dialog mix (just incase the German version of IFC wants to show your film as you originally intended).

IRE & Headroom refer to brightness and loudness tolerances. If your image is too bright or the sound is so loud it distorts, your German television distributor will return your tape and refuse to pay you until you fix these issues.

I know this seems overwhelming but it’s important to remember that you’re not done once you lock picture or mix your sound. There is a post postproduction to consider.

As for the myth of the $7,000 film, I hope it’s dawned on you that $7,000 might be enough to lock picture or even mix your sound but all these additional deliverables can really add up. Most $7,000 films incur $50k-$200k in additional costs and that’s coming out of your advance. But, as suggested in my triangle of independent filmmaking, if you have time and you plan ahead, you can keep these costs reasonable.

Enough of my geek ramblings. Go out and make a film!