Visual Effects workers finally took to the streets in a protest march during the 2013 Academy Awards. But it seemed like their message was muddled. What are the problems, and what are possible solutions? 

How come that every cheapo 100-Dollar point-and-shoot digital still camera automatically records EXIF data (metadata) about lens size, F-Stop, etc., and I can put any autofocus lens on every 500-Dollar SLR camera out there, and it does the same, but the 20/50/180,000-Dollar (or the I'm-so-expensive-you-can-only-rent-me) digital film cameras don't have that?

What's the difference between bluescreen and greenscreen (except for the obvious, that is). Or why and how do you choose green over blue?

   Just a few weeks ago, when I was thinking about different topics for the blog, it dawned on me, that HDRI is the basis for a lot of different visual effects assets, but a lot of people don't know what it actually is or how it works.

So what is HDRI?

HDRI stands for High Dynamic Range Imaging. Simply stated, it is a term that describes image formats and techniques to create formats that support a higher dynamic range than the "standard".

Every invention that has ever been created had to face one final battle. The battle between conservative and progressive people. I think there are lots of possible reasons and scenarios in which it might make sense to be conservative. But creativity and technology is definitely not one of them. And filmmaking is both creative AND based on technology. Not a single technological advancement in history has been achieved by being conservative. And technology is simply the basis for everything we do in film production.

   Ladies and gentlemen, let me announce right here, on this blog, that 2010 IS THE YEAR THAT CELLULOID DIED. Yes, all you physical-analog-film-lovers, I said it. Touch the smooth plasticky emulsion one last time and relish the memory. Both these two digital cameras simply blow film out of the water. Period. Here's a short report of our test of the new ARRI Alexa and RED MysteriumX cameras.

  There is a point in everyone's life, where you look back at the last few months, years, or - depending on your age - decades, and ask yourself: Why the hell am I doing this?

For some, this might happen only once, for others once a week. It usually happens to me when I'm standing on set at 5am, freezing my ass off in some remote location. I just got dropped off by helicopter, and  now I'm standing alone on this glacier, shooting HDRI stills. Or, I'm standing in heavy rain next to a garbage dump (well, that's the location) after an 16-hour day (so far), my clothes are starting to soak all the way through, while there's a crew of 200 people buzzing around, trying to make the last shot of the day before losing the light.

So why the hell am I doing this?