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As editors, who often live with a film for an extended period of time, it becomes like one of your children. In this segment I ask Chris about sequences from Slumdog he is especially proud of, or ones that hold a special place in his heart. We talk about some of the directors he admires who have influenced him, his fondness for stories told in a non-linear way and how his director Danny Boyle encouraged him to take risks and try new ideas while cutting the film.

More from this series
	QuickTime Movie HD 768×432	Part I	Part II	Part III	Part IV	Part V
	iPod/iPhone/iPod Touch 640×360	Part I	Part II	Part III	Part IV	Part V
	Windows Media Format 640×360	Part I	Part II	Part III	Part IV	Part V

In Parts III and IV Chris and I go on to speak about technical issues and the fact that the film was a hybrid; shot on both 35mm film and digital. Chris cuts on the Avid, and the complexity of post production was compounded by the fact that the 35mm elements were shot 3-perf, a technique where the exposed image fills the entire surface area of the frame without any matte area or “wasted space”. 3-perf is an excellent solution when shooting in 1:1.85 aspect ratio because it reduces the cost of film stock and processing by 25%. The digital acquisition was done with Silicon Imaging’ SI-2K MINI, a new camera from a German manufacturer which is gaining popularity for it’s flexibility and size. The entire “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” portion of the film was shot with the SI-2K MINI, in addition to much of the breathtaking material captured in the slums of Mumbai.

More from this series
	QuickTime Movie HD 768×432	Part I	Part II	Part III	Part IV	Part V
	iPod/iPhone/iPod Touch 640×360	Part I	Part II	Part III	Part IV	Part V
	Windows Media Format 640×360	Part I	Part II	Part III	Part IV	Part V

Rarely do I snark at other publications for their missteps, but this one really caught my attention. In its latest issue, Information Week has an article entitled “Which Video Software Package Should You(Tube) use?”. While it does contain a few tidbits of useful information, the recommendation of Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 as “The Pro’s Choice” displays a lack of knowledge of what the majority of professional editors use to ply their craft.

Don’t get me wrong I have nothing against Premiere Pro, but for starters the CS4 version, which the article refers to, hasn’t even been released yet. This obviously precludes it from having been evaluated by professional editors. What I find more remiss is the failure to mention the real tools of choice for the majority of professional editors such as offerings from Avid Technology and their Media Composer, Sony, with its hugely popular PC editing package Vegas or Apple’s Final Cut Pro.

Anyone with even a peripheral knowledge of the professional editing tools market knows Premiere is not “the pro’s choice”. And while it does offer professional level features, it is certainly not as widely used in professional circles as products from the vendors mentioned above. This is reflected in the reader comments, which turn out to be the most educational and frankly, most entertaining part of the article.

Information Week should stick to subjects it knows best, otherwise it might become known as “Bad Information Week”.

HDFilmtools.com is looking for a few fearless, talented and creative people with solid CSS and Wordpress customization skills to help spruce up our website(s). We are also looking for a few great, somewhat enlightened, still and motion graphics designers to contribute to our work. I you or anyone you know is qualified and interested in helping out, please drop me a line at info@hdfilmtools.com.

Best regards,
Lawrence Jordan
HDFilmtools.com

I started HDFilmTools for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to create a site for both professional and aspiring filmmakers that provided up-to-date, in-depth information about the game changing tools and technologies that are becoming available for our work. The power of these new tools can be awe-inspiring, and when operating as advertised, (wink, wink) they enable us to be more productive, creative and if we choose, independent. Conversely, these products can be highly technical and complex. Many of us were trained in the days when film and video were the primary acquisition media. Digital technologies provide a whole new set of issues that need to be dissected, discussed, solved and documented.

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