HK filmmakers give digital video starring role in China
The format enables TV programmes to be produced with greater flexibility at a much lower cost than traditional film
Digital video (DV) is no longer a hobby technology for personal projects, with Hong Kong filmmakers increasingly turning to the format to cheaply produce programming for the mainland television market.
Among the chief benefits are lower costs because digital video allows local studios and cinematographers to work in much smaller production teams.
'We can do a movie shoot in a group of three people if we use DV,' said 22-year-old Monica Lee, winner of the 2000 Hong Kong Independent Film and Video Award.
'We'd need a lot more for a traditional shoot, where you need to hire a full team for lighting and sound effects.'
Ms Lee, who graduated last year from the City University of Hong Kong with a degree in creative media, now produces video content for PCC SkyHorse, the internet portal for fixed-line operator PCCW. She has a pair of Sony mini digital camcorders for making films in her spare time.
'Traditional film is like [vinyl] records, while DV is like the CD. Different people have different tastes and I prefer CDs to records,' she said.
The economics of digital video are compelling: shooting on celluloid requires tens of thousands of dollars for camera equipment, film stock and laboratory negative conforming, sound mixing and crews.
However, with the technology available today, an ordinary PC can handle most editing tasks.
'Audiences can hardly tell if the content has been shot on traditional 16mm film or DV tape if the editor works hard in post-production,' Ms Lee said.
Henry Chung, who earned honours for Best Cinematography at the Golden Bauhinia Awards and again at the Festival du Film Asiatique de Deauville - both for the film Peony Pavilion - said digital video had a starring role in the future of Hong Kong film.
'Hopefully, the adoption of digital technology will pick up soon in Hong Kong with a promising export market to China,' he said.
A strong financial incentive was deals with mainland television stations such as CCTV, which promised to acquire all of Mr Chung's digital productions.
'It's a strong encouragement for us,' he said.
Nevertheless, there was resistance to adopting digital video.
'These new technologies are very expensive and may be high risk [to investors].'
Financial backers preferred to wait to see which technologies became standard in the industry before investing.
In Hong Kong, there are just two commercial high-definition films - Happy Go Lucky and Ping Pong. Broadcasters in Beijing, by contrast, are embracing high-definition technology to mass-produce television serials.
Mr Chung, who has shot high-definition productions for Digital Magic Hong Kong and Star TV, picked up digital filmmaking four years ago in the United States.
He bemoaned a lack of equipment for serious filmmakers. His personal arsenal includes a Sony Cine Alta HDW-F900 camcorder, a Sony HDC-F950 camera with SRW-5000 recorder and a Panasonic AJ-HDC-27 VariCam camcorder. He is looking forward to the November launch of the Panavision Genesis, a digital camcorder with 35mm film optical quality.
'[Digital video] allows more freedom of expression in film making. Digital-formatted video is easier to work with in post-production. Adding special effects while organising and copying material can be done very effectively,' he said.
Budding filmmakers can learn the ropes at Videotage, a not-for-profit artist collective which organises workshops and video production courses.
The group has 10 Mac machines and two PCs available, along with camcorders such as the Sony-DV9000 and Canon XL-1, which cost about HK$20,000 and $25,000 respectively.
