“We can no more shoot for HDR and SDR simultaneously without serious compromise than we could shoot for 16:9 and protect for 4:3.”

Steven Poster, ASC, President, International Cinematographers Guild IATSE Local 600 Presentation to the ICS at the ASC Clubhouse on 2018-06-07 (excerpt from the presentation, incl. a powerful, incontrovertible statement about the aesthetics of HDR)

Little has changed since Steven Poster’s impassioned presentation five years ago. Few are monitoring HDR on set. And at NAB 2023, in a conversation with Carolyn Giardina of the Hollywood Reporter, Jay Holben, director of the ASC’s StEM2, remarked that filmmakers just aren’t making an effort to learn about HDR.

“When I was president of the ASC, I formed the ASC Technology Committee, now the ASC Motion Imaging Committee, which has made invaluable contributions to the industry under the capable guidance of its long-standing chairman, Curtis Clark. The push for proper StEM (standard testing and evaluation) materials for the DCI project, the ASC CDL, the long incubation of ACES, and the Camera Assessment Series are just a few of the committee’s outstanding contributions to our craft.

Local 600 has always enthusiastically endorsed the ASC’s work in this area and is deeply engaged in promoting the long-term interests of cinematographers and their crews as we respond to technical change. Altering the industries dialog and its perception of how and when cinematographers should be engaged in the production process is a long fight. But, we’re making some headway.

Five years ago, Local 600 made its first presentation to an organization called the HPA (The Hollywood Postproduction Alliance, now HPA/SMPTE) on the importance of using calibrated on-set monitoring and the position of the DIT. We were treated as something of curiosity, because the thought at that time was “shoot it in RAW and we’ll take care of the ‘look’ in post”. But now, after numerous panels and industry discussions, virtually everyone who talked about the artistic look at their last annual conference said that the “look” is determined on-set by the director of photography with the assistance of the DIT. Even when they don’t always do the right thing, at least saying the right thing is a start.

We can’t claim exclusive credit for that victory, because we were just some of the many voices driving the argument home. But Local 600 was a loud part of the chorus.

Now the big issues seem to be getting the industry to recognize the cinematographers rightful place in post production, Previs, VFX, the handling HDR and SDR as separate aesthetics and the vast new area we’re calling computational cinematography, where the image is not realized until it has gone through extensive computer processing. These will not be short battles. But, we can win.

One of the keys to winning these fights in solidarity across the global community of cinematographers. Studios and producers may resist our message, but when they hear the same demands from every cinematographer everywhere the world, they will be more inclined to listen.

This Sunday I’ll be speaking at the Producer’s Guild Produced-By Conference about shooting for HDR. My message will be that HDR is its own aesthetic, and that we must monitor and shoot for it on set, with SDR conversions being accomplished in post production under the supervision of the cinematographer. I believe that we can no more shoot for HDR and SDR simultaneously without serious compromise than we could shoot for 16:9 and protect for 4:3. It just won’t work. I expect to hear complaints about the cost of monitoring for HDR. My response to that is simple: “You’re spending millions of dollars on a production and yet you’re willing to risk it all over the cost of HDR monitoring?” I have similar response for producers who balk at the extra cost of having the cinematographer present to supervise both the HDR and SDR outputs in post. They’re skipping over dollars to pick-up dimes and I’m going to call it out.”