HDR Sydney Weekend

In 2019 Ben Allan and myself started talking about a joint HDR event for DPs and Colorists. The push for an HDR finish is becoming a standard for drama, documentaries and feature films. So after a few false starts and a well documented pandemic the event finally happened. It was great to see all seats sold to colorists, cinematographers and other industry professionals for the late May. The two-day event focused on HDR, was co-hosted by the Australian Cinematographer’s Society and the Colorist Society’s Australia/New Zealand Chapter. Held at the ACS headquarters in North Sydney, “HDR: Shoot to Screen Weekend” featured a series of insightful panel discussions and technical presentations on best practices for working in HDR throughout the production cycle.

I was very pleased with the talented and varied line up of speakers we came onboard, including representatives from monitor manufacturer EIZO, workflow specialist the Rebel Fleet and technology supplier Mojo Media Solutions. Ben Allan, ASC/CSI; Warren Eagles, CSI; Marcus Smith, CSI; Stuart Pointon and Adam Eden, CSI discussed the varying ways HDR impacts cinematographers and colorists. Andrew Smith, Senior Post Production Representative from Amazon Studios, talked about the streaming service’s requirements for HDR delivery.

Other sessions covered HDR applications for creating film effects, measuring NITs on set and producing ‘Show’ LUTs. Yanni Kronenberg won the quiz, picking up Dolby Vision training as his prize. Several other attendees won training sessions from FXPHD for Resolve and HDR.

Sponsors include Amazon Prime Video, the Rebel Fleet, EIZO, Blue Post, Mojo Media Solutions and fxphd. Videos of the sessions will be made available in coming months.

Bring on the next one!