A DIT's Role on the Set - and Why DIT Services are Increasingly in Demand

Barry Russo is a veteran video image-recording specialist, having worked as a video-assist professional for more than 20 years. He most often offers his tape-based Panasonic AJ-HDC27 Varicam HD camera, complete with Fujinon Cine-Style lenses that are outfitted with a 4à—5 matte box, double follow-focus and Micro-force zoom control. He also uses a Panasonic LCD monitor as part of his HD camera and production service provider business that has supported a wide variety of commercial and independent feature productions.
While many clients are moving from film to HD production because of the significant savings on film stock and processing costs, they still want to shoot film-style, Russo said. The role of the Digital Imaging Technician continues to expand and his services are in demand more than ever before. He recently completed a shoot at Silvercup Studios East (New York, NY) for a 30-minute infomerical promoting Verison’s FiOS service. Russo brought two Varicams and two 26-inch (BT-LH2600W) flat panel monitors to the seven-day shoot.
Q: What is the role of a DIT on an HD feature production set?
A: My chief responsibility is making sure the camera looks the best it can and that everything is set up properly. There are so many controls on the new generation on of HD cameras that you have to be a pilot to use them effectively. I have checklist of settings and I do a worksheet for each scene of a production. For example, I make sure the camera frequency is set properly. With the Varicam, you can do a solid 60 or 59.94 fps. A little thing like that, if it’s off, can be catastrophic to a production if you’re shooting sound.

So I’m always checking numbers, frame rates and whatnot. Before I arrive on a set, I do my own color-correction for the cameras using a DSC Labs color chart and a vectorscope. Each lens is color-corrected, and I save the settings for when I need to change lenses. I provide a comfort level on the set, knowing that you have someone who knows the cameras inside and out as well as the HD workflow. I can offer solutions to problems quickly.

Q: Isn’t this a job the DP used to do?
A: No, not to this extent. My business is growing. I now see advertising agencies requesting digital production for their commercials. They save a lot of money by doing it digitally. According to my math, equipment costs are about the same when you compare 35mm film to HD. But processing is significantly different. It’s a dollar a minute for HD Media versus $100 per minute when using 35mm film. I’ve been on productions that shot thousands of feet of film per day, easily costing $30,000-$40,000 per day in film processing costs.

Q: What’s your experience with solid-state production versus videotape?
A: As an owner of a Panasonic Varicam, I like tape because it’s easy to use, secure, archiveable and very familiar to everyone on the set. Of course, solid-state reduces many of the risk factors of moving heads and tape machines. Yet, having said that, the challenge with solid-state is media management. You have to have a protocol or workflow for how you handle the files in the most efficient way. Everyone has their own way of working, which can be confusing to others. The industry has to come up with a universal way of capturing and processing video as files.

Q: What about hard drive systems being used in place of videotape?
A: I’ve heard that many insurance companies won’t cover a production that captures camera-original footage to a hard drive. It’s just too unstable at this point. If you save a bunch of scenes and a production assistant drops the hard drive, it could be trashed. I see camera manufacturers recommending flash-media recorders in the near term. You can easily make backup files by transferring the data to duplicate hard drives to protect against loss.

Unless it is requested, I don’t make back-ups of my original camera tapes. Tape is extremely reliable. Only one time did a tape break on the end leader and we took it to Abel Cinetech and they fixed it for us.

Q: For on-set monitoring you use a Panasonic LCD monitor. Is this the best tool for previewing images? Some would say CRTs perform better.
A: If you go in a dark tent or room the CRT does look better, but who wants to have to go into a dark room and break creative focus? I produce spectacular results with my setup and the images look gorgeous. With my flat panels, I don’t have to be in a tent. I can put the camera next to the monitor and we can see the results immediately. The LCD monitor shows me all of the subtleties a DP or director needs and the black levels are more than adequate.

I use a 26-inch LCD as my master monitor. It’s lightweight, easy to maneuver (on a cart) and it’s extremely reliable. I don’t feel we compromise a production by using LCD monitors. Some engineers might argue with me, but once my clients use LCD flat panels, they ask for them again. And do I want to spend $30,000 on a picture tube that weighs a ton and flickers if you’re shooting in 24fps, or do I want a lightweight LCD that’s sharp and easy on the eyes? It also exceeds the specifications of a CRT in terms of sharpness. For me, the choice is clear.

To reach Barry Russo, email him at brvp@optonline.net