“I strongly believe that HD is destined to take over television drama production.”
Navarro has been a mainstay of TF1’s schedule for over a decade, a popular police drama which currently goes out as two 94-minute episodes a month. Effectively delivering a movie every two weeks, the show was originally shot on Super 16, before switching to Digital Betacam in 2000. Now the producers are looking to HDCAM, with a recent episode – Une Question Brulante (A Burning Question) – being shot with the new HDW-750P HDCAM Camcorders.
La Société Bogard is among the first to take delivery of HDW-750P Camcorders, so A Burning Question provided an excellent opportunity to show what they can do. The company has been in HD for over a year and has gained considerable experience since its debut with Pitof’s Vidocq, one of the first movies produced with CineAlta.
“This is the first drama production that TF1 has done in high definition,” says Pierre La voix, operational broadcast and quality control manager at TF1. “Although shot in HD, JLA post produces the down-converted tape in-house, then delivers a Digital Betacam tape ready for broadcast. HD gives excellent results but the cost makes it suitable only for certain productions. I can see it being used for the annual drama specials like the Count of Monte Christo, which was shot in 35mm.
“The decision as to which format should be used is always a joint one between TF1 and the production company.”
The ‘film look’
JLA and Hamster co-produce Navarro and have been making television programmes since 1954. Currently, they produce twenty 90-minute dramas each year.
“TF1 requires a certain aesthetic look,” explains Ghislain Thomasset, technical director at JLA. “In France there is a snobbish resistance about using anything but film for drama, but when we started shooting in Digital Betacam two years ago, the results were very acceptable.”
Unsurprisingly, HDCAM has proved to be more than acceptable: TF1’s director of drama production was delighted, noting a definite improvement in quality of material down-converted from HDCAM compared to something shot on Digital Betacam.
Navarro is usually shot in 22 days but A Burning Question took just 17. Beforehand, the technical crew of La Société Bogard tested the camcorders and the set-up parameters extensively – gamma, black and so on. They also compared results shot at 25P and 50i, then let TF1 decide which was more suitable for the story, to ensure they were completely satisfied.
“In Digital Betacam, the interlaced image was given the film look in post. It’s great now because with 25P this is no longer necessary,” says cameraman Jacques Renoir.
Gamma Curves
Navarro was shot in Paris, on location and in the studio. On set, the crew used a 24-inch monitor and on location a 14-inch monitor. Renoir also found a vision engineer indispensable. “You could say it was my third eye,” he says, “allowing me to visualise the gamma curves, evaluate the light levels and check the framing with two 9-inch monitors with the down-converted PAL output.”
The ability to change the gamma curve in the camcorder, which emulates different film stocks, and the high sensitivity of the CCDs, means you get much more depth in low lights, particularly for shooting night scenes.
“However, just like film, it is essential to light each scene correctly to achieve the right margin of contrast,” Renoir says. “I went against my compulsion to use Prime lenses and discarded them in favour of using Canon zooms, 16 x 8mm and 9 x 5.5mm, where I achieved an excellent iris of 1.9 and 2.3,” says Renoir.
“I have no regrets regarding the image quality. The HD lenses now are of very good quality and image definition from the CCD is very sharp – so it is important to add some diffusion to bring the scene together.”
International opportunities
At TF1 the reticence of the last couple of years towards HD is fading. “Today there is a strong wave of interest in favour of the format,” says Renoir. “The issue is whether the broadcasters will agree to pay the premium.”
However, a show like Navarro is sold outside France and dubbed for countries such as Japan, so as more countries adopt HD, the more valuable the ability to deliver a HD master becomes.
“Digital Betacam has been criticised by film enthusiasts in France, but HD really does offer a viable alternative to film with added advantages,” says Renoir. “I strongly believe that HD is destined to take over television drama production.”
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