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July Commentary from George Spiro Dibie Shame on Michael Powell The Federal Communications Commission has struck a devastating blow to both freedom of the press and diversity in the ownership of television, radio and print media in the United States. Three of the five members of the commission, led by chairman Michael Powell, dramatically reduced restraints on the consolidation of media ownership. The new rules allow mega-corporations to monopolize the publicly owned airways. The FCC traces its roots back to 1934. President Franklin Roosevelt appointed the commission to act as a guardian of the public interest by licensing and regulating use of bandwidth to radio station operators. One of their primary missions was to assure diversity and local ownership. Broadcasters were required to act responsibly in the public interest. Television network owners were subsequently required to limit their ownership of programs they aired to assure free competition and diverse points of view. Under Powell, fewer and larger companies are now free to gobble up the competition and squeeze independent producers out of the picture. Powell claims that this sell-out of the public interest is justified because times have changed. He says that cable and satellite broadcasters and the Internet provide alternatives to broadcast radio and television programs. The problem is that the same mega-corporations are also gobbling up the alternative media. The coup d’état by Powell is a serious erosion of freedom of the press and diversity in program content. Independent TV program producers are on the road to becoming an endangered species. It is not too late for you to make your voice heard. Let your congressmen and senators know that you are as mad as hell. Contact your Representative to tell them to vote to undo the damage that Powell has done. Cinematography Extends into the Digital Suite The notion that cinematography will extend into the postproduction suite traces back to the early 1980s, when the first Rank Cintel telecines were installed in the United States. MTV was among the first television networks to embrace the concept that original images captured on film could be altered during postproduction. By the 1990s, almost all television programs, music videos and commercials were being timed and finished in digital telecine suites. The worst-case scenario is the TV commercial industry, where so-called “creatives” at ad agencies have literally pushed cinematographers out of the picture. In 1998, writer-director Gary Ross pioneered the use of digital intermediate technology in the feature film Pleasantville. About 90 percent of the color film images were scanned and converted to digital format. Ross personally supervised desaturating the images with just spot use of colors to emulate a 1950s black and white TV world. About a year later, Joel and Ethan Coen empowered Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC to use digital intermediate technology as a tool for creating a distinctive look for O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? It was the beginning of a revolution that could ultimately redefine the role of the cinematographer. During recent months, approximately a dozen cinematographers put the finishing touches on their films during digital timing sessions at postproduction facilities. Our members report that the technology provides interesting creative options for fine-tuning the images they authored. However, there are also many unanswered questions, including how cinematographers are compensated for their time and efforts, and whether they will retain creative control. In future issues, we will report on our members’ experiences. As always, I look forward to your comments and suggestions. Please e-mail them to me. George Spiro Dibie, ASC
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