At M Works Mastering in Boston, Jonathan Wyner posted a long-form concert video for harpist Deborah Henson-Conant, shot last November with the Grand Rapids Symphony. Wyner, co-producer on the project, along with Emmy-winning director Bob Commiskey and Grammy-winning audio mixer Tom Bates, had high expectations the two-hour video, which was shot in 1080i high-definition using nine Panasonic 900 HD cameras with a 48kHz surround soundtrack recorded to a pair of Tascam MX2424 hard disc recorders backed up by RAID arrays. It’s the kind of lush production that was made to sell 60-inch plasma screens and Blu-ray disc players at Best Buy.
But at some point, Wyner and company are going to have to face a new reality: that luscious production is going to end up on a cell phone or iPod screen, reduced to fit one of many new format types, each of which colors the sound and picture in its own way. Of course, when the picture is two inches square and the sound is barely stereo being pumped into a pair of ear buds in glorious MP3, it might reduce the wow factor a notch or two.
If so, Wyner isn’t showing any apprehension. Henson-Conant’s concert video will likely be chopped up for personal video applications. “I can’t see people wanting to spend two hours looking at a tiny screen and listening with earphones,” he says. “But I can see a five-minute clip as being one hell of a marketing tool.”
So whether it’s a clip or a longer piece — Wyner says the era of video glasses is drawing nigh, which will likely encourage longer viewing and increased road fatalities — high-definition projects are preparing to face the music of the really, really small screen.
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