Oxymoronic?
According to a recent Business Week article MySpace Goes Hollywood, MySpace was tossing the term “Network Quality” around without much understanding what it means.
They were referring to Quarterlife, a series of eight-minute videos, created by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick which is being touted in the article as the first network quality show produced for the on-line viewing, really?
As someone who has shot content for “Broadcast”, the term is specific to certain technical parameters for transmission of SD or HD signals...for another post. Considering that many people view on-line content using a laptop, desktop monitor or mobile device such as an iPod they are not going to see the difference between a five thousand dollar DV camera verses its sixty-thousand dollar cousin. In addition, most content today is not yet encoded at VC1 specs, which seems to render this point moot.
Quarterlife, the thread for the series is about a group of twentysomething writers, actors and dancers trying to break into show business. Their site in soft-launch indicates they are aiming to bring the audience along as community, read; Entourage on MySpace. The site went on to further that participatory angle by saying the community would “participate in the ongoing creation of the series, be discovered as a writer, director, composer, photographer - find your next step as an artist and as a person”. And bring peace in our time, sorry I could not resist.
Of course, I find this rather ironic seeing that writers, actors, dancers, producers and DP’s are trying to break into the on-line and IPTV television distribution space on their own without significant traction. That it takes the muscle of Hollywood to dangle this in front of thousands of talented content creators does not speak well for the current opportunities for Indies, but more like an on-line reality show where people might be discovered.
That Producer Herskovitz has estimated each 48-minute episode will cost more then $500,000 to produce is not surprising for Hollywood though rather shockingly excessive given the target platforms and what some Indie producers have created with far less resources.
Perhaps MySpace has not heard of Williamsburg or ventured into Brooklyn, NY where The Burg, a very well produced series (near network quality, read; sarcasm) with talented actors and solid storyline has been on-line since late 2005, long before Hollywood ventured into their hood. Even the Quarterlife trailer reminds me of The Burg.
So what's the path for aspiring content creators serious about their craft, pepper the web's aggregator sites in hopes of a few dollars, self-promote on their own site or hope to get discovered by the Producers of Quarterlife, its a tough call with no easy answers.
Comments
Actually, there is no definition for "broadcast quality" in any arena. The closest anything comes is the RS170 timing specifications. Other than that, broadcast quality is what broadcasters broadcast: be it grainy news footage; user contributed videos or pristine footage shot on 35 mm film.
Philip
(A 28 year broadcast production professional, nearly 13 in digital post.)
Posted by: Philip Hodgetts | September 18, 2007 12:34 PM
I love The 'Burg! I doubt Quarterlife will be able to do as good a job. Clearly, it'll cost them a bundle, no matter what they produce.
Posted by: Mark Schoneveld | September 18, 2007 2:43 PM
Philip,
You are correct that transmission for NTSC is based on RS170 compliant specs. Today also, most people do not get their content OTA that would require an external antenna, but instead get it via cable and satellite or now computer.
In addition, as you know there is the question of what formats broadcasters would ingest or accept from third parties. Back in the day, it was ¾”. I gather when MySpace was referring to “broadcast quality” they were speaking to the format shot, for example, BetaSP still qualifies as does DigiBeta and DVC Pro50. In HD, you would be speaking about 720p or 1080i. For the former, it would be cameras such as the Panasonic VariCams, HDX-900’s or even P2 as with the HVX-200.
As for HD formats there is really nothing in place as to which formats broadcaster will or will not accept. With respect to transmission standards, which will go into effect in the early part of next year, it will be a digital standard, which has noting to do with HD. All that is being mandated is digital transmission standard OTA.
To be continued...
Posted by: IPTVe | September 19, 2007 10:50 AM
I think the use of the term "network quality" is an attempt to capture the overall quality of the show, not just image quality, since writing, acting, settings, and camerawork come into play in terms of the overall "quality" of a piece. Overall, I'd say Quarterlife is a well produced show, and the dramatic quality is high. I recently posted an audio interview with Marshall Herskovitz that is relevant to this discussion, check it out at http://www.artfilmtalk.com/23-marshall-herskovitz-quarterlife/
Posted by: David Tames | November 30, 2007 6:18 PM