High Dynamic Range: A Step Change in Cinematography

This proposal will use the making of the world's first ever short film shot in High Dynamic Range (HDR) to begin to assess general public interest in the superior visual images produced by novel HDR capture and display technologies and stimulate wide discussion on the major technological advance in film making that HDR may offer. In doing so, the project will provide valuable public engagement experience for the investigators. To achieve this, this three month project brings together internationally leading expertise in HDR imaging and a unique HDR video technology from the University of Warwick with an innovative professional film maker, Entanglement Productions and a new high-tech company specialising in HDR technology, goHDR, to engage with an extensive network of film clubs and their film loving membership.Together the partners will clearly show the revolution in cinematography that HDR technology will bring about to the general public and investigate with the public what the potential social and economic impact of this new technology is likely to be. Through this interaction the investigators will gain direct experience of engaging with the public, and in particular our target audience of film club members, during the course of the film's production and at a public panel discussion on completion of the project. The investigators will also learn key skills from our partner, Entanglement Productions, into just how to make a compelling documentary which clearly explains to the general public complicated research outcomes.We believe the high novelty of the HDR technology and world first nature of this undertaking should generate considerable interest in this project amongst the general public, and our target film loving audience in particular. Well publicised, this should allow major public engagement to occur through the planned engagement activies the partners will be conducting alongside the film making. Furthermore the public engagement skills gained by the partners in creating an HDR film, providing easy, seamless access to such a film to a wide international audience, and capturing and analysing evaluations of the project, will build capacity and capability amongst the partners to facilitate many similar future activities. Such a future variety of available compelling HDR footage will encourage a groundswell of users who wish to experience this new phenomenon, and who subsequently create a large demand for further HDR content. This should result in many additional applications (and markets) of HDR technology well beyond those proposed here.

The project will bring to the public's attention, clearly and effectively, the step change in cinematography that emerging High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology will bring about. In doing so the partners will gain significant new skills in public engagement as well as a detailed evaluation as to the success of the public engagement activities undertaken. This will facilitate similar future such endeavours, helping to stimulate world wide interest in this new phenomenon. This should result in many additional applications (and markets) of HDR technology well beyond those proposed here. Our partner, Entanglement Productions provides direct channels to our target audience, film lovers , through their extensive contacts with local film clubs, including Call The Shots in Coventry, Herbert Media, the Producer's Forum in Birmingham. Our other partner, goHDR, offers the means to give access to the film to a wide international audience and a possible route to market for any future potential commercial exploitation, although all possible options for economic and social impact will be kept under consideration, and be informed by the detailed evaluations undertaken with the public. Who and what will benefit from the outcomes of this project and how this will occur can be summarized as follows. This includes those people and companies who may be directly affected by this public engagement activities, and those others who, while not directly participating, will nevertheless benefit from knowledge gained: Film lovers - will have the opportunity to: download and view the film for free from the internet, watch the shooting of the film and ask questions directly to the partners, attend the screening on an HDR display and participate in the panel discussion General public - can download and watch the film from the internet for free, and are not excluded from the other public engagement events (although numbers will be limited and preference given to our target audience) Professional cameramen - will gain key knowledge as to how emerging HDR technology may impact their profession Film makers - will gain valuable knowledge as to how emerging HDR technology may impact their speciality within film making Broadcast media - applications include spontaneous or outside video capture, such as the news, sports events and nature documentaries Training films - capture footage in conditions with large variations of lighting, for example an operating theatre (dark body cavities to bright theatre lights) Security applications - capturing people and events even under widely varying lighting conditions Methods to ensure all these beneficiaries will have the opportunity to benefit from this research include exploiting unique existing ones at Warwick Manufacturing Group, such as: -regular visits by high profile industrial and public policy makers -extensive links with end user organisations -the dedicated Business Development Group, PR Department and Web services -Knowledge Transfer Team -National B2B Centre And new methods: -the extensive contacts of the academic and industrial partners -modern media opportunities -services of a free-lance cartoonist A full evaluation of the success of the public engagement activities will be presented at the end of this project. This will allow the partners to learn valuable lessons for future such endeavours.