You can read this, if you like, as either a retrospective on the BVE show in London, or an anticipation of next month's NAB show in Las Vegas. It's certainly a record of what we saw at BVE, and what we might hope to see in Nevada, because most overwhelmingly, this year's trade show... »

The British Society of Cinematographers’ expo, which took place this past weekend, is not traditionally a place of headline releases and crowds of enthusiastic camera people baying for a sight of the latest toy. Is it a relatively small show. Previously, it's been confined to a stage or two at either Pinewood or Leavesden,... »

The world of stop-motion animation is, given the labor-intensive production process, one suited to only the most dedicated practitioners. On Aardman Animations' Shaun the Sheep, co-directors Mark Burton and Richard Starzak shared the workload, combining Burton's background in comedy writing and Starzak's experience in animation on Aardman's previous productions. He accepts freely that “Animation... »

With three previous collaborations with the director to his credit, Dariusz Wolski, ASC, has enjoyed considerable success working alongside Ridley Scott. Fresh from three consecutive Scott films, including 2012's Prometheus, The Counselor in 2013 and biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings in 2014, Wolski's own production history boasts all four extant films in the... »

It's difficult to introduce the director of Alien, Blade Runner, and Prometheus, at least in the context of a science fiction such as The Martian, without the risk of history influencing the debate. Nonetheless, it remains true that Ridley Scott was in the process of “prepping a film that I'm doing now in Sydney... »

An educational background in fine art doesn't directly suggest a career in visual effects. Andrew Whitehurst recalls with a smile that “If I'd been asked what I'd end up doing, I wouldn't have said VFX”. Combine the arts with “an interest in the moving image an interest in computers”, though, and the stage... »

Every year, NAB is the principal place we expect to see new releases – so much so, in fact, that there are often so many new things that their individual impact is obscured. As a result, every year, there's always the tantalizing possibility that someone will release something interesting at IBC. »

We're used to the idea that looking into a sunset on TV doesn't make us squint as it does in reality. The pictures we view for fun are graded, of course, but they're also forced into a narrow range by technical necessity. The brightest stars of the silver screen are, after all, just light... »

Training in the commercial arts is a notoriously difficult thing to evaluate. In a field where the success of results are – at least in a purely artistic sense – entirely a matter of opinion, the only realistic way to evaluate the qualifications of a practitioner is his or her experience. Of course, there's... »

Let's start with a fact: a Sony F35 recently sold on eBay for around one-fortieth of its 2008 release value, which is a depreciation rate only a tax accountant could possibly love. »