Following the initial rush of product announcements at the NAB Show, RED had an eventful week in Las Vegas.
On Tuesday, April 9th, Ted Schilowitz and Stephen Nakamura presented a panel at the NAB Show covering the color grading and post-production of Oz: The Great and Powerful. Key in the discussion was the power that RED's raw file format provides. Nakamura revealed how much director Sam Raimi wanted to change in post-production and how feasible it was. RED's raw file format allowed for a flexible work environment that was rich with creative options. Of great importance to Oz, was being able to blend visual effects and live action which the RED EPIC accomplished seamlessly.
The following week, RED headed back to Las Vegas to attend CinemaCon -- the largest annual gathering of cinema owners and operators from around the world. RED prides itself on being involved in the entire cinema ecosystem from education to shooting to post-production to exhibition. CinemaCon represents an important part of that system. The sweep of independent RED productions on display at Sundance complements the prominence of RED's presence at CinemaCon from larger studio lots.
All the major studios -- Fox, Sony, Paramount, Warner, Lions Gate, Disney -- showed off their latest big studio projects in Caesar's Palace on a giant screen in the colosseum. This year was even more significant than last year for RED. The Great Gatsby, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Pacific Rim, Pain & Gain, Ender's Game, and Ridley Scott's The Counselor screened either sneak previews, first-look trailers or selected, never-before-seen footage at the event.
Ender's Game the highly-anticipated adaption of Orson Scott Card's epic science fiction novel showed footage for the first time publicly. FirstShowing.net said "We truly are entering a new era of sci-fi, and while Blomkamp's Elysium and Abrams' Star Trek will lead the way in the summer, it's Ender's Game that will take us to even new heights this November."
The Counselor, which by studio standards is a "small movie," stars Penelope Cruz and Michael Fassbender and looked tremendous on a 100 foot screen with phenomenal image fidelity.
On the Wednesday of CinemaCon, the Director's Luncheon attended by 5000 people took place. Barco ran RED's latest reel on their 4K projector there and reaction was overwhelmingly positive. The panel discussion for the luncheon consisted of Sam Raimi, Oliver Stone and Guillermo Del Toro. Fifteen minutes of Oz: The Great and Powerful were screened in 3D for the audience after which Sam Raimi accepted an award from RealD. In his speech, he mentioned the RED EPIC. During the panel discussion, Del Toro called Pacific Rim "the perfect movie to shoot on RED."
Focusing on the cinema experience, CinemaCon is an important counterpoint to NAB's coverage of technology. RED sees the value in connecting those two worlds. RED is invested in making sure movies reach the screen at the quality that the filmmakers intended.