Evil Eye

Some filmmakers are born showmen who relish the opportunity to embellish their work with extensive on-camera bonus features for the Blu-ray and DVD releases. Others, not so much.

 “Honestly, I don’t really enjoy being seen by people,” says Makoto Kamiya, director of Resident Evil: Degeneration, the latest installment in Sony Pictures’ popular Resident Evil franchise. He goes on to admit however, “I do enjoy watching ‘behind the scenes’ materials with other people in them. Of all the DVDs I purchase, there are some of which I watch the special features only.” 

Then there’s D.J. Caruso, the celebrated director behind last year’s Disturbia and this past summer’s high-tech action thriller Eagle Eye, both for Paramount/DreamWorks. Surely he must get a kick out of providing the interviews and commentaries that will adorn his movies for the home video crowd…?

“You know, I have to be honest: I don’t enjoy it that much. You always feel like you could seem so full of hot air, people will think you believe you’re making the greatest thing. You listen to the filmmakers and think, ‘Oh, come on, you’ve got to be kidding me!’” Of course he sees the upside too, and he respects his audience. “I do like it because I think there’s a great majority that’s really interested in how things are done, those cinephiles, those people who want to know.” 

Following a theatrical release in Japan and a few American screenings, Kamiya’s otherwise direct-to-video Resident Evil: Degeneration takes its place alongside the Milla Jovovich-starring tales of zombies and the humans who cap them, although his employs state-of-the-art computer-generated imagery instead of flesh-and-blood actors.

“The live-action films seem to be spin-offs that have been inspired by the original videogames. Degeneration is an authentic sequel to the games-especially Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil: Code Veronica and “Resident Evil 4-with Leon and Claire from these games appearing in this film. And since there are many fans of the videogame franchise, I kept in mind to create a film that would not betray their expectations.”

In keeping with that goal of authenticity, Kamiya and his team strove for a precise quality of digital animation that enabled a specific style. “Since there are already three live-action films, I think it was the right choice to go CGI to make our film look very different. This look is close to that of the original games, and this makes it easier for fans to enjoy our film.” It’s a lot of hard work, held to high standards, and not just from the Blu-ray mavens spoiled by pristine colors and crisp imagery.

“While photo-realistic expression is achievable, I was aiming for a look that is somewhere in between anime and photo-realism, with a tilt towards the latter. I did not want to deviate from the look of the games. One practical problem is that the rendering takes so much time, and yes, the audience would expect very detailed levels of expression.”

The CGI production process brings its own challenges, requiring many long hours staring at computer monitors at standard- and high-definition to deliver an image that will hold up on a large HD screen.

“A normal PC monitor would do during the early stages, when working with rough models. However, towards the end (of the production cycle), the CGI gets brushed up at a rapid pace. This is when we notice and check things that we could not when working on low polygon-count models in low-res environments. So I do my work on hi-res monitors.”

Caruso meanwhile assures optimal home video presentation by remaining hands-on throughout post-production, all the way to the disc releases and beyond. “I sit in on all the video mastering. You’re most cautious of digitally altered shots, by the time they get out to film and you see them projected in 35mm, or even 70mm in the case of Eagle Eye because we have IMAX.

"What I like is that the grain still gets emphasized, and all of a sudden the texture of the picture comes out great. If you want to be involved in all that, it’s incredibly time-consuming, but I try to look at everything I can, from what people are watching on HBO to what goes on the airplanes all the way to the Blu-ray, obviously. And there’s not one instance where we didn’t make a tweak or two for whichever medium, particularly home theater. And every once in a while you have to do a depressing pan-and-scan, too, for motel rooms and that kind of stuff.”

In speaking with Caruso as well as watching the special features on the Eagle Eye disc, the word “texture” becomes a sort of mantra, summing up an essential characteristic for his work. “I have a strong preference of shooting on film, and I’m not an über-fan of video. Michael Mann’s always saying, ‘Video looks like video and I like it for that reason.’ But that intangible thing for me, that texture of the film, the grain: When we finally see an answer print come out after being digital for all that time, it’s very gratifying. I’m not trying to disrespect digital technology, I just love film because it just feels more alive to me.”

With a career spanning twenty years, Kamiya has witnessed firsthand the evolution from “analog” to digital filmmaking. “The biggest difference is that with digital filmmaking, trial-and-error is possible. With film, there is always that process of film developing in the lab. Now you can make fixes over and over again on the PC to brush up the movie, as long as time allows.” Which brings a new manner of stress while eliminating some of the old. “In return, people have been deprived of their time to take a break from work. And a sense of nervousness may have been lost due to being able to go back and make changes as necessary.” 

The theatrical exhibition added a level of complexity to his efforts. “When working on a film to be shown in theaters, I keep that in mind during production. The problem with home monitors is that the brightness and color adjustment that we on the production side aim for cannot be unified among all homes. Leaving room for adjustment visually, as is done with TV programs, is not something we would want to do with films.” So what’s his take on the video quality that Blu-ray can now deliver?

“Basically, I always thought that films are to be seen in theaters. The other day, I went to a theater to see 2001: A Space Odyssey for the first time in a long time, and probably because the print was old, the impact of the film was diminished significantly when compared with that of when I saw the film for the first time, and then again on video. I was shocked. With video specs so high these days, it has hit me that certain (home) viewing environments can give you a more vivid and impactful film experience than when seeing a film in a theater.” 

Caruso’s enthusiasm for high-def in the home is less restrained, but with a couple of caveats. “I think it’s fantastic. I feel like the TVs are really equipped and ready to handle it. Although we were sampling Eagle Eye on some of these new televisions that have this… ‘True Motion,’ ‘Film Motion,’ ‘Smooth Motion’ mode and it was so bothersome that it actually looked like it was sort of grabbing the picture and ‘improving’ the quality but at the same time had a weird stepped quality.

So I’m excited by it and I think one aspect where just about everyone can improve in their home theater system is maybe trying to get a better audio setup. The pictures are fantastic but now you’re getting this top-quality sound, but not everyone has the proper systems to take advantage of it.” Eagle Eye will surely be used as a showoff disc, even though it was not remixed specifically for the home environment.

“We barely finished this movie to get it into the theaters, we had a total of 15 mixing days with two fix days, just because it was so complicated, so we weren’t afforded the luxury of time to go back in and re-mix. I’ve heard some directors have (a home theater remix) in their contract. I don’t know what the percentage of properly balanced 5.1 or 7.1 home theaters is, but if given more time, yeah, you’d go back in and say, ‘What can we do to get it to work better?’” 

For the time being, Mr. Kamiya is a man of humble needs. “Unfortunately, the TV in my home is a 4:3 NTSC. I don’t have a Blu-ray player or PS3. The problem I am facing is that in the year 2011, terrestrial analog broadcasting is ending, to be replaced with digital broadcasting. With this, I have started considering purchasing a new TV.” Mr. Caruso, meanwhile, becomes elated once again when talking about his home theaters past and present.

“I remember back when I was ‘young’ and getting my laserdisc player and having my TV and my Dolby Pro-Logic sound; you know, Pioneer; and throwing in Empire of the Sun and just showing off a sequence. And now Eagle Eye hopefully is the kind of movie where you put it in after Christmas and show off your new TV and your new sound system. And I think these big sort of tentpole action movies that are fun to look at are always great home theater discs.”