Now that even morning and daytime television are saturated with HD, you know it's arrived. All the clarity and sharpness, however, strikes fear into the hearts of talent. Thanks in part to film grain, viewers don't notice age lines and puffy eyes as much, but with digital and it's all or nothing glory, every line and skin imperfection is aired out for all viewers to see. Some say it's the end of the extreme closeup, and that stars will start putting anti-HD measures in their contracts, but an article at the Hollywood Reporter provides hope. Makeup artists are stepping up their game, utilizing new techniques to literally airbrush away imperfections. I tend to tell my talent that on my tiny HDR-HC1, I've enabled the beautifying filter, and since it's a documentary, they've got nothing to worry about.
1. They can do it in post too. There's a company called Lola that specialises in that. They did the opening scene for X-Men 3 where Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are 20 years younger.
Posted at 9:33AM on Dec 28th 2006 by Jon