To the casual observer, switching from the production of standard-definition to high-definition video may seem to require little more than grabbing a new camera.
Titan Media founder Bruce Cam and vice president Keith Webb are quick to disabuse casual observers of that erroneous notion. While not the least of considerations, the camera is only one part of an enormous puzzle that isn't quickly - or inexpensively - solved.
Cam, a documentary filmmaker by trade, said his company investigated the technology for about 18 months and invested more than $300,000 in new equipment - including two new camera set-ups that cost about $75,000 each and about $200,000 worth of new editing equipment - before embarking on the studio's first high-def production, which began shooting Sept. 1, 2007.
Then Titan had to wait for consumers and equipment manufacturers to catch up with them before they could release Breakers, the world's first gay adult-entertainment title on Blu-ray Disc. The recently decided battle that saw Blu-ray and HD DVD vying for market dominance in the high-def space represented too great a risk for a product that was so close to their hearts: Breakers is Cam's last adult film. Although he remains in the Titan offices daily, he's channeling his future creative efforts toward documentary projects he hopes will affect society as a whole - in particular, the HIV epidemic that has been given new life by the Bush administration's insistence on abstinence-based education.
"We were headed down the road toward [distribution on] HD DVD," Webb said. Even though Blu-ray products were better-looking and the technology was more impressive, Blu-ray was much more difficult to deal with and more expensive for both producers and consumers. "And [Blu-ray developer] Sony still has a problem with adult," Webb added dourly. "It's a big struggle to find someone who will do adult replication."
The decision was made for them in February, when Toshiba pulled HD DVD from the competition. Cam couldn't say he was sorry to hear that. For the first major studio to offer its entire catalog on DVDs, the idea that it would be breaking the next distribution-medium barrier ahead of everyone else and on the best possible substrate was good news.
"Consumers were really confused," Cam said. "Now that the format wars are over, we only need to educate them about the differences between the HD and [standard-definition] experiences, not about the differences between the types of HD equipment that are on the market."
Blu-ray's victory was especially welcome at Titan Media. The quality of the imagery is "just stunning," Webb said. Compared to HD DVD, colors are much more intense and the total effect is "like watching live action going on right in front of you. It feels like you can almost reach out and touch the performers, especially in the sort of films for which Titan is known - big, cinematic outdoor films. You can see the dew drops on the spider webs in the trees. This is truly the biggest leap forward in entertainment technology, far surpassing the leap from VHS to DVD. You have not seen hardcore action until you've seen it in 1080i Blu-ray high-def on a 50-inch widescreen HDTV."
Cam added, "I've always said God is a much better set designer than I ever could be."
For all its benefits, the men admit the transition to Blu-ray is going to take some adjustment on the part of studios. "We're only as good as the unbelievable sex that we document," Cam said. "You have to have the most beautiful flesh in the world in front of the lens. Some things can be fixed in post-production, but that's time-consuming and expensive."
In addition, filmmakers must learn to adjust the way they approach projects: Filming in a medium that uses pixel depth instead of line-refresh rates and planning widescreen shots takes some practice.
Consumers, too, are going to have to adjust to the new medium, but Webb imagines gay men will be quick to adapt. After all, "we're typically the canary in the coal mine," he said. "Gay men tend to be early adopters. If you want to see what the next trend is going to be, watch gay men."
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