Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1081203
36 CINEMONTAGE / Q1 2019 36 CINEMONTAGE / Q1 2019 recounts Shapiro. "And director Glenn Weiss wanted to go from this angled look to a full frame with the box blowing up full-screen. Because of the shape and angle, the cameramen had to frame their shots looser so they wouldn't cut off the heads." Digital video effects (DVE) were always part of the technical director's job. But as the number of cameras being used grew from 10 to now over 20, plus the addition of more and more LED video walls and other signals needed to be routed and sourced during busy sequences, it became an ever-increasing task for one technical director to stay focused on the main show. "I started to help the main technical director as the complexity of the video signals needed routing and the video effects grew and evolved into another technical directing role," Shapiro says. "You're performing similar tasks as the other technical director. You're sourcing and controlling content, you're cutting cameras on the air and you're doing live-editing on the director's cue." At the Academy Awards, there are now three technical directors working in different zones: the screens, the effects and the main show. Working in collaboration, the trio takes the creative ideas from the show's director and executes them in a one-time live situation. Eric Becker, the main show technical director, is responsible for all the camera cutting, keying and playback elements, while John Pritchett, the screens technical director, focuses on all the feeds going to the video walls, set monitors and projection feeds. For his part, Shapiro, who has worked the show the longest, creates the multi-camera digital video effects boxes mostly used for the nominee categories or special sequences. Oscar TDs are a close-knit group. For many years, Shapiro worked the show with John B. Field (the primary technical director for the main show), Rick Edwards and Allan Wells, whose fortes became coordinating the screen feeds going out to the stage. More recently, Becker, Pritchett and Iqbal Hans have come into the fold. A Chicago native, Shapiro grew up in the television and live TV world. His father was a technical supervisor for WBBM, the CBS-owned-and-operated A photo from 1992, when Kenneth Shapiro was the technical director for the television series Roc, which was broadcast live one year on Fox. Pictured from left, are associate director Debbie Palacio, director Stan Lathan and Shapiro. It was part of a segment that Entertainment Tonight aired on the historic nature of the show.