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BITS & PIECES www.postmagazine.com 10 POST MARCH 2017 2017 AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS AWARDS HOLLYWOOD — The 31 st Annual ASC Awards, which celebrates the talents of the men and women who capture the mood, feelings and essence of the director's vision for a story, were held Saturday, February 4, 2017, in Hollywood at the Ray Dolby Theater. On any given film, each of these artists must navigate an ever-winding set of obstacles and opportunities, whether shooting in the narrow aisles of a train traveling through India in Lion, dealing with complicated sets and VFX green screens for Game of Thrones or just the gritty locations and characters of DC in House of Cards. Each year, new cranes, lighting technology, cameras and wild ideas are part of the mix with the eye on creating new images and new ways of bringing the viewer into the story. The ASC nominees for Theatrical Release mirrored the nominees for the Academy Award for Cinematography. On the projection screens, we were treated to eye candy from each of the nominated projects. Samuel Jackson introduced a compilation of work of Denzel Washington and presented Denzel with the Board of Governors Award. Denzel comment- ed of how he appreciated all that he has learned during his career. With guidance from cinematographers he learned "where to point the camera." This year's honorees included: Denzel Washington — Board of Governors Award (presented by Samuel L. Jackson); Ed Lachman, ASC — Lifetime Achievement Award (presented by Todd Haynes); Ron Garcia, ASC — Career Achievement in Television Award (presented by Steven Poster, ASC); Philippe Rousselot, ASC, AFC — International Award (presented by Rachel Nichols) and Nancy Schreiber, ASC — Presidents Award (presented by James Chressanthis, ASC, GSC). The Theatrical Release Award winner was Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS for Lion, persented by Giovanni Ribisi. The ASC Spotlight Award rec- ognizes exceptional, inspiring and imaginative cinematography in small- er feature films that may not receive wider theatrical release or awareness. This year winner was Gorka Gomez Andreu for House of Others, present- ed by Dakota Johnson. Other winners included Regular Series for Non-Commercial Television winner Fabian Wagner, BSC for Game of Thrones, "Battle of the Bastards" (HBO), presented by Darby Stanchfield; Regular Series for Commercial Television winner Tod Campbell for Mr. Robot, "eps2.0_ unm4sk-pt1.tc" (USA), presented by Patrick Adams and Movie, Miniseries, or Pilot for Television winner Igor Martinovic for The Night Of, "Subtle Beast" (HBO), presented by Jason Schwartzman and John Schwartzman, ASC. — By Anthony Magliocco Jackson and Washington Ribisi (left) and Fraser XSENS' INDIE PROGRAM BRINGS MOCAP TO THE MASSES HULA OFFERING WORKSTATION FOR VR CONTENT CREATION ENSCHEDE, NETHERLANDS — Xsens (xsens.com), a developer of 3D motion tracking technology, has announced a new initiative that's designed to de- mocratize the use of its Hollywood-grade motion capture solutions. The Xsens Indie Program hopes to support up-and-coming talent and will provide indies, student teams, young studios and game developers with access to Xsens' production-grade mocap technology at an entry-level budget. Those that qualify can receive a free Xsens software subscription for one year, and only need to cover the cost of the affordable Xsens mocap hard- ware, resulting in huge savings across the board. "We understand that for small studios and indie developers, cost of entry to high-end mocap solutions can be a barrier to quality creative output," says Hein Beute, director of product marketing at Xsens. "The Xsens Indie Program has been designed to make it easier for smaller studios to access Xsens' triple-A quality mocap solutions on a budget, delivering the stories they really want to tell." The Indie Program (https://www.xsens.com/indiepage/index.php) is available to any company that makes less than $750K annually. Xsens' inertial approach to mocap includes full-body, wearable mocap MVN suits and straps, whereas conventional mocap systems use marker-based systems. Their solution excels in rough, rugged and uneven capture areas, and is robust, eradicating restrictions when stunts are needed. HOLLYWOOD — Hula Post (http://hulapost.com), a supplier of production technology and support for motion pictures and television, has developed an all-in-one workstation that's designed for virtual reality content creation. The workstation features best-in-class solutions for stitching, stabilization, editorial, visual effects, titling, color correction, finishing and playback. Hula is offering the all-in-one workstation for lease on either a short- term or long-term basis. It comes with the same 24/7/365 technical support and service that the company provides for editing systems, media storage and networking projects. "We make it very easy for companies to take on VR projects," says Michael Moncreiff, Hula's senior VP for business development. "Our workstation includes everything you need to transform raw production elements into rich, vibrant, cinematic, immersive VR experiences." In the first use of the new workstation, Hula Post provided post ser- vices to the production company Wonderworld VR and McDonald's for a 3D virtual reality experience introducing its new self-service kiosks, which are now in use at some restaurants in Florida, New York and Southern California. Hula managed editorial, color correction, titling and finishing for the two-minute piece, which is titled, Building a Better McDonald's Just for You. The project takes viewers on a 360-degree, 3D tour of a restaurant equipped with the new ordering system. It can be viewed on YouTube or mobile phone app.