Fred Meyers Interview  - The Key Word is “Engineering”

Introduction:

Band Pro stands for experience and competence in High Definition and digital cinematography. Almost no other company has the comparable wealth of knowledge in the practical application of HD equipment. Band Pro accompanies their clients during the whole HD workflow, from equipment selection to postproduction. To improve this service for customers, Gerhard Baier, Managing Director of Band Pro Munich, jumped at the opportunity to hire Fred Meyers, who is well-known as a production engineer for Lucasfilm. Their cooperation started in May 2010. When Fred Meyers visited Band Pro Munich recently we spent some time talking about his past and future projects.

Interviewer:

When Gerhard Baier from Band Pro Munich had the idea for this interview I was a little bit concerned because of your reputation as the “HD Genius” who worked as HD supervisor with Lucasfilm for so many years. And I thought to myself that stories of this kind are often filled with acronyms, dizzying numbers and highly technical information. But this interview is not about the latest HD improvements. It is about you personally: your experiences, your future plans, and your decision to leave sunny California to work with Band Pro Munich.

Fred Meyers:

The first interaction I had with Band Pro was in the United States. I was working as a production engineer and went to Band Pro to get equipment. They were the vendor, representing Sony and lens manufacturers such as Leica and Zeiss. I talked with them about technical problems, which products were available that I was interested in, and how we would get them to the production. There is a lot to describe in that process, and looking at where things are right now, there has always been a fertile relationship with Band Pro centered on production and camera know-how.

Somebody who is going to do a [digital] feature requires digital cameras, a recording system, tape and data workflows, sound, and so on. The whole process starts with capturing, recording, and editing, then goes to visual effects for combining other elements together, and finally ends with the finishing and mastering of the project for feature or video release. Usually the producer or the creative team involved requires an engineer or technical assistant to walk them through the process: make recommendations on what equipment and facilities to use and where to get the equipment. Basically, translate the creative needs into technical requirements and interface with the facilities to complete the process. That is the definition of production engineering. Every project I have worked on recently has been about production engineering systems, combining different pieces of equipment to meet the needs of a particular production.

Whether you are on the production side working for a production company doing a feature, or you are working for a facility that is producing or posting a feature, you are either involved throughout the whole process or brought in much closer to the beginning of shooting. With Lucasfilm, I had always been a member of the technical management or technical staff and was involved in the projects from the beginning. But when I left the company in 2006 and started doing more independent digital acquisition work, I saw how short the amount of time to make engineering decisions had become.

On some other projects I was brought in just before the project started shooting. There was limited time to work with all the departments on what equipment was coming in. That makes it much more difficult to get technical information for testing and good recommendations from people who do the production engineering work. Sometimes the time available is much shorter than what is really needed to do it well.

When that is the case, you have to go to a rental facility or a dealer and ask them what they would recommend, because that’s the only way to deal with the amount of time you have to make decisions. And that’s more common now than it was in the past. Everybody waits to the last minute to make decisions. They all did it to a certain extent before, but now they might wait for weeks before saying, “Yes, we are starting.”

Generally it seems to be that the required amount of time to do the engineering work for projects is being reduced, and often with a compromise for how well things could be done. In light of this environment, it makes sense to me that some of that production engineering work could be done independent of the production.

Interviewer:

And that is reason for your cooperation with Band Pro?

Meyers:

Yes. A company such as Band Pro, that already has access to many different equipment manufacturers and is able to do their own testing and integration of equipment, could be a benefit to any project. I looked at the way things are becoming for the independent productions which do not have this ability and thought that a company like Band Pro could offer some of those production engineering services alongside their equipment offering. They could provide additional assistance based on real information and experience, and for many productions it would help them make those last-minute decisions better and faster.

Interviewer:

So, the benefit for the customer is to have someone to deliver the equipment and someone who tells them how to make their ideas work.

Meyers:

The question is what does the customer in the local projects need? Band Pro can provide consulting, evaluation, testing, and ideas. We can look at the market, at what products are available, and give the production new opportunities and possibilities. They can tell us what they would like to see and we’ll take the time to figure out what equipment will work so they can make the best decision to satisfy their needs.

Band Pro also works with the manufacturers to tell them what they need to do to make their equipment more usable and user-friendly. In this way we can help the manufacturers make better products and provide our customers with more information and support. What could be better for the whole production workflow?

Interviewer:

Speaking of manufacturers, you know that Band Pro is the biggest Sony distributor worldwide. When I looked up some information about you personally, I found that there was a strong relationship between yourself and Sony after the production of Star Wars: Episode III. Is there still a good relationship?

Meyers:

Yes, there has been a group of Sony people in Japan since the early 80s who were the heads of departments that developed cameras, recorders, and looked at new markets. After the Star Wars: Episode II project, we provided Sony with detailed feedback in order to improve the development of their products. I am still in touch with them. Back then we basically figured out how to create electronic cinema; the way to achieve digital acquisition of cinema production. I still work closely with Sony, Fujinon in Japan, Panavision in the US, and other manufacturers.

Interviewer:

Everyone is talking about 3D. Avatar, Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans – all of them were real blockbusters in the US. In Europe there are fewer people who know about the 3D production workflow. You being here in Europe could be a real opportunity for the manufacturers and customers of Band Pro to have someone to consult them on 3D, as well as 2D.

Meyers:

We will certainly be working with manufacturers that now want to deliver 3D for sales, and with production companies that are interested in either rental or purchase of 3D broadcast equipment. I plan to work with them to integrate the cameras, lenses, recorders, rigs, displays and projection. All those pieces are required to realize a 3D project.

Interviewer:

I heard that you will not work from Munich but from your own office in Prague.

Meyers:

Yes, we have a location in Prague. The idea was an international location to work from, a place where we could do this production engineering work and testing. Because many of the American productions are shooting internationally and the equipment systems come or go from location to location, nowadays it does not really matter where you are physically. The manufacturers are spread around and communication is available worldwide. Productions can be anywhere and the people who work on them can come from anywhere.

But, the established way work is done is different in different countries. The way it is done in Hollywood is different from the way it is done in Europe. I thought here would be a good place to be under the radar of Hollywood, which can be very refreshing. You can do things differently, be innovative and resourceful, and find solutions to technical needs in the way that makes sense without being beholden to traditions. And that’s what I hope to do as part of Band Pro Munich, provide unique production engineering solutions that make the best use of the technology available to save productions both time and money.