The History Channel to Broadcast First HDTV Special ``Escape from a Living Hell''; Produced for The History Channel by Henninger Productions.Business/Entertainment Editors ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 2000 For the first time, The History Channel(R) will air an HDTV (High Definition TV) A set of digital television (DTV) standards that offer the highest resolution and sharpest picture. Although some HDTV sets are available in standard (rather square) screen sizes, the overwhelming majority of sets are wide screen, which eliminates special &uot;Escape from a Living Hell&uot; on Feb. 18 at 9:00 PM ET/10:00 PM PT. The 90-minute special was produced and directed by Arlington-based Henninger Productions producer Bill Howard and independent producer Paul Wimmer. Hosted by Roger Mudd Roger Mudd (born February 9, 1928, Washington, D.C.) is an Emmy Award-winning U.S. television journalist and broadcaster, most recently as the primary anchor for The History Channel. , &uot;Escape from a Living Hell&uot; tells the amazing stories
Amazing Stories magazine, sometimes retitled Amazing Science Fiction of an elite group of American fighting men. Captured during wartime and brutally treated by the enemy, these men made the ultimate show of resistance: they risked their lives to escape. In World War II, Korea and Vietnam, thousands of Americans were held, but few dared to risk it all and break out. Each escaper faced the tragic paradox of the prisoner of war PRISONER OF WAR. One who has been captured while fighting under the banner of some state. He is a prisoner, although never confined in a prison. 2. In modern times, prisoners are treated with more humanity than formerly; the individual captor has now no , their duty as a soldier to escape and their responsibility for those left behind. &uot;Certain of The History Channel shows lend themselves to HDTV,&uot; said Charlie Maday, executive producer for The History Channel, &uot;and we are happy that Henninger Productions could bring Escape from a Living Hell to its full-blown, viewer-friendly technology potential.&uot; In addition to Maday, Elyse Miranda is supervising producer for The History Channel. All of the show's interviews, dramatic reenactments and motion control were acquired on Henninger's Sony HDW-700 wide-screen high definition camcorder, also making &uot;Escape from a Living Hell&uot; one of the few full-length, high definition documentary films to be produced in the Washington, D.C. market. &uot;Originating this program in HDTV gives us a superior looking show for delivery to standard definition television sets, &uot; said Brian J. Kelly, executive producer at Henninger Productions. &uot;It also provides a 'future-proof' show that looks great now and, because it was originated in High Definition, it can also be broadcast at full resolution to HDTV sets in the future or presented in HDTV at compatible venues now.&uot; To complete the program on time and within budget, careful production and post-production plans were developed to accommodate the new challenges of HDTV. For example, one of the major technical and directorial challenges confronted by Brad Hughes, Henninger's chief engineer, and his team of HDTV experts included the requirement that the NTSC (National TV Standards Committee) The committee that developed the television standards for the U.S, which are also used in Canada, Japan, South Korea and several Central and South American countries. Both the committee and the standard are called "NTSC. master for The History Channel be delivered in a standard television 4:3 aspect ratio while the HD version had to have a 16:9 aspect ratio. Steven J. Schupak, vice president and general manager of Henninger Productions, commented, &uot;We wanted have the best of both worlds, the 16:9 ratio for the HD version and a 4:3 master for standard broadcast. Having both ratios allowed us to offer The History Channel the program on DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. in both the standard pan and scan See pan & scan. and the increasingly popular anamorphic See anamorphic lens and anamorphic DVD. widescreen formats.&uot; &uot;It takes a lot of attention to make sure that all the images we shoot work for both aspect ratios,&uot; said producer/director Howard. &uot;In most shooting situations, especially on-screen on·screen or on-screen adj. & adv. 1. As shown on a movie, television, or display screen. 2. Within public view; in public. interviews, one would tend to frame a shot differently for widescreen than for 4:3. We came up with a unique way to approach that challenge.&uot; Henninger's video technologists down-converted the program's HD sources in letterbox The effect of displaying a wide screen movie on a standard TV set the way it was originally shot in full panoramic format. On the TV, the image frame spans the full width of the screen, but because of the difference in aspect ratios of the two formats (wide screen movie vs. to BCSP BCSP Board of Certified Safety Professionals BCSP BlueCore Serial Protocol (Bluetooth protocol) BCSP Black-Chinned Sparrow (Spizella atrogularis , bird species) BCSP Baseline Communication Support Plan for offline editing on an Avid Media Composer. Once the final cut was completed by Brian Moore Brian Moore may be:
(language) EDL - 1. Experiment Description Language. 2. Event Description Language. was given to Roy Weinstock for completion on the Quantel Editbox. &uot;We went back to the original HD masters and down-converted them in anamorphic format directly to the Editbox,&uot; Weinstock explained. &uot;Then we stretched the images horizontally and re-framed each shot one by one for the 4:3 aspect ratio. It was a fascinating technical and creative challenge. The images from HD look great, and bringing them in anamorphically gave us more image to play with, without sacrificing resolution.&uot; Robert Fair of Bethesda, Md. composed the score for &uot;Escape from a Living Hell,&uot; and the audio was designed and mixed by Richard Humphries of Henninger Digital Audio. The standard television version was completed and delivered to The History Channel in December, 1999. The HDTV version was re-mastered in Henninger's High Definition Online Suite and delivered to The History Channel in February 2000. &uot;Escape from a Living Hell&uot; is the first future-proof show to be added to The History Channel's library. Henninger Productions and Henninger Development &Distribution together develop, produce, represent, and distribute awards winning, high quality original television programming. Established in 1994, the divisions license their programming both domestically and internationally for broadcast and home video. For further information, contact Stephen Schupak, General Manager, at 703/243-3444, e-mail sschupak@henninger.com or access the Internet at www.henninger.com. The company is located at 2601-A Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va. 22201. Honored with the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts &Sciences for its &uot;Save Our History&uot; campaign and winner of two George Foster Peabody
Now enjoyed in more than 62 million homes, The History Channel is the only place &uot;Where the Past Comes Alive.&uot; It is located on the World Wide Web at HistoryChannel.com. Founded in 1983, privately-held Henninger Media Services Inc. is one of the nation's ten largest-production companies with headquarters in Arlington and facilities in Washington, D.C., Nashville, Richmond, New York
Richmond is a town in Ontario County, New York, United States. The population was 3,452 at the 2000 census. and Los Angeles. In addition to its editing, graphics and audio capabilities, Henninger Media Services includes a film lab, nationwide editing equipment rental service and a program marketing and funding division. Well known clients include Discovery Communications, PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, , National Geographic Television, The Martin Agency, Smithsonian Institution, Showtime Networks and Circuit City Stores. |
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