Early this year, DP Roy H. Wagner—a 35-year film format veteran—found himself in the ironic position of arguing to use the 24p high-definition format for the new Fox drama, Pasadena. Wagner, who had never previously shot any type of video professionally, joined the project at the behest of executive producer, Diane Keaton, presuming the show would be filmed in 35mm. Only after signing on, did he learn the show’s budget limited the format to 16mm.

“I’ve had varying experiences with 16mm, but for an hour series, my experience had been that there are often various dirt fixes needed, as you try to massage the negative into something that seems like 35mm,” says Wagner. “I felt like there are always compromises involved with 16 for this type of show, so I thought about it and decided I really wanted to try 24p, to see if it really was an option for the future.”

Wagner took his request to producers and the Fox network, which ultimately left the choice between 16mm and 24p up to Wagner for the show’s pilot.

“It was the first time in my career that I had ever been asked as a DP to meet with all the key executives from (production company) Sony Television and Fox,” he says. “They were concerned that 24p would be cruel to the actors. I could only reply that I had never used it before, but that it was my opinion that the person behind the mechanism is the ultimate factor in how the images came out. So I put my reputation on the line with them, and promised I could make it look good. They put the whole thing in my lap, and I took a huge leap of faith by choosing HD over film.”

Wagner says he shot the Pasadena pilot “exactly as I would shoot film.”

“I used the dynamic contrast ratios that I normally use with 35mm, and we don’t paint the images on set (electronically)—leaving all that for post, like we would with film,” he says. “Other than using filters like I would with film, I decided all that manipulation would come in post. I’ve since shot (at press-time) 11 episodes in HD, and I’m now getting ready to direct an episode. I’ve found the transition to be extremely smooth.”

Wagner’s team shoots Pasadena with a single camera, using Panavision’s cine-style package with Primo lenses (the pilot was shot using a video package from Plus-8 Video, Burbank), minus the standard eyepieces—his operators rely instead on LCD color monitors. Overall, Wagner says the experience has been a lot like learning a new film stock, with a few extra lessons thrown in, such as his growing reliance on a 24-inch, color, Sony HD monitor as his primary tool for shot composition.

“Depth of field, obviously, was another thing that I’ve learned to deal with,” he adds. “We keep the camera as far away from the actors as possible, using the longest lenses and heavier diffusion than I would normally use. HD absorbs so much of the refracted light that normally occurs with optical diffusion in front of a film camera. The electronic HD cameras absorb that information and interpret it back into resolved high-contrast images. So to compensate for that, we cheat a bit with heavier diffusion.”

Wagner adds that he “rarely” adjusts controls on the “Panavised” Sony HDW F-900 camera, and therefore, does not require a regular on-set video engineer.

“That’s why things are not all that different for me as the DP,” he explains. “I set the cameras myself and always leave the gamma set in the same place, so I don’t need to adjust controls for color imagery at all—we do all that in post. All I need to do is make sure the color bars are appropriately displayed on the monitor, check the black-and-white balance when we go from one location to the next, and make sure the pedestal is residing where it should. In terms of controls, other than that, I leave everything else alone.”

Wagner’s general attitude after learning the nuances of 24p is that the format should be considered just another film stock—“another option”—by film-trained DP’s and operators, and neither the ultimate solution for episodic TV production nor a development to be sneered at.

“Pasadena is a film noir style show in its approach, so in that respect, it’s the last show you would expect to see filmed in HD,” he says. “But we’ve made it work. That is not to say I think all TV shows should be shot this way—it really depends on the artistic requirements, as well as the budget. I hardly think HD is the sole format for the future, but at the same time, artists have to be prepared to learn about new technology to help them capture images—they shouldn’t put fences around new technologies. I’ve shot film for 35 years, and now, I’m learning new things every day. I think it is very important that all artists become involved in future technologies—especially in working with the manufacturers and giving them input. Otherwise, they won’t have a voice in how the systems develop, and that would be a shame. If there is any problem with HD and other new technologies, it’s that the artists are not consulted enough. So, I’m not afraid of HD—I’m enjoying this experience.”