Directors Launching "Filmmaker Mode" TV Setting

C.C. 95

The Snarky Assassin
Moderator
Premium Supporter
Sep 10, 2014
17,906
The Land, OHIO - U.S.A.
*from The Hollywood Reporter.
52812358-8CA8-456A-859A-701E9F8069C9.jpeg

Leading directors including Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, Ryan Coogler, Patty Jenkins and Rian Johnson have teamed up with the UHD Alliance — a coalition whose members include Hollywood studios and consumer electronics manufacturers — to introduce a new UHD TV setting aimed at preserving the filmmakers' creative intent on consumer displays.

There has been a growing concern in the production community that with the many settings available on consumer TVs, the filmmaker’s creative decisions that are made during production and postproduction are not always what is displayed. This new "Filmmaker Mode" for supported TV models is aimed at giving viewers a consistent, cinematic representation of images as the filmmakers intended, in terms of color, contrast, aspect ratio and frame rates.

As part of the specification development process, the UHDA sought input from more than 400 filmmakers, including 140 directors and cinematographers. The Alliance also reached out to the Directors Guild of America, American Society of Cinematographers, American Cinema Editors and Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation.

Rian Johnson, director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and the upcoming Knives Out, was on hand for the announcement and explained Filmmaker Mode with an analogy for sci-fi fans: “Your Skynet is motion smoothing. … Luckily our John Connor has arrived.”

Johnson noted that home theater technology is currently in a "Golden Age," but warned that “many TVs ship with motion smoothing (and other post-processing settings) as a default."

He highlighted that Filmmaker Mode offers “a single button that lines up the settings so it works for the benefit of the movie and not against it.” He got a laugh as he added, “If you love movies, Filmmaker Mode will make your movies not look like poo-poo.”

Johnson introduced a video explaining and urging viewers to use Filmmaker Mode, featuring testimonials from Scorsese, Nolan, Coogler, Jenkins, Paul Thomas Anderson, James Cameron, J.J. Abrams, Ava DuVernay, Judd Apatow, Ang Lee, Reed Moreno and the Duffer Brothers, as well as himself.

LG, Panasonic and Vizio announced a commitment to implement Filmmaker Mode in future TVs, though they didn't say when it would be available.

On the origin of the initiative, UHDA chair Michael Zink, vp technology at Warner Bros., said, "Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler, Patty Jenkins, Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan reached out to the UHDA about extending the cinematic experience into the living room. We were eager and ideally situated to engage in the conversation."

A “Netflix Mode,” similarly developed to maintain creative intent on the streamer's series, was introduced in 2018 on select TV models, including several from Sony and Panasonic. Netflix, however, is not a member of the UHDA and was not involved in Tuesday’s announcement.

Numerous directors released statements as part of the announcement. Among them, Scorsese said, “I started The Film Foundation in 1990 with the goal to preserve film and protect the filmmaker’s original vision so that the audience can experience these films as they were intended to be seen. Most people today are watching these classic films at home rather than in movie theaters, making Filmmaker Mode of particular importance when presenting these films which have specifications unique to being shot on film.”

Said Coogler, “I care deeply about how cinema is experienced at home because that's where it lives the longest. That's where cinema is watched and re-watched and experienced by families. By allowing the artists in the tent to help consult and give feedback to the electronics companies on Filmmaker Mode, we can collectively help make the consumer’s experience even more like it is in the cinema.”
 
So they want to add more confusion in a space that is already confusing. This is something I would not use in a display as it limits personal preference.
 
Movie should be watched as they were intended to be seen.
Would you watch GODDFELLAS at 3 times speed with a pink filter?
Motion smoothing is ADDING FRAMES THAT WERE NEVER THERE BEFORE.
This setting is about stopping the horror of motion smoothing(interpolation) - not about tweaking color and contrast.
 
I think this is very cool, but people aren't paying extra for it ... i mean its super niche (sadly) It's like BD-Live, But if anyone has the power its the creators ... so if they stand their ground maybe we can all just benefit from it without it being some huge costly extra and instead being the new norm. Sadly, I dont think they'll win. Anything that costs people money even if just man hours, they'll want their return, and they'll likely license it out the TV manufacturers or something and thus they'll market it to try and get a return.
 
I think this is very cool, but people aren't paying extra for it ... i mean its super niche (sadly) It's like BD-Live, But if anyone has the power its the creators ... so if they stand their ground maybe we can all just benefit from it without it being some huge costly extra and instead being the new norm. Sadly, I dont think they'll win. Anything that costs people money even if just man hours, they'll want their return, and they'll likely license it out the TV manufacturers or something and thus they'll market it to try and get a return.
It is quite literally a preprogrammed setting. It will cost ZERO.
It is the equivalent of a calibrator coming over and setting your tv correctly and making your "cinema home" setting correct.
There is nothing to this.
Think of all the PICTURE settings on your TV: Cinema, Sports, vivid, etc.
now there will just be a another picture setting called "Filmmaker mode".
It literally will cost nothing. It just means you push that button.
(Many tvs already have NETFLIX mode (a similar type setting) - so this has already happened)
 
It is quite literally a preprogrammed setting. It will cost ZERO.
It is the equivalent of a calibrator coming over and setting your tv correctly and making your "cinema home" setting correct.
There is nothing to this.
Think of all the PICTURE settings on your TV: Cinema, Sports, vivid, etc.
now there will just be a another picture setting called "Filmmaker mode".
It literally will cost nothing. It just means you push that button.
(Many tvs already have NETFLIX mode (a similar type setting) - so this has already happened)
I get that, but I presumed that it will be able to detect what movie is playing and what settings that Director wants it on. Just presume that somewhere a long that chain some type of man power is making that happen. Even if its simply someone registering that etc. As maybe that is easily hardcoded or something on disc, but what about digital. idk.... above my head. But I like the sound of it.
 
ps. it says they teamed up with the UHD alliance .... I suspect over lunch or dinner , meetings were had, and great food and drinks were devoured. Thus it already cost Money. :p :p :p hehe
 
  • Haha
Reactions: BluSteel2012
ps. it says they teamed up with the UHD alliance .... I suspect over lunch or dinner , meetings were had, and great food and drinks were devoured. Thus it already cost Money. :p :p :p hehe
I think it's just a picture setting.
if it were metadata in the disc - it would have to have instructions for Blu ray, HDR, HDR+, and Dolby Vision. (Per each film).
(And only Dolby Vision and HDR+ have dynamic metadata).

I think this is just a button setting that turns off Motion Smoothing for watching movies.
(Which IS needed. Most average folks have no idea how to dive into their menus to turn that off.)

The meetings with UHD Alliance were a tax write off I'm sure. :D
 
Last edited:
  • Haha
Reactions: Wreck
Hey guys,

Not sure where to post this, but do any of you have a Samsung TV?

Im planning on buying one and Im liking this Filmmaker Mode idea, but there is almost zero information about this in our market, even tho Samsung is already advertising it.

Looking for anywone who have some experience with this.

Cheers
 
Hey guys,

Not sure where to post this, but do any of you have a Samsung TV?

Im planning on buying one and Im liking this Filmmaker Mode idea, but there is almost zero information about this in our market, even tho Samsung is already advertising it.

Looking for anywone who have some experience with this.

Cheers
I highly recommend avoiding Samsung. I have personal experience with their tvs - and they have issues. Plus they have awful customer service. (I have owned 4 including a 75” 3D model).
But, an even better reason is that they are pushing HDR+ which is a direct competitor of Dolby Vision. Dolby Vision is already a standard and HDR+ is will not supplant that Tech. ( all Samsung TVs are HDR+)
Most discs come with HDR and Dolby Vision. Netflix is fully committed to Dolby Vision. Only Samsung and Panasonics are pushing HDR+.
Since DV and HDR+ are competing technologies- very few devices (and especially Discs) will have BOTH. (I *think* some LG TVs have both).
*think about how many 4K discs you have seen that say HDR+....almost none - they are all HDR and Dolby Vision.
i would highly recommend checking out Vizio’s new 2020 line of Series M and P TVs. They have become a Serious player In TVs.
*Sony, of course - is always great whether LED or OLED.

for further deep analysis on TVs
make sure to check out RTINGS.com
and watch the videos by Vincent Teoh on YT on the channel HDTVtest.
 
Last edited:
  • Thanks
Reactions: CollectorEmtee
If it's just turning off all the noise reduction and motion smoothness crap in TVs, then great, but I'm afraid, looking at some reviews, it also brings that dead, dim, washed out "theater mode" look, which I cannot stand.
 
If it's just turning off all the noise reduction and motion smoothness crap in TVs, then great, but I'm afraid, looking at some reviews, it also brings that dead, dim, washed out "theater mode" look, which I cannot stand.
I don't think that this setting is for cinephiles (who know how to calibrate their TV). I think this is for the aveage person who has no idea what interpolation or motion smoothing settings are and this acts as a magic setting to make their movies look correct.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lenny Nero