Report from HD Expo at Navy Pier

In early June I went down to the HDExpo at Navy Pier to check out what’s new in the world of high definition video technology. What I found were the usual sneak peak of freshly picked products: HD games, multiple HD camera simulations, all-HD editing set-ups, and a lot of smiling people telling whoever would listen why their brand is the best. I must say, I found many of the gizmos fascinating, but the drone of the crowd and faux sparkle of eager salespeople pitching their merchandise got to me after awhile (five minutes).

Quickly, I ascended the stairs and decided to sit in on a roundtable session: Tech and the Indie: The Storyteller in the 21st Century. This struck my interest because there are so many ways of telling a story these days: film, HD, DV, animation, interactive, and so on. One can get lost in all the formats and sometimes it’s even harder to choose. So, perhaps this discussion could clear things up for me. I walked into the lecture hall with half an open mind and half a bias towards the aesthetic of film. Sorry, but I just like that classic look.