"Domo Arigato, Mr. Rob....oto"

I'd like to thank the Academy

...for Rob Hummel.

We had a great time at his presentation last night at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills on Behind the Motion Picture Canvas: Film Formats through the 21st Century

Rob gave a fascinating history lesson on aspect ratios, film formats, and film grain. He showed us more film masterpieces than I could count (The Sound of Music and Once Upon a Time in the West were my favorites). As always, his rare sense of humor came through again and again. A great bonus was the panel of distinguished cinematographers that he moderated after his talk -- which turned into an impromptu and fascinating debate on the merits and drawbacks of digital cameras.

I actually have a bit of a history with this presentation. It starts way back in 1995 when I saw him give a talk in London (I remember the Taj Mahal slides and the Little Buddha clip). Then, almost two years ago, after I had arrived and was headed to my seat at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood to see this presentation, Gina called to tell me that her water broke -- good thing I ignored the sign to turn off my cell -- and I raced to the hospital and missed the whole talk (Thomas was born a few days later).

But there were no problems last night. Matt, Jenny, Abby, Anne and 800 others saw the whole thing. We even braved the groupies that mobbed Rob afterward to prove that we actually knew him -- but Rob still refused to sign autographs. I walked up as one guy was telling Rob how he took his class at UCLA and was now working as a cinematographer. I enjoyed seeing the impact Rob has had on the industry.

In many ways this presentation is a perfect representation of Rob's career (at least so far) -- it shows him as a distinguished expert and film buff, surrounded by some of the industry's best and most talented, easily switching gears between uber-geekness and passionate artistry. I remember way back when I thought he was cool because he sent me some Tron stationary...

I learned a ton, although I am glad I slipped away before the test was passed out.

thanks Anne for inviting us!