BURBANK, Ca. February 19, 2013 — The latest tool to emerge for the Film & Television Industry is an ambitious one, a complete technical database that lists every element, process, piece of hardware, format, facility, etc. that is used on a project.

Making its debut late 2012, ShotOnWhat? is the fastest growing technical database for the industry and the professionals within it. Created by long time industry engineer James LaViola, ShotOnWhat? was developed to fill a much needed gap for the technical side of the industry.

“We are taking the guesswork out of what goes into creating a project workflow or its look.” comments LaViola. “I saw the need to create a tool that essentially provides the framework to do this”. James also stated that this site was created because a fair amount of history is being lost, or relegated to arcane or inaccessible resources. “Our goal is to preserve the historical and referential value of specific production information. This site is available for everyone to contribute and use. “

ShotOnWhat? is not only a source to turn to for re-creating specific looks, but is a site that is designed to collect and preserve the extensive history of film and television technical tools. ShotOnWhat? is the only site that provides a place to list the technical details and tools used on a production. From Audio to VFX and everything in between, ShotOnWhat? lists it all.

Contributors such as Steven Poster, ASC, President of the International Camera Guild, have taken time out of their busy schedules to help improve and contribute to ShotOnWhat?. Poster wrote, “I think you have forgotten a very essential stylistic tool to most cinematographers. That is filtration. I know that I am not alone and that filtration becomes a very important part of our styles for the purpose of storytelling.” Steven Poster’s comments created this very category. “Camera filter information is difficult to find and we need contributions and feedback, they are valuable and important for our growth and enhancements. We make changes and additions based on user suggestions everyday”, comments LaViola.

ShotOnWhat? lists every aspect of a production, no matter how big or small and presents all of the information so it is searchable. You can easily locate all the titles that used specific elements, hardware, codecs, formats, tools, facilities and individuals who were involved in the creation.

ShotOnWhat? is the essence of collaboration, something this industry was built on. Everyone can update information for each title, allowing people to contribute their portion of knowledge without knowing the rest of the workflow. “Projects are like an assembly line, the last guy on the line usually has no clue what the first guy did, with ShotOnWhat? you can see the whole process”, comments LaViola.

Founded in 2012, ShotOnWhat? is based in Burbank and its primary focus is to provide technical information via the internet at www.shotonwhat.com.

About James LaViola
An expert in the operations of post-production technologies, his skills cover all aspects of production and post-production workflow processes. His career began by helping a variety of early technology adopters work with video computer integration. Recently, James has been building and managing complex networks and creating workflow and technology solutions. James is also a digital intermediate colorist and does stereoscopic finishing for commercials and feature films.