Section B: Audiences and Institutions

Traditionally films are made up images printed on to acetate negatives.

These are then “spliced” together to form a reel of film.

These are then feed through a projector at a constant speed of 24 frames a second which makes the pictures appear to be moving.

This is known as analogue

Digital cinema uses bits and bytes (strings of 1s and 0s) to record, transmit and reply images, instead of chemicals on film.

The whole process is electronic so there is no printing or “splicing” involved.

Digital cinema has grown rapidly in the last 10 years.

Star Wars: Episode II, the Attack of the Clones (2002) was the first big budget live action film shot entirely on digital video.

However, transferred to 35mm film to be exhibited in cinemas

Film makers were far from convinced that digital was the future of cinema.

Advantages Digital technology can store, transmit

and retrieve a huge amount of data exactly as it was originally recorded.

The quality of digital film does not deteriorate.

Analogue technology (film) loses information in transmission and generally degrades with each viewing

Digital information is a lot more flexible than analogue information

A computer can manipulate bytes of data very easily

E.g. ease of editing using a program such as iMovie/Final Cut/Final Cut Express

This saves time and therefore saves money.

Digital cinema affects the three stages of film-making:

Production – how the film is madeDistribution – how the film gets

from the production company to the cinema

Exhibition – how the cinema shows the film

How has digital cinema changed:

ProductionDistributionExhibition

Prepare to feedback to the class

1.Production New digital camera technology

rivals traditional film for quality Digital camcorders using a high-

definition format called HD-CAM are much cheaper than standard film cameras.

Virtually no processing necessary before the editing stage

Tapes can be re-used many times – unlike film

Footage can be viewed on immediately on set

Production time is cut and so are costsBY HOLLYWOOD STANDARDS

DIGITAL VIDEO COSTS VIRTUALLY NOTHING

Example:Attack of the Clones$16,000 on 220 hours of digital tapeWould have spent:$1.8million on 220 hours of film

2.Distribution Film prints are very expensive

(£1500-£3000 per print) Expensive to ship heavy reels of

film and then to collect them when film finishes its run

Digital films are basically big computer files

Can be written to DVD-ROMSent via broadbandTransmitted via satelliteVirtually no shipping costsNot much more expensive to show in

100 cinemas as 1

Because of cost you have to very cautious about where films are played – unless it is a guaranteed hit it is a risk to send film to a lot of cinemas

This is one reason why there is such a limited choice at multiplexes

Films can be opened simultaneously all over the world

3.Exhibition A good analogue film projector

produces a clear, crisp vibrant image but every time the print is projected the film is damaged.

A digital projector produces a high quality image and sound every time.

The 1000th view is a good as the first!

High quality, low cost home exhibition

BluRay HD Television

DisadvantagesPiracy – much easier to make

illegal copiesPirated copies may be of a much

higher quality than beforeNeeds to be more advanced

encryption systems

With much cheaper home entertainment technology and professional cinema technology - will people still bother to visit cinemas?

Hollywood Independent

The digitalisation of the film industry has affected Hollywood Studios and Independent film makers in different ways.

Opens up competition to Hollywood through decreased production and distribution costs

Could break Hollywood hold on exhibition in Britain

DIGITAL CINEMA IN THE UK 2005 The UK Film Council is investing £12m

of National Lottery money into a DIGITAL SCREEN NETWORK

‘Digital distribution is significantly cheaper than 35mm and will allow a richer diet of films to be distributed’

John Woodward – Chief Executive UK Film Council

‘Digital will give the public unprecedented choice and filmmakers more opportunity to get their films onto the big screen’ (John Woodward – Chief Executive of the UK Film Council)

The UK Film Council pledged to have more than 200 cinemas – including multiplexes – with digital projectors by 2007.

In return they would be required to devote more screen time to British and non-mainstream Hollywood films

Therefore – significantly improving the choice for viewing for audiences

Over 4000 cinemas have digital projectors in the USA

In the UK around 300 cinemas now have digital projection.

In 2009, the Academy Award for Best Cinematography was awarded for a film mostly shot digitally, Slumdog Millionaire.

Other digitally shot films include: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Apocalypto Gamer Che: Parts 1 and 2 Public Enemies

New digitally enabled venues have been able to show a new generation of digitally produced 3D films.

The popularity of 3D has grown rapidly.Recent releases include:Final Destination 3D Up Avatar

Most 3D films are released alongside a 2D version.

Although it is becoming very popular among young audiences the jury is definitely still “out” on whether 3D is here to stay.

Many viewers find it difficult to watch and lots of films simply don’t suit being watched in 3D. Imagine watching “Sweet Sixteen” in 3D – it just isn’t necessary!

Not everyone has been happy about the move to digital film

These directors still stand firm against using digital film:

Steven SpielbergChristopher Nolan M. Night Shyamalan Oliver StonePaul Thomas Anderson

How has digital cinema affected the film industry ?

The Third Revolution in film?1.Sound (1928)2.Colour (1930s)3.Digital (21st Century?)

In 2005 the UK Film Council introduced 240 digital projectors into cinemas as part of Film Council’s Digital Screen Network initiative.

This was designed to enable cinemas to show a greater variety of films including UK and foreign language which would normally be too expensive or difficult to distribute.

The pace of change was initially slow but accelerated rapidly due to the boom in 3D films which can’t be projected on the old equipment

David Hancock of industry website Screen Digest explains the change:

2009 – 650 digital screens2010 – 1,400 digital screens with

1,080 of them enabled to project 3D In 2010 416 films were released

wholly or partly on digital prints in the UK, which is 80% of all releases

This compares to 20% in France35% in HollandThe UK is the country in the world

which is farthest down the digital route – currently by a long way

Film prints will no longer be damaged – it will always look like new

There should be a more varied, flexible programme

Cinemas are able to show one-off events like live opera and major sports

However, it will be very difficult to show older films that have not yet been transferred to digital

Digital projectors require fewer people in the projection box so staffing costs can be cut & overheads reduced

However, staff will still be needed to ensure that films are projected correctly, at the right time and on the right screen

With no need for a big projection booth, the space needed to build a cinema may shrink

Edward Fletcher of the distribution company Soda has predicted that:

‘In the next few years there will be an increase in smaller, high street cinemas that will show a good mix of mainstream and indie films’

Staff could be cut to a bare minimum. According to Edward Fletcher: ‘In place of the projectionist, you could

have one person in a business park in Stevenage sat in front of a bank of screens. That person could programme their entire group of cinemas by doing some drag-and-drops on a laptop’