Movies - Digital cinematography

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	Movies - Digital cinematography

Digital cinematography is the process of capturing motion pictures on digital video in place of (or as a substitute for) traditional film. Although this subject has received a good deal of publicity in recent years, it is certainly not a new concept: before it was reintroduced as "Digital cinematography" in the late 1990s it was known for many years as "Electronic cinematography". Sony had been trying to market this concept using tube-based analog HDTV cameras since the late 1980s, with very little success. It was not until 1998 when they were able to introduce workable 1920 x 1080 pixel CCD cameras with attached HD Digital Betacam recorders that the industry began to take the medium seriously.

There are frequent disputes regarding what actually constitutes "cinematography", since in its normal sense the word implies something that exhibitors think worth displaying on a giant screen in a cinema, usually with the goal of attracting paying customers. At the moment, many of the projects shot using electronic cameras do not face this market. Public airings are generally at non-profit film festivals, and are frequently projected as video rather than film. If such projects are ever released for sale, it is nearly always on DVD or videotape, so they might be more accurately called "non-broadcast television productions". It's important to note that the majority of lower-budget television programs have been shot this way for the past two decades, using TV-resolution Betacam camcorders. Although these were based on older analog technologies, the actual principles involved differ little from the "digital" counterparts; certainly the average viewer would be hard put to pick any difference in the received image quality.

Around the turn of the last century, several directors, including James Cameron and George Lucas, stated that they would probably never shoot on traditional film again. Nonetheless, the overwhelming majority of commercial movies are still shot on film, as are most American prime-time television programs and commercials.

Lower-budget and limited-release movies are increasingly being shot using digital video cameras (although usually not those equipped with high-definition sensors), but the preferred medium for that is still 16mm film.

Since the late 1980s there have been a variety of experimantal "Cinematographic" projects that used both electronic cameras and electronic projection, although these used earlier analog HD technology; none was commercially successful. One of the first documented public viewings of "true" digital cinema was a film titled "Driven Together", directed and produced by David M. Kaiserman. It was a feature film shot, edited, and projected digitally, premiering on a digital playback system on August 26, 2000.

Technology

The basic idea of digital filmmaking is simple: to use digital video cameras to capture and store motion images in binary data (similar in process to digital photography), as well as to record synchronized digital audio. Thereafter, the image and sound are edited via non-linear editing and then sent for projection in a digital cinema, a theater with digital projectors, or pressed straight for video in playback capacities like DVDs. In many cases, though, digital is transferred back to film for distribution, although this would lead to higher cost of production.

At this point, few high-end movie productions are using HD cameras to make theatrical films, as they still do not rival the resolution of film. Only a few directors, including Robert Rodriguez are using high-end digital cameras to do original shooting in cinema (films such as Sin City
were shot using HD cameras), as the cost for the equipment at all stages of production is so high. For the time being, films are mostly shot on film, and perhaps composited to a digital intermediate (DI). From the DI, they can go to film or digital release. Until better-than-HD cameras are perfected, little digital shooting for the theater market will likely occur.

HD vs. 2K and 4K formats

2K means video with 2048 pixels on its longest side, and 4K means video with 4096 pixels on its longest side.

Digital release of films may progress with 2K technology, but, on the other hand, may not. Sony has developed and released 4K projectors using their SXRD technology, with one of the major purchasers being Mark Cuban's Landmark Theatres. 2K digital 3D only works well on fairly small screens. 4K, being four times bigger in file size, will allow much bigger and brighter 3D images.

Culture

Some producers/directors (George Lucas Robert Rodriguez) have publically declared their stance that celluloid (film) is as good as dead and the future is an all-digital medium. Others, such as Steven Soderbergh and Michael Mann while not going that far have experimentally shot some parts of their most recent pictures on digital. Many think digital filmmaking will democratize the world of film and point out how inexpensive shooting digitally can be considering the cost of film, especially if the output is on video as a movie can be edited on a home computer and burned to DVD. Others characterize this as wishful idealism, as film and laboratory work are only about 1% of the cost of a Hollywood or even "Bollywood" style production, but it is part of the "cultural" background of the issue.

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