Film or digital

[sarmoti]

The latest Bond film was shot mostly on 35mm film. There was some digitally originated footage shot with Dalsa 4K cameras used for VFX (DALSA has recently closed it's digital cinema business, selling it's technology to Arri.) Some Arri D-20/D-21 footage was also used.

As far as origination, (as of 2008) the vast majority of studio projects are still shot on 35mm film, digital adquisition has been increasing but at a not at the fastest pace in this arena.

35mm film is also still the dominant origination format for major commercials and primetime television series (except for sitcoms where HD dominates) although digital adoption has rised dramatically in the past few years. The Digitally originated episodic series and mini-series are being shot with cameras such as Sony F-900/F23's, Panavision Genesis, Arri D-20/21, and RED ONE cameras.

As far as the post workflow, non-linear editing has been the norm for over a decade both in film and television. Very few people still cut on film (like Spielberg).

When the final edit is decided there are two main ways in which projects shot on film are being handled in order to create a master. 1) Photo Chemically: Going back to the negative and conform it (physically cutting it), then stiking release prints. 2) The Digital Intermediate: Scanning the shots used in the edit (usually at 2K or 4K) and conforming the negative as a data file, then "printing" to film for distribution or encoding digital releases.

Short term storage during the process is handled by large and fast hard disk arrays and long term storage is achieved by making data tape backups and color separation master film prints. Currently, archiving film masters seems to make the industry (from studios to insurance) more comfortable than archiving data backups.

The vast majority of theatres in the US and Worldwide are equipped for 35mm projection. Digital projection is on the rise and seems to be favored by most parties (Most of the resistance coming from cinematographers and directors) regardless of what the movie was shot on.

Although a "digital master" doesn't deteriorate with exhibition, digital projection raises some issues regarding the long-term maintinance and calibration of the projectors.

[Angus]

The truth is that theater owners are looking forward to digital projection because it means that they won't be locked into showing only product from the studios. Digital theaters can be a place to watch live boxing matches, special concert events, etc.
Roger

And the studios want it because they won't have to strike hundreds/thousands of film prints and ship them worldwide...heck, they could even launch a film on the same day in the USA and Europe!

Digital projection isn't all bad news, though Roger's idea is kind of back to the future....it wasn't digital but one of the very first applications of television back in the very early 1930's was live public theatre screenings of sporting events.

I do hope that paying top dollarpoundeuroyen to visit a theatre will not be the only way to view major events however. I maintain the hope that free to air TV will continue to be able to screen events, but for a premium you can have the chance to watch it on the big screen perhaps with something extra like 3D or an enhanced feed.

The bottom line at the moment is that the quality difference *is* visible. Even to laymen.

[Angus]

Thinking of Roger's HD projection system...I first saw 720p HD projection a few years ago and was *not* impressed. But projector technology has moved on and it is now affordable to get something that looks decent. Heck, even I have a SD projector and the image is pretty good, even though it is native 800x600 DLP, the sequential colour isn't noticable because it has a triple colour wheel (hmm, we're back to John Logie Baird territory!).

Definately the overall "look" of digital projection, even in the home, has come on leaps and bounds. I suppose I just expect more in the cinema than I am able to rig up at home. The contrast and colour accuracy of digital projection has got better, but on a cinematic scale it ain't there yet. But what Roger says about Joe Public accepting "good enough" often holds true. If it didn't, then VHS camcorders would never have sold in great numbers.

Though there is a counter-argument. VHS camcorders and VCRs sold well because they were cheaper than Betamax (and super 8 when film costs are taken into account) and people didn't already have a home video system. People might become disappointed if their local film projection cinema switches to something they can see is less good.

[Actor]

VHS camcorders and VCRs sold well because they were cheaper than Betamax .... People might become disappointed if their local film projection cinema switches to something they can see is less good.

Not so. I remember well when we first went shopping for a VCR, about 1982. Betamax was significantly cheaper that VHS, $300 for the cheapest Betamax vs. $500 for the cheapest VHS, and we could only afford the cheapest. The reason we invested the extra money for the more expensive VHS was video rentals. We saw rentals as a major reason to purchase a VCR. Video rental stores (almost 100% Mom and Pop operations back then) were full of VHS tapes and only one measly shelf of Beta. And the Beta tapes were not the top releases, definitely just the "B" stuff.

Marketing is everything. That's the reason Apple can't seem to get more than 10% of the personal computer market. In this case the customers are not the public but the exhibitors. If they can be convinced that digital projection is good for their bottom line they will buy.

Once enough digital projectors are in theaters some, and then more, producers will forgo making film prints for distribution. At that point exhibitors will be forced to go digital if they want to offer more than the "B" stuff.

The last two Star Wars film were digitally originated. I've talked to people who claim to have seen both films digitally projected on the big screen and they claim they looked better than the film projections of the same films.

I think eventually theatrical projection will be replaced by huge plasma/lcd screens in the theaters.