2. Digital film
Digital cinematography is the process of capturing motion pictures as
digital images. The digital images that are captured by the camera will be
saved on video tapes, hard disks, flash memory or other media which can
record digital data.
As digital technology has improved, it has become more common for big
Hollywood companies to shoot their film fully digital. This makes it a lot
easier for companies to distribute films.
3. How films are distributed
A studio or independent investor decides to purchase
rights to the film. The studio would then make a
licensing agreement with a distribution company. It is
then the distribution company’s responsibility to
distribute the film and try to get the film show at the
cinemas. The distribution company is also in charge of
deciding how many copies of the film to print.
The companies that release movies (Film distributers)
and market them to the public will benefit if there are
substantial reductions in the costs of duplicating film
prints and transporting them to cinemas.
The UK is one of the most expensive markets in the
world in which to release a film. FDA members spend
approximately £125m a year on prints, duplicated in
high-tech laboratories.
4. How technology affects the
distribution of films
A digitally produced or converted film could be delivered quickly and
reliably via disc, fibre optic cable or satellite. Triggering a huge systems
change for the whole industry.
Before this use of technology it would have cost around £1000 per film
roll. These were extremely sensitive to temperature and very fragile. If a
distributing company decide to get a film shown in 50 theatres/cinemas
then they would need to print out 50 copies of the film. This would
already be costing £50,oo0.
