2. Digital cinematography is the process of capturing motion
pictures as digital images, as opposed to the historical use of
motion picture film. Digital capture may occur on video tape,
hard disks, flash memory, or other media which can record
digital data through the use of a digital movie camera or video
camera. As digital technology has improved, this practice has
become increasingly common. Many mainstream Hollywood
movies now are shot partly or fully digitally.
Many vendors have brought products to market, including
traditional film camera vendors like Arri and Panavision, as well
as new vendors like RED, Silicon Imaging, Vision Research and
companies which have traditionally focused on consumer and
broadcast video equipment, like Sony and Panasonic.
WHAT IS DIGITAL CINEMATOGRAPHY?
3. Beginning in the late 1980s, Sony began marketing the concept of "electronic cinematography,"
utilizing its analogue Sony HDVS professional video cameras. The effort met with very little success.
However, this led to one of the earliest digitally shot feature movies Julia and Julia to be produced in
1987. In 1998, with the introduction of HDCAM recorders and 1920 × 1080 pixel digital professional
video cameras based on CCD technology, the idea, now re -branded as "digital cinematography," began
to gain traction in the market. citation needed] Shot and released in 1998, The Last Broadcast is
believed by some to be the first feature -length video shot and edited entirely on consumer -level digital
equipment.
In May 1999 George Lucas challenged the supremacy of the movie -making medium of film for the first
time by including footage filmed with high -definition digital cameras in Star Wars Episode I: The
Phantom Menace. The digital footage blended seamlessly with the footage shot on film and he
announced later that year he would film its sequels entirely on digital video. Also in 1999, digital
projectors were installed in four theatre's for the showing of The Phantom Menace. In May 2001 Once
Upon a Time in Mexico became the first well known movie to be shot in 24 frame-per-second high -
definition digital video, partially developed by George Lucas using a Sony HDW -F900 camera, following
Robert Rodriguez's introduction to the camera at Lucas' ranch whilst editing the sound for Spy Kids. In
May 2002 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones was released having also been shot using a Sony
HDW-F900 camera. Two lesser -known movies, Vidocq (2001) and Russian Ark ( 2002), had also
previously been shot with the same camera, the latter notably consisting of a single long take .
Today, cameras from companies like Sony, Panasonic, JVC and Canon offer a variety of choices for
shooting high -definition video. At the high -end of the market, there has been an emergence of cameras
aimed specifically at the digital cinema market. These cameras from Sony, Vision Research, Arri,
Silicon Imaging, Panavision, Grass Valley and Red offer resolution and dynamic range that exceeds that
of traditional video cameras, which are designed for the limited needs of broadcast television.
In 2009, Slumdog Millionaire became the first movie shot mainly in digital to be awarded the Academy
Award for Best Cinematography and the highest grossing movie in the history of cinema, Avatar, not
only was shot on digital cameras as well, but also made the main revenues at the box office no longer
by film, but digital projection .
In late 2013, Paramount became the first major studio to distribute movies to theatre's in digital
format eliminating 35mm film entirely. Anchorman 2 was the last Paramount production to include a
35mm film version, while The Wolf of Wall Street was the first major movie distributed entirely
digitally.
THE HISTORY OF DIGITAL
CINEMATOGRAPHY
4. Standard release
The standard release routine for a movie is regulated by
a business model called "release windows". The release
windows system was first conceived in the early 1980s, on the
brink of the home entertainment market, as a strategy to keep
different instances of a movie from competing with each other,
allowing the movie to take advantage of different markets
(cinema, home video, TV, etc.) at different times.
In the standard drill, a movie is first released through
movie theatre's (theatrical window), then, after approximately
16 and a half weeks, it is released to DVD (entering its video
window). After an additional number of months it is released to
Pay TV and VOD services and approximately two years after its
theatrical release date, it is made available for free-to-air
TV.[citation needed]
HOW ARE FILMS DISTRIBUTED
5. Simultaneous release
A simultaneous release takes place when a movie is made available
on many media (cinema, DVD, internet...) at the same time or with very little
difference in timing.
Simultaneous releases bear great advantages to both consumers, who can
chose the medium that most suits their needs, and production studios that
only have to run one marketing campaign for all releases. The flip side,
though, is that such distribution efforts are often regarded as experimental
and thus, do not receive substantial investment or promotion.
In the course of the years simultaneous release approaches have
gained both praise, with Mark Cuban claiming movies should simultaneously
be made available on all media allowing viewers to choose whether to see it
at home or at the theatre, and disapproval, with director M. Night Shyamalan
claiming it could potentially destroy the "magic" of movie going.
Cinema owners can be affected seriously in case they have to share their
opportunity window, specially at the beginning of the movie lifecycle, since,
according to Disney, about 95% of all box office tickets for a film are sold
within the first 6 weeks after initial distribution.
Among relevant simultaneous release attempts are Bubble (2006) by
Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh, EMR (2005) by James
Erskine & Danny McCullough and The Road to Guantanamo (2006).
HOW ARE FILMS DISTRIBUTED
6. Straight-to-video release
Straight to video (or straight-to-DVD or straight-to-Blu-ray
depending on the medium upon which the movie is made
available) release occurs when a movie is released on home video
formats (such as VHS, DVD, etc.) without being released in
theatre's first, thereby not taking into consideration the "theatrical
window".
As a result of strong DVD sales, STV releases also achieved
higher success and have become a profitable market lately,
especially for independent moviemakers and companies.
Internet Release
Internet research is still new when it comes to the film
distribution platform. The volume of downloaded movies is difficult
to find but none compares to the even more problematical
discovery of their origin.
HOW ARE FILMS DISTRIBUTED
7. Shrinking of the theatrical window
While originally conceived for a six months duration, the theatrical window
has today been reduced to little more than four months. Movie studios have reportedly
been pushing to shrink the duration of the theatrical window in an attempt to make
up for the substantial losses in the DVD market they've been suffering from since the
2004 sales peak.
These attempts have encountered the firm opposition of theatre owners,
whose profits depend solely upon attendance and who, thus, benefit from keeping the
movie available on the silver screen. In early 2010, Disney announced it would be
putting out the DVD and Blu-ray versions of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland 14
weeks after the movie's release date (instead of the usual 17) in order to avoid
competition from the 2010 World Cup . In response to such statements, theatre owners
made threats not to show the movie on their screens, but later reconsidered their
position before the movie was released .
Other strategies are also being deployed in order to make up for slow DVD
sales. Most major studios have considered making movies available to VOD services
shortly after their theatrical release for a premium price. In July 2010 Netflix secured
a deal with Relativity Media in which the latter agreed to distribute a number of major
movies to the aforementioned VOD service before Pay TV.
Makers of smaller-budget movies are also putting to the test new release
strategies. In 2009, the movie The House of the Devil premiered on VOD systems on
October 1, and received a limited theatrical release one month later . In August 2010,
it was announced that the movie Freakonomics would be released on video on demand
services on September 3, one month prior to its theatrical release . The British sci-fi
movie Monsters has also undergone the same release drill .
HOW ARE FILMS DISTRIBUTED
