Digital Technology and the film industry

Production:
Advances in digital technology mean that films can be shot straight onto a Hard Drive rather than using a reel of film. This is much cheaper (An average length feature film print costs around £700), also HDs are smaller so they cost less to transport, and can hold much more footage than rolls of film. This allows more creativity in shooting a film as the low cost enables experimentation with the story. Digital tehnology has opened more opertunities in post production aswell, for example, frames from 35mm film can be scanned into a computor for digital editing - this enables effects such as colour grading, shifting focus with lighting or adding completely new elements. This use of technology allows far more creativity with editing as decision changes in the past would not have been possible because of the cost of a re-shoot. It also introduces the possibilty of CGI which enables imaginative scenes that would be impossible to shoot profilmically.

Distribution:
The delivery of film reels to cinemas is a costly process and the use of digital technology would irradicate this, enabling cinemas to download the encrypted film directly. Also, digital technology has introduced DVDs, a more appealing non-linear way of experiencing a film. However, due to the publics increasing access to advanced technology, piracy is becoming more common, lowering cinema ticket sales because people are seeing the films before they are shown. Hollywood claims piracy has cost it $6bn (£3.2bn), digitising films means that copies are easily made and distributed illegally which is a big threat to the industry. By the time the Phantom Menace reached Asia for example, box office receipts were far lower than expected. Piracy was blamed because so many people had already seen it. The second film was given a simultaneous world wide cinema release as a result, probably a good idea as 10 million people went online to download it.

Exhibition:
A projection of a 35mm film roll picks up any imperfection in the frames like dust or scratches, impairing the visual experiance whereas a projection of a film shot digitally gives a crystal clear picture, just as the director intended. Advances in technology have introduced home cinema systems to the general public. This could be a threat to cinemas as one of the last deterrences of viewing DVDs or pirated films was the idea of the "cinema experience" beating any alternative, as this high definition, big screen, high sound quality is being brought into peoples front rooms, they are less likely to pay for it elsewhere. However, digital projectors in cinemas will bring a wide range of new oppertunities as they will be able to project anything with a digital input- from a youtube video to multiplayer gaming, possibly turning the cinema into a universal entertainment centre.