News posts from 2003 Q4

Rob Belics · December 24th, 2003, 11:08 AM

The AP has a report out somewhere today saying it will be two generations before digital will displace film.

Ken Tanaka · December 24th, 2003, 11:55 AM

Yes, I too read that Reuters story on Yahoo! news. I suspect that the ongoing popular press chatter on the subject will, to a great degree, become a self-fulfilling prophecy by channeling the public's expectations. Here in Chicago the transformation is already beginning to take place at a few of the larger downtown theaters. People who have seen features on one of our digital screens have begun to rumor about how much better the image is (at least to their eyes) and thus the tsunami begins.

It will not be next year, but it certainly also not be "generations". And film projection houses will remain for the foreseeable future, even after Hollywood stops producing for that medium.

Anhar Miah · December 25th, 2003, 10:37 AM

I think, and this is purely my view, is that digital will surpass film a lot faster than everyone expexts. Film has had over 100 years to mature, and in that sense digital is still a baby, but its growing up very fast indeed, think about it, look at how much computers have developed (only around for around 20 years!) i still remember playing with C64 and Amstrad 128K just as if it was yesterday and now look we have 128BIT consoles and AMD 64 BIT computers. In fact the technology is here already but its more political and ecomonics at the moment that is slowing the momentum of the digital wave. Not long now give it another 5~10 years then people will be saying "F..ILM...huh? what was that all about?"

I mean think about when was the last time you used a film based still camera after owning a digital still camera? :-)

Anyway just my View..

Hugh DiMauro · December 30th, 2003, 03:20 PM

I didn;t know The Last Samurai was digital! HOLY SMOKES!

Charles Papert · December 30th, 2003, 04:03 PM

Digitally projected, not digitally shot. When a digital camera can produce images as good as "Last Samurai", then perhaps there will be some true weight to the "Film is Dead" battle call.

Riley Florence · December 30th, 2003, 06:02 PM

Personally i think film will always have a place, theres something about thats different...

I have a digital rebel and i still use my film camera as well, depends on what im doing, theres just something about it that keeps calling me back

John Locke · December 30th, 2003, 07:31 PM

I mentioned in another post earlier that I attended a conference here in Japan this year where some speakers introduced upcoming releases in theatrical-quality digital projectors. They have a 10-year timeline mapped out before achieving the "ideal" situation, but as early as next year they'll have much cheaper and better models being released, and within 5 years they'll have models at such low prices, and with such high performance that I can't imagine any theater not converting.

It would be interesting to see how this timeline coincides with the HD cam and HD post-processing development timelines.

Frank Granovski · December 30th, 2003, 07:50 PM

When HD cams are able to capture 60,000,000 pixels, film will be history and mini DV cams will be passe. :-))

December 24th, 2003, 11:55 AM	#77
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Yes, I too read that Reuters story on Yahoo! news. I suspect that the ongoing popular press chatter on the subject will, to a great degree, become a self-fulfilling prophecy by channeling the public's expectations. Here in Chicago the transformation is already beginning to take place at a few of the larger downtown theaters. People who have seen features on one of our digital screens have begun to rumor about how much better the image is (at least to their eyes) and thus the tsunami begins. It will not be next year, but it certainly also not be "generations". And film projection houses will remain for the foreseeable future, even after Hollywood stops producing for that medium. __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

December 30th, 2003, 04:03 PM	#80
Charles Papert Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 6,810	Digitally projected, not digitally shot. When a digital camera can produce images as good as "Last Samurai", then perhaps there will be some true weight to the "Film is Dead" battle call. __________________ Charles Papert www.charlespapert.com

December 30th, 2003, 06:02 PM	#81
Riley Florence Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Salt Lake City, Utah Posts: 61	Personally i think film will always have a place, theres something about thats different... I have a digital rebel and i still use my film camera as well, depends on what im doing, theres just something about it that keeps calling me back __________________ -------------------------- -Riley Florence SLC, Utah. http://www.secondsection.com

December 30th, 2003, 07:31 PM	#82
John Locke Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Austin, TX USA Posts: 2,882	I mentioned in another post earlier that I attended a conference here in Japan this year where some speakers introduced upcoming releases in theatrical-quality digital projectors. They have a 10-year timeline mapped out before achieving the "ideal" situation, but as early as next year they'll have much cheaper and better models being released, and within 5 years they'll have models at such low prices, and with such high performance that I can't imagine any theater not converting. It would be interesting to see how this timeline coincides with the HD cam and HD post-processing development timelines. __________________ John Locke SursumFilms.com

December 24th, 2003, 11:08 AM	#76
Rob Belics Major Player Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 581	The AP has a report out somewhere today saying it will be two generations before digital will displace film.

December 25th, 2003, 10:37 AM	#78
Anhar Miah Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: United Kindom, England Posts: 290	I think, and this is purely my view, is that digital will surpass film a lot faster than everyone expexts. Film has had over 100 years to mature, and in that sense digital is still a baby, but its growing up very fast indeed, think about it, look at how much computers have developed (only around for around 20 years!) i still remember playing with C64 and Amstrad 128K just as if it was yesterday and now look we have 128BIT consoles and AMD 64 BIT computers. In fact the technology is here already but its more political and ecomonics at the moment that is slowing the momentum of the digital wave. Not long now give it another 5~10 years then people will be saying "F..ILM...huh? what was that all about?" I mean think about when was the last time you used a film based still camera after owning a digital still camera? :-) Anyway just my View..

December 30th, 2003, 03:20 PM	#79
Hugh DiMauro Trustee Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Central Florida Posts: 1,205	I didn;t know The Last Samurai was digital! HOLY SMOKES!

December 30th, 2003, 07:50 PM	#83
Frank Granovski Outer Circle Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hope, BC Posts: 7,524	When HD cams are able to capture 60,000,000 pixels, film will be history and mini DV cams will be passe. :-))