The end of movies on film is in sight... (Variety)

http://variety.com/2013/film/news/film-jobs-decline-as-digital-distribution-gains-foothold-1200375732/

Quote :: Significant cost savings in distribution drove studios to embrace digital projection of movies. Creatives still debate the technical advantages of digital vs. the romanticism of film, and preservationists fret over the fate of cinema classics. But with the conversion of theaters in the U.S. almost complete, the end of movies on film is in sight...

Really interesting article. Sad, but expected.

Piracy will be exponential...and the quality will be on par with original material if digital prints get into the wrong hands (and it will).

Head of Station Posts : 1413 Member Since : 2011-04-11

Control wrote:: Sad, but expected.

Indeed. To my mind, if it isn't shot on celluloid then it isn't really a film (which is one of my gripes with SKYFALL, although certainly not my biggest one). Still, hopefully there will always be a few directors like Tarantino who insist on continuing with celluloid, just as there are bands like My Bloody Valentine who still persist in making analogue albums.

00 Agent Posts : 10588 Member Since : 2011-03-14

Loomis wrote:: To my mind, if it isn't shot on celluloid then it isn't really a film

What a ridiculous notion.

I have no qualms with this. SKYFALL looked more beautiful and film-like than most (digitally graded) films of the past decade.

Potential 00 Agent Posts : 2801 Member Since : 2011-08-22

I'll miss film, but so few contemporary films have actually harnessed and utilized its unique quality that I'm not overly grieved by its passing.

Largo's Shark wrote:: SKYFALL looked more beautiful and film-like than most (digitally graded) films of the past decade.

Entirely agreed, Sharky.

Film has no longer been the same since they started laser printing film copies, and that negatives are no longer assembled like they used to be. If I ever made a film I'd rather have it traditionally cut and dyed.

Given that Skyfall is just about the only new film I've watched in the last year or watched at the cinema, this news is as devastating to me as it is completely inapplicable. Why would I want to watch Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Wars 7 or Avengers Assemble 2 anyway?

If I wanted to watch computer-effect ridden shit I'd just buy a PS3.

Tell me 'bout it. Every film trailer I see on TV is replete with in-your-face, comically fake CGI. Even standard action movies - which once upon a time featured real stunts and practical effects - like nu-Die Hard and the one where Gerard Buter has to save the White House or whatever look more like cartoons than movies.