Digital cinematography
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Digital cinematography is the process of capturing motion pictures as digital images, rather than on film. Digital capture may occur on tape, hard disks, flash memory, or other media which can record digital data. As digital technology has improved, this practice has become increasingly common. Several mainstream Hollywood movies have now been shot digitally, and many vendors have brought products to market, including traditional film camera vendors like Arri and Panavision, and companies which have traditionally focused on consumer and broadcast video equipment, like Sony and Panasonic. The benefits and drawbacks of digital vs. film acquisition are still hotly debated.
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[edit] History
Beginning in the late 1980s, Sony began marketing the concept of "electronic cinematography", utilizing its tube-based analog HDTV cameras. The effort met with very little success. In 1998, with the introduction of HDCAM recorders and 1920 x 1080 pixel digital video cameras based on CCD technology, the idea, now re-branded as "digital cinematography", finally began to gain traction in the market.
In May 2002 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones became the first high-profile, high-budget movie released that was shot on 24 frame-per-second high-definition digital video, using a Sony HDW-F900 camera. The lesser-known 2001 movie Vidocq, shot with the same camera, was an early movie shot digitally that approached that of a big-budget film.
In parallel with these developments in the world of traditional high-budget cinematography, a digital cinema revolution was occurring from the bottom up, among low budget filmmakers outside of the Hollywood system. Beginning in the mid-90s, with the introduction of Sony's DCR-VX1000, the MiniDV format began to emerge. MiniDV offered much greater quality than previous analog formats at the same price point. While its quality was not considered as good as film, these MiniDV camcorders, in conjunction with non-linear editing software that could run on personal computers, allowed a large number of people to begin making movies who were previously prevented from doing so by the high costs involved with shooting on film.
Today, cameras from companies like Sony, Panasonic, JVC and Canon offer the prosumer market a variety of choices for shooting high-definition video with less than $10,000 worth of camera equipment. At the high-end of the market, there has been an emergence of cameras aimed specifically at the digital cinema market. These cameras offer resolution and dynamic range that exceeds that of traditional video cameras, which are designed for the limited resolution and dynamic range of broadcast television.
[edit] Technology
Digital cinematography captures motion pictures digitally, in a process analogous to digital photography. While there is no clear technical distinction that separates the images captured in digital cinematography from video, the term "digital cinematography" is usually applied only in cases where digital acquisition is substituting for film acquisition, such as when shooting a feature film. The term is not generally applied when digital acquisition is substituting for analog video acquisition, as with live broadcast television programs.
[edit] Sensors
Digital cinematography cameras capture images using CMOS or CCD sensors, in a variety of arrangements. For high-end cameras, it is becoming common for a single sensor to be used, rather than for three sensors to be used in conjunction with a prism. While the latter approach can, all else being equal, be advantageous in terms of color reproduction, an image can be projected onto a single large sensor exactly the same way it can be projected onto a film frame, so cameras with this design can use the wide range of high-end cinematography lenses already on the market.
[edit] Acquisition Formats
While many people make movies with MiniDV camcorders and other consumer and prosumer products that have lower resolutions or shoot interlaced video, cameras marketed as digital cinematography cameras typically shoot in progressive HDTV formats such as 720p and 1080p, or in higher-end formats created specifically for the digital cinematography market, such as 2K and 4K.
[edit] Data Storage
[edit] Tape vs. Data-Centric
Broadly, there are two paradigms used for data storage in the digital cinematography world.
Many people, particularly those coming from a background in broadcast television, are most comfortable with video tape based workflows. Data is captured to video tape on set. This data is then ingested into a computer running non-linear editing software, using a deck. Once on the computer, the footage is edited, and then output in its final format, possibly to a film printer for theatrical exhibition, or back to video tape for broadcast use. Original video tapes are kept as an archival medium. The files generated by the non-linear editing application contain the information necessary to retrieve footage from the proper tapes, should the footage stored on the computer's hard disk be lost.
Increasingly, however, digital cinematography is shifting toward "tapeless" workflow, where instead of thinking about digital images as something that exists on a physical medium like video tape, digital video is conceived of as data in files. In tapeless workflow, digital images are usually recorded directly to files on hard disk or flash memory based "digital magazines". At the end of a shooting day (or sometimes even during the day), the digital files contained on these digital magazines are downloaded, typically to a large RAID connected to an editing system. Once data is copied from the digital magazines, they are erased and returned to the set for more shooting. Archiving is accomplished by backing up the digital files from the RAID, using standard practices and equipment for data backup from the Information Technology industry, often to data tape.
[edit] Compression
Digital cinema cameras are capable of generating extremely large amounts of data; often hundreds of megabytes per second. To help manage this huge data flow, many cameras or recording devices designed to be used in conjunction with them offer compression. Prosumer cameras typically use high compression ratios in conjunction with chroma subsampling. While this allows footage to be comfortably handled even on fairly modest personal computers, the convenience comes at the expense of image quality.
High-end digital cinematography cameras or recording devices typically support recording at much lower compression ratios, or in uncompressed formats. Additionally, digital cinematography camera vendors are not constrained by the standards of the consumer or broadcast video industries, and often develop proprietary compression technologies that are optimized for use with their specific sensor designs or recording technologies.
[edit] Distribution Formats
Movies shot digitally may be released theatrically or on VHS or DVD.
[edit] Digital Theatrical Distribution
For the relatively small number of theaters with digital projectors, digital films may be distributed digitally, either shipped to theaters on hard drives or sent via the Internet or satellite networks. Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC, a join venture of Disney, Fox, MGM, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros. Studios, is working to establish standards for digital cinema projection. In July of 2005, they released v.1.0 of the Digital Cinema System Specification, which encompasses 2K and 4K theatrical projection. They also offer compliance testing for exhibitors and equipment suppliers.
Distributors prefer digital distribution, because it saves them the expense of making film prints, which may cost as much as $2000 each. Digital projection also offers advantages over traditional film projection such as lack of jitter, flicker, dust, scratches, and grain. Theater owners have balked at the high cost of installing digital projection systems, however, and while the number of digital venues is growing, growth is slower than many people anticipated. New payment models in which distributors would bear some of the cost of digital projection systems may result in the number of digital screens expanding faster in the future.
[edit] Film-based Theatrical Distribution
Most theaters do not yet have digital projection systems, so even if a movie is shot digitally, it must be transferred to film if a large theatrical release is planned. Typically, a film recorder will be used to print digital image data to film, to create a 35mm internegative. This internegative is then treated much as a camera negative from a film camera, and the same traditional optical processes are used to generate release prints from it.
[edit] Cameras
There are several models of cameras currently favored for digital cinematography:
[edit] Arriflex D20
[edit] Dalsa Origin
Although it is a relative newcomer into the field of motion-picture and video equipment, Dalsa are a respected manufacturer of extremely high resolution imaging systems, known for their satellite and military imaging products. The Origin uses a 4K x 2K pixel Frame Transfer CCD sensor, much larger than that of any competitor, having the same height as a 35mm film frame but more than 1.5 times its width. Dalsa refer to it as "4K" sensor, although this is somewhat misleading for two reasons:
- A "True" 4K sensor would have 4,000 pixels each of Red, Green and Blue across its width, whereas the Origin only has 4,046 Bayer-Masked pixels, giving an actual measured luma resolution closer to 3K.
- Most lenses designed for 35mm film cameras will only produce a fully-focused image slightly larger than a standard 35mm film frame, so a considerable amount of the image produced on an Origin sensor is "wasted". With the majority of existing 35mm-type film lenses, only about 2,500 horizontal pixels can be used in practice.
Perhaps the most unique characteristic of the Origin is its dynamic range. The raw output of the camera records 16 bits per pixel with 12 f-stops of latitude on a nearly linear response curve. Like the Arri D-20, the Origin uses a rotating mirror shutter to give an optical viewfinder option, although its real purpose is to blank the CCD sensor chip during the frame readout period. The present incarnation of the Dalsa camera body is also extremely large, resembling a desktop computer.
The Origin offers several data output options including uncompressed RGB, but at present (Nov 2005) there is no provision for on-board recording, and to date no major feature projects have been shot using the camera.
[edit] Panavision Genesis
Following the lukewarm film industry response to the "Panavized" CineAltas used by George Lucas, in 2004 Panavision introduced the Genesis. The Genesis produces similar 1920 x 1080 resolution images to its predecessor, using a similar tape format, but uses a single CCD sensor with the same width (but not the same height) as a standard 35mm film frame. This overcomes a number of the shortcomings of small-format imagers as used in the above cameras, and also allows standard 35mm cine lenses to be used, with much the same control over depth of field as a 35mm film camera. The Genesis was first used in 2005 on the films Superman Returns and Flyboys.
April 14 2006 saw the release of Scary Movie 4, the first general release of a Genesis-captured feature film. There was considerable industry comment about the variable image quality, (mostly the often soft-looking images) until it was revealed that parts of it (in particular the opening scenes) were actually captured on 35mm film. Hence, the producers' claim of "indistinguishable from 35mm film" does not appear to hold up, at least in this instance. However comments on the color quality were generally favorable, at least compared to earlier "All digital" productions.
Reaction to the image quality on Superman Returns was much more positive. Jeff Otto [2] praised the film's clean sharp look and bright colors, and found them fitting the subject. And an important milestone: Most reviewers found the film's look sufficiently film like as to make the digital origins simply not worth mentioning. [1] Reviews concentrated on typical opinions of the cast and plot.
[edit] Red One
Available 2007, super 35mm 4K+ sensor.
[edit] Sony CineAlta
The CineAlta series of cameras are essentially the high definition video descendant of Betacam, geared toward motion picture production. As well as the standard NTSC and PAL frame rates of 29.97 and 25 frames per second respectively, they can shoot at the same 24 frames per second (24p) as film. Their CCD sensors have a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels (1080p).
CineAlta cameras (most notably the Sony HDW-F900) record onto HDCAM tapes. However, the CineAlta can only record 1440 x 1080 pixel compressed component video in this mode. Episode II of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy was shot with the CineAlta. Episode III was shot with more advanced HDW950 cameras which can record the full 1920x1080-pixel frame. When shooting in the 2.35:1 widescreen format, only about 800 of the 1080 vertical pixels are actually used.
[edit] Thomson Viper
The Viper FilmStream Camera has the same resolution and frame rate as a high definition video camera like the CineAlta, but captures an uncompressed video image, unlike many earlier HD cameras, which applied lossy compression to the video stream. The Viper was first used on Rudolf B.'s short movie Indoor Fireworks. The first major motion picture shot using the Thomson Viper was Michael Mann's Collateral, which was followed by Miami Vice. The first feature film to be shot entirely in the uncompressed digital data format is Zodiac. Still, the first ever feature Film shot entirely with the Thomson Viper is the British independent Production Silence Becomes You by director Stephanie Sinclaire.[2] One of its strengths is the capability to shoot in extremely low light levels, allowing much of Collateral to be shot on the streets of Los Angeles at night without the need for large supplemental lighting equipment.
While the Viper is designed to produce full resolution raw images in 4:4:4 log data, it is also very capable of producing 4:4:4 RGB video images as used by Michael Mann. Tom Burstyn, CSC, used a Viper in the 4:2:2 HDstream mode and was nominated for an Emmy in Cinematography for the first season of the USA Network show "The 4400."
The signals from the Viper may be recorded to either a tape format or a disk array. It is sometimes incorrectly assumed that the images from the Viper must be recorded uncompressed to a disk recorder. Most (again, not totally true - many (most?) have been to disc, including SBY, Zodiac, Mutant Chronicles, Ruby Red Checker...) feature production is recorded 4:4:4 to Sony HDCAM SR tape for practical reasons with no perceptive differences in quality to disk systems.
Of all features available to the Viper user, the most unique is Dynamic Pixel Management . The camera can be adjusted to change its aspect ratio by vertically ganging pixels. The pixels can be made taller/shorter thus consistently delivering a standard line count with different relative picture heights.
All professional CCD cameras made by Sony, Panavision - including the Genesis - and Panasonic are fixed pattern arrays (e.g. 1920x1080) with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The ARRI D-20 can produce only 4:3 or 16:9 images, although anamorphic lenses may be used.
In addition to the TV standard 16:9 aspect ratio, the Thomson Viper can also shoot 2.37:1 - close to the true cinema aspect ratio of 2.39:1, and can do so while still recording at the industry standard 1080 lines of picture height. Other CCD camera technologies must crop a 16:9 picture to slightly more than 800 lines to achieve 2.39:1.
[edit] Varicam
[edit] Vision Research
AT NAB 2006, Vision Research Inc -- a high-speed digital imaging company based in Wayne, New Jersey -- introduced and demonstrated live images from their Phantom65 digital cinema camera. The Phantom65 is the world's first 65mm digital cinema camera. It has 4K (4096 X 2440) resolution with adjustable aspect ratios, up to 125 frames-per-second recording speed, and a 70mm depth-of-field.
They also introduced the PhantomHD high-definition camera. It can acquire images at HD (1920 X 1080) or 2K (2048 X 1556) resolution and shoot at up to 1000 frames per second, adjustable in increments of 1 frame-per-second. Cinematographers are very excited about its 35mm depth-of-field.
[edit] Mini-DV
Mini-DV cameras have been around for several years and have been used on independent and low-budget films, but are most popular with common consumers. Steven Soderbergh used the popular Canon XL series camera while shooting Full Frontal. The Danny Boyle directed British horror film, 28 Days Later was also shot, on MiniDV, using the Canon XL, albeit with traditional Panavision 35mm film lenses.
The Mini-DV tape format is a "cut-down" version of the professional DV format but is still capable of recording images of quite high quality. However this is often limited by the optics and signal processing of the attached cameras.
One of the first Mini-DV cameras used on a feature film was the Sony VX-1000, which was used to shoot Spike Lee's Bamboozled.
[edit] Fusion Camera System
James Cameron and Vince Pace developed the Fusion Camera System aka Reality Camera System 1 as way to shoot features in stereoscopic 3-D.[3] The digital high definition camera was used on Cameron's documentaries Aliens of the Deep and Ghosts of the Abyss. Robert Rodriguez also used the camera to shoot Spy Kids 3-D and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D.
[edit] Digital vs. film cinematography
[edit] Technical Considerations
[edit] Predictability
When shooting on film, response to light is determined by what film stock is chosen. A cinematographer can choose a film stock he or she is familiar with, and expose film on set with a high degree of confidence about how it will turn out. Because the film stock is the main determining factor, results will be substantially similar regardless of what camera model is being used.
In contrast, when shooting digitally, response to light is determined by the CMOS or CCD sensor(s) in the camera, and every camera is different. A cinematographer shooting digitally must have an intimate familiarity with the specific camera model being used, to reliably predict how shots will turn out. This problem is exacerbated by the lower dynamic range of most digital sensors, which makes it more difficult to fix incorrect exposure in post-production.
While the performance of digital acquisition is typically harder to predict by eye, on-set monitoring can help address this issue. On-set monitoring allows the cinematographer to see the actual images that are captured, right on the set, which is impossible with film. With a properly calibrated high-definition display, on-set monitoring, in conjunction with data displays such as histograms, waveforms, RGB parades, and various types of focus assist, can give the cinematographer a far more accurate picture of what is being captured than is possible with film. However, all of this equipment may impose costs in terms of time and money, and may not be possible to utilize in difficult shooting situations.
Film cameras do often have a video assist that captures video though the camera to allow for on-set playback, but its usefulness is largely restricted to judging action and framing. Because this video is not derived from the image that is actually captured to film, it is not very useful for judging lighting, and because it is typically only NTSC-resolution, it is often useless for judging focus.
[edit] Portability
Although very compact and inexpensive digital cameras are becoming more widely available, the image quality is not yet up to the level normally desired for theatrical release. High-end digital cinema cameras tend to be quite large, and some models require bulky external recording mechanisms (though in some cases only a small strand of optical fiber is necessary to connect the camera and the recording mechanism).
In contrast, there are compact 35mm film cameras that produce the full 35mm film resolution and accept standard 35mm lenses.
Smaller form-factor digital cinema cameras such as the Red One and SI-1920HDVR may make digital acquisition more competitive in this respect. The SI-1920HDVR, in particular, with its detachable camera head, should allow for high-quality images to be captured by a camera/lens package that is far smaller than is practically achievable with a 35mm film camera.
[edit] Dynamic Range
The sensors in most digital cinema cameras have less exposure latitude (dynamic range) than modern motion picture film stocks. In particular, they tend to 'blow out' highlights, losing detail in very bright parts of the image. If highlight detail is lost, it is impossible to recapture in post-production. Cinematographers can learn how to adjust for this type of response using techniques similar to those used when shooting on reversal film, which has a similar lack of latitude in the highlights. They can also use on-set monitoring and image analysis to ensure proper exposure. In some cases it may be necessary to 'flatten' a shot, or reduce the total contrast that appears in the shot, which may require more lighting to be used.
Many people also believe that highlights are less visually pleasing with digital acquisition, because digital sensors tend to 'clip' them very sharply, whereas film produces a 'softer' roll-off effect with over-bright regions of the image. Some more recent digital cinema cameras attempt to more closely emulate the way film handles highlights, though how well they achieve this is a matter of some dispute.
Digital acquisition typically offers better performance than film in low-light conditions, allowing less lighting and in some cases completely natural or practical lighting to be used for shooting, even indoors. This low-light sensitivity also tends to bring out shadow detail. Some directors have tried a "best for the job" approach, using digital acquisition for indoor or night shoots, and traditional film for daylight work outdoors.
[edit] Resolution
Substantive debate over the subject of film resolution vs. digital image resolution is clouded by the fact that it is difficult to meaningfully and objectively determine the resolution of either.
Film is an analog medium. It does not have discrete pixels. As it is scanned at higher and higher resolutions, image detail is increasingly masked by grain, but it is difficult to determine at what point trying to extract more detail becomes unproductive. Moreover, different film stocks have widely varying ability to resolve detail.
Determining resolution in digital acquisition seems straightforward, but is significantly complicated by the way digital camera sensors work in the real world. This is particularly true in the case of high-end digital cinematography cameras that use a single large bayer pattern CMOS sensor. A bayer pattern sensor does not sample full RGB data at every point; each pixel is biased toward red, green or blue[4], and a full color image is assembled from this checkerboard of color by processing the image through a demosaicing algorithm. Generally with a bayer pattern sensor, actual resolution will fall somewhere between the "native" value and half this figure, with different demosaicing algorithms producing different results.
In general, it is widely accepted that film exceeds the resolution of HDTV formats and the 2K digital cinema format, but there is still significant debate about whether 4K digital acquisition can match the results achieved by scanning 35mm film at 4K, as well as whether 4K scanning actually extracts all the useful detail from 35mm film in the first place.
One important thing to note is that the process of optical duplication, used to produce theatrical release prints for movies originated both on film and digitally, causes significant loss of resolution. If a 35mm negative does capture more detail than 4K digital acquisition, ironically this may only be visible when a 35mm movie is scanned and projected on a 4K digital projector.
[edit] Grain & Noise
Film has a characteristic grain structure, which many people view positively, either for aesthetic reasons or because it has become associated with the look of 'real' movies. Different film stocks have different looking grain, and cinematographers may use this for artistic purposes.
Digitally acquired footage lacks this grain structure. Electronic noise is sometimes visible in digitally acquired footage, particularly in dark areas of an image or when footage was shot in low lighting conditions and gain was used. Some people believe such noise is a workable aesthetic substitute for film grain, while others believe it has a harsher look that detracts from the image.
Well shot, well lit images from high-end digital cinematography cameras can look almost eerily clean. Some people believe this makes them look "plasticy" or computer generated, while others find it to be an interesting new look, and argue that film grain can be emulated in post-production.
Since most theatrical exhibition still occurs via film prints, the super-clean look of digital acquisition is often lost before moviegoers get to see it, because of the grain in the film stock of the release print.
[edit] Digital Intermediate Workflow
The process of using digital intermediate workflow, where movies are color graded digitally instead of via traditional photochemical finishing techniques, is becoming increasingly common, largely because of the greater artistic control it provides to filmmakers. In order to utilize digital intermediate workflow with film, the camera negative must be processed and then scanned. High quality film scanning is time consuming and expensive. With digital acquisition, this step can be skipped, and footage can go directly into a digital intermediate pipeline as digital data.
Some filmmakers have years of experience achieving their artistic vision using the techniques available in a traditional photochemical workflow, and prefer that finishing process. While it would be theoretically possible to use such a process with digital acquisition by creating a film negative on a film recorder, in general digital acquisition is not a suitable choice if a traditional finishing process is desired.
[edit] Sound
Films are traditionally shot with dual-system recording, where picture is recorded on camera, and sync sound is recorded to a separate sound recoding device. In post-production, picture and sound are synced up.
Many cameras used for digital cinematography can record sound internally, already in sync with picture. This eliminates the need for syncing in post, which can lead to faster workflows. However, most sound recording is done by specialist operators, and the sound will likely be separated and further processed in post-production anyway. Also, recording sound to the camera requires running additional cables to the camera, which may be problematic in some shooting situations, particularly in shots where the camera is moving.
[edit] Archiving
Many people feel there is significant value in having a film negative master for archival purposes. As long as the negative does not physically degrade, it will be possible to recover the image from it in the future, regardless of changes in technology. In contrast, even if digital data is stored on a medium that will preserve its integrity, changes in technology may render the format unreadable or expensive to recover over time. For this reason, film studios distributing digitally-originated films often make film-based separation masters of them for archival purposes.
[edit] Economics
[edit] Low-budget / Independent Filmmaking
For the last 25 years, many respected filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas have predicted that electronic or digital cinematography would bring about a revolution in filmmaking, by dramatically lowering costs.
For low-budget and so-called "no-budget" productions, digital cinematography on prosumer cameras clearly has cost benefits over shooting on 35mm or even 16mm film. The cost of film stock, processing, telecine, negative cutting, and titling for a feature film can run to tens of thousands of dollars according to From Reel to Deal, a book on independent feature film production by Dov S-S Simens. Costs directly attributable to shooting a low-budget feature on 35mm film could be $50,000 on the low side, and over twice that on the high side. In contrast, obtaining a high-definition prosumer camera and sufficient tape stock to shoot a feature could easily be done for under $10,000, less if it is rented.
If a 35mm print of the film is required, an April 2003 article in American Cinematographer found the costs between shooting film and video are roughly the same. The benefit to shooting video is that the cost of a film-out is only necessary should the film find a distributor to pick up the cost. When shooting film, the costs are upfront and cannot be deferred in such a manner. On the other hand, the same article found 16mm film to deliver better image quality in terms of resolution and dynamic range.
Most extremely low-budget movies never receive wide distribution, so the impact of low-budget video acquisition on the industry remains to be seen. It is possible that as a result of new distribution methods and the long tail effects they may bring into play, more such productions may find profitable distribution in the future.
[edit] Hollywood
On higher budget productions, the cost advantages of digital cinematography are not as significant, primarily because the costs imposed by working with film are simply not major expenses for such productions. Two recent films, Sin City and Superman Returns, both shot on digital tape, had budgets of $40 million and close to $200 million respectively. The cost savings in these cases were negligible as a percentage of the total production budgets.
Rick McCallum, a producer on Attack of the Clones, has commented that the production spent $16,000 for 220 hours of digital tape, where a comparable amount of film would have cost $1.8 million. However, this does not necessarily indicate the actual cost savings. The low incremental cost of shooting additional footage may encourage filmmakers to use far higher shooting ratios. With film, the production may be more frugal and work with a lower shooting ratio, so the cost difference may not be as great as it seems. This lower shooting ratio may even save time in editing, lowering post-production costs somewhat.[citation needed]
Shooting in digital necessitates a digital intermediate, which is more expensive than a photochemical finish. However, a digital intermediate may be desirable even with film acquisition because it of the creative control it provides, or a film may have a large number of effects shots which would require digital processing anyway.
[edit] Industry Acceptance of Digital Cinematography
For over a century, virtually all movies have been shot on film and nearly every film student learns about how to handle 16mm and 35mm film. Digital acquisition, particularly high-end digital acquisition, which is very new to the market, has not had the time to become widely accepted. The overwhelming majority of commercial movies are still shot on film, as are most American prime-time television programs and commercials. As of mid-2006 only a small percentage of high-end movie productions have used digital cinema cameras.
Some notable high-profile directors have stated that they have been "converted" to digital cinematography and will never return to using film, including George Lucas, Robert Rodriguez, David Fincher, David Lynch, Lars von Trier, and James Cameron. Lucas, however, modified his stance somewhat in a recent interview, stating that he "would use whatever is more appropriate to the particular project."
Directors Steven Spielberg, M. Night Shyamalan, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Tim Burton, Ridley Scott and Oliver Stone belong to the opposing camp, and have vowed to continue to shoot on film.
Lower-budget and limited-release movies have adopted digital cinematography at a somewhat faster pace, although some filmmakers with enough funding still choose to shoot such productions on 16mm film, the traditional medium for that market segment.
As the digital intermediate process gains wider use even for finishing movies shot on film, and as digital acquisition technology continues to improve, it seems likely digital cinematography will continue to gain wider acceptance.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Silence Becomes You The first film in the world shot 100% uncompressed data using Viper making it a true first for Digital Cinematography - rather than a HD video project.
- American Cinematographer article about Star Wars: Episode II
- American Cinematographer article about Collateral
