posted 05-26-2003 11:04 PM                    

This guy may or may not be an idiot, as I didn't actually have time to read this whole thing.

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DIGITAL CINEMA: WHY BOTHER?

Friday, May 23, 2003

DIGITAL CINEMA: WHY BOTHER? -- Well, the answer to that is easy: Money. The studios will save a fortune several times over when cinemas changeover from photochemical film-based exhibition to digital presentations. When you consider the economics of widely-released films -- the only films that bring in the kind of money that keeps the machine running -- the cost benefits of NOT having to strike 8500 prints (U.S. theatrical, alone) of THE MATRIX are evident. But digital projection isn't here yet, because the technology isn't affordable, or, better put, no one wants to pay for it. The cinema owners understand who will benefit and figure it's up to the studios to make the changeover economically feasible. The studios, naturally, want to shift the burden to the exhibitors, but also correctly point to anti-trust issues they cannot circumvent in re-equipping theaters. (Read the consent decree.)

But none of those practical issues will matter to audiences by the time digital cinema becomes a reality. How do we know this? First, because theater owners are the last to catch up with cinema innovations, with the studios in hot pursuit. Remember Dolby Stereo? Not Dolby Digital, but Dolby STEREO. There are still mono theaters in the U.S. They are in ever-dwindling numbers, granted, but this is after -- what? -- 26 YEARS? Not only that, but the level of audio performance in most people's living room far exceeded that in commercial cinema until Lucasfilm's THX came along. Theater owners not only fought stereo sound, but once they relented, they often opted for cheesy FAKE stereo sound, most often surround decoders that let them keep mono audio upfront, behind the screen, and add a mono surround track for a few bucks. There were also phone Dolby decoders theater magnates could buy, too. "Ultra Stereo" was the poor man's Dolby and a widely accepted substitute that exhibitors could tout without the Dolby trademark.

But the point is that the entire world was in stereo before most theaters were. And the same thing is going to happen to pictures. Already, digital DVDs, projected on home cinema front projectors (as opposed to those awful black box rear screens) offer performance that's quite competitive with 35 mm film on small screens. And, by "small," I mean screens less than fifteen feet wide. So, for anywhere from $2500 to $10,000 and enough room in your home, you can basically much of the benefit of digital cinema systems that are still three to ten years off. When high-definition DVD finally becomes available, there will be no practical difference between the home and cinema experiences, save for the availability of first-run films and a crowd big enough to offer the mass-viewing emotional boost. Don't have the room or the money? Don't worry, digital projectors are making their way into corporate meeting rooms, church basements and every bar and restaurant that has cable or satellite TV. By the time cinemas go digital, the rest of the world will have already done so. It will be about as exciting as stereo sound is today, which is to say not in the least.

As far as I can tell, this is completely lost on the studios and exhibitors, who often act as though they have a death wish anyway.

So how can digital cinema make a difference? By fundamentally changing the rules of cinema, for one thing. Today, a movie is two hours long and plays for one week to six months. The movie you see on the last night in the theaters is the same as the one that opened, weeks or months earlier. By the time it gets to DVD, it has miraculously transformed, quite often, into a "special edition," sometimes with new footage, a director's commentary track and "extras," that extra footage that offers a reason to buy the film, though not necessarily to watch it.

But why should a film stay the same throughout its run? Why can't directors change things before it gets to DVD? That's what happens during the run of a Broadway play; creators constantly tweak a production to make it play better in front of the audience. How many film directors do you think would like to do this? Okay, none that have hit movies, but I'm sure there are plenty of filmmakers with flops on their hands that would love a shot at this.

How about dynamic recasting? Why not have alternative versions of the film with alternative casts that might replace the original cast halfway through a film's run? (Naturally, both casts would need to be shot at the same time.) Or alternative rated versions? This causes howls of protest when it's proposed by moralistic watchdogs, but what if the filmmaker and studio marketing types prepare versions specifically designed for different audiences? Alternate endings? Forget the debacle with "Clue" in the 1980s. This is an idea that has yet to be fully explored.

Or why not, for that matter, just move those ultimate fan editions that only get DVD release into theaters to stimulate repeat viewings or pick up boxoffice late in the run? Short film programs work in digital cinemas, where the program can change frequently without incurring great expense. Heck, we may even see the return of the newsreel or other non-fiction short films with the advent of digital.

One awful omen is already visible on the horizon, however. My favorite multiplex has installed digital video projectors -- just standard definition NTSC projectors -- that they feed with DVDs running local ads in the interstitial time between shows. Not only is the presentation awful, but these ads are a constant reminder that someone will pay for every minute of a captive audience's time. Will the advertising assault on movie audiences ever end? And will screen ads in the U.S. ever attain the escape velocity necessary to elevate the mundane to either art or entertainment worthy of an audience's attention? If they can't, then theater owners better quickly learn that they are a turn-off that will drive audiences back to their homes, where advertising can be eliminated with a touch of the remote control.

Finally, theater owners dream of turning their cinemas into some kind of multi-use venues that can accommodate corporate confabs, big public meetings, religious services and more, once you can put a movie-quality program (that's not a movie) on the screen. Alas, someone should pop this dreamy balloon right now. With a surplus of digital projection, from homes to classrooms, cinemas won't have anything more to offer than a bigger room and some hot popcorn when the technology makes this possible. Still, one would hope that adventurous show people (if there are such people any longer) would respond to the challenge of bringing theater, performances, sports and new genres of public spectacle to these new digital cinemas. These are, I think, all possible with a little imagination.

Right. But that's the hook isn't it?

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posted 05-27-2003 12:26 AM                       

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from Adam:
"But digital projection isn't here yet, because the technology isn't affordable, or, better put, no one wants to pay for it. The cinema owners understand who will benefit and figure it's up to the studios to make the changeover economically feasible."

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posted 05-29-2003 05:03 PM                       

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I'm not really sure why I'm being lectured

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(edit... earlier response disappeared... just found out why.)...

Sorry for getting wordy, Adam. It wasn't really aimed at you personally. A lot of us drive-in operators have been a bit on the touchy side, having taken the early hype quite seriously. With the screen sizes we deal with, not to mention lamp requirements and cost, this thing had us pretty concerned. Now, we're just mad we took it so seriously & we're generally skeptical about anything that comes down from the DLP industry.

Anyway... I feel much better now... steam pressure's lower!

[ 05-29-2003, 06:24 PM: Message edited by: Jack Ondracek ]

posted 06-15-2003 11:34 PM                    

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nemo reclaimed the top box office spot this weekend.....definately without any help from the few DLP sites.....

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