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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: The "I hate digital" rant thread
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 08-15-2010 12:29 PM
Believe me, I am not defending the many irrational decisions made by Hollywood. On the other hand, going to your points -- when they discontinued 1.3k, they were abandoning a format that never actually replaced film. I would venture to guess (and I am sure others here have a more accurate handle on this than I do) that practically ALL the original wave of 1.3K installs were digital projectors put into the same booths with the 35mm projectors. It was almost at an experimental level. For an exhibitor going back to film until the DCI specs were established for 2K wouldn't have been a big deal, plus the number of those digital installs were something like under 1000. Technicolor had a "seed" plan where they were paying for a bunch of these installs; it's questionable if any exhibitors ever actually paid for those very few 1.3K units. The number of screens lost would have been negligable, if any.
Where did you hear that 4K will not play on 2K projectors or that the studios will stop supplying 2K versions of 4K product should 4K become a domninant format?
That being said, sure, there is a litany of stupid decisions that studios make that anyone can tell you. I have personally had more than one studio say that a film was "out of service" even I knew they had plenty of prints while I was telling them I had a market for a particular title and I could turn over a hefty overage if I could play it, yet their answer was "No."
So, yes, you are right -- studio honchos do smoke a lot of crack in the back rooms, but when there are thousands of film based screens still left across the country and maybe tens of thousands in the foreign markets, they are not going to stop making film prints just yet.
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 08-15-2010 01:43 PM
OK we are going around in circles here. Yes, it's only a matter of time, but what that time-frame is is pure speculation and for anyone to suggest they know how many years this will take is folly. To say it is only a matter of time is speculation, but then to also say you know it to be 10 to 15 years without basis of fact is just a guess and as meaningless as anyone else's guess.
All the factors that influence this matter are complex and many totally unknowable, like the economy, where it is in any given quarter, the effect of other avenues of distribution such as streaming like Netflix and Amazon and totally unforseen things like Redbox and whatelse the landscape will look like in 1 year or 5, let alone 10.
You do realize that many people who speculated with all manner of confidence that the 1.3K roll-out would replace film in 3 to 5 years were as sure as you. And they were dead wrong. Did they have even a clue that not only won't that level of technology become dominant, but that those projectors which many swore up and down would be the downfall of film, would, in very short order, become giant door stops.
Rule of thumb: even the most knoweldgeable insiders can't predict how this will play out in terms of time frame. And given that you still talk about first run theatres as if they only exist in the USA and are not considering the full global scope of film distribution or the effects of the global economy tells me that your predictions, while they are as good as anyone else's random guesses, are a more than a little suspect and can be taken with that proverbial grain of salt.
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Jason Metcalfe
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 134
From: Austin, TX, U.S.
Registered: May 2010
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posted 08-15-2010 02:39 PM
Ten to fifteen years was just a guess, sure, no one can predict the future, of course, but no one can stop it either just by disbelief.
The difference between 1.3K and now is that before it was all talk, while now we are seeing huge growth along with the talk.
Major theater chains are ditching their film projectors, all-digital chains are sprouting up across the country, manufacturers have scaled back their 35mm projector production lines, but I don't know what I'm talking about and no one knows what will happen so there.
I want to make clear that I do not prefer digital projection to film in most cases. I think that for first-run, big hollywood movies, it makes sense to switch to digital projection however I can't see our art-house 5-plex going all digital any time soon.
Also, a little elitist/xenophobic with your assessment of the foreign devils and their ancient film technology, eh? One of the first places I ever saw a digitally projected film was in China in 2006, as far as I know digital projection is growing at a comparable rate in these countries (though I believe Europe does still lag behind).
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David Stone
Film Handler
Posts: 75
From: Hornsby, Sydney, Australia
Registered: Jun 2008
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posted 08-16-2010 03:05 AM
Hi everyone,
I run a single screen theater and find myself coverted.
Everything about digital is better than 35mm. We are completely automated with the Doremi, 2000ZX, and the CP750 talking to each other and after striking the xenon @ 10.00am it is not necessary to enter the bio-box to 11pm to turn the breakers off.
We have screened 95% in digitsl since November 2009 and have not lost one session or even looked like losing a session.
Pristine picture quality, no scratches, joins, pops in sound 200 runs later the movie looks the same.
The savings on wages alone is very significant, far out weighs the increased operating cost. Revenue and net income are way up on pre digital.
Film distributors are also very accomodating with more films first release passing through the doors.
Definitely thumbs up on digital cinema for us.
As a manager/booker/projectionist/cleaner..Mr everything it is the way to go.
Cheers,
David
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Jonathan Smith
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 201
From: Youngstown, OH
Registered: Jan 2010
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posted 08-17-2010 11:02 AM
You can't go backwards, Martin. In the REAL world, which unfortunately doesn't mirror the happy endings of Hollywood blockbusters, the situation you describe is a diseconomy of scale situation, where the labs have already invested in high-volume equipment which simply can't handle the low volume as well.
With the sharp decline that eventually is going to happen, you are not going to see labs junk their high-volume low-efficiency processors and go BACK to low-volume high-efficiency machines. The writing is on the wall now, and when the volume dips below 50% utilization per week or whatever the magic number is on chemistry, they are going to close up shop.
If anything the prices are going to go UP on prints, as labs and competition go out of business and it becomes more and more a niche market.
DuArt, a major NYC negative lab has announced they are processing their final roll this month.
Whoever is left standing can command more and more of a premium price.
EDIT: I do agree with you on one thing, Martin: The quality of prints should go up. Of course if you know you are getting laid off at the end of the year, or that your chosen career path is doomed, it is hard to do good work and stay sober, hypothetically, I mean ![[Razz]](tongue.gif) .
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Jonathan Smith
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 201
From: Youngstown, OH
Registered: Jan 2010
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posted 08-17-2010 11:05 AM
You can't go backwards, Martin. In the REAL world, which unfortunately doesn't mirror the happy endings of Hollywood blockbusters, the situation you describe is a diseconomy of scale situation, where the labs have already invested in high-volume equipment which simply can't handle the low volume as well.
With the sharp decline that eventually is going to happen, you are not going to see labs junk their high-volume low-efficiency processors and go BACK to low-volume high-efficiency machines. The writing is on the wall now, and when the volume dips below 50% utilization per week or whatever the magic number is on chemistry, they are going to close up shop.
If anything the prices are going to go UP on prints, as labs and competition go out of business and it becomes more and more a niche market.
DuArt, a major NYC negative lab has announced they are processing their final roll this month.
Whoever is left standing can command more and more of a premium price.
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