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Author Topic: First digital film? Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 04-08-2014 05:52 PM                        I'm really surprised it was that low for Chicken Little. I remember there was a pretty substantial emphasis on 3D in the marketing, and we had many customers asking about 3D. But it was still about 5 years ahead of when we went 3D.  |  IP: Logged Michael Coate Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1904 From: Los Angeles, California Registered: Feb 2001 posted 04-08-2014 06:50 PM                     Actually, the "Chicken Little" digital projection numbers were higher than I had previously stated (though not by much). I think I was trying to cram too much information in my previous post, and when going through my data I failed to account for the fact that "Chicken Little" was shown digitally in both 2-D and 3-D (81 3-D and 21 2-D domestic) and I had accounted only for the 3-D.  |  IP: Logged Joris Springer Film Handler Posts: 83 From: Almere, Flevoland, The Netherlands Registered: Feb 2007 posted 04-10-2014 03:24 PM                     In my country it was The Incredibles. I remember we had almost every show the 35mm copy running as a backup as well, just in case the server had problems.  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 04-10-2014 03:34 PM                     Also read through this. http://mkpe.com/digital_cinema/history/ I would think that Star Wars: Episode II was sort of a major step. 100 digital screens does no longer qualify for prototype installations. And sure enough the cinemas installing these wanted to make business, not just demonstrate something. - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 04-10-2014 03:49 PM                     In terms of wide-release availability, d-cinema really didn't go "wide" until the 2nd generation projectors (2K DLP, JPEG 2000 DCI content, etc.) became available. The 1st generation 1.2K based stuff was crap. It didn't deserve to be widely available. I can't remember for sure when the Cinemark Legacy theater in Plano, TX installed their 1.2K d-cinema system. I know they had it for Dinosaur and Toy Story 2, but I'm not certain they had it for the first Star Wars, Phantom Menace prequel.  |  IP: Logged Michael Coate Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1904 From: Los Angeles, California Registered: Feb 2001 posted 04-10-2014 04:07 PM                     quote: Bobby Henderson I can't remember for sure when the Cinemark Legacy theater in Plano, TX installed their 1.2K d-cinema system. In November 1999 for Toy Story 2.  |  IP: Logged Joris Springer Film Handler Posts: 83 From: Almere, Flevoland, The Netherlands Registered: Feb 2007 posted 04-11-2014 03:25 PM                     @Bobby, JPEG2000 was a couple of years after the release of 2K projectors. I don't know when exactly but the choice was made after the release of these projectors even after 2006 I think because that year I switched to the projection booth and we were still using servers that did not understand JPEG2000. I don't know when exactly but once we made the switch to JPEG2000 we recieved DOREMI servers. I know it was after the release of the G3 servers of XDC though.  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 04-11-2014 05:21 PM                     True, J2k became mandatory fairly late, and loads of existing XDC MPEG-2 servers needed to be upgraded to J2k in the field. - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Terry Lynn-Stevens Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1081 From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Registered: Dec 2012 posted 04-12-2014 11:07 AM                     quote: Michael Coate I agree with your point, but want to emphasize that the installation numbers during the first year were much smaller than 15-20. It was still single-digit in the U.S. during 1999 ("Star Wars: Episode I" x4, "Tarzan" x3, "Toy Story 2" x6, and "Bicentennial Man" x6). I found a few articles claiming what the first digital releases were: D Day for Two Digital Movies as "The Cruise" and "The Last Broadcast" Debut in Theaters Today D Day for Two Digital Movies as "The Cruise" and "The Last Broadcast" Debut in Theaters Today Following the digital filmmaking panel at the 1998 IFFM, filmmakers Stefan Avalos, Lance Weiler, and Bennett Miller joined a small group of us for a casual lunch at Veselka in the East Village. As the meal progressed we recapped the seminar and also talked about what a big day October 23rd would be... Today is D Day for two American movies that indieWIRE has been following -- in this case the "D" stands for digital. Bennett Miller's acclaimed documentary "The Cruise" debuts today at the Angelika Film Center in New York, while Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler's "The Last Broadcast" is being distributed via satellite tonight in five cities. "The Last Broadcast" first came to our attention last summer when we reported that it was made for the unbelievable price of just $900 -- shot mostly on digital video and edited on home computer desktops. Described as a "pseudo-documentary," the movie is an investigation into the murder of two public access TV hosts (portrayed by Avalos and Weiler). The film was projected digitally for one week in a Pennsylvania theater this spring where it grossed over $5,000. For tonight's satellite debut the filmmakers have teamed with producer Esther Robinson to bring the movie to traditional film theaters in Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Providence, Portland, and Orlando. In the case of Bennett Miller's documentary, the indieWIRE team jumped on board "The Cruise" after seeing it at the 1998 LAIFF. Our Features Editor Anthony Kaufman wrote, "When it screened at the LAIFF, indieWIRE staffers were astounded. We did not know, as New Yorkers sharing in a similarly exhilarating and isolating experience in our (un)fair city, if we were the only ones struck by Bennett Miller's witty and profound portrait of Timothy "Speed" Levitch, a Manhattan double decker tour guide who cruises through life, thriving on chaos, and waxing hilarious bits of history and philosophy to unsuspecting people from all around the world." -- we have been tracking the film's journey to the big screen ever since. Along the way we have witnessed the increasing interest in digital filmmaking and Bennett graciously worked with us to present an overview of the challenges he faced shooting the doc digitally and ultimately transferring it to 35mm for its theatrical release -- the film was picked up by Artisan and will be released in additional cities throughout the fall. Today's New York Times calls "The Cruise" a "compelling documentary film" adding, "Filmed in high-contrast black and white that makes the city look harshly magnificent, at once irresistible and forbidding, 'The Cruise' could be described as a whirlwind tour both of New York and of Levitch's feverish mind." Live via satellite: the first digital premiere Live via satellite: the first digital premiere The 21st century is still three years away, but a piece of it will arrive early on Friday, Oct. 23. That's when Bucks County filmmakers Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler will give their new film "The Last Broadcast" its first theatrical release in five U.S. cities simultaneously via satellite. The filmmakers themselves will be on hand for the Philadelphia simulcasts at 8 and 10 p.m. at International House. "The Last Broadcast" has been called "the first desktop feature film," and it showcases the potential of digital technology to make filmmaking more accessible. Shot for the ridiculously low sum of $900, the film is a whodunit focused on a filmmaker's attempt to discover why a young psychic, aiding a crew producing a cable-access TV program about the Jersey Devil, would viciously murder them. As the film's plot progresses, the question shifts from "Why did he do it?" to "Did he do it?" as the videotapes reveal their secrets. Wired magazine named the duo to their list of the 25 new players who are "reinventing entertainment... helping to bring 21st-century Hollywood to life." "The Last Broadcast," created using the latest digital video and desktop editing systems, shows why.  |  IP: Logged Michael Coate Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1904 From: Los Angeles, California Registered: Feb 2001 posted 04-12-2014 02:48 PM                     Terry... 1) I'm not sure why you're quoting me to set up your comment. 2) Please follow the posting guidelines when quoting articles. Please quote any article text so it doesn't look like you're the one writing it! 3) As interesting as that article is, I'm not sure it should necessarily be considered a first. I think you'll find all sorts of examples of oddball "digital" and video-based projection formats being experimented with during that era. For example, even earlier than the timeframe of those satellite presentations, I attended a test screening of Lost in Space which was projected from a digital videotape format. Not to mention, decades ago sporting events, like boxing matches, were commonly exhibited in movie theaters via satellite. But I think what's really being discussed here is DLP or what we now typically refer to as Digital Cinema or DCP. That said, it would be nice if Stephen Furley would chime in and clarify his original question. For all we know, he may have been asking about digital sound!  |  IP: Logged Terry Lynn-Stevens Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1081 From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Registered: Dec 2012 posted 04-12-2014 03:04 PM                     I think if the movie was open to the public and cinemas were charging for it and the cinema had to book it, then it should count as the first digital film release. DCP or DLP is irrelevant IMO.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-12-2014 03:34 PM                        Those two things were "experimental" exhibition and also for movies "broadcast" via satellite which is a lot different from a mass theatrical release. I think the more interesting answer (as far as this group is concerned, anyway) would be when the first mainstream presentations, on equipment meant for ongoing use and not meant to be "taken out" right after the experimental showings, took place. Also, Coate is right about quoting articles -- or another method is to put the headline in bold at the top of the article, and put the author of the article (or the source name) just below the headline instead of having all that info at the end of the text.  |  IP: Logged Sean Weitzel Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 619 From: Vacaville, CA (1790 miles west of Rockwall) Registered: Dec 1999 posted 04-12-2014 05:16 PM                     Here is the first digital projector installed in San Jose at the Century 22.  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 04-12-2014 06:07 PM                     Kinoton meets Barco... The result is one ugly baby. But at least they considered anamorphic lenses to be part of the "standard" back then. quote: Terry Lynn-Stevens I think if the movie was open to the public and cinemas were charging for it and the cinema had to book it, then it should count as the first digital film release. DCP or DLP is irrelevant IMO. I've shown "movies" to audiences using digital LCD projectors in auditoria even before 1998 (but psst... sometimes the source wasn't digital, or the link between the digital source and the projector was analog!)... So, if the rest is all not relevant at all, then I'm the king now!  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 04-14-2014 08:10 AM                        Wait a minute -- wasn't JURASIC PARK 3 (1993) widely screened with the first generation DLP 1.2K projectors -- you know, the screenings that made anyone with eyes think digital projection was the equivalent of a vanilla sunday topped with a dog turd, while those with vested economic interests in digital all of a sudden went conveniently blind and claimedg that it looked just as good as film? I remember seeing it in NYC and thinking, if this is what digital is going to look like, we are all doomed. Wasn't that one of the first forays into a full digital commercial launch, at least in key cities?  |  IP: Logged

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