on 12/23/02 3:26 AM, julian_davies@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx at
julian_davies@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> One of the largest post - production costs in movies is printing and
> transporting the many prints required. This currently limits the number
> produced and leads to the first - run, second - run etc. and country - by
> country release. The state of prints received in a second - tier country is on
> average diabolical, and is a limitation to income. Theatres will invest in
> digital technology if they can recover the costs through increased revenue
> because of a step - change in the distribution system, and a reduction in cost
> of transportation. The quality of the projected image is very, very secondary,
> provided it is clean.
Plunging further off-topic, I advise anyone who gets a chance to view a
'digitally-projected' film to do so. This process eventually will displace
film projection for movies, mostly for the reasons mentioned above of the
cost and trouble of distributing the hundreds or thousands of prints to
theaters.
However, I went to a local film house that was one of a handful around the
US showing the "Star Wars Episode II" film in full digital projection. The
pictures was very good, sharp, 'solid', well colored and with good contrast,
and very easy to watch. Without a side-by-side comparison with a film
projection I can't say which is 'better' but in this case I think there was
little difference. EVen the best projection can't save a plodding story, of
course...
The big difference from a business perspective is that the two hours of
projection by film is several large, heavy, costly, and wear-prone reels of
celluloid, while the digital projection can be transported on a small stack
of DVD-like disks or a few hard drives... and the digital images will never
wear out even if projected hundreds or thousands of time. Every projection
will look exactly like the first... even if no one could stand to sit
through the movie that many times. <g>
--
Jim Brokaw
OM-1's, -2's, -4's, (no -3's yet) and no OM-oney...
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