McQuire, Scott (2008) Film in the context of digital media.

In, Donald,
James and Renov, Michael (eds.) Handbook of film studies (pp.493-510).
492 THESAGEHAIIIDBooK'o'FFllM STUbJES Sage. ISBN: 978-0761943266.

Sconce, Jeffrey (2001) The Cinematic Reconstruction of Vassanji, M.G. (1994) The Book of Secrets. Toronto:
Jane Eyre: in Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre. Ed. Richard McClelland & Stewart.
1. Dunn. New York: W.w. Norton. pp. 515-22. Virahsawmy, Dev (2001) Tourann: A Mauritian Fantasy,

1
Times of India (2007) 'Bollywood News', 16 January: 15. in Martin Banham, James Gibbs and Femi Osofisan
Thussu, Daya Kishan (forthcoming, 2008) 'The Global- (eds), African Theatre: Playwrights and Politics.
ization of "Bollywood" - the Hype and the Hope', Tf. Nisha Walling and Michael Walling. Oxford: James
in Anandam P. Kavoori and Aswin Punathambekar Currey. pp. 217-54.
(eds). The Bollywood Reader. New York: New York Zizek, Slavoj (2002) For They Know not What They Do:
University Press. Enjoyment as a Political Factor. London: Verso.

Film in the Context of

Digital Media
Scott McQuire
237

In 1997, as the extended celebrations of audiences see and hear, and how it might be
the first centenary of cinema were wind- delivered. It has also demanded a fundamental
ing down, I undertook a research project re-examinatjon of the way the film industry
examining the impact of digital technology functions as a business. The fact that the
on Australian film production (see McQuire, transition to digital cinema has occurred as
1997). One of the most striking features of part of a broader agenda of globalization
the several dozen interviews I conducted that manifested in accelerated transnational flows
year was that everyone I talked to - from of cultural content and heightened conflict
leading directors, cinematographers. editors over intellectual property multiplies the
and those involved in various aspects of post- dimensions at play. In the digital era of
production, to producers and film educators .. convergent media, IiIm content is increasingly
was unanimous that future cinema would no imbricated not only with television, video
longer depend on film. While the time-frame and DVD. but the Internet, video games
for such a transition varied, no one doubted the and mobile devices. Add to this mix the
trajectory towards cinema without celluloid. way that online databases and new forms of
A decade on, much has changed, but film is storage and distribution are altering access
still with us. Recalling this is not to suggest to films as objects of both fan culture
that the prognosis about filmless cinema was and scholarly analysis, and the full scope
wrong, but to acknowledge that the transition of cun'ent change becomes more apparent.
to digital cinema has proved far more complex Traditional Film Studies questions concerning
than was initially imagined. authorship, narrative, style and subjectivity
Digitizing cinema has demanded the rein·· bave increasingly been supplemented by
vention of basic aspects of film production, analyses of the exigencies of transnational
while simultaneously altering the experience markets and global franchises, the logistics
of watching film, both in terms of what of' new delivery systems and the politics of
 494 THE SAGE HANDBOOK OF FILM STUDIES FILM IN THE CONTEXT OF DIGITAL MEDIA 495

'piracy', the emergence of new cultural forms PRODUCTION Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to the switchover for feature film production was
and the promises of interactivity. Is it any assume a linear trajectory, or. for that matter, a near complete. In a paper presented atthe 1994
wonder that a common lament within Film Prior to the 1980s, computers were largely neat break from analogue to digital processes. SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Tele-
Studies over the last decade has been the ignored by the film industry. A few indepen- While COl gained the most attention from vision Engineers) Conference. Dominic Case
'disappearance of the object'? dent filmmakers such as Malcolm Le Grice critics and audiences, the transition to digital from leading film-services provider Atlab
From its inception, the film industry (2001) conducted experiments in 'computer technology happened rather earlier and more argued:
has been a site of constant technological film art'. The mainstream uses were the rapidly in areas such as sound production Non-linear editing has been adopted in the film
innovation. Nevertheless, looking beyond the relatively few images that fitted narrative and picture editing. Digital recording and and video industry faster than any comparable
undoubted hype around what Vincent Mosco demands (the 'Death Star' simulation in processing of sound took off in the early innovation, and I believe that it has had a greater
(2004) aptly calls the digital sublime, there Star Wars [George Lucas, US, 1977), the 1980s. building directly on the radical changes effecton production and post-production methods
even than the Introduction of video. (1994: 50)
is something distinctive in the magnitude ship's computer screen in Alien [Ridley Scott, to film sound initiated by the introduc-
of change affecting the film industry in the UK, 1979]), and title sequences (beginning tion of Dolby Stereo in 1975. Ease of The reason for the rapid acceptance of the
present. Many innovations in film technology, with Superman [Richard Donner, UK, 1978)) sonic manipulation in the digital domain digital pathway in picture editing echoed the
such as changes in film stock, lighting or constructed by what was then called computer facilitated the growing complexity of film experience with sound: by reducing the mate-
lenses, have been incremental. Others, such graphics. Nor were the first experiments in sound tracks. Rick Altman noted the way that rial labour and the potential degradation of
as the introduction of colour film or l6mm integrating computer-generated images (COl) the 'spatialization' of discrete sound elements source material in the editing process, digital
cameras had a broader impact on film style and with live action such as TRON (Steven in the cinema auditorium altered audience systems enabled significantly greater creative
aesthetics. Prior to digitization, the most far- Lisberger, USlTaiwan, 1982) or The Last experience: experimentation. As leading Australian editor
reaching technological transformation of the Starfighter (Nick Castle, US, 1984) particu- Nicholas Beauman commented during his edit
Whereas Thirties film practice fostered unconscious
film industry was arguably the introduction of larly promising. As Brad Fisher put it, 'The visual and psychological spectator identification of Oscar alld Lucinda (Gillian Armstrong,
synchronized sound, which cut across various problem was that digital technology was with characters who appear as a perfect amalgam UStAustraliaJUK, 1997):
industry sectors including production and both comparatively slow and prohibitively of image and sound, the Eighties ushered in a new
kind of visceral identification, dependent on the When you do a cut on film, it requrres you to think
exhibition, producing a markedly different expensive. In fact, workstations capable of
sound system's overt ability, through bone· rattling about how you are actually going to construct a
narrative style and audience experience, performing at film resolution were driven by scene a lot more carefully than if you are cutting on
238

bass and unexpected surround effects, to cause

while short-circuiting the incipient interna- Cray supercomputers' (l993b: 52; see also spectators to vibrate - quite literally- with the entire a digital. non·linear system. I can throw something
tionalism of silent film in favour of the 1993a). narrative space. It is thus no longer the eyes, the together on non-linear very quickly and then look
dominance of linguistically-based national However, even as the initial obituaries were ears and the brain that alone initiate identification at it and think 'well. no, that's not right' I can just
and maintain contact with a sonic source; instead, make a copy of that, or I can put that cut aside
cinemas. However, the impact of the digital being written, changes were underway which
it is the whole body that establishes a relationship, do another one and another one. And I can show
threshold is demonstrably wider than all completely altered the situation. Exponential them all to somebody else. You can't do that on
marching to the beat of a different woofer. Where
previous technological shifts. It not only increases in computing speed coupled to sound was once hidden behind the image in film. Because of the time constraints, you have to
affects all sectors of the industry simulta- decreases in the cost of processing not only order to allow more complete identification with think about it very carefully and say 'OK, I am going
neously, from production through distribu- launched the personal computer revolution the image, now the sound source is flaunted, to go down that road, I think this is the way to go
fostering a separate sonic identification contesting with this scene'. If it doesn't work, you have to peel
tion to exhibition, but the broader context of the mid-I 980s, but put digital cinema
the limited rational draw of the .mage and its all those splices apart again and start all over, and
established by digital convergence means on an entirely different footing. A second very few films can afford to do that. (1997)3
characters. (1995)
that the boundaries of film - its status as a wave of COl was signalled by Terminator 2:
distinctive cultural entity - is up for grabs in Judgement Day (James Cameron, France/US, The use of sound to produce a more Digital workstations also enabled easier
a new way. 1991), which made morphing a household visceral experience was soon complemented utilization of images from different sources.
In the following I want to examine the word. l Two years later, the runaway box- by changes in the image. One aspect was the Directors such as Oliver Stone in Natural
influences of digital technology on key office success of Jurassic Park (Steven shift to digital picture editing which became Bom Killers (US. 1994) and Baz Luhrmann in
changes occurring in the film industry. I begin Spielberg, US, 1993), followed by Pixar's widespread following the introduction of the Romeo + Juliet (US. 1996) soon incorporated
with an overview of the way film production breakthrough digital animated feature Toy Mac-based Avid Media Composer Series in a wide range of formats in feature film,
and post-production were digitized, and then Story (John Lasseter, US, 1994), changed the 1988. 2 Although it had been possible to finish' including video Hi-8 and Super-8. While
discuss current moves in distribution and question from whether computers could be films on video since the early 1970s, the both Natural Born Killers and Romeo +
exhibition. I then focus on issues of secu- effectively used in filmmaking to how soon advantage of video's range of cheap, instantly Juliet were particularly complex edits, they
rity, intellectual property and piracy, before this would occur. The subsequent decade, viewable visual effects was purchased only belonged to a time when the pacing of films
turning to debates over aesthetics and film with its array of CGI-driven blockbusters at the cost of reducing editing to a linear was accelerating. David Bordwell notes that
scholarship in the digital era. Running through led by the billion-dollars-plus worldwide tape-based process. But once digital non- the average shot-length in mainstream US
all these issues is the emergence of a new theatrical gross of James Cameron's Titanic linear systems had sufficient image quality films during the decades from 1930 to 1960
economic structure for the film industry in the (US, 1997), seems to have confirmed the to enable editors to obtain accurate lip- varied between eight to eleven seconds, while
synch, digital editing blossomed. By 1994, the average number of shots comprising a film
 '496 t8E.SAGE/-lANDB(jOK,b~·FIEM.ST6DI~s:

assumes a premium. Different tasks need to contemporary music or hybrid forms such
over the same period was 300 to 700 (2006: not only the logistics of set construction
be more tightly coordinated. Renowned sound as machinima. In the longer term, this is
121-3). In contrast, films of the last decade and camera placement, but the relationship
mixer Roger Savage notes: 'Now, there's likely to further undemline the unifying fiction
regularly include 2,000-3,000 shots with between live action cinematography and of the singular and bounded text, with its
average shot-lengths of two to four seconds, computer-generated effects, while sound and much more collaboration. There has to be ...
It's all running in paralleL So you have to correlate of a lodestone of stable meaning.
with the fastest paced films dipping below picture editing are often proceeding in tan- Even in a post-structural interpretative milieu,
the two second threshold. The experienced dem with principal photography. This shift not only communicate, but you have to be
technically compatible' (1997). with its emphasis on polysemy and situated
Luhrmann editor Jill Bilcock concurs with to parallel processing represents less the
As well as traditional horizontal editing, audiences rather than the sovereignty of
Bordwell that this shift is conditioned by disappearance of 'post-production' than its
involving the sequential linking of images, authorial intention, an article of faith is that
digital editing (2006: 155): dispersal across all production phases. George
films increasingly involve the 'vertical edit- audiences are seeing the same text. Perhaps
Lucas highlighted this change during the this assumption was always suspect: the
Romeo + Juliet was such a big post-production job ing' of digital compositing, as individual
it wouldn't have been able to be done in the time making of Star Wars Episodes I-III (US, 1999; contingency of dodgy projectors, different
2002; 2005): picture elements are added or subtracted.
on film ... You can quickly see those results on the protocols of censorship and other forms of
non-linear system. where if you were doing it on Andrew Lesnie, who went on to win an Oscar
I have been writing it [the next Star Wars episode I in 2002 for his cinematography on The Lord of rough handling means that films - particularly
film. you would probably have to put in a request
for extra money to get inter-pas and create a film for two years, but I've also been shooting and the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter 'classic films' -have often been seen in quite
optical. You just wouldn't 'get it done. It takes a lot editing, exploring different kinds of actors for different versions by different audiences. But
different kinds of parts, and shooting and figuring
Jackson, New ZealandJUS, 200 I), comments:
more time·to do .. You wouldn't cut like that on such differences pale in comparison to Steven
film. If I was cutting on film, I would be looking it out. It's not done sequentially at all. (quoted in
Kelly and Parisi, 1997) I think it hasn't changed the priority of my job which Soderburgh's proposal for remixing current
for two frames off the floor, I'd be scrounging is to rationalise a project's intent onto an image. So
around. It just wouldn't have that creative freedom.
releases:
Pre-visualization has taken on an increasingly the technology is basically just another tool. You
So. creatively, it's really good. (1997) have a camera, lenses. filters, you've got the lab, all I'd like to do multiple versions of the same film.
important role in the contemporary production of which provides you with a certaifl scope, and you I often do very radical cuts of my own films Just
process. While classical directors such as have digital technology which I am more than happy to experiment, shake things up and see if anything
Alfred Hitchcock were fond of pre-planning to use because it offers you all sorts of exciting comes of it I think It would be really interesting
POST·PRODUCTION possibilities. I think that probably the biggest thing to have a movie out in release and then, just a few
scenes using model sets, digital technology
to bear in mind is that you could get a little lazy weekslatersay, 'Here's version 20. recut, rescored'.
239

has enabled far greater precision. Special

All these changes were in progress prior to the about it by saying that it can fix things. (1997) The other version is still there - people can see either
effects supervisor Peter Doyle notes: or both (quoted in Jardin, 200S)
headlines made by Steven Spielberg's 'digital
dinosaurs' in 1993. Despite containing only In the major films now no-one will even attempt
As Lesnie warns, the increased flexibility of
about five to six minutes of CGl, Jurassic to make a film without doing pre-visualisation. the digital pathway does not always lead
Park changed the industry's thinking about the The complexity with which that happens depends to efficient production. The contemporary
on the budget, and the type of director. If you tendency towards multi-camera coverage and DISTRIBUTION AND EXHIBITION
use of digital technology in film. The ensuing look at a James Cameron or John McTiernan, who
decade saw rapid experimentation with digital the multiplication of 'takes' to ensure options
did the Last Action Hero and all the Die Hard films, Following the rapid transformation of film
effects, as successive blockbusters undertook for the big action sequences they will actually make
for fine-tuning films during editing can lead
critics conditioned by the standard Hollywood production in the 19905, digital distribution
pioneering R&D in their attempts to show the entire scene in a computer with little stick men
and CGI animation and full camera moves and the practice of producer control over the final and exhibition were the next steps in the
audiences things they had never seen before.
whole bit, and that is what's signed off on. If that's cut, such as Bordwell (2006), to complain seemingly irresistible march towards cinema
By 1996 Cameron could claim, 'anything is signed off, then the Daps and the art directors and
of sloppy shooting practices. But flexibility without celluloid. In 1999 Lucas instigated
possible ... if you throw enough money at everyone else is then brought in, and they can then the equipping of four US cinemas with digital
it, or enough time ' (quoted in Parisi, 1996a). dial up what they need to know. So the camera men
also offers new creative possibilities. It has
often been noted that digital texts are radically projection systems for the premiere of Star
Nevertheless, COl still remains one technique will know, 'well this move is now on a 50 mm lens
and I need to have lights here and I need to green 'open', insofar as digital tools lower the Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, and
among a range of others, including stunts,
screen here'. So that really changes the dynamics threshold for remixing and re-editing. The soon announced plans to capture and show
models, animatronics, and motion controL of the film. (1997)
culture of the technological 'mash-up' favours Episode II - Attack of the Clones with a
The computer has not replaced other pathways
the proliferation of director's cuts on DVDs high-definition digital camera and to screen it
so much as redefined their use. Even though the majority of feature films only in digital format. Ambitious initiatives to
Arguably the biggest effect the flexibility are still shot on 35mm film, hybrid cameras replete with out-takes and extra scenes, not
to mention 'updates' of the sort that Lucas fund the roll-out of digital projection systems
and speed of digital technology has had provide a video split, enabling directors to across the United States were announced at
on post -production is the marked move instantly review shot coverage, as well as a applied to the first three Star Wars films when
he wanted to 'fix' their special effects for a ShoWest 200 I by Technicolor Digital Cinema
away from the traditional linear process of data-stream that allows indicative sound and (formed by film services group Technicolor
film production, comprising relatively dis- picture edits. Because of the increasing ten- re-released 'digital edition'. As the existence
of different versions of the same film becomes and digital communications company Qual-
tinct phases of pre-production, shooting and dency for post-production to overlap with pro- comm), while new players such as aerospace
post-production. Increasingly, these phases duction, close communication between direc- increasingly commonplace, film enters more
fully into the remix culture characteristic of giant Boeing expressed interest in entering
overlap. Pre-visualization involves planning tors, producers and post-production houses
 498 THE SAGE HANDBOOK OF FILM STUDIES FILM IN THE CONTEXT OF DIGITAL MEDIA 499

satellite-based distribution. Advocates listed digital stereo development issue, wlJich resulted in The cost premium of the DCI-mandated events. However, while isolated experiments
numerous benefits of digitizing distribution three different and not compatible digital stereo standard does reflect the fact that it was with' premium sporting events have been
and exhibition: Lucas extolled the improved systems and nobody wanted to see that happen designed to replicate or exceed 35mm pro- successfui, there are significant hurdles to live
again. This was an opportunity for the studios to content becoming a regular revenue stream.
image quality for audiences over the whole bring focus to what they believe were objectives
jection, and thereby protect the theatrical
of a film's run, while distributors focused on experience from the emerging challenge As Karagosian has pointed out:
that everybody would find desirable and that is to
potentially substantial savings in distribution ultimately develop a system with specifications and of 'home cinema' technologies. However,
standards that were consistent and uniform in what Sports would be really neat, except that sports has
costs, and exhibitors were promised a range of the fact that the high-resolution systems much better return for the buck on a satellite TV
rewards from increased programming flexibil- they would produce. (2002) mandated by DCI exceeded most of those network, It's copyrighted and it's time valued ."
ity to the generation of new revenue streams. While the process took significantly longer already in operation around the world raises Sports seems so interesting, but it's probably not
However, in common, with the experience than expected, Del finally released its spec- the real possibility that different regions may practical. except for very special occasions. (2002)
of the production sector, the transition to ifications for system architecture in August well adopt different technical standards. This
digital distribution and exhibition has been 2005.5 However, having a common set of is partly a question of fitting the technology Moreover, increasingly those 'special occa-
significantly slower and proven far more technical standards for manufacturers to adopt to the context. In rural China, for instance, sions', such as World Cup football, are
complex than was first imagined. Although has not resolved all the issues. Alongside low-resolution digital projectors have been available on large screens which are located
Episode II was captured on high~resolution standards, the biggest question mark around installed in settings which previously had not in cinemas but in public spaces. s
digital cameras, the bulk of screens utilized digital exhibition has been its cost. High- no cinemas. Here the need to compete with Other mooted alternative uses of digital
film prints.4 definition digital projectors that comply with the audio-visual quality of 35mm film does cinemas are muitiplayer interactive gaming
One of the key issues affecting the the Del standard are significantly more not arise. Similarly, many art house cinemas and 3D projection. The advantage of gaming is
frl:Insition to digital cinema has been the expensive than 35mm projectors. While 2K and non-traditional venues are utilizing low- that it could exploit the high-quality image and
question of common standards of equip- resolution digital projectors cost between resolution digital projectors to screen niche sound facilities of theatres, while potentially
ment and software, from projeCtors and $70,000 and $100,000, a new 35mm projector films in boutique spaces. The question of the attracting audiences outside of peak times.
servers to encryption systems. Speaking in might cost $20,000, or less if second hand. cost of digital projection has to be balanced Digital technology has also given 3D cinema-
2002 Julian Levin (Executive ViCe-President Film projectors that are well maintained can against potential savings and the creation of the perennial 'next-big-thing' - another lease
Digital Exhibition and Special Projects at have a life span of decades, while digital additional revenue streams, even in territories of life. Following the strong support given to
Twentieth Century Fox) noted: projectors are likely to follow the pattern such as Australia, where mainstream screens 3D films by leading directors such as Cameron
240

of computer equipment and need regular are dominated by Hollywood products and and Lucas at trade convention ShoWest
[S)uddenly in the US about a year ago, we had 50
upgrades. where the quality of the theatrical experience in 2005, 3D-equipped cinemas experienced
or 60 systems, three different compression tech- rapid growth in 2006. 9
nologies required, at least two forced distribution This question is complicated by the estab- is critical. Here considerable uncertainty still
lished industry structure. While the bulk of However, alternative uses of theatres such
channels through Boeing and Technicolor, having reigns.
to provide your content in three or four different savings will accrue to distributors, who will Most observers agree that digital cin- as gaming and 3D remain in their infancy.
forms, and being forced to go through certain ema will offer exhibitors advantages in Given the significant cost premium on high-
no longer have to pay for the production
players at an expense that exceeds film to get the
and shipping of bulky film reels, the cost terms of more flexible programming options. resolution digital projection systems com-
digital content to destination. (2002) pared to 35mm projectors, the limited take-
of re-equipping theatres would generally fall Exhibitors will be able to expand the number
of screens devoted to a popular film without up in most territories is unsurprising. In
While proprietary systems appealed to those on exhibitors. The expectation, in the US at
having to wait for extra prints to be shipped, mid-2oo6, Australian exhibitors were still
trying to gain a Microsoft-like grip on digital least. has been that the two parties would
'and they will also be able to improve the qual- expressing a high level of scepticism as to
cinema, they made less sense to an industry eventually arrive at a commercially negotiated
ity and versatility of pre-feature advertising, whether a roll-out of DCI-mandated facilities
accustomed to the universality of its product. cost-sharing arrangement.6 However, despite
as the practice of manually assembling platters made economic sense, particularly given
Unlike television and video, 35mm film can a rise in the number of digital screens in 2005,
is replaced by a computer-controlled playlist. that I.3K resolution projectors were now
be shot, processed and projected on standard US exhibitors remain cautious.7 Michael
Karagosian (2006), digital cinema consultant However, this flexibility would come at a available for around $11,000. 10 In fact,
equipment made by different manufacturers
price, as theatres will be required to employ low-end digital projection systems used for
all around the world. In order to protect to the National Organization of Theatre
new IT specialists to service the networks and pre-show advertising have already made
this existent interoperability, the seven major Owners in the US, points to continuing
significant inroads into cinemas. The business
Hollywood studios formed the Digital Cinema exhibitor concerns about cost, content security equipment.
Another major drawcard of digital cinema case for low-end digital projectors has been far
Initiatives (DCI) consortium chaired by Fox's and the need for a certification programme
is that it should enable exhibitors to broaden more compelling to exhibitors, with smaller
Levin in March 2002. According to DCI CEO to give exhibitors greater confidence in the
their operations from exclusive reliance on upfront costs directly offset by increased
Chuck Goldwater: technology. Karagosian argues that the low
feature films towards a more varied menu of revenues flowing from flexible content and
'high-end digital systems (less than
reflects the attractions. Networked theatres able to display more precise targeting of specific audiences. I I
digital. content delivered by cable or satellite Karagosian argues that cinema becomes
"'W,r.eiriscreensiiortMroadcasting live' ,proportionally more attractive to advertisers
7'WfjtttYl1gf":'"''''-'''}~-:'" ' '"
 soo THE SAGE HANDBOOK OF FILM STUDIES
~t\l;.~

as viewers continue to drift away from This possibility is facilitated by another from trade in goods towards trade in services, requires a 'key' for 'access. In order 'to 'get'
network television: aspect of digitization: that is, databases. knowledge and information. The emergence the key from the content owner, DVD-player
Electronics offers this whole level of interesting Karagosian highlights the role of compa- of new regulatory regimes since the 1980s manufacturers are required to sign a license
management of who you can target with your nies such as Hollywood Software, which also reflects a transition from what John Frow mandating design standards which specify
advertising. What that means to the exhibitor is pioneered distribution software for break- (2000) calls a 'development' framework for limits to user interaction with the copyrighted
more bucks for that ad, because of the higher out films like the Hi-8-shot The Blair Witch regulating transnational knowledge exchange work. In addition, manufacturers must also
quality of those eyeballs he can sell. (2002) Project (Daniel Myrick/Eduardo Sanchez, to a 'trade' -based framework. comply with 'robustness' requirements which
One of the long held dreams around digital US, 1999) and My Big Fat Greek Wedding Copyright infringement has been a concern make their technical mechanisms harder
distribution and exhibition is that it will enable (Joel Zwick, US/Canada, 2002): for the major studios at least since the to circumvent. 18 Technical fixes have been
a democratization of cinema as thresholds to arrival of the VCR in the 1980s.14 However, supported by legislative changes such as
[Y}ou can go in with your movie and say it's a
market entry diminish. There are a number of drama, it's this long, geared for this age group, digital technology has vastly increased the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (enacted
different dimensions to the issue. Web-based what screens would this best show On in the US) scale of copying. The MPAA put the direct in the US in 1998), which made it illegal
distribution has clearly become an increasing This database can come back and say it's going worldwide cost of piracy to film producers to break encryptions such as the Content
to show best on these screens. I want to show at US$6.lb in 2005, and the worldwide Scramble System (CSS), and also outlawed
presence for both legitimate (Atom Films.
it for about three months, what time base can I loss to the motion-picture sector (producers, devices designed to circumvent technical
Movielink, CinemaNow, iTunes and so on). as get? ... And it goes on down the line. So these
well as for 'pirated' exchange using peer-to- tools help you optimise where you're going to get distributors, theatres, video stores. pay-per- protection. 19
peer software. However, access to theatrical your biggest bang for your buck historically from view operators) at a staggering US$18.lb Of course, effective operation of DRM
screens is a different issue. Film distribution your class of movie in the theatre. PreviOUSly this (see MPAA, 2005b).15 Digital technology has schemes requires both technical and leg-
task would've taken a large team of people to get also increased the complexity of the issues islative implementation. Legislation remains
remains a highly concentrated industry, with
on the phone and find out the availability of every involved. The standard means of controlling essential to content owners since, despite their
the seven major Hollywood studios dominat- cinema chain around. SUddenly you're learning all
ing global revenues. 12 Karagosian argues: this information from databases and very smart the ability of users to modify traditional market power, it is difficult to get every
software. (2002) consumer goods has been to restrict physical manufacturer to agree to technical standards
241

Let's say you're a filmmaker and you have a great access to them. Once someone has purchased that restrict consumer rights. As digital
piece of art that you're proud of and you're not
(for example) a car, it is nearly impossible television became an increasing reality, the
sure whether anybody else is. But you're proud of it
and you want to distribute it. So let's say there's SECURITY, 'PIRACY' AND IP to prevent the user from 'tinkering' with it. 16 same coalition of film studios and technology
a network to 10.000 screens in the US, what's In the analogue past, when one purchased a manufacturers which developed CSS pro-
compelling to them? Why do they want to look at Digital distribution of films immediately book or musical recording, there were few posed the 'broadcast flag' as a means of
your movie? Why do they want to put it out there? raises the contentious issue of content secu- restrictions on what one did with the physical limiting the copying of broadcast material.20
What you will need is an enabler, a distributor of
some kind who you cut your deal with and who is rity. Because of the extremely high ratio object. Unauthorized republication of content As Tarleton Gillespie notes, such mechanisms
able to take your movie and put it out. I think it's between film development costs and digital could be dealt with through copyright law and significantly limit user agency in relation
going to be a well-controlled channel. It's not going reproduction costs, as well as the film indus- private copying was generally so laborious to computer technology by excluding the
to be open. not because the electronics won't allow try's reliance on sequenced release windows and the results were of such dubious quality operation of the technology from the users'
it to be open, but because there isn't a compelling cascading through different territories and that there was little effort to police it except in scrutiny21 They also have major potential
reason for people to just be able to play any kind of
across different platforms, film is peculiarly exceptional cases. ramifications for the future of software design.
content. (2002)
susceptible to 'piracy,.13 For this reason, peak However, the 'perfect' nature of today's In their response to the Federal Communi-
Karagosian's analysis is confirmed by industry bodies such as the Motion Picture digital copies, coupled with the increasing cations Commission concerning the proposed
economists such as Abraham Ravid who Association of America (MPAA) have taken speeds of networks enabling widespread bill, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
argues that the major studios are currently a leading role in public debates and polit- peer-Io-peer distribution, has altered this argued that 'robustness' requirements would
undergoing an extensive functional shift as ical lobbying around copyright protection. situation radically and irrevocably.17 Fear effectively lock Open Source designers out
they morph into entities more akin to book From former MPAA Chairman Jack Valenti's about the 'Napsterization' of film content has of the emerging market for digital television
publishers, less concerned with production mantra, 'If you can't protect what you own, meant that the first line of defence against software:
than with marketing and distribution (2005: you don't own anything' , to his successor Dan copyright infringement has moved from To the extent Ithatl the open source development
54). Nevertheless, the rapid growth in Glickman's assertion that 'Protecting intellec- legal prohibitions to technical prophylactics. model embraces the freedom to modify. however.
networks of low-end digital projectors used tual property will become a resounding theme Since unrestricted access to digitally-stored this necessarily means that open source software
to screen pre-show advertising in cinemas for our economy in the decades to come' information inevitably enables high-quality cannot be made 'tamper-resistant' in the fashion
raises the possibility that, even in the absence (MPAA, 2005a), the MPAA has been active copying, embedded technical protection mea- contemplated by the broadcast flag mandate. (EFF,
2004)
of a broad shift to high-definition digital in promoting legislative, technological and sures such as Digital Rights Management
exhibition for mainstream feature films, there behavioural change. Heightened concern with (DRM) schemes become 'logical' responses. As well as technical and legal measures,
is new scope for screening alternative content copyright protection and intellectual property At a technical level, films released on content owners have conducted sustained pro-
such as films originated on DV (lP) reflects a broader economic shift away DVD generally have encrypted content that motional campaigns to alter social behaviour.
 502 THE SAGE HANDBOOK OF FILM STUDIES FILM IN THE CONTEXT OF DIGITAL MEDIA 503

The legal cases conducted against key peer-to- by special effects, feeding on their popularity' film making would seem to have real cost- , their limited entertainment dollars, including
peer distribution sites and high-profile users (1999). Paul Young discerned a 'reliance on saving potential, computer technology seems mobile phones, iPods. subscription televi-
have been supplemented by the widespread digital technology to produce spectacle at to have fuelled, not mitigated, rising film sion and the Internet. 26 As Independence
use of the rhetoric of 'piracy' to change the expense of narrative' (I 999: 41), while budgets' (2005: 234).23 The average cost Day (Roland Emmerich, US, 1996) proved,
perceptions about file sharing, and to legit- filmmaker Jean Douchet expressed the shift of Hollywood films. excluding marketing spectacular effects can drive an advertising
imate the shift to a more common use of in more extreme terms: '[Today] cinema has costs, has spiralled from US$3.1m in 1971 campaign and cut across cultural barriers,
criminal sanctions 22 The MPAA website now given up the purpose and the thinking behind to US$60m in 2005 24 While there are many enabling an otherwise ordinary film to
carries a wide range of material directed at individual shots [and narrative], in favour factors contributing to increasing production perform extraordinarily well at the box
parents, teachers, and students, arguing the of images - rootless, textureless images - costs, including burgeoning 'star' salaries office. In this respect, it can be argued
case against 'piracy', as well as promoting designed to violently impress by constantly for bankable actors, producers, writers and that, while effects-driven blockbusters are
'legal' online distribution sites. inflating their spectacular qualities' (quoted directors. the increasing scale and complexity not the sole or necessary outcome of digital
in Buckland, 1999: 178). Other writers such of film production is a significant part of the technology, they have been an economically
as Geoff King (2000) and Andrew Darley story. dominant tendency. Cameron has gone so far
THEORIZING DIGITAL AESTHETICS (2000) elaborated the theme into book-length While the sort of morphing effects that as to suggest that digital technology freed
analyses. made T-2 an eye-opener in 1991 are now filmmakers from the constraints of the old' N
Alongside the transformation of production, How should such claims be evaluated? In easily obtainable on pes, Hollywood has and 'B' picture hierarchy:
distribution and exhibition, digital cinema terms of commercial success, it is undeniable consistently raised the bar, both in terms [lin the' 40s you either had a movie star or you had a
represents a fundamental change in the nature that the highest grossing films of the last of the complexity and cost of individual B-movle. Now you can create an A-level movie with
of the film image. Trinh T. Minh-Ha argues: decade have been dominated by genres such effects, and the. number of them packed some kind of visual spectacle, where you cast good
as action, adventure. fantasy, horror and into a single film. Stunts and special effects actors. but you don't need an Arnold or a Sly or a
What is at stake IS the difference that begins at Bruce or a Kevin to make it a viable film. (quoted in
science fiction, which make copious use now regularly comprise 10-15 per cent of
the core, with the formation of the image itself. Parisi, 1996a)
The film image is something well-defined, that of special effects. However, it would be the budget of major studio films. Some far
one can touch: a still, a frame, a rectangle, a reductive to treat this trajectory as if it was exceed this: The Matrix Reloaded (Andy If Cameron's claim is overblown - most
piece of celluloid. Whereas with video, there is simply generated by digital technology. As WachowskilLarry Wachowski, US, 2003) and major effects-laden films are so costly to
242

no real stasis, no 'still' in other words; the image Scott Bukatman (1995) noted in a thoughtful Matrix Revolutions (Andy WachowskilLarry produce they demand star presence if only
is in perpetual formation. thanks to a scanning essay focusing on the work of special- Wachowski, US, 2003) devoted US$100m to secure the free advertising space routinely
mechanism. Such a distinction can radically impact available to star-driven film promotion - it
the way we conceive images, which is bound to effects pioneer Doug Trumbull, the shift out of their joint US$300m budget to stunts
differ from one medium to another. Rather than to effects-laden films capable of producing and effects. Waterman contrasts the famous serves to highlight another aspect of the
experimenting with sequences of stills, one is here a technological 'sublime' predates digital car chase in The French Connection (William changing economic structure of the film
working. on both macro and micro levels, with technology. Most analysts date the rise of Friedkin, US, 1971) to a comparable sequence industry. the growing role of ancillaries. The
the pulses of an ever-appearing and disappearing the 'blockbuster' from the 1970s, with films in The Matrix Reloaded (2005: 216). Where much-remarked decline of the proportion of
continuum of luminous images. (2005: 201) total revenues derived from theatrical box
such as Jaws (Steven Spielberg, US, 1975), the former involved a single stunt driver
Following hard on the heels of the 'death Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third and the destruction of three or four vehicles. office is partly a result of the emergence of
of photography', digital cinema was rapidly Kind (Steven Spielberg, USIUK, 1977). As the latter included the construction of a six new release windows such as subscription
associated with the death of film narrative. Bordwell notes, never before had films made lane freeway at a cost of US$2.5m and the television. and sell-through and rental video
In the special 'Digital Cinema' issue of Screen, so much money so quickly (2006: 2). But none demolition of US$2m worth of cars. Another and DVD 27 But it is also a function of the
Sean Cubitt noted a 'common intuition among of these films employed digital effects, apart sign of this tendency is the rapid increase rising tide of new revenue streams, from
reviewers, critics and scholars that something from Lucas' successful adoption of motion in the number of people involved in effects. toys, clothing and accessories to CDs, games,
has changed in the nature of cinema - control. The dominance of the blockbuster Whereas the average number of end credits books and theme park rides. Ravid cites 111e
something to do with the decay of familiar in contemporary cinema must therefore be for special/visual effects for a major film in Lion King (Roger AllersfRob Minkoff, US,
narrative and performance values in favour of situated in relation to other shifts in the 1971 was 2.1, by 2001 this figure had risen 1994) as a classic example of the ancillary
the qualities of the blockbuster' ([999: 123). film industry, including the emergence of to 150. 25 tail wagging the cinematic dog (2005: 36).
Lev Manovich aligned the predominance multiplexes and megaplexes (Acland 2003), This inflation of effects budgets and While it grossed a very respectable US$313m
of 'blockbusters' with 'digital cinema' by the growing importance of international crews suggests that spectacle, manifested in at the North American box office, US$454m
defining the latter almost entirely in terms revenues to Hollywood production, and the the dominance of genres such as action. abroad. and $520m in video, this billion-
of increased special effects: 'A visible sign fact that film faces increasing competition adventure, sci-fi and horror, has become dollar-plus take was far outweighed by the
of this shift is the new role which computer- from other entertainment platforms. the currency whereby Hollywood 'buys' US$3b it achieved in related merchandise
generated special effects have come to play in Nevertheless, digital technology has played its lion's share of the international film sales. Such options multiply in the digital
.an,imPQrtant role in this trajectory. As David market, while also competing for audi- domain. As Lucie Fjeldstad. then head of
ences increasingly surrounded by options for IBM's multimedia division. remarked at the
 504 THE SAGE HANDBOOK OFFILr\iJ S:rUDIES

time: 'Digital content is a return-on-assets

goldmine, because once you create Termina-
and spectacle are inextricably intertwined.
Attention then shifts to the examination of
"""FIt:till'IR'Tl'I@"CqI'll'§IT'Of!!t)IGI'i1'A\!!t:AE~

to the viewer's own understanding of these phe-

nomena in daily life. Perceptual realism, therefore,
Arguably the most influential" attempt to
theorize 'digital cinema' has been the various
..
tor 3, the character, it can be used in movies, the sort of stories being told, and the sort of designates a relationship between the image on offerings of Manovich, which accumulated
film and the spectator, and it can encompass both
in theme-park rides, videogames, books, spectacles being deployed in their telling. into his The Language of New Media (2001),
unreal images and those which are referentially
educational products' (quoted in Parisi, 1995). An early attempt to 'periodize' digital realistic. Because' of this, unreal 'images may Manovich describes an ,historical 'loop' in
As David Marshall (2004) has noted, the visual effects in science-fiction films was be referentially fictional but perceptually realistic. which the growing control over the image
digital era is one of heightened intertexuality. Michelle Pierson's argument that early effects (1996: 32, my italics) granted by digital technology has enabled the
Digital convergence means that the labour sequences were designed to stand out from once marginal cinematic practice of animation
In other words, because of the extent to
used in designing CO characters for a the narrative and temporal flow by displaying to encompass the whole of cinema in the
which audiences have internalized the cam-
film can also be utilized on a promotional a 'hyperreal' electronic aesthetic. Pierson digital era. In this context, live-action footage
era's qualities as the hallmark of credibility,
website, in a videogame, or in off-shore suggests that after Jurassic Park a higher pre- and the 'reproduction of reality', proclaimed
contemporary cinema no longer aims to mime
factories manufacturing plastic toys. The mium was placed on the narrative integration as the essence of cinema by theorists such
'reality', but 'camera-reality'. Recognizing
commercial reality which is creating pressure of effects (1999: 169). While her argument as Siegfried Kracauer (1960) and Jean Mitry
this shift underlines the ambivalence of
for global day and date releases to combat was coherent from the spectator's point of (1963-5; 1998), is dethroned to become
realism in the digital domain. A filmmaker's
'piracy' of high-budget films, coupled to view, it ignored the production side of the simply another element in a general art of
ability to take the image apart at ever-
the need for alliances with partners such as process. As CG effects guru Scott Billups animation:
more-minute levels is counterpointed by the
fast-food chains and department stores for recalls, filmmakers had to educate computer
spectator's desire to comprehend the resulting In retrospect, we can see that 20th century
promotional movie tie-ins and shelf space programmers in order to achieve a 'film' look:
image as 'realistic' - or, at least, equivalent cinema's regime of visual realism, the result of
to sell toys, suggest that the criteria for automatically recording visual reality, was only an
For years we were saying: 'Guys, you look out on to other cine-images. This heightens the need
evaluating the 'success' of a film have altered the horizon and things get grayer and less crisp as exception, an isolated accident in the history of
to understand the way in which images are
significantly. they get farther away'. But those were the types of visual representation ... (Manovich, 1999)
constructed into texts in order to achieve
But has it ever really been all that different? naturally occurring event structures that never got
243

credibility, whether this is a function of While the argument captures the way that
Presenting the issue in terms of an opposition written into computer programs. They'd say 'Why
do you want to reduce the resolution? Why do you 'fiction' or 'documentary'. the digital threshold enhances the fluidity of
between spectacle and narrative recycles posi-
want to blur it?' (quoted in Parisi, 1996b) One of the more interesting theses con- the film image, there are significant problems
tions which have been consistently articulated
cerning the impact of digital technology on with Manovich's formulation. One is that
- and regularly reversed - throughout cinema Digital tools such as Flame gradually intro- film narrative is put forward by Cubitt, who his understanding of 'live action' cinema
history. Revisionist film history has success- duced 'defects' such as film grain, lens flare, sees 'technological' cinema as an extension in terms of its direct reliance on 'physical
fully challenged the stereotyping of early motion blur and edge halation to make images of what he calls the shift to 'neo-baroque' reality' is extremely reductive. Cinema has
cinema in terms of its narrative 'primitivism' , look as if they might have been filmed. film (2004: 235). The neo-baroque is marked
arguing instead that it catered for a different always involved the plastic transformation
This suggests that it is not so much the by the exploration of increasingly detailed
mode of pleasure and spectatorship that of physical reality, not least through the
ambition for narrative integration of CGI diegetic worlds in, which the temporal axis of
Tom Gunning (1986) influentially dubbed the conventions of montage which became central
which has changed, as the capacity to realize narrative progress and resolution is displaced
'cinema ,of attractions'. In the 1920s, avant- to film narrative nearly a century ago. Dziga
that ambition, In the process, as Michael by spatialization:
garde filmmakers railed against 'narrative', Vertov, whose Constructivist classic Man with
Allen (2002) notes, special-effects shots have
because it was associated primarily with liter- Space succeeds time as organizing principle syn-
a Movie Camera (USSR, 1929) is converted
gradually got longer as they have become
ary and theatrical scenarios at the expense of chronously with neo-baroque narratives' turn to by Manovich into a precocious 'database
more able to withstand spectator scrutiny.
cinematic qualities. Similar concerns emerged the database form, a spectacularization of plot in narrative' that provides the leitmotif for
Once 'live action' images become more or less an ironic mode in which mere coincidence satirizes
with debates over auteur theory in France his book, boasted that the film-eye could
indistinguishable from CG images, Stephen the classical working-through of causes and their
during the 1950s, when the 'literary' qualities decompose and recompose physical reality at
Prince's concept of 'perceptual realism' offers effects. As the lifeworld appears consistently more
of script were opposed to the 'properly random, so the mediascape becomes more scathing
will. Yet Manovich ignores this long history
a useful refinement to the category of
cinematic' qualities of mise en scene. In the at any pretence at order, mocking the revelations of plasticity to set up a neat contrast between
'realism'. In the context of digital imaging,
1970s, the 'refusal of narrative' took on radical and resolutions that once passed as realistic... In 'automatic recording' and 'animation'. In
Prince suggested that the operative 'referent' the process, pattern is divorced fro~ its old task of
political connotations in publications such this respect, Manovich's position dovetails
is less the real world than our audio-visual establishing morality. (Cubitt, 2004: 249)
as Screen, Cahiers du cinema, Framework, neatly with the stance of filmmakers such as
experience:
Wide Angle and Camera Obscura. In current For Cubitt, this shift raises an ethical problem, Lucas, who has long proselytized the ability
debates there has been a widespread restora- A perceptually realistic image is one which struc- insomuch as the spatialized narrative 'worlds' of the new technology to realize directorial
tion of narrative as a filmic 'good object'. turally corresponds to the viewer's audio·visual vision:
experience of three-dimensional space .... Such
of contemporary effects-laden cinema pro-
Rather than attempting to resolve the issue images display a nested hierarchy of cues which mote a stu'nted intrapsychic narcissism which I think cinematographers would love to have
in favour of one side or the other, the more organise the display of light, colour, texture, forecloses the relation to the other on whieh ultimate control over the lighting; they'd like to be
salient need is to recognize that narrative movement and sound in ways that correspond ethical communication is based. able to say, 'OK, I want the sun to stop there on the
 507
506 THE SAGE HANDBOOK OF FILM STUDIES FILM IN THE CONTEXT OF DIGITAL MEDIA

knowledge of film-archive collections will to catastrophic losses irl the next. No doubt the
horizon and stay there for about six hours, and I Library in Canberra. Conditions of access are
want all of those clouds to go away'. Everybody influence not only the production of new major studios are watching closely, as much as
remarkably different today. DVDs and online
wants that kind of control over the .mage and histories of film and television, but also they are watching websites such as YouTube,
databases have made it far easier to view
the storytelling process. Digital technology is Just CurrentTV and MySpace. In this time of
certain texts, particularly current releases and interdisciplinary research across the arts and
the ultimate version of that. (quoted in Magid, transition, it is worth remembering that the
1997: 52) 'classics'. But this easy availability raises humanities' (2004: 116). They also point out
productivity of Film Studies has historically
its own issues for Film Studies. In a world that the viability of such projects depends on
Ultimate control fits Lucas' aesthetic. which been its willingness to embrace and develop
of ubiquitous digital images, what incentive the allocation of scarce resources away from
places little or no premium on the peculiar traditional tasks of archiving to educating end- interdisciplinary methodologies. Innovation
is there for students to take the trouble of
attractions of 'automatic recording', whether in both empirical research and theoretical
searching out and accessing films? And, even users in negotiating technological differences,
of complex locations such as city streets or paradigms seems more necessary than ever.
if we are prepared to trade off the specific resolving copyright issues, and the like.
equally complex psychological terrains such materiality of celluloid for the rewards of Achieving best practice will depend on the
as an actor's face. (Star Wars lead Mark broader accessibility, are we utilizing digital extent to which film archives are able to
Hamill notes ruefully that, if Lucas could pro- technology in the most effective way? gain wider recognition as a critical cultural NOTES
duce films without actors, he probably would Patricia Zimmerman has argued persua- resource.
[Seabrook, 1997: 53).) However, erecting sively for the need to 're-imagine the borders The ambition for a broader array of disci-
1 Cameron argues, convincingly in my opin.on,
'film as animation' into the totality of cinema of film history' to include a broader range plines to make more critical and systematic that Terminator 2 was the first film which made CGI
in the digital age underestimates the persistent of film production than the existing canon use of film resources is paralleled by the pivotal to its outcome: '{OJn The Abyss the computer
attraction of the chance effects of 'live action'. (2001: Ill). While the number of DVD titles new range of pressures on Film Studies as was really used to solve single sequences, and if
Long ago Walter Benjamin eulogized the a coherent discipline. Digital convergence that sequence had failed the film would still have
is expanding, the release of historical material succeeded dramatically. On T-2 the success or failure
productive aspect of the encounter between with limited market appeal is inevitably brings film into close relation not only with
of the film was really pred.cated on the success or
the camera and the world in terms of selective. Writing in 2004, Kay Hoffmann television, but the Internet, video gaming, failure of the digital techniques' (quoted in Parisi,
the camera's registration of the 'spark of noted that only 100 films from between and mobile media. As well as the need to 1996a)
contingency' (1979: 243), a value Roland 1920 and 1928 were available on DVD, explore both the continuities and specificities 2 This was followed three years later by the PC-
Barthes later ontologized as the photographic most of them from the US (2004: 161). of different platforms, there is an increasing based lightworks.
244

punctum (1984: 47). If Lucas' highly con- 3 In relation to Oscar and Lucinda, Beauman
Ian-Christopher Horak asks: need to recognize that globalization demands
noted: 'We are up to something like vers.on five of
trolled cinema-as-animation is one dominant more situated analyses of specific audiences. the film at the moment now, but in fact .t's probably
tendency of contemporary cinema, it finds If only a limited canon is available for such classroom Attempting to fence off a domain specific to like version seven, and there will be at least one other
various counter-tendencies in the continuing use, then only the canon according to Blockbuster
Film Studies in the context of digital media version after this. You just d.dn't have the lime to
will indeed be taught and shown to students. How
pull of location shooting and improvised strikes me as an exercise in nostalgia which go through the film that many times when you were
do you teach a course on Third World cinema, on
performance, in the anti-interventionist stance cutting on film, and every time you do, you refine,
American independent documentary, on classical risks irrelevance, particularly to future stu-
of the Dogme movement, in the desire reline, refine' (1997).
documentaries from the 30s, on avant-garde films dents born after the explosion of the Internet in 4 As Charles Schwarz points out, Episode 1/ was
for 'authentic' social interactions in various from any period, when at present virtually no one 1993. As those such as Henry Jenkins (2006) also archived an film: 'I don't think there's anybody
'reality TV' scenarios. is willing to finance their digitalization) (2003: 21)
point out, fan culture has been transformed by we've ever encountered in Hollywood who believes
the Internet, and has established such a degree we're anywhere near where we want with using
This is the 'dark side' of the undoubted
digital material as the archival master .. ' (2002).
potential for digital media to enrich Film of influence that major film productions no
Schwarz is Executive Director and CEO of USC's
fiLM STUDIES IN THE TWENTY·fIRST Studies, not only by improving access to longer take place 'in camera', but with the Entertainment Technology Centre, which runs the
CENTURY films, but supplementing them with a range of enthusiastic participation of extensive fan Digital Cinema laboratory, the major testing facility
ephemeral materials such as posters, scripts, communities. And while the demand for for digital exhibition systems in Hollywood.
audience-configured 'interactive' narrative 5 The DCI press release. with supportrng com-
In one of my first teaching jobs in the mid- design sketches and stills, as well as critical
pathways has never seriously threatened to ments from a range of industry luminaries, can be
1980s, I well remember having to lug a 16mm voiceovers and alternative language tracks, found online at: http://wwW.dcimov.es.com/press/07-
projector across campus in order to screen One productive way in which digital alter mainstream theatrical releases, user nav-
27-0S.tt2.
films. On one memorable occasion during technology might contribute to a broadening igation has nevertheless emerged as a major' 6 By contrast. the UK has adopted a publicly-
Letter to Jane (Jean-Luc GodardlJean-Pierre of the film canon is by facilitating new modes driver of contemporary entertainment culture. funded rollout. using National Lottery revenues \0
If the burgeoning field of games studies fund the UK Film Council's Digital Screen Network
Gorin, France, 1972), I belatedly realized the of access to established archives. Projects
does not belong entirely to Film Studies, it project to install about 240 2K projectors in 200
take-up reel wasn't functioning properly, and such as Moving History in the UK involve locations. The aim is to improve access to specialized
had to wind it by hand as metres of celluloid the construction of an online catalogue and cannot remain entirely separate. The shift to
or non-mainstream film.
spooled across the floor. I was understandably guide to archive collections in the UK with subscription-based models for online gaming 7 In March 2005 the
nervous about potential damage, as it was the aim of promoting archival resources to offers a far steadier income
probably the only copy of the film in educationalusers,28 Frank Gray and
Australia, sent by rail
 ~~~1lf~~~EtA*!3dB~KkoFMI~r;1~Q(~~'

8 For instance, the 2006 World Cup in Germany 19 The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) REFERENClf"''''
was watched by audiences on large public screens is increasingly having a global effect as the US A Phrase of the
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broadcasting, see McQuire (2006). Australia. Similarty, Article 6 of the EU Copyright University Press. A Phrase of the Future? (Part 2)', American
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Bilcock, Jill (1997) Interview by author. Audio recording. Digital Cinema: Why the Delay?', Encore, 24(8):
11 This issue has greater potential significance range of previously legal practices, these figures reflect
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245

has historically been minima/. compared to territories 23 The potential to use digital technology to lovver Bordwell, David (2006) The Way Hollywood Tells It: Story Hoffmann, Kay (2004) 'Celluloid Goes Digital', The
such as Europe or Australia. Michael S. Katz et al. production costs is certainly there, as witnessed by and Style in Modern Movies. Berkeley: University of Moving Image, 4(1): 161-4.
(2002) calculated advertising revenues at US$22,OOO the recent grovvth of the low-budget production Horak, Jan-Christopher (2003) 'Old Media become new',
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12 Shujen Wang notes that the 'big seven' studios Increasing processing speed and the availability of science fiction: Spielberg's digital dinosaurs, possible Historical-critical editions of films on DVD and the
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13 As Majid Yar (2005) points out, using the term this reason, it is more accurate to say that Hollywood 171--92.
Bukatman, Scott (1995) 'The artificial infinite: on Wired, 13(12). Available at: http:/twww.wired.com/
'piracy' to describe copyright infringements carries an has chosen not to use digital technology to save
special effects and the sublime', in lynne Cooke wiredlarchivel13.12/.
ideological connotation which belongs to the attempt money.
and Peter Wollen (eds), Visual display: Cul- Jenkins, Henry (2006) Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers:
to legitimate a shift from civil to criminal sanctions. 24 This is down slightly from a peak of US$63.8m
14 As Jack Valenti, President of the MPAA in 2003 (MPAA, 2006). As Harold Vogel points out, ture beyond appearances. Seattle: Bay Press. Exploring Participatory Culture. New York: New York
famously testified before the House Hearing on 'Home this inflation of production costs means that, despite pp. 254--89. University Press.
Recording of Copyrighted Works' in 1982: 'I say to the rapid growth of new revenue streams including Case, Dominic (1994) 'Converging Technologies and Karagosian, Michael (2002) Interview by author. Audio
you that the VCR is to the American film producer international theatrical markets, subscription televi- Newton's Third law of Motion, or: The Close-up, recording. Hollywood, 19 November.
and the American public as the Boston strangler is to sion, video and DVD rental and sales, and ancillary the cutaway and the freeze-frame', Cinema Papers, Karagosian, Michael (2006) 'Digital Cinema
the woman home alone' (Valenti, 1982). merchandiSing, which contribute to huge grosses on Progress?'. Available at: http://www.mkpe.com/
101: 59.
15 Yar (2005) analyzes the methodological successful films, the profitability of the film industry publicationsldigitaLcinema/presentationsl2006-
Cubitt, Sean (1999) 'le reel, c'est I'impossible: The
assumptions which tend to inflate this figure, which as a whole has in fact declined since the 19705 (2005: Sep%201BC%20-%20Karagosian.pdf.
is nevertheless widely accepted by governments. 78). sublime time of special effects', Screen, 40(2):
123-30. Katz, Michael, Frelinghuysen. John and Bhatia, Kristan
16 In practice, guarantees and insurance policies 25 Similarly, credits for sound effects grew from (2002) Digital Cinema: Breaking the Logjam. Virginia:
function to restrict user modification. . 4.6 to 30.2 and for stunts from 0.2 to 43.7. Certain Cubitt, Sean (2004) The Cinema Effect. Cambridge, MA:
films - famously Titanic with its seven minutes of MIT Press. Booz Allen Hamilton.
17 In practice, the quality of a digital copy will
credits listing over 1,200 individuals and businesses - Darley, Andrew (2000) Visual Digital Culture: Surface Kelly, Kevin and Parisi, Paula (1991) 'Beyond Star
depend on sampling frequency and file size.
18 The Content Scramble System (CSS) introduced vastly exceed this. Play and Spectacle in New Media Genres. london: Wars: What's Next For George lucas', Wired,
for DVDs in 1996 combines compliance and robust- 26 International revenues have become increas- 5(2): 160-6. Available at: http://www.wired.com/
Routledge.
ness rules. Gillespie argues that the DeCSS case, which ingly important to Hollywood studios over the last Doyle, Peter (1997) Interview by author. Audio 5.02/features/fflucas.htm.
involved the prosecutjon of certain individuals who decade and now regularly comprise around half of recording. Sydney, 15 May. King, Geoff (2000) Spectacular narratives: Hollywood in
circulated anti-encryption software, in fact testifies to total revenues. the age of the blockbuster. London: 1.8. Tauris.
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) (2004) 'EFF Reply
the effectiveness of the system. It was only the failure 27 In 2004, for instance, DVD sale and rental Kracauer, Siegfried (1960) Theory of Film: The
Comments re Broadcast Flag', 15 March. Available at:
of one manufacturer (Real Networks) to adequately worldwide more than doubled theatrical revenue Redemption of Physical Reality. london: Oxford
obscure the encryption key that enabled it to be (USS21 b to USS9.5b) (see Bordwell, 2006: 2). http://www.eff.orgIlP/broadcastflag/EFF_FNPRM_
Reply.pdf. University Press.
broken (2006: 656). 28 Available at: http://www.movinghistory.ac.uk.
 510 THE SAGE HANDBOOK OF FILM STUDIES

Le Grice, Malcolm (2001) 'Computer as film art', in Parisi, Paula (1996b) 'Shot by an Outlaw', Wired.
Experimental Cinema in the Digital Age. london: BFI 4(9). Available at: http://www.wired.comlwired/
Publishing. pp. 219-33.
lesnie, Andrew (1997) Interview by author. Audio
recording. Sydney, 12 May.
archive/4.09Ibillups.html.
Pierson, Michelle (1999) 'CGI Effects in Hollywood
Science Fiction Cinema 1989-95', Screen, 40(2):
Index
levin; Julian (2002) Interview by author. Audio 158-76. •
recording. los Angeles, 19 November. Prince, Stephen (1996) 'True Lies: Perceptual Realism,
Magid, Ron (1997) 'George lucas: Past, Present and Digital Images and Film Theory', Film Quarterly. 49(3):
Future', American Cinematographer. 78(2): 48-54. 27-38.
Manovich, Lev (1999) 'What is Digital Cinema?'. Ravid, S. Abraham (2005) 'Film Production in the Digital Anderson. Joseph D. 466 genre in cult film and fandom
Abel. Richard 331
Available at: http://Jupiter.ucsd.edu/-manovichJtexti Age - What Do We Know about the Past and the Abu-Lughod, Uia 218. 219. 220 Anhonee485 436-7. 439-50
digital-cinema.html. Future?', in Charles Moul (ed.), A Concise Handbook Academy of Motion Picture Arts and animation 354-5, 505-6 historical materialist
Manovich, Lev (2001) The language of New Media. of Movie Industry Economics. Cambridge: Cambridge Sciences (AMPAS) 14 anthropology of media 216-21. approach 463
aCling 385-9 460-1 identification with camera versus
(ambridge, MA: MIT Press. University Press. pp. 32-58. actor 168
Ades. Dawn 333 feminist perspectives 402. 462
Marshall, P. David (2004) New Media Cultures. London: Savage, Roger (1997) Interview by author. Audio See also cultural studies Indian diaspora and Bollywood
Adler, Mortimer 16. 19
Arnold. recording. Melbourne, 22 May. Adorno. Theodor 20, 98. 165. 168, anti-realism 29,34,42,367.369 471-9
McQuire, Scott (1997) Crossing the Digital Threshold. Schwarz, Charles (2002) Interview by author. Audio 169.170,347.350.368 Antonioni. Michelangelo 21. 22. 27. Internet and ran communities 507
BrisbanelSydney: Australian Key Centre for Culture recording. Los Angeles, 18 November. aesthetic experience and 28.29,37.90. 169. 174. 176. Payne Fund project 16
phenomenology 171 183.293.336 post-structuralist genre
and Media PolicylAustralian Film Commission. Seabrook, John (1997) 'Why Is The Force Still With Us?', perspectives 436. 438-9. 447
aesthetic formalism. See formalism Appadurai, Arjun 126. 135
McQuire, Scott (2006) 'The Politics of Public Space New Yorker. 6 January: 53. screen theol}' 454. 461-2
in Film Studies Archer. Margaret 447
in the Media City', First Monday, 4. Available Trinh, T. Minh-Ha (2005) The Digital Film Event. New aesthelics and modernity 32. 313. Argentine film research 87-93 social histories 277
at: http://www.firstmonday.org/issueslspeciaI11_2/ York: Routledge. 35~1. See also modernily Aristotle 17 sociology of cinema 459-60·
mcquirelindex.html. Valenti, Jack (1982) 'Testimony at "Home Recording aesthetics and poetics 321 Arjon. Daniel 324 star studies 464-5
Mitry, Jean (1963-5) EstMtique et psychologie du of Copyrighted Works"', Hearings before the African cinema 124 Arlt. Roberto 87 structuration theDl}' of genre
aftermarkets 288. 294-5. 305. 503 Arnheim, Rudolf 33-5. 152. 153. 446-51
cinema. 2 vols. Paris: Editions universitaires. Subcommittee of COUrlS, Civil Liberties, and the television studies 265
Agel. Jerome 22 312,315.332,411
Mitry, Jean (1998) The Aesthetics and Psychology of the Administration of Justice of the Committee of
246

Aitken. Ian 25-50. 332, 377 Amo!fini Wedding Portrait 189-90 textual interpretations versus 467
Cinema. Tr. Christopher King. Bloomington: Indiana the Judidary of House of Representatives, Second Alien 445 art deco 348 uses and gratifications
University PresS. Session, 12 April, US Government Printing Office. alienation effec1167-8 art histol}' and cinema 18~96 approach 461
Mosco, Vincent (2004) The Digital Sublime: Myth, Available at: http://cryptome.org/hrcw-hear.htm. Alpers. Svetlana 186 Baudry's "centering" versus women's cinema experience
Altenlob. Emilie 459-60 "mirror" perspectives 185-96 276.464
Power, and Cyberspace. Cambridge, MA: MIT Vogel, Harold (2005) 'Movie Industry Accounting', alternalive public spheres 348-9 See also anthropology of media;
Press. colour 181
in Charles Moul (ed.), A Concise Handbook of Allhusser. Louis 364. 366. 376. 391 French avant-garde 331 cognitivism; cultural studies;
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Movie Industry Economics. Cambridge: Cambridge Allman. Rick 424-5. 437-9. 447 interdisciplinary dialogue 181-2 psychoanalysis and cinema
(2005a) 'MPAA Chief Testifies in Fronl of House University Press. pp. 59-79. Allman. Robert 208. 300. 358 intersecting paradigms 182-4 Austin. Thomas 439
Judiciary Committee', 3 November. Available at: Wang, Shujen (2003) 'Recontextualizing copyright: Amador. Maria Loisa lOS nature and 187 Australian Aborigines 126
American Film Studies 9-23 perspectival systems 181 Australian Film Finance Corporation
http://www.mpaa.org/PressReleases.asp. piracy, Hollywood, the state and globalization', avant-garde 334, 336 (FFC)251
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Cinema Journal. 43(1): 25-43. realism and 19th-centul}' visual
before WW1l12-18 culture 38~ I Australian Filin Studies 112-20
(2oo5b) 'Piracy Data Summary'. Available at: http:// Waterman, David (2005) Hollywood's Road to Riches. Canadian film scholarship See also histol}' and film critical positions 117-19
www.mpaa.orglresearchStatistics.asp. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. versus 10 cultural studies 271
Arthur. Paul 330-1
Motion Picture Assodation of America (MPAA) (2006) Yar, Majid (2005) 'The global "epidemic· of movie cultural studies 270 institutions and journals 114-15
Astrue. Alexandre 36. 411
disciplinary identily 270 personnel 115-17
'2006 U.S. Theatrical Market Statistics'. Available at: ·piracy·: crime-wave or social construction', Media, European inflections of 23 Attridge. Derek 420-1
audience 293. 454-68 political economy 251. 257
http://www.mpaa.org/researchStalistics.asp. Culture and SOCiety. 27(5): 677-96. ideological analysis 299 television studies 117
British Film Studies and 271.
Parisi, Paula (1995) 'The New Hollywood', Wired. Young, Paul (1999) 'The Negative Reinvention of intellectual critique of mass
460-1 university film societies 112-13
3(12). Available at: http://www.wired.comlwired/ Cinema: Late Hollywood in the Early Digital Age', cullure 19-21 Australian JOllrnal of Screen Theory
Museum of Modem Art and cinema definition and 454
archive/3.121new.hollywood.htrnl. Convergence, 5(2): 24-50. digital technology and 467-8 114-15
17-18 Australian Screen Studies
Parisi, Paula (1996a) 'Cameron Angle', Wired, Zimmerman, Patricia (2001) 'Morphing history into poslwar era 2~2 early studies 455-9
early theorizing 459 Association (ASSA) 114
4(4). Available at: http://www.wired.com/archivel histories: from amateur film to the archive of the pragmatism 47-8
economic histories 297 Austrian cinema 47
4.04lcameron/html. future', Moving Image, 1(1): 109-30. professionalizalion 14-15 auteurism and authorship 21-2.
Progressivism 13-14 emotional experience 157-8. 170.
306.458 35-7.408-21,448
WWII and 19-20 avant-gardc and 335-6,412
See also Hollywood cinema; film as social practice 274-6.
456-9 Bordwell. classical style and
specific films. scholars or
film scholars as representative GrandThcory417~19
issues
of 463 Brazilian film studies and 98
American popular culture. impact of
Film Study's need for cultural Cahiers du Cinema and 36-7, 98.
intellectual critique of 19-21
studies 272-4. 276-8 410.412-17.421
Anorkali 481-2
Anderson, Benedict 217 gender differences 460 cull films and 440. 448-9