by Marcus Weise

What Is Digital Cinema?

Until just recently, theatrical features were presented by projecting 35mm print film through a mechanical film projector onto a screen. Digital Cinema is the projection of a theatrical motion picture through a digital video projection system. This is accomplished by taking an already produced motion picture that was created using 35mm film, converting it to digital video and storing it on computer hard drives. These drives can then be installed at a theater or the material can be transferred from an originating source by cable or satellite to the theater and shown to the audience. . Theatrical features may now also be produced using digital video instead of film and then follow the same process for exhibition. This heralds a significant change in the production and distribution of theatrical features.

Prior Technological Changes In Film

To understand how and why this is happening we need to look at the past to understand the future. Creation of a feature film encompasses five stages: production, post-production, distribution, exhibition and storage. Until now the technological changes in the motion picture industry have been in the areas of production and post-production. The basic changes have been the addition of sound, color, wide screen photography, digital sound and the creation of CGI or computer generated images. For these changes to take place, they must be accepted by the creative community, the production studios, the distributors, the exhibitors and finally the public. Any change brings with it costs, both economic and human. If the overall economics prove beneficial and the theatrical experience more enjoyable, it increases the chances that the changes will be accepted.

New Technological Changes In Theatrical Features

The recent technological changes in the motion picture and television industries have been made possible by the creation of digital technology that grew out of the computer industry. The major changes now taking place in theatrical features are in the method by which features are distributed, exhibited and stored. The reasons for these changes are both economic and creative. Digital distribution and exhibition reduces print costs. Where the usual print costs for a feature could be in the tens of millions of dollars, the same feature could be distributed electronically using digital media for about one million dollars. Considering that domestic print costs overall for the industry are in the area of eight hundred to nine hundred million dollars a year, the economics become obvious.

Piracy Protection

Piracy is a major, if not the major concern of producers and distributors. As soon as the first print is made of a film it is subject to theft in a variety of ways. By digitizing and encrypting the images much as the cable and satellite companies do with television signals, it is possible to sharply curtail theft of material. The systems developed for safeguarding the storage and transmission of features are extremely sophisticated and while not bullet proof, as nothing is, are of such complexity as to provide excellent protection. 

The digital method of distribution is much easier, faster, less expensive and more secure than using a film print. There are no prints to create or ship, no physical handling of film. Once film has been transferred to a digital medium, it can be transmitted via satellite or cable to any theater or all the theaters at once. If the material originated as digital video the process is even simpler. The product can be transmitted any place in the worldas encrypted data. . Decryption takes place in the projection system only and is thereby protected. No new prints ever need to be sent out, as digital material does not wear or get scratched or dirty, lose its color, get noisy or in any way lose quality. The last showing of the feature perhaps months later, will look just as good as the first showing. 

Theatrical Exhibition In Digital Cinema

In exhibition, digital cinema allows for more theaters to be built more economically. Multi-screen film theaters require several operators and a great deal of manual handling of the prints. For a single screen local theater at least one operator is needed. With digital projection, multiple theaters can be run simultaneously from a central location by one operator, perhaps even in a remote location. Computers keep track of equipment and operations and alert the operator to possible problems before they occur, much the way television and radio stations handle their technical operations by remote control. This type of operation allows more theaters to be built in the same location. It allows construction of theaters in places that up to now would not be economically viable. Thus, small towns or rural areas in this country as well as in countries such as China, Russia and Africa can be afforded a theater, opening up new markets. More features can be made as the demand increases and the technology makes exhibition easier. While the initial cost of the projector and the required technology may be more expensive than the current systems, the savings that occur in construction and operating costs as well as additional revenue from the creation of the new markets more than offset this.

There is an added advantage for the distributor and exhibitor that goes beyond theatrical features. With satellite and cable distribution and digital video projection, the theater can be used for more than just motion pictures. In the off times or at any time the theater can be used for business conferences, teaching, entertainment other than films such as sporting events, "live" theater, concerts and the like. This increases the usefulness of the site and its potential economic value in both urban settings and rural and less accessible areas. 

Digital High Definition Production

More and more theatrical features are being produced in high definition video. Most of the technology has been in place for many years in the form of satellites, cable systems, phone lines, fiber optics and video compression and encryption. Satellite technology allows signals to be sent and received almost anywhere in the world, even in areas that presently do not have telephone service or television.

Video in any form, digital or analog until recently has not been up to the quality standards of 35mm film. The original technology gave video about one tenth the resolving capability of 35mm film, that is the ability to reproduce detail in an image. The development of digital high definition video has equipped video signals with the same or better resolution capability as 35mm motion picture film with the added benefits of immediate access to the image, better control of the parameters of the image and at much lower cost overall. In addition, many features these days contain material that is created in computers as digital video and then transferred to film. Instead of fixing it in post, we are creating it in post. These elements can now be kept in their original digital video form. The new high definition video cameras use the standard of 1080 horizontal scan lines per frame at 24 frames per second in a progressive scan. Twenty-four frames per second was chosen as the frame rate so that the video would match current North American film standards. So far, these changes are being cautiously welcomed by distributors and exhibitors who see the economic benefits. The audience has been very accepting of the new technology. Most of the feedback from the theater audiences that have seen digital video projection has been very positive. One of the main comments was the lack of dirt and scratches. The creative community has approached it all a bit more skeptically. 

The Effect Of Digital Cinema On Feature Production

In the production of a feature using 35mm film there are many steps along the way that affect how the film is finally seen in the theater. The camera original negative is used only once for the creation of an Interpositive or IP. From the IP an Internegative is created and it is this negative that will eventually be cut to conform with the edited work print and used to create prints. Consequently, any theatrical print is four generations down from the original negative and print quality can vary widely both in actual mechanical creation and in viewing depending on how many times it has been through the projector. Thus, a great deal of detail that is captured on the original camera negative never makes it to the screen. Because of this loss, some possibly undesirable aspects in production are actually hidden. Some of these lost details occur in the area of make-up, props, set decorating and photography. 

With the transfer of film to digital video, these "details" become glaringly apparent. For example, you might see the line of a hair piece that would not be visible from a film print. The reason is that the transfer of the film to digital high definition video takes place using either the camera original negative or the IP. In any event there is little to no generational loss in the original transfer and no loss at all in successive generations. Once a signal has been digitized, every copy no matter how many generations down is the same as the original. So all the detail that was in the original negative shows up on the screen, for better or worse. These details are even more apparent when the originating medium is digital high definition video. 
Production companies, make-up people, DPs, LDs, set decorators, designers and above all, Directors discover that they need to relearn their craft as many aspects of production and post-production have changed with the changes in technology. This is not very different from the past when sound was added or color. These new aspects of production will be multiplied as more features are photographed in digital high definition video. As more production companies and distributors realize the economic benefits of this form of production, distribution and exhibition, we will see film take a lesser role as a production medium with digital video and computer generated images becoming the primary vehicle. Film will never disappear, but it will take a smaller role.

Reprinted from:
DGA Magazine September, 1999 Revised 2004
Copyright © 1999