What does the future hold?
Look at the differences between the ways films were made just thirty
years ago compared to how they are now.
People were probably saying cinema was in trouble back then as well, but
the technological advances of recent years have helped cinema endure and will
continue to do so further ahead than you can probably imagine.
Performance and story are still the key to success, of
course, but the technological changes are enhancing the experience and giving
moviegoers reason to part with their cash.
Furthermore, the quantity is set to improve within the foreseeable
future. For decades, movies have been
filmed at twenty-four frames-per-second and then projected onto the big screen
with a shutter system showing the same frame a couple of times, boosting the
overall frame rate and reducing signs of flicker being visible to the
audience. When a 3D movie is filmed and
put on display at twenty-four frames-per-second, strobing and judder can become
more apparent. Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy has been filmed at
forty-eight frames-per-second as well as in 3D.
James Cameron has said that the next two sequels to his record-breaking
smash, Avatar, will be shot at sixty
frames-per-second. It could be argued
that Cameron embraces these advances more than any other filmmaker. When he made Terminator, in 1984, they used stop-motion animation, miniature
models and glass paintings for the special effects. These days, all the effects are digital and
he doesn’t shoot on celluloid anymore.
When explaining high frame rate movies, Cameron has said, “If watching a
3D movie is like looking through a window, then (with this) we’ve taken the
glass out of the window and we’re staring at reality.”
Of course, this will mainly apply to the mega-budget mainstream
offerings. Hollywood is run by accountants and the
target market has to be catered for.
But, the recent film festival at Cannes
emphasises that the artistry in filmmaking is just as strong as ever. The independent film system continues to provide
a stream of talent and promises to go from strength to strength as the medium
becomes more accessible. Emerging talent
is usually recognised and a fraction are sometimes lucky enough to become
embraced by the studio system.
Christopher Nolan and Duncan Jones cut their teeth on the independent
circuit before moving to the studio system.
More recently, following the success of his low-budget indie hit Monsters, Gareth Edwards has been given
the task of helming the big-budget behemoth that is Godzilla.
Another avenue for independent filmmakers is the
internet. If you look hard enough,
you’ll find impressive shorts that you would expect to have been made on a much
larger budget than they actually have been.
Again, this stems from the technological advances in the tools
available.
As movies become more accessible, viewers crave more quality
content as the selection becomes saturated.
Movies now have to stand out to succeed and strike while the iron is
hot. Iron Man 3 was available to pre-order on Blu-Ray and DVD before it
was even released in the cinema. These
days, when something is released on DVD, it is simultaneously available via an
On-Demand service as well, with the gap since it cinema release now averaging
three months. Taking this further, British
filmmaker Ben Wheatley recently announced that his new film, A Field in England, will be
simultaneously released in the cinema, on DVD, available On-Demand and screened
on Film Four on the same day. It’ll be
interesting to see what happens. Will
people still pay to see it at the cinema or buy the DVD when they can watch it
free on Film Four the same day?
