Abstract
The digital revolution changed film production in many ways. Until the end of the 20th century, most film professionals and critics preferred celluloid film. However, no previous empirical study compared complete narrative films recorded with analog and digital cinematography. Three short narrative films were produced with an analog and a digital camera attached to a 3D rig in order to control all optical parameters. In postproduction, a third version of a digital film was created to mimic the analog film aesthetics. In a cinema experiment with 356 participants, we tested whether the three film versions are perceived differently. The two capturing technologies produced similar emotional and immersive experiences during digital projection. The study revealed significant differences in the memory of visual details, with higher recall scores for the digitally captured versions. By contrast, preference ratings of very short scenes and the comparison of projection types revealed different results. The mechanical projection of celluloid film produced higher levels of emotional reactions. The results might be of interest to film professionals and audience in general. This study shows that the gap between analog and digital aesthetics has been closed with today’s advanced digital technology.
Highlights
Both digital and analog cameras capture light waves entering through a lens
The digital Red One camera used in the pilot still had noticeable limitations in terms of dynamic range and color reproduction, compared to analog film and to the newer digital camera used in the main experiment
Digital images, so the critics, impose more perceptual adaptation and produce some kind of “hyperreality.” In “Bukimi No Tani” (不気味の 谷, The Uncanny Valley, 1970/2012), Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori described an interesting hypothesis in the field of robot aesthetics similar to these assumptions: Human observers have a spontaneous response of discomfort while watching robots or movie avatars that look like natural beings and move in an almost realistic, but not completely perfect manner
Summary
Both digital and analog cameras capture light waves entering through a lens. In the emulsion of analog film, silver bromide crystals turn into metallic silver when exposed to light and subsequently developed in chemical baths. Feature a dynamic range of 14 f-stops (as opposed to 5-7 f-stops in early models) and can cope with a far larger tone range between dark and bright areas on the set In this regard, they are superior to analog film stock, which is capable of processing approximately 12 to 14 f-stops (Flueckiger, 2011). The film strip is moved frame by frame after every exposure – normally 24 frames per second – while the electronic light sensor remains in its position (Webers, 2007; cf Stump, 2014) Another area where analog and digital films differ is color reproduction: Whereas digital formats are based on additive admixtures of red, green, and blue light, a film negative contains in its separate layers cyan, magenta, and yellow dyes that filter the projection light in a subtractive process.
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