‘Celluloid or Silicon?’ Digital Cinema and the Future of Specialised Film Exhibition

Abstract

Cinema’s future is currently claimed to rest with the development of electronic cinema (e-cinema) and digital cinema (d-cinema). In many instances the terms are used interchangeably, though broadly speaking e-cinema is concerned with the development of digital technologies across the levels of film production, distribution and exhibition, whilst d-cinema is concerned with distribution and exhibition. According to Watson and Morris, d-cinema can be defined as ‘the projection of fulllength feature films to audiences in a purpose-built cinema where the quality of projection is not less than that provided by current 35mm technology’ (2002: 5). Put more simply, ‘digital cinema’ refers to the distribution and exhibition of feature films to cinemas for theatrical screenings. In large part this means material that was originally shot on film and subsequently transferred into digital form (often referred to as ‘telecining’). For the purposes of this discussion the definition of d-cinema largely excludes the production and post-production stages of film-making. As Culkin and Randle (2003: 81) point out: ‘For years to come, many or perhaps most mainstream motion pictures will continue to be shot on 35mm film, and that it is in mastering, distribution and exhibition that the current d-cinema revolution is taking place’.