Digital Film Research Articles

Filmic geographies: the rise of digital film as a research method and output

The advent of digital has led to the proliferation of moving image data, signalling a shift not only in what we research, but in the way research is carried out and reported. The subsequent increase in interest in the use of digital film in the discipline is therefore not surprising, but critical reflections on the possibilities and limitations of the medium are lacking. In this special section of Area, I have drawn together a series of papers from practice‐led authors to reflect on the complexities, tensions and difficulties that are caught up with the potential of using film as research method and output. Here, I introduce the different papers and reflect on the legacy of analogue video and film in the humanities and social sciences. I argue that while they should not be ignored, the resulting geographical categorisations of film that were developed when the process was analogue – placing film either as a text that should be analysed and/or a visual research method – currently restrict our further understanding of this nascent form of knowledge production.

Reliability of the BI-RADS Final Assessment Categories and Management Recommendations in a Telemammography Context

PurposeThe aim of this study was to evaluate the intradevice and interdevice reliability of four alternatives for telemammography—computed radiography, printed film, a film digitizer, and a digital camera—in terms of interpretation agreement when using the BI-RADS® lexicon. MethodsThe ethics committee of the authors’ institution approved this retrospective study. A factorial design with repeated measures with 1,960 interpretations was used (70 patients, seven radiologists, and four devices). Reliability was evaluated using the κ coefficient for intradevice and interdevice agreement on malignancy classification and on BI-RADS final assessment category. ResultsAgreement on malignancy classification was higher than agreement for BI-RADS final assessment category. Interdevice agreement on malignancy classification between the film digitizer and computed radiography was ranked as almost perfect (P < .001), whereas interdevice agreement for the other alternatives was ranked as substantial (P < .001), with observed agreement ranging from 85% to 91% and κ values ranging from 0.70 to 0.81. Interdevice agreement on BI-RADS final assessment category was ranked as substantial or moderate (P < .001), with observed agreement ranging from 64% to 77% and κ values ranging from 0.52 to 0.69. Interdevice agreement was higher than intradevice agreement. ConclusionsThe results of this study show very high interdevice agreement, especially for management recommendations derived from malignancy classification, which is one of the most important outcomes in screening programs. This study provides evidence to suggest the interchangeability of the devices evaluated, thereby enabling the provision of low-cost medical imaging services to underserved populations.

As film goes byte: The change from analog to digital film perception.

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.

Virtual worlds provide real learning benefits

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Compares learner experiences of recorded instructional videos (DVDs) with Machinima, digital films made in virtual worlds. Analysis of learner responses showed that participants prefer Machinima as a learning delivery mechanism. Participants also reported being better able to concentrate on the message because there were fewer distractions such as the appearance, dress and mannerisms of real actors. Practical implications The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Prosthetic Aortic Valve Fixation Study: 48 Replacement Valves Analyzed Using Digital Pressure Mapping.

Prostheses attachment is critical in aortic valve replacement surgery, yet reliable prosthetic security remains a challenge. Accurate techniques to analyze prosthetic fixation pressures may enable the use of fewer sutures while reducing the risk of paravalvular leaks (PVL). Customized digital thin film pressure transducers were sutured between aortic annulus models and 21-mm bioprosthetic valves with 15 × 4-mm, 12 × 4-mm, or 9 × 6-mm-wide pledgeted mattress sutures. Simulating open and minimally invasive access, 4 surgeons, blinded to data acquisition, each secured 12 valves using manual knot-tying (hand-tied [HT] or knot-pusher [KP]) or automated titanium fasteners (TFs). Real-time pressure measurements and times were recorded. Two-dimensional (2D) and 3D pressure maps were generated for all valves. Pressures less than 80 mm Hg were considered at risk for PVL. Pressures under each knot (intrasuture) fell less than 80 mm Hg for 12 of 144 manual knots (5/144 HT, 7/144 KP) versus 0 of 288 TF (P < 0.001). Pressures outside adjacent sutures (extrasuture) were less than 80 mm Hg in 10 of 60 HT, zero of 60 KP, and zero of 120 TF sites for 15 × 4-mm valves; 17 of 48 HT, 25 of 48 KP, and 12 of 96 TF for 12 × 4-mm valves; and 15 of 36 HT, 17 of 36 KP, and 9 and 72 TF for 9 × 6-mm valves; P < 0.001 all manual versus TF. Annular areas with pressures less than 80 mm Hg ranged from 0% of the sewing-ring area (all open TF) to 31% (12 × 4 mm, KP). The average time per manual knot, 46 seconds (HT, 31 seconds; KP, 61 seconds), was greater than TF, 14 seconds (P < 0.005). Reduced operative times and PVL risk would fortify the advantages of surgical aortic valve replacement. This research encourages continued exploration of technical factors in optimizing prosthetic valve security.

Short subject: Expanded epistemologies: Animation meets live action in contemporary Swedish documentary film

Abstract This short subject studies configurations of animation and live action in contemporary Swedish documentary film. While digitization has challenged the indexical image’s verifying function, animation has been elevated to the level of legitimate document. The epistemological boundaries of documentary film have consequently been expanded, and now include the inner worlds of social subjects. In Gömd (Hidden) (Heilborn and Aronowitsch, 2002), animation and live action are repeatedly juxtaposed in order to visualize a refugee child’s experienced Otherness. In Still Born (Sandzén, 2014), ultrasound footage is fused with digital film and animation to manifest the merging perspectives of a mourning mother and her aborted child.

SU‐F‐T‐173: One‐Scan Protocol: Verifying the Delivery of Spot‐Scanning Proton Beam

Purpose:Radiochromic film for spot‐scanning QA provides high spatial resolution and efficiency gains from one‐shot irradiation for multiple depths. However, calibration can be a tedious procedure which may limit widespread use. Moreover, since there may be an energy dependence, which manifests as a depth dependence, this may require additional measurements for each patient. We present a one‐scan protocol to simplify the procedure.Methods:We performed the calibration using an EBT3 film at depths of 18, 20, 24cm of Plastic Water exposed by a 6‐level step‐wedge plan on a Proteus Plus proton system (IBA, Belgium). The calibration doses ranged 65–250 cGy(RBE) for proton energies of 170–200MeV. A clinical prostate+nodes plan was used for validation. The planar doses at selected depths were measured with EBT3 films and analyzed using one‐scan protocol (one‐scan digitization of QA film and at least one film exposed to known dose). The Gamma passing rates, dose‐difference maps, and profiles of 2D planar doses measured with EBT3 film, IBA MatriXX PT, versus TPS calculations were analyzed and compared.Results:The EBT3 film measurement results matched well with the TPS calculation data with an average passing rate of ∼95% for 2%/2mm and slightly lower passing rates were obtained from an ion chamber array detector. We were able to demonstrate that the use of a proton step‐wedge provided clinically acceptable results and minimized variations between film‐scanner orientation, inter‐scan, and scanning conditions. Furthermore, it could be derived from no more than two films exposed to known doses (one could be zero) for rescaling the master calibration curve at each depth.Conclusion:The use of a proton step‐wedge for calibration of EBT3 film increases efficiency. The sensitivity of the calibration to depth variations has been explored. One‐scan protocol results appear to be comparable to that of the ion chamber array detector.One author has a research grant from Ashland Inc., the manufacturer of the GafChromic film.

SU-G-TeP2-07: Dosimetric Characterization of a New HDR Multi-Channel Esophageal Applicator for Brachytherapy

Purpose: To characterize the dose distribution of a new multi-channel esophageal applicator for brachytherapy HDR treatment, and particularly the effect of the presence of air or water in the applicator's expansion balloon. Methods: A new multi-channel (6) inflatable applicator for esophageal HDR has been developed in house and tested in a simple water phantom. CT image sets were obtained under several balloon expansions (80ml of air, 50 cc of water), and channel loadings and used with the Oncentra (Elekta) planning system based on TG43 formalism. 400 cGy was prescribed to a plane 1cm away from the applicator. Planar dose distributions were measured for that plane and one next to the applicator using Gafchromic EBT3 film and scanned by a Vidar VXR-12 film digitizer. Film and TPS generated dose distributions of film were sent to OmniPro I'mRT (iba DOSIMETRY) for analysis. 2D dose profiles in both X and Y directions were compared and gamma analysis performed. Results: Film dose measurement of the air-inflated applicator is lower than the TPS calculated dose by as much as 60%. Only 80.8% of the pixels passed the gamma criteria (3%/3mm). For the water-inflated applicator, the measured film dose is fairly close to the TPS calculated dose (typically within <3%). 99.84% of the pixels passed the gamma criteria (3%/3mm). Conclusion: TG43 based calculations worked well when water was used in the expansion balloon. However, when air is present in that balloon, the neglect of heterogeneity corrections in the TG43 calculation results in large differences between calculated and measured doses. This could result in severe underdosing when used in a patient. This study illustrates the need for a TPS with an advanced algorithm which can account for heterogeneity. Supported by Innovations Department, Cleveland Clinic.

Baseline trabecular bone and its relation to incident radiographic knee osteoarthritis and increase in joint space narrowing score: directional fractal signature analysis in the MOST study

To explore the association of baseline trabecular bone structure with incident tibiofemoral (TF) osteoarthritis (OA) and with increase in joint space narrowing (JSN) score. The Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) includes subjects with or at risk for knee OA. Knee radiographs were scored for Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade and JSN at baseline, 30, 60 and 84 months. Knees (KL≤1) at baseline were assessed for incident OA (KL≥2) and increases in JSN score. For each knee image at baseline, a variance orientation transform method (VOT) was applied to subchondral tibial bone regions of medial and lateral compartments. Seventeen fractal parameters were calculated per region. Associations of each parameter with OA incidence and with medial and lateral JSN increases were explored using logistic regression. Analyses were stratified by digitized film (DF) vs computer radiography (CR) and adjusted for confounders. Of 894 knees with CR and 1158 knees with DF, 195 (22%) and 303 (26%) developed incident OA. Higher medial bone roughness was associated with increased odds of OA incidence at 60 and 84 months and also, medial and lateral JSN increases (primarily vertical). Lower medial and lateral anisotropy was associated with increased odds of medial and lateral JSN increase. Compared to DF, CR had more associations and also, similar results at overlapping scales. Baseline trabecular bone texture was associated with incident radiographic OA and increase of JSN scores independently of risk factors for knee OA. Higher roughness and lower anisotropy were associated with increased odds for radiographic OA change.

Primary Study of Attitudes of Schoolchildren in Rural and Remote Areas Toward Digital Imaging Learning―Taking Film-Making Summer Camp as an Example

No matter how fast or wide digital technology develops, because of the gap between urban and rural areas, a digital divide in the education system still exists. The researchers joined the digital film-making summer camp, where the major objective was to decrease the digital divide between urban and rural areas. Thirty schoolchildren from one primary school in Tainan City, Taiwan, participated in the project as research subjects, and were divided into two groups. By implementing self-edited digital film making learning materials, questionnaire surveys, and performing descriptive statistics analysis, t-test and Levene’s Test with SPSS software, the study aims to understand the schoolchildren’s capability in digital imaging, and to discuss their learning attitude towards educational activities and feelings during filming.

Tiny Life: Technology and Masculinity in the Films of David Fincher

I don't know how much movies should entertain. To me, I am always interested in movies that scar.-David Fincher (Salisbury 83)in the preceding quote david fincher suggests that the best films penetrate and sometimes arrest our senses to the degree that they leave a mark on our psyche that persists long after the film has ended. As we know, films themselves can also be scarred. Whether the scars are made deliberately or through the wear and tear caused by transport, repeated viewing, or faulty machinery, a film print sustains marks that suggest the extent of the geography it has traversed. In both of these cases, we (and Fincher) assume that the scar is evidence of the pricking of a fixed entity-whether human or filmic. But how do we come to understand this process differently when the very nature of knowing and feeling bodies is changing? With the turn from analog to digital film, and as our own bodies are becoming increasingly intertwined with technology, we must ask now more than ever, how do we "feel" and "know" when scars have been inflicted?Fincher's comments are resonant when we think about how changing conceptions of embodiment-particularly those that accompany rapid technological change-often coexist with a longing for the security of known tactile surfaces that can be marked and for bodies that can feel and register those marks. Indeed, a certain anxiety arises when the forward momentum of innovation is mixed with nostalgia for the certainty of the past. This complex dynamic is central to conversations about the digital era and the degree to which its innovations are intertwined with bodies: the bodies that labor to create this technology, those bodies being replaced by this technology, and the new (non)body of the technology that is being invented.These concerns about the links between technology and embodiment, specifically male embodiment, figure prominently in Fincher's oeuvre. His preference for shooting on digital film and inserting CGI techniques into dramatic live-action narratives is not simply part of his aesthetic signature but is inextricably intertwined with his films' contemplation of the connections between corporeality and identity, feeling and knowing, texture and surface-connections that come to a head in and through his male characters' journeys of self-discovery. The following analysis will map out how these intersecting issues flow in and out of Fincher's work by tracing how his diegetic and extradiegetic preoccupation with corporeal and digital materiality corresponds with many of the most compelling ontological questions discussed in new media scholarship over the last fifteen years and with the politics surrounding the changing landscape of gender identity that has accompanied these technological transformations. Although these concerns are present to varying degrees in all of Fincher's films, they are most pronounced in Fight Club (1999), Zodiac (2007), and The Social Network (2011)- culminating, I will argue, in the latter.Zodiac was the first film ever to be shot directly to a hard drive and uses CGI to explore the ultimately futile investigative efforts of its male protagonists, serving as a cogent exemplification of many of the aesthetic and thematic tropes on which The Social Network would later expand. Fight Club-the director's best-known and most culturally influential film, made eight years prior to Zodiac and eleven years prior to The Social Network-points to how the increasingly consumerist, technology-driven world of the late 1990s chipped away at a sense of "authentic" embodiment (both in and of the film), yet the distinction between the corporeal and virtual, the real and imitation, remained discernable. The Social Network complicates these distinctions. Indeed, as I will discuss in the last part of the analysis, it is the most exemplary of this subgroup of Fincher's films because its story and its own status as a film raise crucial questions about the virility and visibility of the literal and figurative male body. …

Short subject: An alternative digital film culture: The new independent Norwegian film production

Abstract In Norway, a number of independent feature films have been produced in the last fifteen years that received no government support and are distributed digitally. I argue that new digital tools have made it possible to create a new Norwegian film culture, outside or on the margins of ordinary film culture. These new, mostly B-films challenge the concept of art cinema, ‘quality’ film production and Norwegian cultural values, and have become a vibrant complement to mainstream film culture.

Noninferiority and Equivalence Evaluation of Clinical Performance among Computed Radiography, Film, and Digitized Film for Telemammography Services

Objective. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the clinical performance of different alternatives to implement low-cost screening telemammography. We compared computed radiography, film printed images, and digitized films produced with a specialized film digitizer and a digital camera. Material and Methods. The ethics committee of our institution approved this study. We assessed the equivalence of the clinical performance of observers for cancer detection. The factorial design included 70 screening patients, four technological alternatives, and cases interpreted by seven radiologists, for a total of 1,960 observations. The variables evaluated were the positive predictive value (PPV), accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC). Result. The mean values for the observed variables were as follows: accuracy ranged from 0.77 to 0.82, the PPV ranged from 0.67 to 0.68, sensitivity ranged from 0.64 to 0.74, specificity ranged from 0.87 to 0.90, and the AUC ranged from 0.87 to 0.90. At a difference of 0.1 to claim equivalence, all alternatives were equivalent for all variables. Conclusion. Our findings suggest that telemammography screening programs may be provided to underserved populations at a low cost, using a film digitizer or a digital camera.

As film goes byte: The change from analog to digital film perception

As film goes byte: The change from analog to digital film perception

Design of Film Digitizer Equipment and Film Weld DefectRecognition Technology in Pressure Vessel

According to the characteristics of image defects, this paper integrated use of image preprocessing, image segmentation algorithms, expert systems and other methods, presented a film weld defect identification method for non-destructive testing in the pressure vessel weld defect recognition, and to achieve in MATLAB. This paper also described the expert system’s basic principles, structure, establish methods and identification strategy. In the light of the weld defect characteristics from different levels of recognition, through continuous testing to improve the film defect system library and to further enhance the defect recognition rate.

Image Format Conversion to DICOM and Lookup Table Conversion to Presentation Value of the Japanese Society of Radiological Technology (JSRT) Standard Digital Image Database.

Japanese Society of Radiological Technology (JSRT) standard digital image database contains many useful cases of chest X-ray images, and has been used in many state-of-the-art researches. However, the pixel values of all the images are simply digitized as relative density values by utilizing a scanned film digitizer. As a result, the pixel values are completely different from the standardized display system input value of digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM), called presentation value (P-value), which can maintain a visual consistency when observing images using different display luminance. Therefore, we converted all the images from JSRT standard digital image database to DICOM format followed by the conversion of the pixel values to P-value using an original program developed by ourselves. Consequently, JSRT standard digital image database has been modified so that the visual consistency of images is maintained among different luminance displays.

Ethics and Digital Film

Ethics and Digital Film

Sparse-view neutron CT reconstruction of irradiated fuel assembly using total variation minimization with Poisson statistics

We inspect the nuclear fuel assembly by demonstrating the potential use of sparse-view neutron computed tomography. The projection images of the fuel assembly were collected at the Idaho National Laboratory hot fuel examination facility using indirect foil-film transfer technique. The radiographs were digitized using a commercial film digitizer and registered spatially for reconstruction. Digitized data were reconstructed using simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (SART) with total variation minimization using a dual approach for numerical solution assuming the projection data are corrupted by Poisson noise. To validate and evaluate the performance of the algorithm, visual inspections, as well as quantitative evaluation studies using a computer simulation data and the experimental data of the fuel assembly were carried out. The proposed method provides better reconstruction for both simulated and experimental case in terms of artifact reduction, higher SNR, and better spatial resolution compared to the reconstruction yielded by filtered back projection and SART reconstruction.

From Light to Byte: Toward an Ethics of Digital CinemaTime and the Digital: Connecting Technology, Aesthetics and a Process Philosophy of Time

These two books situate themselves at the crux of philosophy and art, and by extension cinema and new media art. Both draw heavily on the philosophy of time as theorized by Gilles Deleuze and Henri Bergson, among others, reinvigorating and expanding upon their ideas for the current digital age. Both also explore the concept of time and the temporal with regard to its relationship with and in digital technologies. However, their authors' views on the relationship between time and the digital, while not contradictory, may be viewed as complementary inasmuch as they provide different perspectives on this fundamental dimension of new art forms. Markos Hadjioannou focuses primarily on film as a medium, exploring the differences between celluloid and digital film and the implications of these. This view of time as experience contrasts with that of Timothy Scott Barker, who instead sees the temporal as a part of technology itself; this he does through reference to equipment and to various forms of new media such as the database.

The study on metareality expressed in digital fashion film

Technological change leads to a value shift in human society. Various cultural experiences through the digital paradigm influence the expression of fashion. This article considers fashion film as a new form for presenting fashion and explores the distinctiveness of expression in digital fashion film. For the methodology, a literature review was conducted to examine the concepts and features of digital fashion film and metareality. Empirical research was also performed by drawing from Nick Knight's digital films, Sans Couture, #asif, and Elegant Universe and by specifically analyzing the classification of the themes, visuals, and auditory expression. The results are as follows. The proliferation of fashion film has accelerated in the internet environment. New media in the digital era allows images to become more realistic and variable through immaterial conversion. Metareality is the notion of a reality beyond existence. A metarealistic image maintains the metaphysical nature of an object and transcends empirical appearance. It possesses immaterial, transboundary, and multidimensional features, and the image is realized by digital technology. The expression analysis identifies the metareality expressed in contemporary fashion film appearing as atypical forms, irrational combinations, and the playfulness of motion. It shows a positive attitude, transcending the immaterial limit of reality toward fashion. This study indicates how fashion as products challenges the metaphysical transformation in the digital era. The exploration of metareality in digital fashion film promotes a wider perspective and understanding of the concept of fashion.