by Nick Allen.

by Ians.

The celluloid film, used by filmmakers for over a century, is most likely to be overtaken by digital cinema as the preferred mode of film-making by early 2012, and will disappear by 2015.

For 120 years, movies have been distributed on celluloid rolls housed in circular canisters and shown by projectors burning intensely bright carbon arc lamps.

But in early 2012, digital cinema will overtake celluloid globally, with the last celluloid cinemas expected to close shop by 2015.

Many directors still favour the “warm” look of celluloid, which is still preferred by an ace moviemaker like Steven Spielberg.

In Britain, two-thirds of cinemas are already digital. Analyst IHS Screen Digest says celluloid could disappear as early as 2013, the Daily Mail reports.

Read the rest of this article from IBN Live.

Sign up now for your own FREE monthly subscription to “The Director’s Chair” filmmaking ezine and get the first 30 pages of my 220 page Film Directing Multi-Media Online course, “The Art and Craft of the Director Audio Seminar.”

by Louis Bedigian.

The company that popularized the art of shooting with a DSLR is about to release the next evolution in digital cinematography.

Last week, Canon (NYSE: CAJ) unveiled the C300, a new camera designed specifically for high-end filmmakers. Due for release in January at a price of $20K, the C300 comes with a “super 35MM-equivalent 16:9 large CMOS sensor” that shoots 4K images (or not, depending on who you talk to). Thus far, the initial test videos have been very impressive.

This announcement came just as RED announced the final plans and pricing for its long-awaited Scarlet camera, a smaller, less expensive alternative to its previous offerings. Scarlet will retail for just under $10,000 (camera body only), but you can get a ready-to-shoot model for roughly $15,000.

At first glance, Scarlet might sound like the better deal. But RED cameras typically require a bunch of expensive extras. That’s part of the company’s strategy; lure filmmakers with a low base price and hit their pockets later with a plethora of expensive add-ons. While Canon could be planning a similar strategy (ex: you’ll still have to buy the lenses and other equipment separately, but that’s true of most film cameras), the company has one significant advantage over its competitors: filmmakers are already fans of the format.

Read the rest of this article from Forbes.

Sign up now for your own FREE monthly subscription to “The Director’s Chair” filmmaking ezine and get the first 30 pages of my 220 page Film Directing Multi-Media Online course, “The Art and Craft of the Director Audio Seminar.”

by Jim Fisher.

Canon threw its hat into the pro filmmaking ring last night, announcing the new Cinema EOS camera system.

It was only a matter of time before the company made a move like this—it has long been a major player in the consumer and prosumer video camera markets, but also found success in independent filmmaking circles with the 5D Mark II and 7D D-SLR cameras. An episode of the Fox medical drama House, in which most of the action took place inside the rubble of a collapsed building, was shot with a 5D Mark II because of the ability to work in tight spaces using the camera.

Read the rest of this review from PCMag.

Sign up now for your own FREE monthly subscription to “The Director’s Chair” filmmaking ezine and get the first 30 pages of my 220 page Film Directing Multi-Media Online course, “The Art and Craft of the Director Audio Seminar.”

from Daiji World.

Panelists at an open forum on digital tools in filmmaking at the Mumbai Film Festival Saturday were unanimous in endorsing digital technology as the future of the medium.

“We have no choice but to adapt to digital. And unlike in the past, it is not because it is cheaper but because the quality of digital has gone up and it allows you to do a lot more,” said filmmaker Rohan Sippy.

Cinematographer Amit Roy agreed.

“Digital for years was not up to the standards of film. But in the last three to four years, it has changed. The ‘red camera’ was a game changer and now you have the Arri, the 5D and other amazing cameras,” he said.

When someone thinks digital, one thinks only of digital filmmaking. Yet, digital permeates cinema in more ways than one.

Read the rest of this article from Daiji World.

Sign up now for your own FREE monthly subscription to “The Director’s Chair” filmmaking ezine and get the first 30 pages of my 220 page Film Directing Multi-Media Online course, “The Art and Craft of the Director Audio Seminar.”

by Robert Francis Taylor.

The rise of DSLRs has caught the attention of professional filmmakers – but are they a game-changer or a distraction for those who strive for success in the film industry?

If you had spoken to professional cinematographers and filmmakers five years ago and told them that the next breakthrough for guerilla filmmaking was to come from a stills camera, they would have thought you were mad. Flash-forward to the present day, and that is exactly what has happened.

The advent of filmmaking with DSLRs has sprung up and surprised many people with its relatively low-cost but high-end results, giving practically anybody the chance to create eye-catching cinema.

The reason DSLRs have attracted so much attention is because of the sheer quality that they can deliver, despite not coming with the huge price-tag of a traditional film camera. It’s no surprise that cinephiles and industry professionals are starting to sit up and take notice, with this mode of filmmaking even capturing the attention of Darren Aronofsky, who used a Canon 7D and Canon 1D Mk IV to film particular sections of his award-winning film, Black Swan.

Read the rest of this article from Foto Rater.

Sign up now for your own FREE monthly subscription to “The Director’s Chair” filmmaking ezine and get the first 30 pages of my 220 page Film Directing Multi-Media Online course, “The Art and Craft of the Director Audio Seminar.”

by Karen Idelson.

For years, filmmakers have been vexed by a chaotic Wild West of digital file formats that caused everything from dramatic falloffs in image quality to vast jumps in cost. Now, a new fix from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences aims to bring order to this untamed frontier.

While the digital revolution has made a lot of things less expensive and more convenient, there was no standard for how digital elements are shared among the many firms and artists on a project. Files have had to be translated to and from dozens of file formats, with images not always translating properly, quality suffering, and time and money wasted fixing the problems.

Read the rest of this article from Variety.

Sign up now for your own FREE monthly subscription to “The Director’s Chair” filmmaking ezine and get the first 30 pages of my 220 page Film Directing Multi-Media Online course, “The Art and Craft of the Director Audio Seminar.”

by Steve Rose.

When Jean-Luc Godard declared that all you need to make a movie is “a girl and a gun”, he wasn’t being entirely truthful. Above all, you need a camera, which has often been more of a sticking point than the other two.

Professional-quality stills cameras have always been affordable, but even in the digital age movie cameras are traditionally the sort of equipment you hire, or remortgage your house to buy. But that’s all about to change, thanks to – of all things – a stills camera.

Canon’s EOS 7D, released last year, looks no different from any other digital SLR camera you’d take your artful holiday snaps on, but the camera’s video function – traditionally an afterthought on stills cameras – is good enough to shoot a proper movie with.

According to film-maker and photographer Mike Figgis, the 7D is “one of the major breakthroughs in cinematic technology of the last 100 years”.

Read the rest of this article from IOL Scitech.

Sign up now for your own FREE monthly subscription to “The Director’s Chair” filmmaking ezine and get the first 28 pages of my 210 page Film Directing Multi-Media Online course, “The Art and Craft of the Director Audio Seminar.”

by Alexandra Savvides.

Philip Bloom is one of the most important film-makers working with digital SLRs today.

Philip has most recently worked on the George Lucas film Red Tails, but he’s been active as a director, cameraman and director of photography for the past 20 years. Here’s a few of Philip’s tips and tricks for film-makers using digital SLRs as their tool of choice.

Read the rest of this article from Cnet.

Sign up now for your own FREE monthly subscription to “The Director’s Chair” filmmaking ezine and get the first 28 pages of my 210 page Film Directing Multi-Media Online course, “The Art and Craft of the Director Audio Seminar.”

Scott Simmons Interview: Useful Applications For Digital Filmmakers

Scott talks about some handy, useful Macintosh applications that would be at home in any digital filmmaker’s toolbox. The software discussed runs the gamut from free to paid, a few dollars up to a few hundred. While all stages of filmmaking is discussed with useful tools for pre-production, production and post-production, a strong emphasis is placed on post production.

Listen to this Podcast now at Filmmaking Webinars.

—–
Sign up now for your own FREE monthly subscription to “The Director’s Chair” filmmaking ezine and get the first 28 pages of my 210 page Film Directing Multi-Media Online course, “The Art and Craft of the Director Audio Seminar.”
—–