Digital Cinematography

Transforming the World of Filmmaking 

When it comes to film making, I believe that cinematography is the most essential part. It involves the capturing of the movie in a celluloid film. In the early years, movies doesn’t have sound, films are more focus on the entire picture. However, with the advancement in technology, the addition of sounds to the films has been possible. In this article, I will discuss more about digital cinematography. 

I must say that digital cinematography is the same with film cinematography, wherein it captures a series of steady images at 24 frames every second. Digital images are stored in flash memory or hard drives. It is safe to say that most of the features films that are shot today are partly in a digital video format.

Pros and Cons

One advantage that I see in using digital video is that you don’t need to wait for the laboratory to process the film. Another advantage will be the cost. It will cost $1,500 to print a copy of a film in a 35 mm film and then shipped it to theaters inside a metal container. For example, if you will be sending 4,000 copies, it will be $6 million as compared to the expenses for digital copy which is $150 times 4,000, which is 10% of the cost of traditional film copy.

On the other hand, I also observed some disadvantages of digital cinematography. Digital copy tends to be an unreliable and poor medium of storage unlike film, which can last for hundred years. Some small theaters also closed because the cost of going digital is expensive.

Digital Cinema Formats

Digital cinema formats are modified in horizontal resolution. I described these video formats as 24 frames a second and progressive scan which is the frame rate of a movie.

Digital Cinema Cameras

The camera sensors capture film images with CCD or CMOS sensors. I can compare digital cinema cameras with DSLR camera which uses one camera sensor that ranges from 16-35 mm film frame to 65 mm film frame. Digital cinema cameras are also made with PV, PL, and same lens mounts which allows the usage of wide range of high-end cinematography lenses. The large sensors also let the camera to have same shallow field depth of 35 mm film cameras. 

There are several video cameras available in the market nowadays, which I think are specially designed to be use for high-end digital cinematography. These video cameras offer large sensors, selections for frame rates, as well as the ability to utilize optics with high quality. 

Traditionally, cinematography only involves recording of motion pictures in celluloid film, however, the modernization and advancement in technology have emerged where digital cameras are being utilized to create video films. I should say that modern cinematography also involves digital photography. With the use of digital cameras, it is possible to create different cinema effects in addition to motion pictures recording.

Digital technology is changing how I look at movies and what films look like. From the budgeted movies capture in digital copy to blockbusters one with computer-generated imagery, I must say that digital cinematography has transformed the world of movie making.