The New Identity Of Films

Abstract This essay discusses how the evolution of digital technology has impacted the film industry over the past century and the way in which films have adapted to the new challenge raised by digital cinema. This article looks more to digital technology as a remediating process that has established a new direction for film industry. From the heart of a film writer and producer to the reborn of the Phoenix bird, the essay combines various elements of academic literature, film magazines and an exclusive interview with the producer of the film 'The Devil and the Fog'.

Introduction This essay looks at the transition of traditional films to digital films as the ultimate challenge of the century with the emergence of digital technology. In the first part of the essay I go through a journey of filmmaking and cinema, with different stops along the way, particularly in the Digital Age. For the purpose of this paper, I have defined Digital Cinema as new modes of montage that shifted to computer generated special effects, enabling the filmmakers to refashion their narrative structure. In the second part of the essay, I discuss about the Digital Remediation of films, as Botler (2005) describes remediation as a process in which the concept of real is transferred from one form into another, films are now adapted from books and games. Strongly criticized by Young or Usai, the evolution of cinema has opened doors to the negativist narrative of Hollywood. However, cinema will always find a way to overcome the threats of the digital media. In the last part of my essay, I exclusively interviewed the filmmaker Chicke Dunkwu and presented his perspective with regard to digital cinema for the purpose of this essay. The film writer and producer is currently writing and developing his own film 'Unconsciously Love' and at the same time is working as a producer with a famous cast and principals on the film 'The Devil and the Fog'. With a passionate heart and creativity, the producer has a visionary perspective with regard to the digital technologies, and the remediation of films. At the same time Dunkwu offers interesting insights about the current threats of film industry. In contrast to other filmmakers or film theorists he sees every threat as an opportunity to use in his advantage, on the other hand the major threat from his point of view is the Hollywoodian story development.

A brief journey The journey begun back in the 17th century with the use of the first magic lanterns, and numerous stops along the way, from the first still photography in 1827 to the famous invention of a camera by the Lumière brothers that records and projects flexible film cuts into 35mm wide strips.[1] However, the first filmmaker, also known as 'the father of special effects' was Georges Méliès. His first film production 'A trip to the Moon' filmed in 1902 , was the longest film ever made in that time (15 minutes) and is regarded by Bromberg as 'the first blockbuster in the history of cinema' [2] which opened the door to a land of creativity and boundless imagination. Over the past century cinema has evolved along with society. From the arrival of widescreens such as Cinerama and CinemaScope in 1950s, integrating complementary characteristics such as cinematography and projections, colour and four track stereo sound to the production of 3D films and IMAX experiences, the cinema was challenged to keep the pace with the new wave of technology. As Keane (2007:15-19) argues, the evolution of the cinema has been based on 'improvement' and 'innovation', where improvement dominates over innovation in terms of new technologies. Moreover, the development of the cinema was forced to some extent to a continuous and systematic adaptation of the marketplace, by meeting the needs and the wants of the end-users,(D West 2010 ) that is to say, the audience plays a vital role in the filmmaking industry. In the view of Robert Rosenstone,the film is the contemporary medium in which the challenge of visual culture to written culture might allow history to change again the nature of our relationship with the past. Regarded as a media technology, Manovich claims that the main goal of the cinema is to capture and store visible reality with all the difficulties involved in the process of filmmaking such as modifying images once they were recorded; in this way its authenticity and live action narrative is assured. On the other hand, the evolution of films within the digital age has been both criticized and acclaimed by the film theorists and filmmakers, dividing them in two categories : the pragmatics and the visionaries (West 2010). The former category remains reserved watching the reborn of films with a critique eye, whereas the latter category welcomes digital innovation with more enthusiasm.

Digital age and the reinvention of films. What is digital cinema?

Lev Manovich (2006) stressed that cinematography has always been associated with storytelling by its audience and critics where digital media is perceived as a new way of telling its stories, refashioning the identity of cinema. However, digital age is confronting at the moment new challenges such as an interactive narrative, where the viewer can enter into a three - dimensional space and interact with the characters. The implications of digital systems in the attempt of promoting the spectator as an 'active' participant, rather than a 'passive' one as Le Grice (2006) suggests, opens the door to a fascinating territory for the spectator in the construction of the meaning of the work, however the role of the participant doesn't necessarily shifts authorship to the user. Thus, cinema was traditionally defined by montage, digital cinema's presents new modes of montage by shifting to computer generated special effects where the editing and manipulation of images ease the work of filmmakers, whereas the cutting and pasting of different pieces make it irresistible (See Daly, New Mode of Cinema). Hollywood icons such as James Cameron, with his successful film Avatar(2009), or Steven Spielberg with The Adventures of Tintin (2011) seem to adapt to the new wave of digital technology as Steven Spielberg declares :

' I've learned that we can do just about anything under sun with computers. So the question becomes, should we? Or, should we remind ourselves, as filmmakers, to be careful and remember that there is nothing more important than how a story is told? If storytelling becomes a by-product of the digital revolution , then the medium itself is corrupted. On the other hand, digital tools are simply a way to enhance a conventional story, then in that case, they can make a telling that story easier.'[3]

With arms opened wide to the fascinating world of special effects, Martin Scorsese with his masterpiece Hugo (2011), and James Cameron join the advocates team of digital cinema, offering the audience a unique experience of three-dimensional space that cannot be replicated elsewhere but in cinematographs. In an interview with the TIME Magazine, Cameron addresses that a three - dimensional experience "is so close to a real experience that it actually triggers memory creation in a way that 2-D viewing doesn`t." In the same way, embracing the new technology as a way of getting ahead of their rivals even at a higher cost, that is to say involving budgets of over $100 million dollars placed the Hollywood icons in the visionary team of G. Moore's Chasm (See West et al 2010 : 278-279). [...]