The effects of
computerization on cinema –
from The Langauge of New Media
(finished 1999; published 2001):
1.
Use
of computer techniques in traditional filmmaking:
1. 1.1.
3D computer animation / digital composing. Example:
1."Titanic" (James Cameron,
1997); “"The City of Lost Children" (Marc Caro and J.P. Jeunet,
1995).
1.2.
Digital painting.
Example: "Forest Gump" (Robert Zemeckis, 1994).
1.3.
Virtual Sets.
Example: "Ada" (Lynn Hershman,1997).
1.4.
Virtual Actors /
Motion capture. Example: “Titanic.”
2. New
forms of computer-based cinema
2.1. Motion rides / location-based entertainment. Example: rides produced by Douglas
Trumball.
2.2.
“Typographic cinema”: film + graphic design + typography. Examples: film title sequences.
2.3.
Net.cinema:
films designed exclusively for Internet distribution. Example: New Venue, one
of the first onlines sites devoted to showcasing short digital films. In 1998
it accepted only QuickTime files under 5 MG.
2.4. Hypermedia
interfaces to a film
which allows non-linear access at different scales. Examples:
"WaxWeb” (David Blair, 1994-1999); Stephen Mamber’s database
interface to Hitchock’s “Psycho” (Mamber, 1996-).
2.5. Interactive movies and games which are structured
around film-like sequences. These sequences can be created using traditional film techniques
(example: “Jonny Mnemonic” game) or computer animation (example:
“Blade Runner” game). (The pioneer of interactive cinema is
experimental filmmaker Graham Weinbren whose laserdisks Sonata and The
Erl King are the true classics of this new form.) Note that it is hard to
draw a strict line between such interactive movies and many other games which
may not use traditional film sequences yet follow many other conventions of
film language in their structure. From this perspective, the majority of 1990s
computer games can be actually considered interactive movies.
2.6. Animated, filmed, simulated or hybrid sequences
which follow film language, and appear in HCI, Web sites, computer games and
other areas of new media. Examples: transitions and QuickTime movies in Myst; FMV (full
motion video) opening in Tomb Rider and many other games.
3.
Filmmakers’ reactions to the increasing reliance of cinema on computer
techniques in postproduction.
3.1. Films
by Dogma 95 movement. Example: Celebration (Vinterberg, 1998).
3.2. Films which focus on the new possibilities offered by DV
(Digital Video) cameras. Example: Time
Code (Figgis, 2000).
4.
Filmmakers’ reactions to the conventions of new media.
4.1.
Conventions of a computer screen.
Example: Greenaway, Prospero Books
4.2.
Conventions of game narratives.
Examples: Run, Lola, Run (Tykwer,
1999), Sliding Doors (Howitt,
1998).