NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN POST-DIGITAL CINEMA (1995 - )

This list presents some of the new developments in post-digital cinema. It updates
the list contained in my The Language of New Cinema, Chapter 6.
My provisional terms for these developments are in red.

EXTENDING TRADITIONAL ELEMENTS OF CINEMA:

I. CAMERA / SPACE:

1.1. panoramic cinema:
Related developments:
-behere.com
-J.Shaw / ZKM (EVE; Place: a User Manual; recent projects)
-Luc Corchesne
-QTVR, ipix, etc.

1.2. 3-D compositing:
film mapped into surfaces positioned in a virtual space;
virtual camera moves through this space.

2. IMAGE:

2.1. New visual aesthetics:

If we define digital cinema as
compositing of live action + image processing + 2-D animation + 3-D animation + typography
we can define a number of visual aesthetics in digital cinema depending on which element dominates

Live action dominates:
Amelie by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2001)

2-D design dominates:
Flash animation (praystation.com, etc.)
-Interactive vs. non-interactive
-algorithmic vs. non-algorithmic
Graphical music videos (using shockwave / Flash) - schockwave.com

Post-Flash cinema – Web designers bringing their aesthetics to short films:
-live action + 2D animation + stylized 3-D animation (flat planes, vectors) + typography + graphic design
-2D graphic design is the dominant code

3-D CG dominates:
Final Fantasy (2001) - first pure CG cinema

Typography dominates:
“motion graphics” (typographic cinema): typography becomes an image (After Effects)


2.2. Multi-format cinema: Combination of different representational methods, such as video, GPS, 3-D, infrared, etc.
– Jordan Crandal
– Haron Farucky

3. TIME:

3.1. loop cinema: short loop used by VJs / in multimedia / in computer games

3.2. short live action films (3-10 minutes) in different genres (atomfilms.com and similar Web sites)

3.3. infinite cinema: "Every Icon" and more recent works by John Simon; John Cabral

3.4. ambient cinema ?


4. EDITING / SEQUENCING / MIXING:

4.1. no-cuts: Jeremy Blake

4.2. database cinema: Stan Douglas, Akvaario, and similar projects

4.3. spatial montage: Prospero Books by Greenaway; Timecode by Mike Figgis

4.4. aesthetics of addition: Doug Aitken

4.5. GUI cinema (multiple windows + multiple media): see Macro-cinema

4.6. real-time mixing: VJs; online real-time colloborations (Keystroke and similar software)

5. NARRATIVE:

5.1. Interactive computer game -> non-interactive narrative
-“machininema” – films which use the modified engines of first-person shooter computer games
-“quack run quick “ – fastest run-throgh the game levels
-“Syms” players using Syms game to storyboard their own narratives

NEW POSSIBILITIES NOT YET EXPLORED:

diffirent scales: see Scalable Cinema

algorithmic (procedural) narrative film generation: real-time compositing/editing from a database
of media assets (stills and video of backgrounds, sets, characters, etc.) and live sources (Web cams)