SMPTE Journal


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The Cinema in Flux


Book Description

The first of its kind, this book traces the evolution of motion picture technology in its entirety. Beginning with Huygens' magic lantern and ending in the current electronic era, it explains cinema’s scientific foundations and the development of parallel enabling technologies alongside the lives of the innovators. Product development issues, business and marketplace factors, the interaction of aesthetic and technological demands, and the patent system all play key roles in the tale. The topics are covered sequentially, with detailed discussion of the transition from the magic lantern to Edison’s invention of the 35mm camera, the development of the celluloid cinema, and the transition from celluloid to digital. Unique and essential reading from a lifetime innovator in the field of cinema technology, this engaging and well-illustrated book will appeal to anyone interested in the history and science of cinema, from movie buffs to academics and members of the motion picture industry.










Technologies of Seeing


Book Description

This text examines the complex forces pushing and constraining technological developments in cinema. It contests the view that technological advance is simply the result of scientific progress. Rather, the author argues that social forces control the media technology agenda at every stage.




Digital Imaging in Popular Cinema


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To what extent has cinema been transformed by the advent of digital imaging? Have digital solutions to production challenges begun to change our experience of films, and their characters, action and narratives? And what impact does the inclusion of digital imaging in the film frame have on our interpretation and analysis of film texts?Digital Imaging in Popular Cinema explores these issues through analysis of specific film moments and extended case studies of films including Minority Report, King Kong, 300 and Hugo. It discusses how digital imaging can mimic, transform, shape and generate both fantastical and mundane objects and phenomena from scratch, and what the implications are for how we 'read' films, and explores how cultural ideas about digital imaging can influence meaning within a film, a scene or even a single shot.The increasingly widespread use of digital imaging in cinema means that we can no longer afford to ignore it when critically analysing and interpreting film texts. This innovative and engaging book provides a blueprint for approaching digital imaging in contemporary film, and is therefore essential reading for all those working in the field of Film Studies.




Restoration of Motion Picture Film


Book Description

This is the first book to bring together the work of a modern motion picture film laboratory together with the specialist techniques for preservation and restoration of archival film.The books data has its origins in a training programme called FILM which was written by members of the Gamma Group with funding from the EU fund Force. The committee comprised senior film archivists and technicians in charge of film conservation departments or working film laboratories within national film archives, together with technicians from commercial laboratories which specialise in archival film conservation and who do not work for national and local archives. The final group consisted of many of the most experienced individuals in their fields.Restoration of Motion Picture Film is an extremely informative, well-researched book which is an unmissable addition to the bookshelves of conservators, archivists and curators worldwide. Film history and film conservation students will also find it of great interest and use. * Only book in English on this subject* Prepared by leading specialists in their field* Includes coverage of digital technology




Portable Moving Images


Book Description

This media history explores a series of portable small cameras, playback devices, and storage units that have made the production of film and video available to everyone. Covering several storage formats from 8mm films of the 1900s, through the analogue videotapes of the 1970s, to the compression algorithms of the 2000s, this work examines the effects that the shrinkage of complex machines, media formats, and processing operations has had on the dissemination of moving images. Using an archaeological approach to technical standards of media, the author provides a genealogy of portable storage formats for film, analog video, and digitally encoded video. This book is a step forward in decoding the storage media formats, which up to now have been the domain of highly specialised technicians.




Conference Publication


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