Join us on a literary world trip!
Add this book to bookshelf
Grey
Write a new comment Default profile 50px
Grey
Subscribe to read the full book or read the first pages for free!
All characters reduced
Silver Screen to Digital - A Brief History of Film Technology - cover

Silver Screen to Digital - A Brief History of Film Technology

Carlo Montanaro

Publisher: John Libbey Publishing

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Summary

A history of transformations in moviemaking technology, from pigments to pixels, celluloid to CGI. 
 
An era has ended. After one hundred and twenty-five years, a change has taken place in cinemas. The thousands of figures formed by silver and colored pigments can no longer be viewed through transparent film—instead, everything has become digital, compressed, virtual and built into the rapid alternation of millions (hopefully, for quality’s sake) of dots, or pixels within a very neat and minuscule grid. 
 
But projection is just the last link in a chain that is transforming the most direct language invented by humanity over the centuries. The other links—shooting, editing, special effects, re-elaboration and sound reproduction—have by now undergone radical transformations that have often signified progress. Perhaps it is worth the trouble, then, having accepted this transformation-revolution once and for all, to understand where we started out from, how cinematographic language was born, and how its grammar first and later its syntax evolved thanks to technological development. 
 
Without lightweight equipment for sound recording, sensitive emulsions, and portable and compact lighting, it would not have been possible, at the end of the fifties, for example, to create identifiable “currents” of experimentation and concept under such titles as free cinema or nouvelle vague, which were largely based on footage from life and no longer reconstructed in the studio. That which filmmakers today can achieve even more effectively thanks to a range of digital technologies, paradoxically, involves working with even more-minimal equipment such as a smartphone in front of green or blue screens, against absolutely virtual backgrounds. In short: no more silver and more and more pixels. This volume journeys through the history of cinema, focusing on the machines and mechanisms that contributed to the magic.
Available since: 12/03/2019.
Print length: 146 pages.

Other books that might interest you

  • Michael Pennington on Timon of Athens (Shakespeare On Stage) - cover

    Michael Pennington on Timon of...

    Michael Pennington, Julian Curry

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Michael Pennington discusses playing Timon of Athens, in this ebook taken from Shakespeare On Stage: Volume 2 - Twelve Leading Actors on Twelve Key Roles.
    In each volume of the Shakespeare On Stage series, a leading actor takes us behind the scenes of a landmark Shakespearean production, recreating in detail their memorable performance in a major role. They leads us through the choices they made in rehearsal, and how the character works in performance, shedding new light on some of the most challenging roles in the canon. The result is a series of individual masterclasses that will be invaluable for other actors and directors, as well as students of Shakespeare – and fascinating for audiences of the plays.
    In this volume, Michael Pennington discusses stepping in at the eleventh hour to play Timon of Athens in the 1999 Royal Shakespeare Company production, directed by Gregory Doran.
    This interview, together with the others in the series (with actors such as Alan Rickman, Simon Russell Beale, Patrick Stewart and Harriet Walter), is also available in the collection Shakespeare On Stage: Volume 2 - Twelve Leading Actors on Twelve Key Roles by Julian Curry, with a foreword by Nicholas Hytner.
    Show book
  • Patina Farm - cover

    Patina Farm

    Brooke Giannetti, Steve Giannetti

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    The husband and wife team behind Giannetti Home welcome readers into their gorgeous farm residence blending modern style with French antiques. When Brooke and Steve Giannetti decided to leave their suburban Santa Monica home to build a new life on a farm, they traveled to Belgium and France for design inspiration. In Patina Farm they share their collaborative process, as well as the enviable result of their team effort and creativity: an idyllic farm in California’s Ojai Valley. With two hundred gorgeous photographs and Steve’s architectural drawings, Brooke takes readers through their inspirations, thought process, and materials selections. Readers are given a full tour of the family home, guesthouse, lush gardens, and delightful animal quarters.
    Show book
  • Plaza Suite - cover

    Plaza Suite

    Neil Simon

    • 0
    • 2
    • 0
    Neil Simon’s hilarious comedy follows three brief encounters in the same suite at the famed Plaza Hotel in New York City. A BBC co-productionAn L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring Edward Asner, Michelle Costa, Richard Dreyfuss, Hector Elizondo, Amy Irving, Marsha Mason, Alfred Molina, Kerry Shale, Joe Spano and JoBeth Williams.
    Show book
  • Bad Axe - cover

    Bad Axe

    P.J. Barry

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    The story of a woman accused of murdering her husband at a military outpost in the Old West. Did hostile Indians force her to scalp him as revenge for his brutality, or did she kill him out of frustration with her plight as a soldier’s wife?An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring John Castellanos, Harry Hamlin, Amy Irving, Peter Jacobs and Jessica Walter.Recorded before a live audience.
    Show book
  • Victor Fleming - An American Movie Master - cover

    Victor Fleming - An American...

    Michael Sragow

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    This definitive biography chronicles the life and work of the legendary director of Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. 
     
    Victor Fleming was the most sought-after director in Hollywood’s golden age, renowned for his work across an astounding range of genres—from gritty westerns to screwball comedies, romances, boddy pictures, and family entertainment. Yet this chameleon-like versatility has resulted in his relative obscurity today—despite his having directed two of the most iconic movies of all time. 
     
    Fleming is best remembered for Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, but he directed more than forty films, including classics like Red Dust, Test Pilot, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Captains Courageous. Fleming created enduring screen personas for Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Gary Cooper, as well as for Ingrid Bergman, Clara Bow, and Norma Shearer—who were among his many lovers. 
     
    In this definitive biography, Michael Sragow restores the director to the pantheon of great American filmmakers, correcting a major oversight in Hollywood history. It is the dramatic story of a man at the center of the most exciting period in American filmmaking.
    Show book
  • The Vertical of the Role - A method for the actor's self-preparation - cover

    The Vertical of the Role - A...

    Jurij Alschitz

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Today’s actors must be able to perform as soloists in the worlds of theatre and film. The technique of the ‘Vertical of the Role’ enables actors to develop their independence and autonomy when analyzing their roles, leading them to become authors of their own art in their own right. It offers the basis for all manner of successful auditions, but also for artistic interaction within an ensemble and with a director. Generations of actors have grown up with Stanislavsky’s classic, ‘The Actor’s Work on Himself’, but the theatre of the 21st century with its own framework of production demands new forms of independent work from the actor. Jurij Alschitz has developed the method of the ‘Vertical of the Role’ during his years of detailed research into theatre practice. The research was carried out in European Theater Centers which Jurij Alschitz himself established in Germany, Italy, and Scandinavia and the results of this research have been tested and successfully applied on stage in theatre practice all over the world. In this book, Jurij Alschitz offers his thoughts on the ethics of the acting profession. He views the actor as the author, creator, and center of the dramatic performance, who must consequently be equipped with the appropriate technical skills to fulfill this wide range of tasks. The successive phases of the actor’s work on the ‘Vertical of the Role’ are explained in detail, ready to be used by the actor, or to form a basis for teachers and directors who wish to apply this method. A separate chapter describes daily training for the actor on the basis of practical exercises.
    Show book