DIGITAL CINEMA DILEMMA FEW TITLES, VENUES EXIST FOR FORMAT.Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer LAS VEGAS Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. - Filmmakers George Lucas Noun 1. George Lucas - United States screenwriter and filmmaker (born in 1944) Lucas and James Cameron
James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is an Academy Award winning Canadian director, producer and screenwriter. have often been ahead of the curve when it comes to cutting-edge movie technology. So it's no surprise that the men behind the ``Star Wars'' franchise and ``Titanic'' are pushing hard for the movie industry to make the transition from the traditional celluloid celluloid [from cellulose], transparent, colorless synthetic plastic made by treating cellulose nitrate with camphor and alcohol. Celluloid was the first important synthetic plastic and was widely used as a substitute for more expensive substances, such as to digital cinema. ``I think this can be as profound a change in the movie-making experience as color and sound,'' Cameron said during last week's ShoWest Convention in Las Vegas, an annual gathering for theater owners and movie studios. ``We haven't had a big revolution in a way we watch films in a long time.'' Lucas and Cameron believe that theater owners should begin installing digital projectors See data projector. as soon as possible in order to remain competitive, but there is resistance among some exhibitors. All parties seem to agree that digital projection results not only in higher-quality images and sound, it would also save on cost since studios could distribute films via satellite and would no longer have to spend approximately $750 million a year to supply movie prints to theaters in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . But how or if that savings would be shared between distributors and exhibitors has yet to be worked out. There is also a limited number of digital films currently available. ``Why should an exhibitor pay $100,000 to install digital equipment and wait for one movie a year?'' said Robert Bucksbaum, an independent theater owner who is also president of Reel Source Inc., a box office research firm. ``Until the studios are coming out with at least one in three films in digital, we're still not ready. Right now, it's about one in eight.'' The filmmakers contend that with home theater An audio/video entertainment center that has a large-screen TV and hi-fi system with three speakers in the front (left, right and center) and left and right speakers in the rear. Starting in the early 1990s, video inputs were added to stereo receivers and preamplifiers. technology constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated, theaters run the risk of being left behind if they don't offer something special in their movie houses. ``This is first time theater owners have had to get new equipment in a long time,'' Cameron said. ``What we're faced with is an industry that has never had to change.'' Added Lucas: ``The highest-quality theaters are the ones that do the best business given the same film.'' Lucas and Cameron were joined at ShoWest by directors Robert Zemeckis (``The Polar Express'') and Robert Rodriguez (``Spy Kids 3-D'') and others who were on hand to tout the future of digital cinema and its role in making it possible for 3-D movies to become more commonplace. They showed scenes from ``Titanic,'' ``Top Gun'' and the first six minutes of the original ``Star Wars,'' which had been made into 3-D using the technology of In-Three Inc., an Agoura Hills-based company with a proprietary patented process that converts two-dimensional movies into 3-D. The directors said theaters need to up the ante in order to keep offering moviegoers something they can't get in their living rooms even with the most elaborate of home theaters. ``We're rooting for the theaters,'' Lucas said. ``We want the theaters to win.'' But no matter how advanced and high-tech things get in the home, none of the directors believes the movie exhibition industry necessarily has to suffer. ``Humans are social animals,'' Lucas said. ``I don't think it's something we should be afraid of at all.'' On the 3-D front, there is more than one technology out there. Also at ShoWest, Encino-based Mann Theatres announced that it had selected REAL D as its exclusive delivery system for digital 3-D entertainment. Mann is the operator of 22 theaters with 178 screens in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, including the Grauman's Chinese Theatre  The of this article or section may be compromised by "peacock terms".You can help Wikipedia by removing peacock terms. complex in Hollywood. The IMAX IMAX Noun a film projection process that produces an image ten times larger than standard Corp. also used ShoWest to unveil its new 3-D live-action technology, which the company said could convert virtually any 2-D, 35 mm movie into a 3-D experience. Its 3-D version of the animated hit ``The Polar Express'' earned $46 million worldwide and IMAX is in talks with Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . to use its 3-D process on 2006 releases ``The Poseidon Adventure'' and the new version of ``Superman Superman invincible scourge of crime. [Comics: Horn, 642–643] See : Crime Fighting Superman superhero under guise of Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter. .'' Champions of 3-D also point out that the format could help in the increasingly tough fight against piracy because it is extremely difficult to replicate 3-D movies. ``We really are on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of getting there,'' Cameron said. ``This is simply about fundamental economics and the (movie) industry and the exhibitors working together to make this happen.'' While digital projectors wait to make a major splash in the United States, Ireland is aiming to convert all of its 500 theaters to digital. In addition, The British Film Council has made a deal to have 250 digital screens installed in London. In the United States, Regal Entertainment Group - a network of 6,300 screens and 560 theaters under the Regal Cinemas, United Artists Theaters and Edwards Cinemas banners - has already made an investment of $75 million to have digital distribution capabilities in about 90 percent of its facilities. Regal's DCN DCN Document Control Number DCN DLA (Defense Logistics Agency) Corporate Network DCN Disconnect DCN Direction des Constructions Navales (France) DCN Declaration Control Number DCN Data Communication Network distribution system is being used to deliver advertising and exclusive digital and high-definition content on a live or pre-recorded basis. The chain said the DCN will be able to be upgraded to support digital films once industry standards are established. ``Everybody knows and admits that it's coming but it's too soon to be making demands on exhibitors,'' Bucksbaum said. ``If five years down the road, all the specifics are there, it will happen.'' Greg Hernandez, (818) 713-3758 greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) James Cameron (2 -- color) George Lucas |
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