Ykedoodl --
One of the best places on the web for explanations of technology is
the "How Stuff Works" site. What makes this Internet site superior is
the range of questions that it answers; its excellent details and
diagrams on different technologies; and a host of links for suppliers
and more detail.
As they explain in the digital cinema section, the production benefits
of digital are significantly lower cost. The example that they use
from the movie "Star Wars" puts the cost of digital tape at 1% of the
cost of film (see the section on "Production Benefits"). By the way,
for more detailed information the links at the end of this article are
superb -- and there are excellent links within the article to specific
technologies as well:
Howstuffworks
"How Digital Cinema Works" (Harris, undated)
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/digital-cinema.htm
But the cost advantages go far beyond simply production cost savings.
For movie theater owners, the advent of high-speed networks gives them
the ability to reduce distribution costs by eliminating shipping of
film master reels -- and it also gives the theater owner the chance to
create and sell advertising to the pre-show.
Regal Entertainment, right now the leading theater chain, is making an
aggressive move to become a leader in pre-movie advertising, working
with A.C. Nielsen to package a product called "The 2wenty," a
20-minute advertising and shorts package:
Washington Post
"Ads, Concerts May Provide New Revenue" (Ahrens, Dec. 30, 2003)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43003-2003Dec30.html
Regal's third quarter earnings transcript, which describes how much
the company is spending to provide digital projection at almost 90% of
the company's 6,000 screens. Digital projection allows the company to
electronically distribute ads and other material, saving
print/distribution/production costs. The Cinemedia group is in
"other" revenues but reported more than $45 million in advertising
revenues through the first 9 months, up more than 50% from 2002:
Regal Entertainment
Third Quarter Earnings Report Transcript (Oct. 22, 2003)
http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/nys/rgc/transcripts/102203.pdf
AMC Entertainment, the 2nd place theatre chain also has a National
Cinema Network advertising group trying to do the same thing.
One of the obstacles to adoption of digital cinema has been
Hollywood's major studios. They've failed to adopt digital cinema
technologies for fear that it will become easier to make illegal
copies and also because of the large amount of film infrastructure in
theaters:
CNN
"Movie Theaters Going Digital" (Reuters, Dec. 24, 2003)
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/12/24/digital.movietheater.reut/
See also:
Variety.com
"Digital Cinema Snag" (Diorio, Dec. 21, 2003)
http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=upsell_article&articleID=VR1117897463&categoryID=18&cs=1
---
As you're probably aware, IMAX technology is actually a film
technology using a type of film that's 10 times larger than the
standard 35mm film traditionally used by Hollywood. Again,
Howstuffworks does an excellent job of portraying the difference
between IMAX and normal film -- and making IMAX production costs much
higher. Estimates are that production can run up to $100,000 per day
with the larger IMAX cameras:
Howstuffworks
"How IMAX Works" (Brain)
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/imax.htm
Google search strategy:
"digital cinema"
"digital cinema" + Hollywood
"digital cinema" + IMAX
Best regards,
Omnivorous-GA |
