New Digital Projection System at the Queens Film Theatre
Comments
Seems to me that the digital projector itself isn't the most important piece of kit, it'll be what it's plugged into... a live satellite / DSL feed for simultaneous world wide premieres; an iPod for home made film festivals or live events etc etc etc.
I've seen the rapid installation of compact small scale digital projectors throughout an architecture school, and while the kit is what people initially notice, what's really cool is that way that it's used. Students used to spend £££ printing A0, A1 or A2 sized sheets for presenting projects; now most of them just hook up a laptop and project much more engaging crystal clear presentations straight from their hard drives.
I look forward to seeing what the QFT do with their new kit. Perhaps this'll be the end of films being postponed because they're too popular (and the prints are therefore being held back for additional showings in GB before being sent to NI).
imagine being able to plug in a portable hardrive/laptop to project 'homegrown' stuff + in theory we should be able to get a wider variety of films shown here in Belfast as there will no longer be the same cost implication re: prints.
All very exciting news; the QFT has made amazing progress in recent years. Absolutely right Jett re. the cost heretofore of presenting a movie in a real cinema, hopefully digital projection represents a better opportunity for the ever-increasing number of shorts being made here to get a theatrical presentation.
It's the way of the future, absolutely no doubt, but already the lossless nature of movie making today fills me with a nostalgia for the whirr of the projector, the hairs in the gate flapping away in the corner of the screen, the burnt frames, the scratches. I mean, the end of Cinema Paradiso wouldn't have been quite as memorable if Alfredo had just left Salvatore a hard disc full of screen kisses, would it? There's just something about a reel of film.
Seems to me that the digital projector itself isn't the most important piece of kit, it'll be what it's plugged into... a live satellite / DSL feed for simultaneous world wide premieres; an iPod for home made film festivals or live events etc etc etc.
I've seen the rapid installation of compact small scale digital projectors throughout an architecture school, and while the kit is what people initially notice, what's really cool is that way that it's used. Students used to spend £££ printing A0, A1 or A2 sized sheets for presenting projects; now most of them just hook up a laptop and project much more engaging crystal clear presentations straight from their hard drives.
I look forward to seeing what the QFT do with their new kit. Perhaps this'll be the end of films being postponed because they're too popular (and the prints are therefore being held back for additional showings in GB before being sent to NI).
*j*
Posted by: James | April 09, 2007 at 05:34 PM
Agree absolutely -
imagine being able to plug in a portable hardrive/laptop to project 'homegrown' stuff + in theory we should be able to get a wider variety of films shown here in Belfast as there will no longer be the same cost implication re: prints.
Posted by: Jett Loe | April 10, 2007 at 07:57 AM
Similarly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX1HfdKpDGc
Posted by: jk | April 10, 2007 at 12:32 PM
All very exciting news; the QFT has made amazing progress in recent years. Absolutely right Jett re. the cost heretofore of presenting a movie in a real cinema, hopefully digital projection represents a better opportunity for the ever-increasing number of shorts being made here to get a theatrical presentation.
It's the way of the future, absolutely no doubt, but already the lossless nature of movie making today fills me with a nostalgia for the whirr of the projector, the hairs in the gate flapping away in the corner of the screen, the burnt frames, the scratches. I mean, the end of Cinema Paradiso wouldn't have been quite as memorable if Alfredo had just left Salvatore a hard disc full of screen kisses, would it? There's just something about a reel of film.
Posted by: Jeremy | April 10, 2007 at 01:58 PM