Althouse: "The last decade’s shift from film projection to digital has changed the way movies feel, transforming them into what Quentin Tarantino has called 'television in public.'"

May 8, 2018

"The last decade’s shift from film projection to digital has changed the way movies feel, transforming them into what Quentin Tarantino has called 'television in public.'"

"Even if the average viewer doesn’t perceive the difference in texture, the conversion has still robbed movies of what was specific and tangible about a theatrical presentation. No, I can’t blame anyone who prefers television in private."

From "Does It Matter if You See a Film in a Theater or at Home?" (NYT).

18 comments:

Curious George said...: ""Even if the average viewer doesn’t perceive the difference in texture...."

What "texture" is suck? Because that's what I would work on.; 5/8/18, 6:59 PM
rcocean said...: Just one more reason to stay home.

Another reason is $11 tickets and $6 for popcorn (which costs 5 cents to make); 5/8/18, 7:04 PM
rhhardin said...: I like the digital. More takes and better acting. No film cost.; 5/8/18, 7:05 PM
rehajm said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/8/18, 7:21 PM
rehajm said...: Film gets scratchy after a few viewings. I’ll take digital...; 5/8/18, 7:22 PM
Koot Katmandu said...: It wont be long till actors and actresses are automated.; 5/8/18, 7:24 PM
Ed Bo said...: It’s like the people who claimed the clicks and pops of analog LPs were more authentic than “sterile” digital CDs.; 5/8/18, 7:25 PM
Quaestor said...: I know a person who has spent literally five figures on a 7.1 sound system for his television. The subwoofers (two of them!) alone set him back $1800 each. His monitor is a 70" 4K Samsung. My friend has set up his speakers and monitor so that the "sweet spot" focuses on his couch. Sitting there the angular size of the display is roughly the same as you'd see in a typical cinema auditorium from about the twentieth row.

Nevertheless, the sound produced by his setup is atrocious. I watched 12 Strong on his system last week, and I ended up renting it on Vudu because the dialogue was so obscured by the explosions and stuff. Movie house sound systems (Dolby, THX, whatever) place the center channel speakers behind the projection screen, which is actually perforated with tiny holes. This helps make the most important sounds, character dialogue for example, discernable even when the X-wings zoom by and Death Stars go POP!

Another issue is framerate and interlacing. The Hobbit was the first major studio film to be released in 60 fps, almost triple the framerate of analog film. The result was too much clarity. A successfully directed film focuses the viewer attention on the story. There are lots of ways to do this, but current digital video technology tends to unnecessarily complicate the shot. Things which are merely incidental to the composition tend to attract undue attention. Actors get lost in the scenery. Thus we have theatergoers marveling at the hardwood paneling inside Bilbo's hole when they should be thinking about Bilbo's confusion as to the purposes of the dwarfs. In this case, the "home theater" experience might be superior to the movie house, particularly if the viewer is using an HD display and DVD rather than 4K and Blu-ray.; 5/8/18, 7:33 PM
Quaestor said...: It wont be long till actors and actresses are automated.

I'd say they've been automatons for decades.; 5/8/18, 7:35 PM
Michael K said...: The technology is far less important than what is on the screen.

I once saw "Captains Courageous" at the Avalon Casino with the original arc lite projection.

It was good. Mickey Rooney was there to tell stories about the project.; 5/8/18, 8:05 PM
Quaestor said...: I once saw "Captains Courageous" at the Avalon Casino with the original arc lite projection.

I think there was a remake of that film with the Freddie Bartholomew character "castaway" in the Old West and then rescued by cowboys on a cattle drive.

Then there was another remake called "Cabin Boy", which made me hate Chris Elliott's living guts.; 5/8/18, 8:23 PM
mikee said...: I recall when Star Wars first appeared on HBO. I was renting a basement room in a prof's house while in college, and had use of his cable subscription and a 16" black and white TV. Actually listening to the dialogue without being able to enjoy the special effects makes that movie an inane space western equivalent to any Saturday morning rerun of 1950s Flash Gordon episodes.

So too low a resolution has issues affecting the movies, too.; 5/8/18, 9:01 PM
Yancey Ward said...: I quit going to theaters about 4 years ago. This is mostly due to sound- I find the sound in the theaters annoying- it is either too loud (effects) or too soft (dialogue). Not worth the cost any longer.; 5/9/18, 12:02 AM
stlcdr said...: If you make a movie designed to entertain, tell a story, it doesn’t matter if you watch it at home or in the theatre.; 5/9/18, 4:13 AM
Rick.T. said...: We go to the movies only a few times a year for select films*, usually to support a certain type of movie (Chappaquidick, Twelve Strong) or to see a movie that likely works substantially better in a theatre (A Quiet Place). The recent move to reserved stadium-type seating and smaller capacity theatres in general, at least in our area, makes us more likely to go.

The prices of the concessions is bleedingly high, especially egregious since you now have to get your own drinks and "butter" on the popcorn.

* Does anybody say: "Go to the films?"; 5/9/18, 10:09 AM
tommyesq said...: I worked in a movie theater for a few months a loooong time ago (The Doors was the hit movie at the time). Theaters then took in about 5-10% of the ticket price, the rest went to the distributor/movie company, so the concessions were how the theater made money. Much like TV runs shows as a loss leader to attract advertising views, the theater runs a film as a loss leader to sell popcorn and soda.; 5/9/18, 10:15 AM
PM said...: Rarely go to theatres. TCM junkie. But QT's right; film is chewier than digital.; 5/9/18, 12:24 PM
gerry said...: Even if the average viewer doesn’t perceive the difference in texture, the conversion has still robbed movies of what was specific and tangible about a theatrical presentation.

I suppose sometime I will have to wonder of what that I cannot perceive about the texture of the images I am seeing in the theater I have been robbed.; 5/9/18, 1:12 PM