I was just reading an article about all the wonderful technological possibilities coming over the horizon in the next 20-30 years. I feel a tad jaundiced by such pronouncements, having grown up with many such promises which failed to eventuate. What happened to all that leisure time we were promised, where machines would do all our work for us?

And yet changes have come. I purchased my first computer in 1984 (a propitious year?) – a humble Commodore 64 on which I was marvellously able to write my Masters thesis without the use of carbon paper. In the early 1990s I struggled through a set of UNIX commands in order to be able to connect to the internet for the very first time. Now I can edit a feature film on my laptop.

Many aspects of filmmaking have been affected by the digital revolution. The most important of these is just breaking on the world – the digital delivery of movies. I grew up at a time when watching a film was a real occasion. Each cinema was a decorated palace, and the screen enveloped with thick velvet curtains. The national anthem would be played before each screening, and the audience stood for it. There was a first half, consisting of ‘shorts’ which included Movietone News and travelogues.

Then we moved on to the marvel of VHS cassettes – movies could be held in your hand and played on your home entertainment system. From there it was a short gallop to DVDs, Blurays, and then streaming to computer and television. Personally I still love going into the darkened space of a cinema, and being transported by a story on a screen so large that there are no distractions. But I also understand that I’m an old fart with an attachment to the equivalent of vinyl.

Up until recently it has been on the production side that digital technology has most affected filmmaking. But now it is set to revolutionise the delivery of film to audiences. Movies are streaming to phones, iPads, digital media drives… you name it. Whereas previously it was necessary to move people geographically for them to absorb a cinematic story, now any number of films are accessible to the whole world in the format they want, and in a place and time they choose.

We’re yet to get our heads around the full implications of this. But it is a very good development for independent filmmakers. It has always been the barrier between the filmmaker and the audience which was so difficult to bridge. Bring on the revolution!

Posted in news