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Topic: Ebert Concedes Defeat on Digital

Martin McCaffery
Film God

Posts: 2481
From: Montgomery, AL
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-03-2011 11:41 AM

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2011/11/the_sudden_death_of_film.html?mid=51

quote:
But my war is over, my side lost, and it's important to consider this in the real world.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-03-2011 03:29 PM

I'm surprised he didn't use that article to launch another long rant against 3D. He confined anti-3D sentiments to one sentence.

He's right in a way, but for 99% of people, going to the movies is about seeing a picture on a screen, not about how it gets there. I think if you REALLY love a movie, you get lost in it and eventually the method of presentation is forgotten. I know the first time I ever saw a digital movie I was all curious and fascinated by the projection, but within 10 minutes I was into the story and not even thinking about how the picture was getting there.

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David M. Leugers
Film Handler

Posts: 43
From: Fairfield, Ohio, united States of America
Registered: Jan 2005

posted 11-03-2011 06:27 PM

Sadly the experience is not the same for people like me. I am certainly not the only one, not even in my family. I don't know what words to use to adequately describe it because the effect seems so subtle but is very profound. Watching a digital film is a very transitory experience. The film leaves little imprint upon my memory and doesn't engage my emotions like a film projection of a movie shot on film. It is like my mind knows I am watching a big TV show and goes into coach potato mode. The attendance at all the remaining theaters near me are way down, no matter what the dollar figures are saying. Unless everyone is car pooling... Even my grown kids in their 20's are not going to see films in a theater. I believe the reason is for the first time in the history of film, exhibitors and Hollywood are giving the audiences something technically not as good as before.
And everyone can get what is being offered in other venues, even on their cell phone. I wish them luck, but I think they have created the perfect storm to kill off theaters. I hope I am wrong.

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Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 11-03-2011 06:37 PM

I admittedly haven't seen many digital presentations, but I did see the screen door effect on two of them. If that's the best digital can do, it isn't good enough.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-03-2011 07:01 PM

quote: David M. Leugers
It is like my mind knows I am watching a big TV show

I would think your mind would know it's not TV by the fact that there's no "bugs" in the bottom corners of the screen, or no commercials interrupting the show, or the fact that the picture is 50 feet wide, etc. [Smile]

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 11-03-2011 08:06 PM

quote: Jesse Skeen
but I did see the screen door effect on two of them

.. definitely weren't DLP/LCoS presentations then, for that definitely the old school, three lens stuff.

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David M. Leugers
Film Handler

Posts: 43
From: Fairfield, Ohio, united States of America
Registered: Jan 2005

posted 11-03-2011 09:14 PM

quote:
I would think your mind would know it's not TV by the fact that there's no "bugs" in the bottom corners of the screen, or no commercials interrupting the show, or the fact that the picture is 50 feet wide, etc. [Smile]

Yeah and who are these strangers, and this is not my room, and that is not my beautiful wife, this not my wonderful life... letting the days go by....same as it ever was, same as it ever was. [Smile]

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Frank Angel
Film God

Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 11-03-2011 09:59 PM

Na na na, Monty -- CRT three gun technology did NOT suffer from screen door effect; that was purely the LCD technology that us that nasty video artifax. The old three tube systems may have had a number of anomolies that would let you know you weren't watching film, but screen-door effect wasn't one of them.

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 11-03-2011 10:44 PM

that's what it was, Frank .. that LCD stuff .. forgot about them..thx for the correction.

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Tom Petrov
Five Guys Lover

Posts: 1121
From: El Paso, TX
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 11-04-2011 11:45 PM

I am glad Ebert finally admitted thast film is done. He also did the correct thing by stating that 70mm is no longer "viable" according to the studios. He also mentions watching movies online which is very telling.

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Robert E. Allen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1078
From: Checotah, Oklahoma
Registered: Jul 2002

posted 11-05-2011 12:52 AM

quote: Tom Petrov
I am glad Ebert finally admitted thast film is done. He also did the correct thing by stating that 70mm is no longer "viable" according to the studios. He also mentions watching movies online which is very telling.

Now Tom, why does that make you feel better? Is it a "score one for my generation" thing? Remember, there are still thousands of theatres around the world running film.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 11-05-2011 01:10 AM

Tom is just being an anti-film troll to annoy some of the long time participants in this forum. Hooray for taking steps backward only because the new thing is different (but not better).

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Tom Petrov
Five Guys Lover

Posts: 1121
From: El Paso, TX
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 11-05-2011 01:23 AM

quote: Robert E. Allen
Now Tom, why does that make you feel better? Is it a "score one for my generation" thing? Remember, there are still thousands of theatres around the world running film.

Doesn't make me feel better, just makes me think Ebert finally gets it. It took me awhile to finally accept that film was done, I am glad he does as well.

Its significant that he now admits that most movies that he watches are digital. He also admits that he watches many of his movies off Netflix etc.

quote: Bobby Henderson
(but not better)

Yes Bobby, correct, he admits that 70mm might be better, but he also admits that it is no longer viable

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Sam D. Chavez
Film God

Posts: 2153
From: Martinez, CA USA
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 11-05-2011 01:45 AM

Tom is as clueless as he is crass.

Perhaps it has not dawned on him that Roger Ebert has significant health issues that prevent him from getting around as before?

If Karma ever gets him, he'll be watching movies on some old CRT TV in the activities room of a low-rent assisted living facility with Nurse Rachet (sp) as the day nurse.

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Tom Petrov
Five Guys Lover

Posts: 1121
From: El Paso, TX
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 11-05-2011 01:48 AM

Sam, please read the article, he mentions nothing about his health issues affecting his movie watching habits.

In fact, he says

For me, seeing a movie in a real theater with a real audience is an inescapable part of the experience. I watch as many movies on TV as most people, and they're okay that way, but when a movie is on fire I want to sense the audience burning.

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