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Digital projection: it only seems like yesterday… Who would have thought that 20 years had elapsed since the introduction of digital projection? Time has a habit of passing quickly — best stop and reflect a while, says Alastair Balmain
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Studio moves forthing victory Generation magpie Planning It's the reel CT interviews What the rise Andrew of the Cripps, Centurymeans Fox's "rented 20th experience" advocate forexhibitors change for cinema
ime flies when you’re having fun. It
world the Rank Organisation is remembered as a towering
only seems yesterday that George Lucas
giant that, at its peak, so nearly rivalled the major Hollywood
gifted Jar Jar Binks to a largely astonished
studios. The role the R&D team at Rank Brimar played in the
world. It was actually 20 years ago, which
development of digital was a case of what could have been.
makes me feel rather old, but, more to
Sadly the Rank Organisation divested its cinema interests
Produced in partnership with:
today's cinema How Coca-Cola's fizz developers arecore helping captured the of to thebusiness high street thesave movie
Though it took the support of others to get digital
imagination — that still feels pretty fresh in my mind. Two
projection across the line, the final battle for supremacy
decades on however and it seems a valid moment to reflect
(Hughes-JVC vs TI’s DLP technology) was a dogfight in the
on the work of the visionaries that brought digital to fruition.
best tradition’s of Rank’s “Reach for the Skies”. Today, we
As Patrick von Sychowski and Michael Karagosian write
take the dominance of DLP technology for granted, but only
on pages 17 and 20, the story behind the launch of digital
a few short years ago others were battling to be top dog.
cinema had plot-lines as good as any space opera or action
And where are we now? Laser projection, direct view LED…
thriller. But what really makes this a compelling tale is the
some even talk about that “Star Wars” favourite: holographic
quality of the cast involved — there was a whole raft of
projection. Technology never stands still. Think of that CD
characters all striving to achieve the great technical leap
player in your car’s dashboard. Once it was a cassette player,
forward. As I write this from my kitchen, I have a decidedly
before that an eight-track. That CD slot won’t be in the car
tenuous personal connection to one of the names that
you buy tomorrow (nor will the internal combustion engine),
crops up in this chapter of cinema’s history since our garden
but music will still be played — and the same is true of film.
overlooks the “Lord Rank Playing Field”. J. Arthur Rank is a
The technology may develop, but the yearning for engaging
figure remembered fondly in our village and in this part of
stories and the cinematic medium itself stays the same.
the world as a patrician landlord, a keen shooting man and a generous supporter of local causes, but in the cinema
20/11/2018 14:42 10:03 22/05/2019
just as things were getting really exciting.
was the first time digital projection truly captured the public
1
2
3
In military terms, pioneers lay the paths the rest of the brigade follows. Cinema should cherish its own pioneers.
1 Adam MacDonald
2 David Hancock
3 Patrick von Sychowski
A digital cinema specialist and CTC committee member, Adam finds out how apps transform movie-going, p.70
Research director at IHS Markit, on p.24 David examines the changing experience economy and its impact
Editor of Celluloid Junkie, on p.17, Patrick goes back in time for a focus on digital cinema’s 20th anniversary
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Writing in this issue of CT
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