The impact of digital technologies on feature film production

Abstract

This study examines ways in which digital technologies are impacting on feature film production; on processes, occupational roles, creative and commercial possibilities. It cites current activity on an historical continuum, tracing developments which have contributed to, and stemmed from, digital image generation, manipulation and capture. Working from a film art history perspective I prioritise the deployment of technologies by film artists; the interplay between creative endeavour and technological innovation. This chronicle of an evolving art form is informed by direct engagement with leading practitioners in the field. Digital compositing, computer generated images (CGI) and digital visual effects (DVFx) have rendered photographed and photorealistic images infinitely malleable. The ongoing refinement of such practices is one of several developments contributing to an extreme state of creative, industrial and commercial flux. Filmmakers are utilising digital production technologies to expand the space within which they exercise choice. Audiences are utilising digital content delivery platforms to do likewise; accessing (as well as creating and distributing) motion picture content on their own terms. This trend looks set to challenge long-standing distribution models and revenue streams. While contemporary production, post-production and delivery practices blend mature (analogue) and new (digital) media and machinery, the current moment may be categorised as “transitional”. The industrial imperative that efficiencies be maximised and workflows streamlined makes it (virtually) inevitable that end-to-end digital will become the predominant mode of production and delivery. This study is primarily focused on global developments, but it also gives some consideration to ways in which these developments have articulated locally. In this age of globalisation and digitisation, New Zealand serves as a useful case study. For decades home to a film sector in which production was circumscribed by a paucity of finance and limited access to cutting-edge production technologies, this geographically remote nation has of late supported the creation of large, high-tech feature films. To what extent may such activity impact on the film sector of a small nation?