Digital Film Technology Revolutionizes the Film Industry Essay

Digital Film Technology Revolutionizes the Film Industry       With the release of Star Wars: Episode I the Phantom Menace, in March of 1999, digital film technology officially filtered itself in to main-stream Hollywood. Digital film technology is the latest and probably most revolutionizing new technology to hit Hollywood.  Ã‚  The use of digital film allows for infinite editing capabilities and endless benefits to distribution and special effects.  Ã‚  The use of digital film allows for producers to add in extras, produce stunts, and even create false people with the click of a mouse.  Ã‚  Time and cost consuming stunts, stunt doubles, and actors may no longer be a worthy concern to producers and their budgets.  Ã‚  Though the growing popularity of digital film technology gradually replaces these actors and on-screen jobs, this new technology is actually creating more jobs than it destroys.  Ã‚   The use of digital film first began to make it’s way into Hollywood in special effects scenes.  Ã‚  For example, in Forest Gump, released in 1994 by Paramount Pictures, a few scenes are enhanced with this technology. In a scene which actor Gary Senise loses his legs, producer Robert Zemeckis did his best to manipulate the film to show the actor with no legs. Using digital film technology, visual effects supervisor, Ken Ralston explains how they mastered this technique. Ralston explains, ‘Gary looked like he had no legs because we eliminated them. We had Gary wear blue screen stockings over his feet and lower legs that tucked into the ends of his pants. We did blank plate passes of each location to add a back to the information Fary’s lower legs clocked. After we removed his lower legs, we did some 3-D work and added shadows to m... ...nd film. While digital technology revolutionizes the film industry, the film industry’s job market is also revolutionizing.  Ã‚  The few jobs lost from taking a fall out a window, or walking down a street will be replaced by business and technology jobs related to digital film. New jobs will arise from switching to a digital format. The changes spurred by digital film technology and digital projection are mostly positive. This transition will be a benefit to Hollywood, and the mainstream business world.    Works Cited Chinnock, Chris. â€Å"Lights! Camera! Action! It’s the Dawn of the Digital Cinema†. Electronic Design.. Aug 9, 1999    Cringley, Robert. â€Å"Hollywood Goes Digital†. Forbes. 12/7/92. McQuire, Scott. â€Å"Digital Dialects: The Paradox of Cinema in a Studio without Walls†. . Historical Journal of Film. Aug 99