After 5: The Age of Digital Cinema

Indeed, there will be no film involved.

The trend already has started as theaters around the world replace at least some of their film projectors with DCP – digital cinema projection technology.

Digital technology has been around in the making of movies for a number of years. “Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones” was the first “film” to be shot entirely digitally. And now, the technology is coming to your local movie house.

The arrival

Wehrenberg’s Campbell 16 Ciné in Springfield has installed three DCP systems.

Denny Goins, general manager of the theater, says, “We’ve been in the process of installing them for a month and a half, which included carpenters, electricians, ventilation people … as well as the manufacturers of the equipment itself, and technicians coming in to tweak and double-check everything. We had our first digital showing two weeks ago.”

There are currently three DCP movies showing at the 4005 South Ave. theater: “Bangkok Dangerous,” “Righteous Kill” and a 3D version of “Journey to the Center of the Earth.”

The digital 3D experience is far beyond the days of the cardboard glasses with red and blue lenses. Glasses are still required, but they look a lot cooler.

Goins points out that not every auditorium with DCP is capable of showing 3D.

While “silver screen” has long been a metonym for Hollywood and the movies, the great majority of screens have been white for many decades. To show the new 3D requires a step backward.

“You have to have a silver screen installed and we have that in one auditorium,” Goins says.

Another aspect of DCP is the ability to show live broadcasts.

“We’ll be having a lot of events, like sporting events and different types of concerts,” Goins says. “They’ll be presented live, delivered by a satellite feed.”

Not a live broadcast – but an out-of-the-box one – is the final performance of the Broadway smash “Rent,” showing this week at the cinema. (See box.)

The revolution

DCP developed in the past decade, and in 2005, the technology became available to theaters. To insure that DCP technology didn’t get into a format war (VHS versus Beta or Blu-Ray versus HD DVD), a joint venture of the six major studios published a system of DCP specifications under the banner Digital Cinema Initiatives.

DCP has advantages to viewers – state-of-the-art picture and sound, and no more dirty, scratchy prints with jumpy splices and missing frames – and to the movie studios as well.

Consider that a print costs about $1,200, while a DCP feature film – along with selectable previews and programs that control the house lights, etc. – can fit on a standard 300-gigabyte hard drive that costs around $100.

There are a handful of DCP manufacturers, with Christie Digital Systems being the most prominent. Wehrenberg’s Campbell 16 Ciné uses the Christie systems.

The terms “movie,” “motion picture” and “film” will most likely stick around for a long while. But maybe someone will coin a new phrase for the latest cinematic presentation.

Broadway’s ‘Rent’ on the Big Screen

The digital adaptation of “Rent: Live from Broadway” is showing four times this week.

What: “Rent: Live from Broadway” – a recorded performance of the final live show earlier this month – shown in digital cinema projection format

Where: Wehrenberg’s Campbell 16 Ciné, 4005 South Ave.

When: 7 p.m. Sept. 24–25; noon Sept. 27–28

Tickets: $20 each at the box office, (800) 326-3264, ext. 2406 or www.wehrenberg.com

The backdrop: Based on Puccini’s opera “La Boheme,” Jonathan Larson’s musical “Rent” opened on Broadway on April 29, 1996. Larson set his story in current times in the Bohemian East Village of NYC, and instead of tuberculosis – the specter haunting the struggling artists in “La Boheme” – the AIDS epidemic is the plague that haunts them in “Rent.” After running for 12 years (5,124 performances) and winning a Pulitzer Prize and four Tony Awards, the show closed Sept. 7. The final performance was filmed and will be shown, digitally, Sept. 24–28 at select theaters in the U.S. and Canada. The event is presented by Sony Pictures’ “Hot Ticket” division.[[In-content Ad]]