The Digital Film Event

Endless travel in cyberspace, virtual reality, and the dream of limitless speed: technology changes our sense of self. In her new book, Trinh Minh-ha explores the way technology transforms our perception of reality. "We are all engaged in social rituals in our daily activities, she writes, "and by remaining unaware of their artistic ritual propensity, we remain 'in conformity'." Her goal, as a thinker and an artist, is to transform our understanding of technology and speed so that we are able to "turn an instrument into a creative tool and to step out of the one-dimensional, technologically servile mind." The paradox that "stillness contains speed within it" is central to Trinh's concept of the digital apparatus. With her signature amalgam of feminism, Eastern philosophy, and practical understanding of filmmaking, Trinh Minh-ha presents a much-needed advance in our concept of the real in a technological age.

Endless travel in cyberspace, virtual reality, and the dream of limitless speed: technology changes our sense of self. In her new book, Trinh Minh-ha explores the way technology transforms our perception of reality. "We are all engaged in social rituals in our daily activities, she writes, "and by remaining unaware of their artistic ritual propensity, we remain 'in conformity'." Her goal, as a thinker and an artist, is to transform our understanding of technology and speed so that we are able to "turn an instrument into a creative tool and to step out of the one-dimensional, technologically servile mind." The paradox that "stillness contains speed within it" is central to Trinh's concept of the digital apparatus. With her signature amalgam of feminism, Eastern philosophy, and practical understanding of filmmaking, Trinh Minh-ha presents a much-needed advance in our concept of the real in a technological age.

Handmade films stretch back to cinema's beginnings, yet until now their rich history has been neglected. Process Cinema is the first book to trace the development of handmade and hand-processed film in its historical and contemporary contexts, and from a global perspective. Mapping the genealogy of handmade film, and uncovering confluences, influences, and interstices between various international movements, sites, and practices, Process Cinema positions the resurgence of handmade and process cinema as a counter-practice to the rise of digital filmmaking. This volume brings together a range of renowned academics and artists to examine contemporary artisanal films, DIY labs, and filmmakers typically left out of the avant-garde canon, addressing the convergence between the analog and the digital in contemporary process cinema. Contributors investigate the history of process cinema – unscripted, improvisatory manipulation of the physicality of film – with chapters on pioneering filmmakers such as Len Lye and Marie Menken, while others discuss an international array of collectives devoted to processing films in artist-run labs from South Korea to Finland, Australia to Austria, and Greenland to Morocco, along with historical and contemporary practices in Canada and the United States. Addressing the turn to a new, sustainable creative ecology that is central to handmade films in the twenty-first century, and that defines today's reinvigorated film cultures, Process Cinema features some of the most beautiful handcrafted films and the most forward-thinking filmmakers within a global context.

Wag the Dog is a film that became a media event and a cultural icon because it inadvertently short-circuited the distance that is supposed to separate reality and fiction. The film's narration challenges the established boundaries between the fiction and nonfiction tradition, as Barry Levinson, the director, embeds his interest in documentary filmmaking and complicates the issue of narrative agency in the way he frames the story. The examination of the historical and social context in which it was produced, exhibited and received worldwide enables the author to illuminate a series of changes in the way a fiction film reflects and interacts with reality, urging us to reconsider some of our central and long-standing concepts or even paradigms in film theory. Eleftheria Thanouli provides new insights into a series of issues from both classical and contemporary film theory, like the conceptual and ontological stakes in the use of digital technology, the impact of mass media on public memory and the political role of cinema in a globalized and conglomerated world.

This expanded, updated, and revised third edition of Lorene Wales’ The Complete Guide to Film and Digital Production offers a comprehensive introduction to the positions/roles, procedures, and logistics of the film and digital video production process, from development and pre-production all the way to marketing and distribution. Lorene Wales offers a hands-on approach suitable for projects of any budget and scale, explaining every stage and key role/position in the life of a film and providing a wealth of sample checklists, schedules, accounting paperwork, and downloadable forms and templates for practical use. Other topics include a description of the latest mobile apps used in production, tax incentives, the DIT, set safety, and an expanded chapter on copyright, fair use and other legal matters. A companion website includes video tutorials, a personnel hierarchy, a guide to mobile apps useful during production, PowerPoints for instructor use, and a complete set of sample production forms and templates for download, including schedules, accounting paperwork, releases, and production checklists.

Film Distribution in the Digital Age critically examines the evolution of the landscape of film distribution in recent years. In doing so, it argues that the interlocking ecosystem(s) of media dissemination must be considered holistically and culturally if we are to truly understand the transnational flows of cultural texts.

Now available in an updated, 2nd edition, The Complete Guide to Film and Digital Production: The People and The Process, 2/e,discusses the entire production process for film and digital media, and provides you with a comprehensive view of production in the field, at live events, for mobile content and for animation. This book covers all aspects of the production process and readers learn the nuts and bolts of film and digital production from pre-production through delivery. This edition will make your production experience more marketable to an ever-expanding and converging industry.