Introduction to Digital Cinema

This course will deal with the effects of new digital technologies on the theory and aesthetics of contemporary cinema, and will explore new ways for expanding the definition of the cinematic medium in the digital age. In the first part of the course we will address theoretical issues, such as the differences between the digital and the analogue image, the nature and origin of the apocalyptic and dystopian visions about “the death of cinema as we know it”, and the urgent need to examine the new against the old. In the second part of the course we will focus on the different implications of miniaturizing and mobilizing the film camera (digital video and Hi-Def) and will examine how independent filmmakers (such as Lynch, Soderbergh, and Von Trier) produce the most out of new digital possibilities. We will also deal with the Danish film group “Dogme 95” and its contribution to the construction of new digital aesthetics, the ways in which the horror genre is utilizing home digital cameras aesthetically, and will re-examine film form (such as the long take or the mockumentary format) in light of new digital possibilities. Digital practices that challenge the photo-index, such as animation, CGI or 3D, will be explored, and finally, a special segment will be devoted to new forms of interaction between text and viewer, in both fiction and documentary. We will screen films from the digital age that carry a unique artistic vision, such as Children of Men, Cloverfield, Holy Motors, and The Congress.