Since the digital age filmmakers have debated the use of digital or film and whether or not digital is killing the art form. My opinion is that they can both be used for different explorations and simultaneously to create captivating storytelling. Arguably, the use of post-cinema techniques could devalue the filmmakers who use traditional film, as the likes of the MCU obliterate the box office, leaving lower-budget stories ignored. 

It has been said the MCU heavily depends on CGI and digital effects which creates an audience expecting instant gratification, rather than the thought-provoking art of storytelling. Although this could be the case, it shouldn’t be ignored that the digital effects of the MCU are immaculate and require highly skilled effects teams. It can also be observed that the digital transformation of film could progress storytelling for future films as technology advances. S. Denson and J. Leyda state, ‘Thus, post-cinema asks us to think about new media not only in terms of novelty but in terms of an ongoing, uneven, and indeterminate historical transition.’ (2016: 2)

Christopher Nolan’s 2010 sci-fi action film Inception, is an interesting case in regards to post-cinema and analogue film.   

The famous hallway dream fight was performed entirely by the use of 30ft roller wheels with a built-in hallway set, so when moved creating an illusion of weightlessness in the scene. The actors performed this scene predominantly alone, with help of stunt doubles.

L. Manovich states ‘A new media object is not something fixed once and for all, but something that can exist in different, potentially infinite versions.’ (2002:36) This could be applied to Inception as the film was largely analogue with limited CGI. The idea of new media being a fixed process can be debunked by contemporary film appreciating both elements and furthering the idea that film can be digital and analogue and that one is not better than the other.  

Chloé Bloom

Avengers Endgame final battle scene, Example of audiovisual within post cinema and the digital transformation of film.

References: 

Manovich, L. 2002, ‘What is New Media’, The Language of New Media, pp.18-61

Denson, S. and Leyda, J. ‘Perspectives on Post-Cinema: An introduction’, Post-Cinema: Theorising 21^st Century Film

Quentin Tarantino and Roger Deakins arguing on the pros and cons of Digital or analogue