Digital technology has taken over as the dominant force in the film industry. Many associate digital technology with cinema, yet several film theorists experienced an identity crisis as a result of the switch from analogue to digital mediums. Most film theorists in the 20th century started out with the presumption that photography has a special relationship with material reality, where the medium of film is based. That changed with the emergence of ‘digital’ (Manovich 2016:20-22). 

Several film theorists have argued that the emergence of digital technology altered the very core of the medium. Frequent claims were that image cinema no longer has a special connection to material reality because of the convenience of digital editing. Lev Manovich claims that ‘as cinema enters the digital age, these techniques are again becoming commonplace in the filmmaking process.’ (Manovich 2016:22). A consequence of this, according to Manovich, is that cinema can no longer be clearly distinguished from animation and that the importance of preserving the real world for films is declined.

Photorealistic scenes produced on computers are growing more common, challenging the realism in film. Newer filmmakers have introduced a different sense of reality, which can now be built, breaking away from the need for physical long-standing production. Now they can create an understanding of the digital image for the audience. This happens by mixing the indexical (photographic) and the non-indexical (digital CGI), creating a new realism which the viewer accepts as real (Giralt 2010:3). Considering this, one can assume that the connections that allow for a representation of fictionalised reality are interesting for the viewer, indifference of whether it is styled through technology or not (Giralt 2010:4).

‘It’s hard to believe but James Cameron had the idea for Avatar twenty years prior to its release date but had to wait until technology was available for him to create the world.’

(fortressofsolituce.co.za 2022).

In Avatar (2009), Cameron uses photorealistic CGI characters through new motion picture tech and is the epitome of digital technology in cinema (fortressofsolituce.co.za 2022)

By Serine Mikkelsen 

References:

Daily Celebrity (2018) AVATAR (2009) – Making Of Behind The Scenes. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y8Buy5b6DQ (Retrieved 29th of November)

Fortressofsolitude.co.za (2022): 9 Films That Revolutionised the Movie Industry. Available at: https://www.fortressofsolitude.co.za/9-cgi-films-industry/ (Retrieved 28th of November 2022)

Giralt, G.F. (2010) ‘Realism and Realistic Representation in the Digital Age’, Journal of film and video, 62(3), pp. 3–16. doi:10.5406/jfilmvideo.62.3.0003. (Retrieved: 26. November 2022)

Manovich, L. ‘What is Digital Cinema’, Post-Cinema: Theorising 21st Century Film, 20-50