“However it is out contention that in the era of digital cinema, the body and the senses are, if anything, even more central for a theoretical understanding of the film experience, whether it is the feeling of bodily presence created through digital sound, the sensory overload and profusion of detail achieved by high-definition digital images when projected in an IMAX theater, or the “freedom” to have “movies to go” on portable devices, and control their sequence and flow with our hands,” (Elsaesser, Hagener, 2009).
Digital cinema presents the shift from human to non human, “from analog to digital, from photographic to graphic film, from representation to presentation,” (Elsaesser, Hagener, 2009).
Toy Story (1995), which follows a cowboy doll as he is threatened and jealous when a spaceman toy supplants him as top toy in a boy’s room, made cinematic history as the first film to be made exclusively digitally.
The film still has a realistic feel that the audience can connect to, as it explores animate everyday things as well as things that would be considered inanimate within reality. The digital aspect of the film allowed these inanimate objects to essentially come to life, transforming them into animate objects.
But the film is still relatable as audiences are able to connect with the characters as their voices may be recognizable and may be able to connect them to real life actors. Audiences also get to connect with the character’s stories just like any ‘regular’ film.
The use of digital cinema is also seen throughout the seconded grossing film of all time, Avatar (2009), which follows a paraplegic marine, to the moon Pandora and is torn between protecting the world in which he feels is his home and following his orders.
The film switches between real life actors to digitalized versions of the actors known as their Avatar. But as digital cinema has progressed, so has the technology, which is seen throughout the film as the likeness of the Avatar to the real life actor. This combination of real life acting and digital has given a whole new meaning to the term digital cinema.
Reference:
Elsaesser, T, Hagener, M, 2009, “Digital Cinema – the body and the sense refigured?”, ‘Film Theory: An Introduction through the Senses’, p. 170-171
Screen & Sound 