2009- After over 100 years of shooting on film, the transition towards digital cameras seems imminent and unavoidable. It is a shock wave, this technological change feels as crucial as the transition from the silent movies to the talkies.
At that time, the digital cameras are still very far-which is quite normal- from the perfection and ergonomy film cameras have acquired over decades. Technical issues are numerous.
I then start to wonder why this fast paced transition- I understand that it is technically feasible and that lots of industrial interests are at stake but that doesn't seem enough. Why are some technical innovations immediately adopted while others never go maintream? It gets me wondering about the very nature of cinema, what it really is.
Does it have to be written on celluloïd, as some critics and filmakers claim? Or does it have to embrasse, as every industrial product, the technological evolutions of its time, to keep being relevant ?
This film is a montage from archives and film-extracts_ It was the support of my graduation essay- questionning the causes of the digital transition- I try to get a feel of what cinema is- the nature of the beast- going back to its origins.
