Introduction to Digital Cinematography

After a 100 years of film acquisition, distribution, and projection, the motion picture industry has taken a major turn. It has joined the realm of digital imaging. This massive transformation has radically changed the production pipeline. The advancements in digital image quality and the increased resolution of digital cinema cameras have played a major role in the industry's digital evolution. In production, the camera systems that dominate the market support the latest CMOS sensors, have resolution of 4K and beyond, obtain 120 frames per second of image capture, boast impressive dynamic range, and demonstrate an ever-increasing color gamut. These sophisticated, high-resolution camera systems have added new technical dimensions and unparalleled creative freedom through their state-of-the-art hardware, software, firmware, and image sensors. Matt Siegel's Introduction to Digital Cinematography provides a comprehensive look at the what, the how, and the why of these powerful digital imaging tools. The chapter goes one step further to address the marriage of the technical and aesthetic in creating a digital motion picture. The chapter provides a survey of the industry standard production tools and delves into the “state of the craft” when creating visual stories through digital means. As the industry continues to evolve at an extremely rapid pace, Siegel's Introduction to Digital Cinematography takes time to address the importance of the traditional aspects of cinematography, while inviting exploration of what lies just ahead in the world of cinematography Keywords: digital cinematography; resolution; exposure index; color correction; dynamic range