Side by Side: the Digital Revolution

Side By Side: The Digital Revolution With the fast progression of technology in the 21st century, cinema has transformed digitally, leaving film in our history. Keanu Reeves and Christopher Kenneally combine their experiences, knowledge, and passion of cinema to create the documentary, Side by Side. Countless respectable film industry moguls are interviewed throughout the documentary showcasing their mastery of the art and expressing their opinions on it’s revolution. Side by Side explores the science, art, and impact of digital cinema throughout the 21st century, detailing the reinvention of a new medium. For 100 years, the art of cinema was conveyed through photochemical film that captures, develops, projects, and stores moving images. With only ten minutes of film per roll, timing on the set had to be highly prioritized. In Side by Side, it is argued by some that film feels more tangible because of the “grit and grain” and texture of it. The documentary then goes on to explain the job of a director of photography, or “DP”, within a film feature. The director of photography is in charge of using the camera to transform the director’s vision into what appears on the film. The job of a director of photography within a film feature and the job of a director of photography within a digital feature are said, in the documentary, to be completely different things. In a film feature, the director of photography was a magician and was somewhat of an authority, because the director had to put complete trust in the DP. After each day of shooting, the film is taken overnight to be processed and is then watched by the director and the DP the next day, called “daily’s”. In Side by Side, it is questioned if the DP’s job is as important in digital cinema and claims that film entails too much waiting and a lot more pressure. With the rise of digital and the decaying of film, Side by Side explains the advantages of moving forward. The art of cinema can now conveyed