The Second Digital Revolution by Steve Cohen If you thought the first phase of the digital revolution was disruptive, hold on to your hats. We’re just beginning the next one and it promises to be even more exciting and challenging. All these forces are converging in our world: High Definition Television. We’ll soon be finishing many of our TV shows (and some features) in one or more HD formats, especially the HD 'lingua franca', ‘24P’. HD Cameras. Panavision has begun purchasing and modifying Sony’s new 24P video cameras and we’ll probably see them appear on shows next season, making it possible to shoot features and television at lower cost. The next 'Star Wars' episode will be shot with them. Digital Projection. We may see HD projectors installed in theaters soon, making it possible to distribute features without film. Low-Cost Editing Systems. If they catch on in the professional world they’ll make it possible for assistants to work with full systems and will produce tough competition for the established leaders in our field. They’re already creating a legion of new editors who are learning how to cut at home. Low-Cost Digital Cameras. Combined with the editing gear, these cameras are making it much easier to produce low-budget pictures. Internet Distribution. This is changing the economic foundations of the music business and will soon change the motion picture business, as well. Distributing your show is going to become much easier – but because of the potential for piracy, making money doing so might get much harder. Internet Dailies. It will soon be possible for us to routinely get our dailies over a wire. It’s already possible to show cut scenes and visual effects that way. This will change the human dynamics of the cutting room and will make it easier to work at home. No one knows how all these forces will play out – which ones will catch on and which will become yesterday’s news. All we can do is educate ourselves and get involved with the changes as they work their way through society and our industry. In this issue, we’ve put together a group of articles that will hopefully give you a great deal of information about some of these technologies and how they might affect us. We’ll continue that coverage in the future. We hope you’ll share your thoughts and concerns about these issues with other members of the Guild on our discussion groups. The proverbial curse says, ‘May you live in interesting times.’ For better or worse, that’s what’s happening.   Steve Cohen is an editor, Guild Board member and editor of the Guild Magazine. He is currently cutting '15 Minutes' for New Line. He can be reached via email   Reprinted from The Motion Picture Editors Guild Magazine Vol. 21, No. 3 - MayJune 2000   Guild Home | Magazine Home | Top of Page   Copyright © 2000, All Rights Reserved by The Motion Picture Editors Guild, IATSE Local 700