Death of the Big Screen?

Inspired by the Blog article: “How Long Until A Feature Film Made on the iPhone is in Theaters” by Peter Hall, our Intern Heather Poole gives her opinion on the future of Filmmaking:

The new iPhone 4G is the latest
edition to the Apple revolution but is it the beginning of the end for
the big screen in cinema?

By: Heather Poole, ECU 2011 Festival Intern

With new technologies constantly emerging,
it’s no wonder that the culture in which we view films, television, and
other modes of media is almost unrecognizable from 5 minutes ago. In my
brief time as an intern at ECU, I’ve been researching and learning
about the various and rising trends in filmmaking, most recently the
use of mobile technologies.

In light of the anticipated arrival of the
new iPhone 4G, this article written by Peter Hall for Cinematical
inquires how long will it take until a feature film is made entirely on
the iPhone 4G. But the article also raises a series of issues in the
way we consume and produce media.

With the iMovie application, users are now
able to film and edit on the new iPhone. Yet does this new application
make anyone a filmmaker? Will it be a tool to simply capture candid
moments that would otherwise be undocumented? Or will it further the
drastic transformation in cinema by providing a new technique to create
low budget films?

Although the new iPhone 4G is, without a
doubt, an innovative piece of technology that brings the art of cinema
literally to the palm of your hand, do filmmakers even want their films
to be degraded to a miniscule 3-inch screen? And even if this new form
of watching media is more available, more accessible, anytime anywhere,
what will happen to the importance of the quality of cinema?

Perhaps I’m old school for my generation
but I feel that a certain loss comes with the advancement of
technology. With streamed videos and films now available on the iPhone,
the tools to enjoy media and connections to the outside world have been
integrated onto one device. Cinema has been a way for society to escape
from the outside world, to vicariously enjoy the emotions of the
characters on the screen, to become completely immersed in the beauty
of the moving image. Yet as film and other types of media have
proliferated through different mediums, from the big screen to
television to computer and now to the iPhone, it is no longer the grand
experience it once was.

Despite my skepticism, the new iPhone is
another gateway for artistic expression in this age of technology.
Mainstream events like the upcoming Pocket Film Festival in
Paris this weekend which the ECU Creative Content Team will be
covering, celebrates the creation of various medias via mobile
technologies.

Death of the big screen? Perhaps, but
events like the Pocket Film Festival foster this advanced technology as
a creation of a revolutionized type of media and film that
characterizes our day and age.