Future of the Feature

Digital video has without question brought change to the film making world. The article does a great job of explaining its goals through a brief history and catalogue of works. I fully agree that the greatness in DV is what can be done with the medium versus the number of technical advantages. The amount of adaptation it allows the artist to obtain is vast, and when paired with other digital mediums its range of options as a device for great explorations in representation. Newer technology has caught up though, bringing formats high definition and stereoscopic video which have added a new dimension to the media and complicates things. Where as the article references DV as the current, HDV is now the current, and DV is seen as "consumer" and is becoming a "dead media". High definition video fits under the category of "DV", but in this context there is a defining line in visual quality and feel of the video information that separates the two, so I feel that I can justify the DV talked about in the article as something entirely different than the HD that is shot now. Everything is high definition now, and the utilization of the DV in other formats of work or for a feeling of more "real" as it once was is starting to dwindle. Movies like Paranormal Activity are still in an HD format, because to an extent, a consumer can shoot HD as well. The technology has come on huge in the market and traditional DV has been somewhat swept away fairly quickly. Maybe that's why I have a need to create pieces involving the DV tape the way I do; to represent with it in a way that hard drive based HD cannot. Either way, digital video has a strong foothold in cinema, especially lately because of its ability for special effects and editing of that sort. It's what sells, and so the mainstream will keep on producing with it. I don't feel as though I've seen enough current non-mainstream work to comment on the use of HD there, but it seems as though the visual appeal of it lures most in. In an age of rapidly evolving technology, video and cinema moves just as fast. Some still do use analog, and I find that interesting and somewhat inspiring, but the masses are digital. My reaction to the tendencies is one of interest in the choice and its meaning. Traditional DV isn't quite dead, and I think that it still has something valid in its use, even if that means the actual tape its self, I still find it intriguing.