A nostalgic look at filming over the ages

There have always been inventors. Go back through history and we soon realise that it is the biggest part of our evolution. As time marched on, there were many changes, for as that old saying goes “Necessity is the Mother of Invention.” In ancient times, when they found that dragging objects and people on a sledge was very hard work and slow, someone soon invented the wheel. That was one of the greatest ideas to get things moving. So there has always been a continuation of ideas to speed things up, until after many thousands of years, we are in the present time with changes moving ever faster.

Not so very long ago, whatever article one acquired would last a life time, and was often passed to the next generation. In the first half of the 20th century cameras were built to last. A cine camera sixty or seventy years old
 

will be entirely mechanical and could still be used today for making movies, if you could get hold of or afford the film. The quality of the picture from such a camera is being bettered by digital video. Prices of camcorders has come down while the quality and features have improved. Though I am referring to the domestic world, for it all depends on how many pixels are crammed into each frame. Professional work is another story, so much depends on very fine digital computerisation. But making films no longer requires a cast of thousands to produce a crowd, make Jurassic Park or Titanic. Very expensive equipment is used, for it has to finish up with a fine enough image on the film to project onto a 60 foot wide screen.

I know this is all very obvious, but the world of electronics is accelerating at an ever faster speed, it is interesting to make
 

comparisons, I wonder about the future, for even now, it seems impossible to keep up with Mr. or Mrs. Jones’ equipment. DV tape is already being replaced by solid state memory while hard disks and DVDs for storage in the camera have somehow never quite taken hold.

We watch for the future and look for price reductions. However, it seems a waste of time trying to keep up with the latest innovations as equipment outdating speeds up! Step out of the shop and you could be out of date before you press a button.

Now we have young people after a short course, making short TV programs using the latest high definition cameras and producing broadcast quality programs after editing on a simple computer. What Next?

Jon