New media is the term used to refer to anything digital or computerised that disseminates information or that is used for communication. This takes into considerarion the internet, your blackberry smartphone as well as that new computer game you just bought last christmas! Until around the 1980's media depended on print and analog models to get information out to a news-starved public, but with the growth and manipulation of various technologies (such as the digitization of photography and cinematography) within the last 25 years or so, there is now a marked difference in how news and other information is created, manipulated and disseminated.

New (digitized) media is being used to transform almost every aspect of human life. Let's take a look at digital technology's influence on the various ways in which we communicate.

Friday, April 16, 2010

"300" : A Cinematographer's Dream


Directed by Zack Snyder and based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 recounts the battle of Thermopylae that took place in 480 BC between the Greeks and the Persians. 


Under the rule of King Xerxes (played by Rodrigo Santoro), described as the Persian God-king, several Hellenic city states have already been conquered and the ambitious king has now set his sights on Sparta, one of the last Greek states yet to bend to Persian authority. Refusing to sacrifice his freedom or the freedom of his people, King Leonidas of Sparta (played by Gerard Butler), along with 300 of his best soldiers, decide  to fight. Even though they are vastly outnumbered (the Persian army numbering about 100,000), the Greeks manage to successfully hold back the enemy in what has become one of the most famous last stands in history, until they are betrayed by Ephialtes (played by Andrew Tiernan) - a horribly disfigured Spartan who had requested to join the army against the Persians but was refused by Leonidas because of his condition. 


Impressed by the Spartan's superior fighting skills, Xerxes pays Leonidas a visit personally, to persuade him to surrender, but Leonidas refuses, further angering the Persian King. With information he receives from Ephialtes, Xerxes advances on the Spartans and surrounds them, asking again for their peaceful surrender. Once again the proud Spartans refuse and are ultimately killed in battle. 

Digital Technology's Contribution to 300

Many critics have agreed that what has made "300" so spectacular is not so much the plot as the revolutionary use of graphics. Director, Zack Snyder and cinematographer, Larry Fong, collaborated in the creation of the film, utilizing digital cinematography to shoot the entire film against a blue screen, allowing for the creation of stunning visual displays. In addition to this, original photography was used, with the final elements for "300" including approximately 1,300 visual effects shots. According to Fong, the images were manipulated using digital intermediate (DI) timing (one of the latest technological advances in film making  which involves the process of manipulating colour and other image characteristics in a motion picture) with most of the work regarding the look of the film done during post-production. He also made use of Adobe Photoshop and Apple's iPhoto  to organize shots by scene  and also chose the [KODAK VISION2 Expression 500T] 5229 film in Super 35mm format as his preferred tool.

An Analysis of the Scene

Leonidas' Meeting with Xerxes
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