International Edition No. 11 - year 1 - 14 April 2006 
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Editorial
by Domenico Dinoia, President of MEDIA Salles
Dear Friends,
the third edition of the MEDIA Salles' course “DigiTraining
Plus: New Technologies for European Cinemas”, co-financed by the
European Union’s MEDIA Programme and by the Italian Government,
has recently come to an end in Kuurne, Belgium.
Great enthusiasm from the participants at the closure of the 2006 edition:
the venue for the event, the Barco headquarters, was once again highly
appreciated this year and there were numerous requests to boost this training
initiative by providing two editions a year.
Enthusiasm which, as President of MEDIA
Salles, I cannot fail to share. The five days of the course did, in fact,
offer a sequence of over 20 speakers and a wealth of competences and initiatives
linked to digital cinema. In particular, I should like to remember the
clips of 3-D films viewed, including Polar Express, made possible by the
Real D company, which also showed participants the different modes of
3-D projection and viewing, as well as its own in particular, based on
the use of one projector only and disposable glasses for decoding the
images. Also amongst the main novelties and uniquely important aspects
in present reflexions on digital projection was the meeting with representatives
of banks – the Royal Bank of Scotland and ING Lease – which
gave rise to an interesting and urgently needed exchange with exhibitors
on one of the most pressing issues for exhibition: how to provide financially
for the transition to digital. In addition, there was the opportunity
to listen to authoritative opinions and different points of view on the
impact of the DCI specifications and to see a “split-screen”
demonstration of the same film screened simultaneously in 35mm and in
digital format.
Following the issues that reported the course day by day, in the coming
weeks our “Informer” will continue to provide you with more
detailed information and items of special interest concerning these five
days, whilst the lecturers’ talks and a large section containing
photos will soon be accessible in the “Training” section of
the MEDIA Salles website (www.mediasalles.it). One more commitment on
behalf of exhibitors.
Barco digital projector: the winners
The goodbye dinner at “DigiTraining Plus” 2006, held on 8 April after visiting the town of Ypres, saw the presentation of the prize awarded by Barco this year to three exhibitors from the course: a digital projector, which the Spanish Yelmo Cineplex, the Hungarian InterCom and the Swedish Fregatten Bio – Filmhuset Facklan will be able to try out free of charge in one of their theatres for a month.
From left to right in the photo, Elisabetta Brunella (Secretary General of MEDIA Salles), Enrique Martinez (Yelmo Cineplex), Glenn Wastyn (Market Director Digital Cinema of Barco), Michael Kristiansson (Fregatten Bio – Filmhuset Facklan) and Anton Lakatos (InterCom).
Digital
projections at the Cityscoop in Roeselare
On the morning of 8 April the course participants visited the Cityscoop of Roeselare where they watched screenings of a series of titles digitalised by XDC.
Click here for more information
on the visit.
Split screen: 35mm vs digital
“De Hel van Tanger”: this is the title, directed by Frank Van Mechelen, which was chosen for the “split screen” demo concluding the digital screenings at Cityscoop. The Belgian-produced film, at present showing in theatres in the original Flemish-language version, was the object of direct comparison on the screen between 35mm and digital projection, allowing all the participants hands-on experience of digital’s potential in terms of the quality of both vision and colour.
