scholarly journals Slow Train Coming? The Transition to Digital Distribution and Exhibition in Cinema

2004 ◽  
Vol 110 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott McQuire

Throughout the 1990s, digital technology entered film production and rapidly altered both the production process and the audience's experience, as complex soundscapes and special effects became the hallmark of cinematic blockbusters. By 1999, the prospect of an end-to-end digital cinema, or cinema without celluloid, seemed to be in sight. Digital distribution and exhibition were extolled as particularly attractive prospects, and a number of test sites were established in the United States. However, the last four years have demonstrated that significant issues need to be resolved before there will be broader implementation of digital cinema. Working from a series of interviews with key industry practitioners in Australia and the United States, this article examines the struggles currently affecting the rollout of digital cinema, and assesses the likely impact on Australian exhibition practices.

Societies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Zeynep Correia

Airports are located at the core of the production process, but can they also be where the “revolutionary subject” is hidden? We know what airports stand for nowadays, but have we pushed for what they could possibly stand for? Can airports, as a form of urban technology, be reimagined beyond their current roles of a “space technology nexus” driving capital movement? Can we imagine, idealize, and locate them somewhere else in a period dominated by the economy of time, where speed and accessibility matter the most? In this framework, this provocative essay aims to frame airports as a protest and public expression venue. Drawing inspiration from recent examples, such as the Stansted Airport protests in the UK, the Occupy Airports protests that occurred all around the United States, and touching upon the divergent example of Turkey’s 15th of July night protests in 2016, I provide a glimpse of an alternative prospect for this key urban infrastructure.


10.2196/15727 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. e15727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yejin Lee ◽  
Mario C Raviglione ◽  
Antoine Flahault

Background Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, with around 1.5 million deaths reported in 2018, and is a major contributor to suffering worldwide, with an estimated 10 million new cases every year. In the context of the World Health Organization’s End TB strategy and the quest for digital innovations, there is a need to understand what is happening around the world regarding research into the use of digital technology for better TB care and control. Objective The purpose of this scoping review was to summarize the state of research on the use of digital technology to enhance TB care and control. This study provides an overview of publications covering this subject and answers 3 main questions: (1) to what extent has the issue been addressed in the scientific literature between January 2016 and March 2019, (2) which countries have been investing in research in this field, and (3) what digital technologies were used? Methods A Web-based search was conducted on PubMed and Web of Science. Studies that describe the use of digital technology with specific reference to keywords such as TB, digital health, eHealth, and mHealth were included. Data from selected studies were synthesized into 4 functions using narrative and graphical methods. Such digital health interventions were categorized based on 2 classifications, one by function and the other by targeted user. Results A total of 145 relevant studies were identified out of the 1005 published between January 2016 and March 2019. Overall, 72.4% (105/145) of the research focused on patient care and 20.7% (30/145) on surveillance and monitoring. Other programmatic functions 4.8% (7/145) and electronic learning 2.1% (3/145) were less frequently studied. Most digital health technologies used for patient care included primarily diagnostic 59.4% (63/106) and treatment adherence tools 40.6% (43/106). On the basis of the second type of classification, 107 studies targeted health care providers (107/145, 73.8%), 20 studies targeted clients (20/145, 13.8%), 17 dealt with data services (17/145, 11.7%), and 1 study was on the health system or resource management. The first authors’ affiliations were mainly from 3 countries: the United States (30/145 studies, 20.7%), China (20/145 studies, 13.8%), and India (17/145 studies, 11.7%). The researchers from the United States conducted their research both domestically and abroad, whereas researchers from China and India conducted all studies domestically. Conclusions The majority of research conducted between January 2016 and March 2019 on digital interventions for TB focused on diagnostic tools and treatment adherence technologies, such as video-observed therapy and SMS. Only a few studies addressed interventions for data services and health system or resource management.


Author(s):  
Marharyta Chepeliuk

The pandemic has enhanced the social function of digital technologies and services. It is solely through digital technology that a massive shift to remote work has been possible during the most difficult period of the pandemic. All over the world, the philosophy of office work is changing, and there is a transition to permanent and conditional-permanent remote work. For example, Transport Canada is planning to move to telecommuting as a key employment model for its employees. In the near future, telecommuting will continue for most of the 6,000 employees in the agency. In China, widespread use of WeChat, Tencent, and Ding digital working applications began in late January 2020, when isolation measures were introduced. In Switzerland, COOVID-19 Remote Work and Study Resources provides free resources for remote operation and distance learning. Zoom and Google Meet videoconferencing, remote workplaces, and new social platforms run remote work almost immediately, and this trend is likely to continue after the lifting of the quarantine. Trends in staff employment worldwide are rather mixed. According to LinkedIn, it is possible to track changes in the employment rates of seven key economies – Australia, China, France, Italy, Singapore, Great Britain and United States. In France and Italy, the decline was more pronounced at -70% and -64.5% respectively by mid-April 2020. Since then, employment has been gradually recovering, and most of the seven key economies for which these figures have been analysed tend to change by 0 per cent year on year. By July 1, 2020, China, France, and the United States had seen the largest rebound in relative recruitment – -6% or -7%. At the end of September 2020, the countries with a high recovery in employment were China (22 per cent), Brazil (13 per cent), Singapore (8 per cent) and France (5 per cent). In these economies, hiring so far seems to compensate for months in which no new personnel have been recruited, indicating some stabilization of the labor market.


10.2196/14171 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. e14171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sayyed Fawad Ali Shah ◽  
Julia Meredith Hess ◽  
Jessica R Goodkind

BackgroundConflicts around the world have resulted in a record high number of refugees. Family separation is a critical factor that impacts refugee mental health. Thus, it is important to explore refugees’ ability to maintain contact with family members across the globe and the ways in which they attempt to do so. It is increasingly common for refugees to use information and communication technologies (ICTs), which include mobile phones, the internet, and social media sites, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype, and Viber, for these purposes.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore refugees’ perceptions of the impact of communication through ICTs on their mental health, the exercise of agency by refugees within the context of ICT use, especially their communication with their families, and logistical issues that affect their access to ICTs in the United States.MethodsWe used a constructivist grounded theory approach to analyze in-depth interviews of 290 adult refugee participants from different countries, who were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of a community-based mental health intervention.ResultsAnalyses showed that communication through ICTs had differing impacts on the mental health of refugee participants. ICTs, as channels of communication between separated families, were a major source of emotional and mental well-being for a large number of refugee participants. However, for some participants, the communication process with separated family members through digital technology was mentally and emotionally difficult. The participants also discussed ways in which they hide adversities from their families through selective use of different ICTs. Several participants noted logistical and financial barriers to communicating with their families through ICTs.ConclusionsThese findings are important in elucidating aspects of refugee agency and environmental constraints that need to be further explicated in theories related to ICT use as well as in providing insight for researchers and practitioners involved in efforts related to migration and mental health.


This book explores music- and sound-image relationships in non-mainstream screen repertoire from the earliest examples of experimental audiovisuality to the most recent forms of expanded and digital technology. It challenges presumptions of visual primacy in experimental cinema and rethinks screen music discourse in light of the aesthetics of non-commercial imperatives. Several themes run through the book, connecting with and significantly enlarging upon current critical discourse surrounding realism and audibility in the fiction film, the role of music in mainstream cinema, and the audiovisual strategies of experimental film. The contributors investigate repertoires and artists from Europe and the United States through the critical lenses of synchronicity and animated sound, interrelations of experimentation in image and sound, audiovisual synchresis and dissonance, experimental soundscape traditions, found-footage film, remediation of pre-existent music and sound, popular and queer sound cultures, and a diversity of radical technological and aesthetic tropes in film media traversing the work of early pioneers such as Walter Ruttmann and Len Lye, through the mid-century innovations of Norman McLaren, Stan Brakhage, Lis Rhodes, Kenneth Anger, Andy Warhol, and studio collectives in Poland, to latter-day experimentalists John Smith and Bill Morrison, as well as the contemporary practices of VJing.


Significance The Obama administration faces an uphill fight in Congress to secure enough votes for TPP ratification, given Democratic suspicions of free trade agreements, Republican animus for the White House and the frustrations of key industry groups in the United States. The United States can in effect veto the TPP's international implementation, while the White House's 'Asia pivot' policy relies partly on firmer trade ties with East and South-east Asia. Impacts The battle over TPP will likely divert political capital and US government resources from the TTIP negotiations. China may benefit diplomatically in the Asia-Pacific if the United States blocks TPP from coming into force. The trade debate may spill over to greater US legislative attention on currency manipulation issues ahead of 2017.


Significance The USMCA represents continuity with NAFTA in most sectors, but introduces new rules governing the automotive trade, a key industry for Mexico’s economy. The challenges of USMCA implementation come on top of a severe economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Impacts The USMCA provides some commercial certainty for investors in Mexico, in a context of political and health risks. The new rules bring opportunities for new auto investment in Mexico, but these may come at the expense of higher overall production costs. The agreement’s immediate impact will depend on the pace of economic recovery in Mexico and the United States.


Author(s):  
John O'Hara ◽  
James Higgins ◽  
J Persensky ◽  
Paul Lewis

There is renewed interest in nuclear power in the United States and in constructing new reactors within the next decade. The new reactors likely will be based on advanced digital technology unlike most of the current plants. To better understand the human factors issues associated with these advanced systems, we studied plants that have undergone significant modernization using digital technology. Many of the lessons learned from these plants are also applicable to advanced designs and we are analyzing them with the goal of developing guidance for conducting safety reviews to ensure that both the modernization programs and advanced plant designs realize their potential safety and operational benefits and do not adversely impact human performance and safety. The purpose of this paper is to identify the lessons learned from the modernization programs and their implications for design reviews.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document