The DSLR Revolution And Its Impacts On Filmmaking: An Essay.

Describe about the Academic Writing For DSLR and Its Revolution Impacts.

DSLR Revolution and its Impacts on Filmmaking

This academic report is focused on DSLR revolution and its impacts on documentary as well as filmmaking. With the help of this report, formal academic writing skills include desired tone, language, abstract writing, sentence structure, correct grammar, elaborations and examples will be demonstrated. This report will differentiate in between analytical and information reports with providing examples of each. For writing report on DSLR revolution, gathering info as well as ordering that info will be utilised (Bania, 2013).

DSLR has brought revolution in the area of photography, filmmaking and documentary because of the rapidly evolving technology; we usually desire the newest camera which can work well for astrophotography, documentary as well as filmmaking not the most roughly designed one (Lancaster, 2018). Thus, everyone feel like it is better to purchase a DSLR today as well as another one in upcoming years with a novel, enhanced sensor, rather than sinking all money into low-graded cameras which will ultimately waste their money by not fulfilling the purpose (Boyechko, 2014). In this context, there is a huge difference between SLR and DSLR as SLR refers to a single lens camera with a reflex mirror in order to curve the light way to the optical view finder for enclosing images. At the other hand, a DSLR is a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera, which means that it owns digital sensors for recording images. Hence, DSLR has many advantages as compared to its film counter-parts. In this way, the report will be representing DSLR revolution and its critical influence over filmmaking industry during last decade (Agarwal, et al., 2014). 

The first camera was built for the U.S. Government, after that it was followed through various other models envisioned for the government use only, hence ultimately the first commercial DSLR, was launched by the Kodak camera Co. in the year 1991. Later then in the year 1995, Nikon also co-developed the Nikon E-series with Fujifilm (Dennis, 2011). A DSLR camera came into picture for general public in the year 2004. In this context, the Nikon D70 and Canon Digital Rebel took the universe through storm, not only by providing daytime photography but also astronomy photography. After two years, many other low-budget DSLRs looked in the market, and hence the film photographers moved to DSLRs considerably (Dennis, 2011).

The starting of DSLR revolution was inconspicuous as it begun with the Nikon D90, the first DSLR having video-capturing ability. The above model was capable of taking resolution 1280x720 pixels by using MJPEG video standards. Later then, the Pentax K-7 or Canon 500D cameras have appeared (Open Mind, 2016).

Furthermore, the real DSLR revolution took place with the model Canon 5D Mark-II, launched in the year 2008. In the beginning, there were trial short films created as ad hoc tests of DSLRs, like Reverie shot by Vincent Laforet, The Last 3 Minutes directed by Po Chan or The Chrysalis directed by Jeremy Ian Thomas. After that, these DSLRs started being utilised in various commercial films as well as project for TV broadcasting (Carucci, 2013).

Key Distinct Qualities of DSLR over other Cameras

The main cause of the revolution is that the Canon 5D Mark-II was capable for producing the similar quality project as professional film camera for considerably less efforts and hence shooting films and documentary with DSLR got spread like a wildfire among the all professional-filmmakers’ and momentarily even traversed its boundaries all over. Thus, people worldwide began experimenting with shooting films through their 5Ds as well as started sharing their personal findings over the Internet. Therefore, an operational as well as online community of DSLRs filmmakers was shaped and developed (Origg, 2014).

Moreover, DSLR filmmaking and documentary revolution is one of the biggest revolutions in the entire history of cinema. During the autumn of the year 2004 we all became the part of the DSLR revolution. People who were working on their big film projects with their all filmmaking camera setting, have come to know about the breakthrough features of DSLR cameras which certainly changed everything in filmmaking industry. In the beginning of the DSLR revolution, people usually could not believe that an efficient camera like DSLR exists in reality (Dennis, 2011).

DSLR has brought revolution in the area of filmmaking and one possible reason is that DSLRs can move their mirrors 25 times in a second and still records nice video. DSLR revolution was further than a cinematic look as it provided an innovative level of being capable to appeal the actors out from the background as well as attract them face-to-face, and provide an closeness which the filmmaking industry have not experienced since then. Hence, the feature of intimacy created by the DSLR in the field of ethnographic filmmaking and documentary was a fabulous one (Origg, 2014).

For an example, DSLRs’ brought below listed features for the first time in the area of filmmaking and documentary which allowed them to revolutionise the whole cinema world:

• Mobility: this feature have allowed filmmakers extend the idea about where they want to film
• Affordability: DSLRs are very much suitable for low-budget film projects like short films, documentary and videos than a conventional filmmaking camera.
• Cinema aesthetic: this feature of DSLRs opens up completely novel possibilities of filmic look for the different genres of film in cinema (Open Mind, 2016).

Apart from these above mentioned features countess filmmakers have shared results of their professional work through DSLRs, also the film community shared info and guidance regarding DSLR videos-shooting, comprising reviews, news, tips and advices with the global public. Additionally, various specialised weblogs like Planet5D.com, DSLRVideoShooter.com and Cinema5D.com about DSLRs filmmaking emerged and evolved the filmmaking industry positively (ZHANG, 2017). Thus, eventually it had developed perfectly clear that the dimensions of the movements around a DSLR were much better than any conventional filmmaking camera setting. Moreover, the online community of DSLRs was not only distributing content impassively, but also was energetically producing the course as well as the development of the evolving revolution of DSLR (Space, 2018).

There are some desired set attributes of a camera which is get utilised for creating documentaries and making films in cinema industry. With the help of those desired attributes DSLR has overcome all the series of cameras right from the finest one to newest one. These attributes of DSLRs which helped them to bring revolution in the world of cinema industry are as follows:

• Field of view
• Perspective convergence
• Move-in, Zoom-out
• Exposure
• Shutter Speed
• Aperture
• Depth of Field
• Sensitivity (ISO Scale)
• Camera Modes
• Depth of Field Preview

There are following advantages which have been evaluated after research done over this topic in order to prepare this report effectively:

Advantages of DSLR

Since we are talking about filmmaking and documentary making which needs enhanced quality conventional film shooting cameras and they are no doubted costly as well as bulky so DSLRs are affordable and user friendly.

DSLRs allow shooting without demanding any additional lighting at any time. Hence their overall performance in the presence of low-light has been appraised as excellent many times in past.

With the help of small dimensions of DSLRs cameras, filmmakers are now capable to shoot at hardly-accessible places while requiring limited space for operating camera. This feature was appreciated specially by the filmmakers those were having limited logistics as well as crewmembers (Noamkroll, 2017).

DSLRs allow filmmakers to operate in small spaces with unusual angles which are an important aspect of their filmmaking aesthetics (Gandhi & Kumar, 2018). As we can see the graph shown in appendix-3 that interchangeable lens provides an advantage over other non-interchangeable lens in terms of unusual angles it provide while shooting films.

Dimensions of DSLRs help filmmakers through providing better intimate relation amid protagonists and camera operators.

Confounding the camera film operator for the still photography has played a considerable role in bringing camera revolution among filmmaking industry. Additionally, it helped in accessing restricted places as well as led to distinct kinds of protagonists’ behaviours (Dennis, 2011).

The feature of simplicity of DSLR is depicts that shooting workflow with DSLR is much simpler than rest of the shooting workflows. It means that filmmakers do own a better freedom for customising their workflows rendering to their requirements (Bania, 2013).

DSLRs shooting workflows demand dual system of audio-recording, hence it is not appropriate for the filmmakers those are having limited budget as well as crewmembers.

Some of us always prefer to use auto-focus function of camera for work and hence absence of autofocus is a problem in DSLR functions.

As rolling shutter limits both the way of shooting as well as final editing, hence it is considered as a critical drawback (Carucci, 2013).

For the filmmakers who need to shoot in hot conditions sensor over-heating is a huge drawback of DSLRs.

The time limit based on legislative issues also has represented a minor con for the filmmakers who are supposed to shoot comparatively long shots even without a break (Space, 2018).

In this way, the wave of DSLR filmmaking got spread all around the world, as the filmmakers were continuously receiving implausible freedom for both of the achieving the cinematic look as well as independence in the film-industry. Moreover, many people who could have known as filmmakers had vividly developed up and contributed a lot to film industry (Agarwal, et al., 2014). In this way it can be easily believed that arrival of DSLR was a revolutionary step in the entire history of film cinema. Hence, it is no wonder that this term ‘DSLR revolution’ appeared for its great positive impacts on filmmaking and documentary. Additionally, it is also clearly visible from the appendix-4 that after 2010, trend of DSLR has been hiked and it is the reason it has called DSLR revolution. Moreover, DSLRs’ exceptional quality, affordability and adaptability is currently leading a strong belief that each and every device for videos shooting as well as film shooting would momentarily be swapped through the DSLRs (Boyechko, 2014).

Affordability

Although we have studied the DSLR revolution and its impacts over filmmaking and documentary films and we have understood the importance of DSLR revolution as well. Yet, the global replacement of DSLRs did not happen hence revolution is still in the process and the results will be coming out soon (Abbott, 2010).

Conclusion 

In conclusion, precisely this report has examined that in what ways DSLR revolution has impacted the filmmaking and documentary genres of films. The DSLR revolution was greatly boosted up through online communities of general people and filmmakers. It is seen by the appendix- 1, as it is showing the sales hike due to DSLR revolution. Moreover, awareness about the real experience and usability could spread all over the world because the revolutionary info was readily available for everyone as well as each and every one could contribute in developing the revolution more.

Moreover, the history of DSLRs revolution is all about the ways through which technology can be industrialised in the present world. As we know that a novel technology does not essentially mean programmed given ness, yet an opportunity can always be pushed frontward for creating new horizons. In this way, the story of DSLR revolution is depicting a huge learning for all of us that everybody and everything can participate in a revolution.

In this way, the report has dealt with the contribution of DSLRs with their marvellous video-capturing ability in the area of documentary and filmmaking as shown in appendix-2. Thus, the report has examined whether as well as to what level the filmmaking and documentary genres got affected through the trend known as DSLR revolution.

• Top DSLRs camera models for film shooting are as follows:
• Nikon D3300
• Canon EOS Rebel T5
• Canon EOS 5D Mark III
• Nikon D3200
• Canon EOS 6D
• Nikon D5300
• Sony A77 II
• Canon EOS 80D (Mateer, 2014).
• Best DSLRs for the beginners of the year 2018 are as follows:
• Nikon D3500
• Nikon D3400
• Canon EOS Rebel T7i
• Canon EOS 800D
• Nikon D5600 (Steyn, 2013).
• Sensor over-heating being a disadvantage of DSLRs must be addressed through DSLR manufacturers (Carucci, 2013).
• Absence of auto focus problem should be addressed for the users who love to use auto-focus function while shooting videos and films (Boyechko, 2014).
• There are other drawbacks of DSLRs are rolling shutter as well as time-limit hence if these tiny cons can be removed then certainly DSLRs will rule the world of cameras for each and every purpose (Space, 2018).
• Water-proof quality should be introduced by the manufacturers of DSLRs in an economic budget (Steyn, 2013).  

References

Abbott, B., 2010. Engaged observers: documentary photography since the Sixties. England: Getty Publications.

Agarwal, A., Mahajan, S. & Verma, S., 2014. Digital single lens reflex photography in clinical orthodontics: revolution or evolution. World J. Dent., 5(1), pp. 118-123.

Bania, J., 2013. Communication and the DSLR Aesthetic: A Science and Natural History Filmmaking Perspective. Otago: University of Otago.

Boyechko, S., 2014. The DSLR Revolution: No Longer Just About the Camera. [Online]
Available at: https://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/the-dslr-revolution-no-longer-just-about-the-camera--cms-22700
[Accessed 21 12 2018].

Carucci, J., 2013. Digital SLR Video and Filmmaking For Dummies. London: John Wiley & Sons.

Dennis, 2011. DSLR Revolution. [Online]
Available at: https://www.hingsberg.com/2011/01/dslr-revolution/
[Accessed 22 12 2018].

Gandhi, S. & Kumar, M., 2018. DIGITAL CAMERAS CHANGING THE NATURE AND WORK STYLE OF FILM INDUSTRY. HOW?. International Journal of Scientific Research, 7(8).

Lancaster, K., 2018. DSLR Cinema: A beginner’s guide to filmmaking on a budget. London: Focal Press.

Mateer, J., 2014. Digital cinematography: evolution of craft or revolution in production?. Journal of Film and Video, 66(2), pp. 3-14.

Noamkroll, 2017. Why DSLRs Are Still Relevant For Filmmaking & How To Choose The Right One. [Online]
Available at: https://noamkroll.com/why-dslrs-are-still-relevant-for-filmmaking-how-to-choose-the-right-one/
[Accessed 22 12 2018].

Nuska, P., 2015. DSLR video and its impact on the conventions in filmmaking. Prague: Institute of Information Studies and Librarianship.

Open Mind, 2016. 7 Advances in Technology that have Revolutionized the Film Industry. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/7-advances-in-technology-that-have-revolutionized-the-film-industry/
[Accessed 22 12 2018].

Origg, J., 2014. The Short History of the DSLR video Revolution. [Online]
Available at: https://origmedia.com/2014/05/13/short-history-dslr-video-revolution/
[Accessed 22 12 2018].

Space, S., 2018. Six Technologies that Revolutionized the Film Industry. [Online]
Available at: https://medium.com/@stream_space/six-technologies-that-revolutionized-the-film-industry-a39df2f50ea2
[Accessed 22 12 2018].

Steyn, . R., 2013. 9 tech innovations that changed the film industry (through the ages). [Online]
Available at: https://memeburn.com/2013/02/9-tech-innovations-that-changed-the-film-industry-through-the-ages/
[Accessed 22 12 2018].

ZHANG, M., 2017. This Latest Camera Sales Chart Shows the Compact Camera Near Death. [Online]
Available at: https://petapixel.com/2017/03/03/latest-camera-sales-chart-reveals-death-compact-camera/
[Accessed 22 12 2018].