Digital imperfections: Analog processes in 21st century cinema

Present day cinema's singular pursuit of digital visual effects has resulted in a perceptual alienation of the audience due to missing constructive collaboration between artist and audience resulting from the imperfect mix of multiple analog and digital sources in the creation of the illusions. The digital's ability to represent anything and everything on its own reduces the viewer to a mere spectator and no longer an imaginative participant. The reintroduction of imperfect analog effects, married to the digital medium, allows the viewer to contribute to the illusion rather than be pushed away by the perfectionist digital rendering that does not require their assistance. Both absence and imperfection are essential to selling the illusions of the cinematic landscape. This thesis project, the feature film Prairie Dog, is designed to address this singular digital disconnect in present day cinematic illusions by creating and experimenting in a variety of analog effects in combination with digital processing to illustrate the viability of analog incorporation in present day digital cinema.