The Great 'Singin' in the Rain' Shoot-out! (G)

140mins

Cinema is currently going through its most profound technological transformation since the coming of optical sound in 1927, as commercial venues convert en mass to Digital Cinema Package (DCP) 2K digital projection. But whilst all heard the coming of sound, how much have you really seen the coming of digital cinema; how much have you even noticed whether the last movie you saw was on film or in one of the variety of digital formats that are now making the life of filmmakers, distributors, programmers and archivists very complicated? Pushing aside the hype, blindings of science and all the anxiety, Arc cinema marks its fifth birthday and its own outfitting for the DCP standard (alongside the 100 years of legacy cinema screening formats we continue to respect) with a chance for audiences to see what the difference really is. The evening will begin with a side-by-side screening of scenes from Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly’s Singin’ in the Rain (1952, 103 mins) – one of the certified classics of cinema and ideally (for this purpose) a classic of Technicolor filmmaking. After you’ve sampled it in some of the many formats typically used by repertory cinemas past and present (on film, off tape, disc, hard drive or the internet) we’ll then experience Singin’ in the Rain in its latest technical iteration, with a full screening on DCP.

Singing in the Rain is presented courtesy Potential/Chapel Films.