DCP / Steenbeck

2014, 4:53 min, color, silent

Lampert writes: "DCP/ Steenbeck juxtaposes two events that occurred in the space of one week.

The left image shows fellow staff members at Anthology Film Archives hoisting a new Digital Cinema Package (DCP) video system into the projection booth of the Courthouse Theater. An expensive upgrade that also represents a substantial change in exhibition format from film to file, DCP is the current industry standard for digital moving image projection. Anthology installed DCP in order to continue showing contemporary and classic works that are not distributed or available on traditional celluloid film formats.

A 16mm Steenbeck flatbed is removed from my house in the right image. Introduced in the early 1950s, Steenbecks were top of the line film editing and viewing units widely used in studios, labs, archives, and schools. The digital filmmaking shift that began in the 1990s has essentially transformed these once key tools into hulking relics. I eagerly acquired mine for free from NYU around 8 years ago, but it has largely been sitting untouched in my studio for far too long. The moment had at last come to pass it on to someone else."