by SUZANNE LANDA
The Rand Corporation
Santa Monica, California
INTRODUCTION
Thelllo"ie .. iIl_d_1.l~try U}lig1.l~!YJ~!:ovid~s the ~pPC?rtlmity. to combine the creativity of the artist with the technology of science. It was in fact the marriage of art and science that gave birth to filmmaking. While many advances and discoveries have been made in the tools used to make movies, support their production and distribution, and enhance their exhibition, perhaps none since the camera will have the pervasive effect of the computer. Both behind the scenes and on the screen the ubiquitous computer is beginning to have an impact on the movie industry.
This paper follows a movie from its initial conception through production, distribution, exhibition, preservation and redistribution, surveying current and planned applications of computer technology and identifying areas requiring further research. It purposely focuses on the problems of motion picture production amenable to computer application and not on specific technical solutions. The latter will be provided in the session by guest speakers from the movie industry. With the emphasis on movies for this session, computer applications unique to television and other related fields have been excluded.
CONCEPT
A movie begins with an idea. The source of the idea may be an individual's fantasy, an article or book, a newspaper story, or even the preferences of thousands of people compiled and analyzed by computer. Sunn Classics Productions,
Inc. has successfully applied the latter approach to come up with the idea for "The Lincoln Conspiracy," "In Search of
Noah's Ark," and other box office successes. 1 Their extensive computer analysis approach, which involves not only idea but also story generation, has only been applied to movie making for special audiences (family entertainment).
Successful application for general audiences has not yet been ascertained.
However, once an idea exists, studios do use market research and computer analysis to estimate its potential for success. For example, after producing several successful disaster films, Twentieth-Century Fox relied on market research to indicate when audiences had reached a saturation point for that genre.
2 Market research with computer analysis for this type of general information is expected to increase.
A movie idea is given life by the writer who turns it into a screenplay. ScrIpt writing remains primarIly an individual art form centered around the typewriter with occasional forays to the library or other information sources. While the task of typing dialogue lends itself to automated text editing, the author is aware of only one screenwriter who has invested in such a system. Within several years, as the costs of personal computer systems (particularly peripherals) drop, repair support increases, and computerized library and periodical services become more accessible over communications networks, the personal computer will undoubtedly become a valuable aid in screenwriting.
Starting with the purchase of a script and continuing through the distribution and exhibition of a movie, payment to employees is accomplished through a payroll system more complex than any in other industries. The continually changing rules and regulations of over 65 unions and guilds must be handied. Many workers must be paid within 24 hours of the time labor was terminated. If a worker's job is upgraded during the day, his pay for the entire day may have to be adjusted and also the payments to those who worked with him. Depending' on when, what, and where he is working, he may earn up to eight times his regular pay. Each union's definition of a work week also varies. Not only must union regulations be tracked, but also the tax structure of every state since the studio must provide a W2 form for every state in which an employee has worked. Another factor contributing to the complexity of the payroll system is that the size of the work force is constantly changing. While a studio may employ 3500-7000 people permanently, total annual employment may easily exceed 50,000 with the total number of checks issued ten times greater. Predominateiy
COBOL written, batch-oriented systems provide payroll support for producers. These services are available from the major studios, e.g. Universal and Warner Bros., and from service bureaus.
In addition to payroll, contracts are issued and modified during all stages of production. This task is handled in Disney's and Fox's legal departments through the use of word processing systems. Interconnectivity of these systems with other departments and those of external concerns, e.g. law firms, has been limited to homogenous systems because of problems with nonstandard communication protocols.
From the collection of the Computer History Museum (www.computerhistory.org)

2 National Computer Conference, 1979
PRE-PRODUCTION
Once a shooting script has been prepared, the pre-production activities of budget and schedule planning commence. These tasks are compounded by the problem that scripts are not shot chronologically. A shooting schedule depends on the availability of actors, sound stages, locations, props, etc. It also depends on economics. For example, since an actor filmed on Monday and Friday must be paid for the entire week, economics dictate that his scenes be shot at closer intervals. Outdoor scenes are usually filmed before interiors because uncontrollable environmental factors reflected in outdoor scenes may impact the indoor scenes. In addition to schedule planning, scene requirements for sets, props, technical equipment, etc. must be estimated before a budget can be set. It is not unusual for a feature film budget to consist of many thousands of separate items. Both scheduling and budgeting are basically manual processes today with some automated support through data entry systems using formatted displays. However, at the University of New South Wales, an interactive system is being designed for film budgeting, the generation of an economic shooting schedule and the breakdown of individual scene requirements. During the pre-production phase of scheduling and costing, the system will accept as data the script breakdown and all relevant costs. Output will be an initial draft schedule and a total cost estimate. When cast, locations, and budgets have been determined, a detailed shooting schedule is then generated through a tree search. Such an approach does not produce the optimum schedule, but experience with other industrial scheduling situations have indicated to the developers that schedules at least as good as those generated by experienced people could be expected.
3 While production people have shown interest in this type of total system approach, computer aided budgeting and scheduling will probably expand first through subtask application.
One of the requirements determined for each scene is the number and types of extras. The casting of extras presents a particularly formidable problem. At Universal. for example, between 50 and 2000 extras are required daily to appear as background and atmosphere people in productions. Requests are usually very specific: five men with black beards between 20-30 years old, 5' 10"-6'2", who can ride horses and duel with swords. It is even better if they own their own horses and swords. Universal uses an interactive system which accesses a data base containing the names of available extras and information about their skills, attributes, costumes, props, etc. When the next day's casting requirements are released, potential extras who best fit the part can be selected online. A similar system for creative talent, i.e. producers, writers, directors, and actors, will be available at Universal in 1979. A producer may then ask to see, for example, a list of directors who specialize in feature westerns and whose credits have grossed over $30,000,000.
Once the budget and schedule have been determined and actors, locations, equipment, and crews selected, the direcluI', an Jire~lur anJ ~ameraman must design the sets. Sets are usually overbuilt because they are designed for all contingencies. For example, only two-thirds of a $3,000,000 set may appear in the final print. In this case, $1,000,000 was spent on a set that will never be seen by the audience. To avoid this waste, those at Robert Abel & Associates involved in full-scale spaceship set designs for the movie' 'Star
Trek" (to be released December, 1979) are using computer graphic aids to determine the parts of each set which must be built. Line drawn versions of sets and people are entered into an Evans & Sutherland Picture System 2 through a tablet. For each set, camera angles and moves are executed using the System 2 controls. In this way, those portions of a set that need not be built because they will never be visible can be determined. It is also possible to identify areas of a set that may be visible but are amenable to matte effect in place of construction.
For movies which include animation or special effects sequences, storyboards outlining the action are developed during pre-production. At Universal's new special effects facility (Universal Hartland), a computer graphics system on a stand-alone microcomputer is being used to create the storyboard for "Buck Rogers." Since storyboards only include sketches of key actions, during the actual filming it may be discovered that the pacing required to move from one sketch to the next varies from that planned. To avoid this problem in the making of "Star Trek," Robert Abel's is using the Evans & Sutherland to preview action sequences in real-time before filming begins.
PRODUCTION
The actual shooting of a movie may occur at the studio, on location, or a combination of both. Through computer support, producers at the major studios get daily reports on the previous day's expenditures for a particular feature.
Overruns are immediately visible so that modifications can be made in the remaining stages of production to absorb or minimize the extra costs. In some cases, early cost excesses result in a project's termination.
Location shooting presents severe cost control and payroll problems. At Paramount, timely and accurate cost information and local payroll capabilities are provided on location by a minicomputer-driven terminal system. Universal is currently implementing a similar minicomputer-based system.
At Disney, a microcomputer system with dual-diskettes and printer will be tested on location in Hawaii in early 1979.
Disney also expects to use the system on stage at the studio for backlot production sequences. These reporting systems are used during the day on location to record transactions.
At night the daily records are transmitted to the central processor. Reports, updated master files, and data discrepancies are then returned to the location for next-day availability. The decrease in reporting time through use of onlocation computer support is as much as ten to one. A capability to be added in the future will allow the location auditor to explore the costs of various courses of action when an unforeseen event occurs. For example, should a storm break. wIth an expected duration of two weeks. the location auditor would like to determine the costs of keeping
From the collection of the Computer History Museum (www.computerhistory.org)

Computer Technology in the Movie Industry 3 everyone on location versus sending them home, paying required penalties and bringing them back later.
Computer technology is also used during production to assist in the generation of the animated images seen on the screen. Animation techniques can be divided into two categories: 2-D animation, involving the use of hand-drawn images, and 3-D animation, involving the manipulation of models and puppets. Both techniques make use of storyboards which are subject to computer application as described under Pre-Production. 3-D animation using models will be discussed under Post-Production. as it is traditionally associated with the post-production area of special effects.
For 2-D animation, like those of Disney and Hanna Barbera, the first production step requires an artist's rendition of key frames in each scene. The next step calls for an assistant animator or "inbetweener" to fill in the action by prov-iciing- transition frames between the key f:t:ames. Each of these drawings is then photographed, shot onto celluloid, and painted. Finally, each cel or the required combination of cels is placed on an animation stand for filming. For feature films, the only step involving a computer today is the last: Camera settings required to simulate movement are computed and provided to the cameraman filming off the animation stand. However, by mid-1979, several research efforts will have systems commercially available to aid in all these steps of animated feature film production. The systems allow for input of key frames by an artist using a light pen and tablet with the computer performing inbetweening. The artist then "paints" the stored frames interactively with light pen and color selectors. To obtain consistency in scene and character colorization, the systems will allow for the storing and retrieving of colors by picture elements. The need for celluloids is eliminated since frames will be filmed directly off a CRT.
4
A major difficulty in providing computer aids to the animator has been to provide him with input tools with which he feels as artistically free as with conventional methods. The designers of these systems feel they have overcome the problem by providing paintbrush, pencil, and spraygun options to the artist through software. The other area still open to question for commercial application is whether these systems will produce the high-quality, high-resolution animation required for feature films. An answer to this should be forthcoming in 1979 when at least one production company plans to make a full-length animated movie using this type of computer system.
The use of computers to aid live-action filming premieres this year with the release of "The China Syndrome" (Michael Douglas Productions). For story realism and for legal protection, it was necessary in this movie to duplicate precisely the interior of a nuclear power plant during the various stages of an alert. This required the operation of 131 circuits controlling 2500 instrument panel lights in differing sequences and in differing states (off, slow-flash, fast-flash, solid-on) for each stage of the alert. synchronized with liveaction performances. The task was compounded by the need to restart the sequences at any point for retakes and for daily continuity. A combination of manual and electronic methods to handle this type of operation has proved in the past to be costly and unpredictable. To avoid these problems for "The China Syndrome," Eyewitness, Ltd. programmed a microcomputer in assembly language to allow accurate, flexible, and reliable operation of the panel lights in coordination with the actors' performances.
Computers, of course, have been known to appear or even star in a movie. Usually, however, what is seen are whirling tape drives and a card sorter or maybe a terminal flashing
Christmas tree lights. Universal has taken steps to remedy the situation by creating realistic computer environments and systems for production shots. For example, simulated interactive hospital and law enforcement systems are avaiiable for use as dictated by a script.
A print of the original camera footage must be made each day for viewing the following day. The automation used to print dailies is part of the systems used for post-production processing in film laboratories which is discussed in the next se_ction.
POST-PRODUCTION
The post-production phase of movie making consists of creating and adding special visual effects and titles, adding music and sound effects, and, finally, processing, editing, and printing the finished product in the motion picture laboratory.
Special visual effects using models have become well known through such movies as "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Star Wars." Contrary to popular opinion and some press reports, special-purpose, hard-wired machines, not computers, were used to control cameras and models in these and other recent movies. Not until 1979 with the release of "Buck Rogers" (Universal), "The Black Hole"
(Disney), and "Star Trek" (Paramount) will the public view special effects created with the aid of computer-controlled cameras and models.
5
-
7 Computer-control is a solution to the problem of repeatability of camera movements for long, intricate shots and movements of the model or objects being photographed. In addition, the automated camera is expected to make some effects possible which were not either physically possible or economically feasible before. Input to the microcomputer-based system may be from a walkthrough with the camera or from stored data previously entered via keyboard. At Disney, a cameraman will either manually or electronically operate the camera through the initial shot using a hand-held or small console control unit.
Subsequent shots will be repeated automatically from the stored data. At Universal Hartland, designers are using their stand-alone microcomputer system to graphically plan the shots within a scene, calling up stored images of the models, setting model size, roll, pitch, and yaw and grid location together with lens size. At Robert Abers, with the Evans
& Sutherland system, the process is carried one step further:
The shots may be played beforehand in real time. For both these systems, the stored data is used to control the microcomputer-driven camera system.
An alternative approach to 3-D animation is computergenerated imagery which eliminates the need to build and manipulate models. This approach was used for a 40-second
From the collection of the Computer History Museum (www.computerhistory.org)

4 National Computer Conference, 1979 sequence in the movie" Futureworld" in which a mask-like image of Peter Fonda's head is seen spinning through space.
8
While 3-D graphics have been successfully employed in television commercials, the level of complexity and detail required for high-quality, high-resolution feature films currently limits its cost-effective application.
In addition to images, a movie almost always has a musical score and special sound effects. While computer-generated music has not yet been used in a theatrical release, proponents feel that the computer will enable the musician to create scores not otherwise obtainable and that these, like computer synthesized images, will expand the medium of filmmaking. For the time being, however, musical scores for movies are still totally created by composers and arrangers.
The use of original music always introduces the possibility of copyright infringement. To minimize the problem at Universal, new scores are translated by an operator into codes which are matched against a stored database of copyright music. Matches exceeding the legally acceptable number of bars are flagged.
Sound editing, like film editing, is a particularly tedious, time-consuming and therefore costly task. The sound editor views a reel of film, noting the sounds and footage required.
From a library index, he selects a tentative list of sounds.
A technician retrieves the sounds and transfers them to tape.
The editor then begins the cutting and modifying process.
If the sound he needs is too short he must create a physical loop of the tape so the sound repeats without obvious repetitious characteristics. Synchronizing the sound to the film is literally a cut-and-try process. The assembled edited cuts are mixed down onto a final track and then mixed with music and dialogue. Sound quality is degraded with each transfer from library master to work copy to final mix. The
Automated Computer Controlled Editing Sound System
(ACCESS) developed by Mini-Micro Systems, Inc. for Neiman-Tillar Associates eliminates manual handling of tape and allows electronic synchronization. It provides immediate availability of sound effects which have been digitized and stored on magnetic disk packs. Sounds may also be modified via computer-assisted controls. While cutting editing time by 80 percent, use of ACCESS has also improved the quality of sound produced. The microcomputer-based system was used for the sound editing of "I Want To Hold
Your Hand," "Sorcerer," "The Island of Dr. Moreau" and other feature films. 9
Final print production involves cutting the original negative, adding special optical effects, and performing color correction. Computers probably first entered the motion picture production cycle in the film processing laboratories which perform these functions. Academy Awards for contributions to movie making that involved the use of computers were first earned by these labs. In 1972 DeLuxe
General, Inc. received a Class III (Technical Achievement)
Academy Award for a computer system that performs color positive process analysis. Using photographic test results and considering interlayer effects. the system compares sample densities to the laboratory reference densities. In the same yertr \nnsoliciated Film Industries received a Class II
(Science and Engineering) Academy Award for the deveIopment of an on-line computerized light valve monitor system.
10
While these systems used minicomputers, MGM Labs has recently implemented a microcomputer system to operate the optical printers and control the firing of the light valves.
11
Also at MGM Labs, a system is under development to automatically track and retrieve the myriad of film pieces with which the negative cutter must work. Many hours are spent searching through thousands of feet of film for just the right spot to cut and splice together other cut pieces in building up scenes. Each piece must be carefully labelled and stored for possible later use. A major cost in this operation is the time it takes to search and keep track of all the heads and tails for possible later trimming. The new system will use codes on film to allow automated tracking and retrieval of film segments.
DISTRIBUTION
Long before prints become available, an analysis of where and when to release the film is conducted and advertising campaigns are organized. Computer analysis of revenue and advertising expenditures for previous, similar films by geographical area is used by several studios to help formulate the distribution and advertising plans for new films. Revenue reporting on distributed prints is supported at most studios by online systems. A more comprehensive approach has been taken by Buena Vista Distributors in implementing a microcomputer-based system to automate the following functions: bidding, print control, booking, grosses, box office reports, cash reporting. advertising. and messages. Near the release date of a film, standard letters with specific film details will be produced by the central computer and communicated to the branches for issuance to local exhibitors.
Bids received will be entered into the system at the branch offices, and prints assigned based on availability. Previously, branch offices have been limited to the print inventory initially assigned to them. With the automated system, the nearest available print may be located. Revenue reports will be entered daily, providing timely information needed to direct exhibition and advertising. An electronic bulletin board and memo system will aid communication among branch offices and the studio.
EXHIBITION
While theatres make use of data processing for normal business applications, computer technology is not yet used for the actual control of movie theatre operations and equipment. Rather, lights, drapes and projectors operate electronicaJly. Within a year, however, manufacturers like RCA expect to incorporate microprocessors into their advanced projector systems. Eventually we may see computer technology used to provide operational and environmental control in movie theatres as in other buildings and businesses.
But even beyond the common applicatiun~, the ue\.:reasing cost and increasing capability of computers may enable
From the collection of the Computer History Museum (www.computerhistory.org)

Computer Technology in the Movie Industry 5 movie theatres to create total visual and audio environments similar to those available today at special-purpose theatres such as the Space Theatre in San Diego. At this theatre, over 60 pieces of equipment are operated and controlled by microcomputer to create special effects for up to five different shows daily. As a first step towards the expanded theatre concept, but not yet using computer control, Universal is installing special equipment to produce lightning, thunder, and other natural sounds and effects in theatres which will be showing "Weather Wars."
PRESERVATION AND RESTORATION
Eventually (or sometimes very soon) a movie is removed from distribution and stored in a film library. Since film degenerates, there is interest in storing movies digitally to preserve them until actively destroyed. To store a 90-minute, high-quality, color film digitally would require tens of trillions of bits of storage. Data compression techniques exist that might reduce this amount 20-30%, but the storage requirement still remains excessively large for today's technology. At the current rate of advancement, digital storage of films may be feasible within five years.
A film may become damaged during any of the steps described, including storage. Methods of restoration are currently being explored and there is interest in using the computer to analyze previous and successive good frames in order to reconstruct the in-between damaged frames. Similarly, the analysis of good areas within a frame may be used to reconstruct damaged or missing parts. However, computer-aided film restoration must await the availability of digital storage of films or other methods for handling the high-resolution requirement.
Computer-aided restoration has been successfully applied to films transferred to tape. For example, "Gone With the
Wind" was reconstructed on videotape from a 1956 Technicolor dye transfer print by Image Transform, Inc. The minicomputer-based system resolved outlines, restored color intensities, and reduced noise.
12
REDISTRIBUTION
A film never dies-it is just recycled to foreign markets and television. The recycling process takes the film back to the post-production process where the original parts are reedited to meet television and foreign time, censorship and film size requirements. Residuals must be paid to writers, actors, etc. whenever a film is recycled and this is handled automatically at most studios. Once a film enters the realm of television, another story of automation begins which is beyond the scope of this paper.
SUMMARY
5
This survey, while not exhaustive, does identify the major areas of current computer usage and the key areas for future applications in the movie industry. Until recently, computer applications primarily focused on:
I. Batch-oriented accounting support for payroll, costing, residuals, and statistical support for market research;
2. Minicomputer systems for process control;
3. Very limited application of computer graphics for special effects.
Current and planned applications include, in addition:
1. Broader computer use for market research and corporate information systems;
2. Word processing support for script preparation and contracts;
3. Interactive system support for budgeting and scheduling subtasks, for resource information retrieval, for sound editing, and for film processing;
4. Computer graphic aids for set design, storyboarding, and animation with increased use for special effects:
5. Expanded use of on-location reporting systems;
6. Functional expansion of automated distribution systems to include print control, bidding and booking, and electronic mail;
7. Computer control of cameras, projectors, and lab processing equipment;
8. Computer control of set elements for live action filming.
In fact, in 1979 several movies will be released whose creation will have involved the first uses of computers in camera-control, set design, storyboarding, animation, and live action filming.
The one development most responsible for the current growth in computer applications in the movie industry is the microcomputer. For business data processing, it is appearing on stage, on location, and in distribution offices. As part of text editing systems, the microcomputer is now in legal departments and will soon enter the script preparation stage.
For equipment control, microcomputers are being used in film processing labs, to operate special effects cameras, and will be used in the near future in projectors. As an aid in scene design, stand-alone microcomputer-based graphics systems are now in use. For live-action filming, microcomputers are controlling parts of sets in synchronization with live performances. The high processing power required to generate·images by computer may soon be provided through arrays of microprocessors.
Automated techniques for film editing, storage, and restoration still require further research and development in mass storage and image processing.
In any discussion of computer technology and movie making, the question arises as to the possibility that someday movies will be made without actors or cameras but rather totally by computer. The answer is, I think, an undeniable
"yes," but whether movies produced by computer will be competitive in cost and quality to those produced by the traditional process with computer aids remains highly questionable.
From the collection of the Computer History Museum (www.computerhistory.org)

6 National Computer Conference, 1979
CREDITS
As with a movie, this paper is the result of contributions by many people. In particular, the Jollowing individuals are acknowledged for their valuable inputs: William Eberly,
Walt Disney Productions; Al Jerumanis and Paul McManus,
MCA Inc.; Charles C. Tucker, Twentieth-Century Fox;
Harold Steintrager, Warner Bros., Inc.; Bob Johnson,
Hanna Barbera; Jerry Jeffress and Colin Cantwell, Universal
Hartland; Don Miskowich, Robert Abel & Associates; Richard Hollander, Eyewitness, Ltd.; William Dietrich, Mini-
Micro Systems, Inc.; Michael Chewey, MGM Labs; Mike
ScuJly, IBM; Toni Shetler, Xerox; and Gary Martins and
David Leinweber, The Rand Corporation.
REFERENCES
1.
2.
Simpson, Janice, "Studio Cleans Up By Marketing Films, Like Selling
Soap," Wall Street Journal, June 6,1978, pp. 1+.
Kinney, Harrison, "BOFFO: That's Hollywood for big at the box office.
And now it's the computer that's boffo in movieland," Think. May/June
1977. pp. 4-9.
3. McMahon, Graham, "Report on Film Scheduling and Costing by Computer," unpublished, May, 1977. For information, write Dr. McMahon,
Computer Science Dept., The University of New South Wales, P.O. Box
1, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia, 2033.
4. Crow, Franklin, "Shaded Computer Graphics in the Entertainment In-
5. dustry," Computer, March 1978, pp. 12-22.
Barron, Frank, "Universal Building Hartland as Special Effects Shop-
Supreme," The Hollywood Reporter, October 30, 1978, pp. 1 +.
6. "New Camera Designed for Walt Disney Pic," Variety, Nov. 17, 1978.
7. Purvis, John, "Levi's to Star Trek: Special Effects Star at Robert Abel
& Associates," Millimeter, September, 1978, pp. 38+.
8. Sutherland, Don, "How 'Futureworld' Movie Technicians Use A Computer To Recreate . Life' On Film," Popular Photography, December
1976, pp. 106+.
9. Deitrick, William R., "Automated Computer Controlled Editing Sound
System," to be published in the Journal of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, 1979.
10. Solow, Sidney, "The History of the Motion-Picture Film Laboratory,"
Journal of the Society for Motion Picture and Television Engineers, July
11.
1976, p. 5\3.
Chewey, Michael, Walter Eggers and Allen Hecht, "Controlling Optical
Printers by Microprocessor," to be published in the Journal of the Society
12. for Motion Picture and Television Engineers. 1979.
Kuttna, Mari, "Computers Behind the Screen," Sight and Sound, Spring
1977, p. 85.
From the collection of the Computer History Museum (www.computerhistory.org)