I’ve always wondered this, because any answer seems insane to me.
After a long day of filming a movie, where is the footage stored? Is it just on some computer? And then when everything has been filmed, edited, etc. is the whole finished movie just on some single hard drive?? I’m sure they have it in multiple places, but it seems crazy that all of the footage of a marvel movie or something similar has to be saved somewhere so simple. In short, I guess I’m asking where movies exist in their final form before they’re available to the public.
And as a secondary question, how is the finished film distributed? How does it go from being a finished project to being in movie theaters? Does the theater receive some sort of electronic “file” that then is stored on a computer system within the theater? It seems like the process would have to be more complex than a fancy email, but I have no idea.
In: Technology
I can answer your second paragraph as I work in movie distribution.
Distributors have vendors who distribute the movies to the actual cinemas themselves. cinema chains or independents have film bookers who decide what film they want to screen and when etc, the distributors receive this who place the order at the vendors. It’s then the vendors responsibility to get that content to the cinemas on time, be it transfer or physical HDD (depending on studio, setup, location, Internet speed etc).
The studios make the movies, then it gets edited and mastered and made into DCP files, which are sent to the vendors to then distribute. Usually, studios have distributors for each region who look after their local country and ensure timely deliveries etc.
The transfers and HDD’s are very closely monitored and protected, and even if the files got into the wrong hands, 90% of the time they’re encrypted and require a KDM given to them by the vendor or studio, allowing them to access that file in-between certain dates and times etc. That’s why cinemas can’t just play a film 2 weeks before it comes out, they physically can’t.
You mention about a fancy email, and oddly enough that is something which happens sometimes, but usually for VF’s (these are smaller files which affect things like the audio, add subtitles etc) which are often sent by email
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