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Where do we go from here? My guess is an eventual cross-over with the emerging VR aspect of gaming; at a certain point, Vudu’s listing will update (I know my favoritism shows, and I don’t even care) and we will have the option of HDX, UHD, and an HD-VR edition of the film that’s been re-engineered by the studio, in the same fashion that certain 2D films are [needlessly] post-converted to 3D, and the purchaser of this edition will experience a version of the film that offers something like total immersion and possibly interactivity. The germs of this exist today, in video feeds and scenes from films that users are able to manipulate as far as 2D perspective, but the overall concept is advanced enough to where it still sounds a little far-flung.

This type of immersion, or something like it, is ultimately where we’ve been heading for a while now: the cinema experience graduated years ago into the realm where an in-home viewing can provide some of the same raw audiovisual punch that a theater does, and the home environment is uniquely suited to push the immersive aspect of the medium further than a public environment ever could.

If you’ve read through the last four Intermittent Issues columns, thanks for sticking it out to the end. Via the introduction and development of HD and digital delivery, the past ten years have changed and broadened and democratized cinema in ways that I think are unmatched even by the initial advent of VHS and DVD. I can’t wait to see what the next ten years bring.*

*You know you’re as eager as I am to experience a 4K VR version of the Harry Potter series; don’t lie to yourself.

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