Today, films of similar quality are providing a glimpse of the future. And they don't cost even a cent. We're talking about film on line, the uncelebrated but inevitable revolution in new media. The recording industry has been twisting itself in knots about on-line music, yet there has been less of an uproar in the film industry. High-quality music files, after all, can be easily downloaded on any personal computer, raising the fear of piracy.
Film takes up too much computer memory, and the quality is similar to the old nickelodeons.
There's only so much time you can peer at a screen the size of a credit card before you get terminal squint disease. And Weiler should know. Three years ago, he and fellow filmmaker Stefan Avalos had an idea for a feature. Rich in vision, yet short on cash, they decided to produce the entire film using equipment you can buy at your ordinary electronics store. It's more like writing a novel or a poem.