Film style used to be the preserve of the artist. It made it possible to distinguish good filmmaking from mainstream work. Today, however, new technologies enable even beginners to load their images with stimuli of all kinds. This article explores the question of how this ““grand style”” is different, and what it portends for cinema's future.

For the Hollywood industry, the move from film to digital merely involves the replacement of one medium by another. However, this technological shift potentially changes cinema as we know it. Not only do digital cameras allow for an unprecedented ease in capturing content, but digital nonlinear editing systems make it possible to manipulate the footage retroactively. A vast array of special effects can transform the nature of the image in that each frame can be individually modified. The ability to master every pixel undoubtedly seduces filmmakers to exert absolute and perfectionist control. Yet digital filmmaking also opens up avenues for visual and narrative innovations.