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WHEN I SHOW A VIDEO OF A MOVIE TO MY CLASS, I USE A VIDEO PROJECTION
        SYSTEM, I SHOW IT IN THE VERY SAME ROOM, COMPLETELY DARKENED, THAT IS
        ALSO USED FOR 16MM PROJECTION OF FILMS; THE PROJECTED IMAGE TAKES UP
        ALMOST THE SAME SIZE ON THE SCREEN AS THAT FROM THE 16 MM PROJECTOR;
        THE ROOM IS EXACTLY AS DARK AS FOR FILM; THE KIDS SIT IN THE SAME
        SEATS; AND THEY HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CONTROL OVER THE IMAGE; IT RUNS
        TILL I STOP IT.
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Although I am not sure why Mike is shouting the above, I will try to respond
quietly.
 
It is obviously better to project video images on a large screen in a
darkened room than to watch it on an a monitor of whatever size. That is
clearly the best that can be done with video at this stage of technology.
Especially, laser discs are passable under these circumstances. (Although a
proper video projection system will cost not hundreds, but thousands of
dollars.)
 
However, any kind of video presentation is going to lack the resolution of a
true film image. The best resolution of video currently, being in the
hundreds of thousands of pixels, while film is in the tens of millions.
Clearly, resolution, which includes a true representation of the lighting and
photography is going to suffer. Also, the presence of scan lines on the
screen contributes to the degradation of the image.
 
It depends, though, what the instructor is trying to impart. If it is the
literary pursuits of deconstruction or the narrative style or the screenplay
or the performances, then video will certainly suffice.
 
If, however, the total experience of the film, including its plastic  aspects
are to be experienced, video remains a marginal medium. Surely the increase
in size and ambience that video projection brings is preferable to monitors.
And it is true that anything else is becoming more and more impractical for
the average school.
 
However, we do no-one a service by pretending that the experience is  the
same or close to comparable for all purposes.
 
Gene Stavis, School of Visual Arts - NYC
 
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