ABSTRACT
DV is here to stay, is reaching far wider into the mainstream of filmmaking than people thought possible and, in a few years, has affected every part of the video and film industries from Hollywood down to indie features, and finally – and most dramatically – the low-budget emerging filmmaker. In most revolutions of the technological sort (and maybe the political) it is those at the top that seem to benefit most financially, but the DV revolution is one that bucks the trend; big money producers agree DV makes a difference to the costs of a film, but to the filmmaker at the bottom it is the deciding factor in being able to make one at all. But before we run off with our winnings, it is worth looking more closely at this gift horse and trying to understand why it works so well and how it offers us what it does.
