Richard P Crudohas pledged to make the standardisation of digital technology his priorityafter he was elected president of the American Society of Cinematographers(ASC) for the second consecutive year.

The subject hasbeen the matter of intense speculation - but little else - in recent years asthe industry moves haltingly towards the implementation of digital cinema.

"We recentlycollaborated with the Digital Cinema Initiative, which was organised by theseven major studios, on the design and production of a short film that is beingused as standard material for evaluating and comparing prototype digital andstate-of-the-art film projectors," Crudo said in a statement.

"Ourparticipation was critical because the future of the cinema as an art form isat stake."

In otherelection results, Owen Roizman, Daryn Okada and Curtis Clark were voted in asvice presidents, Russ Alsobrook and Roy Wagner become treasurer and secretaryrespectively, and Nancy Schreiber is sergeant at arms.

The new ASCboard of governors will also include Stephen Burum, Russell Carpenter, RogerDeakins, William A Fraker, Victor J Kemper, Laszlo Kovacs, Robert Primes, JohnToll, and Vilmos Zsigmond.

Alternatemembers include Bobby Byrne, George Spiro Dibie, John Hora, Francis Kenny, andStephen Lighthill.