Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

R.I.P. the movie camera: 1888-2011

I feel like film is "on it's way out" because a few people say so and everyone else goes, "Yes, what he said! Film is dead!"

And then hundreds of movies, including the vast majority of "major" films are shot on celluloid every year. Sure, a lot more independent and low-budget stuff is shot on digital now--and for easy to understand reasons. It's simpler, can be cheaper, and more accessible.

That said, it's quite possible to shoot on film for the same cost as it would be for digital. You just have to know how to do it.

Film isin't going anywhere soon. It's been around and doing its job for a very long time. I just don't see why there is this need for getting rid of it so quickly. If you don't want to shoot it, then don't shoot it. Myself and a lot of other people who enjoy using it, enjoy the pictures, the workflow, who enjoy holding it up to light and seeing the pictures, we'll keep doing it. Both of us will make great images. We just do it our own ways.


Shooting film, it's more then just pointing a camera. It's an experience. It's a connection between the camera and the operator; both are mechanical devices, elegant, simple, refined over years and years of perfection. The slight hum of the film going through the camera against your ear when you speed, the smell of the raw stock that becomes as sweet as sugar. The operator takes care of the camera, and the camera takes care of him.

It's not some magic box that images pop out of through a port. It's a physical process. It takes planning, precision, and thought. And the delay! No matter how confident you are, no matter how much you've shot, there is always the little voice in your mind at the end of the day going, "Was my meter set right? Did I expose it okay? Did I accidently bump something on that one shot? I should have moved that light over."

And then you see the images the next day and you can breathe a sigh of relief. Because they don't look how you imaged, they look better.

And that's the magic of film. That's something I'll never get out of a digital camera. If film were to suddenly disappear, these are all things I would miss.
 
Andy you could always just force your crew to not play back any media for 24 hours. I'll also install a little whirring device if you feel like you need that. Not judging, just providing solutions.
 
Andy Jarosz said:
Film isin't going anywhere soon.
Click to expand...

I'm not attempting to proclaim that film is dead, but I think saying that is to ignore some of the points in the article from the OP and from other news.

"Aaton, ARRI and Panavision have all ceased production of new cameras within the last year"

"Bill Russell, ARRI’s vice president of cameras, added that: 'The demand for film cameras on a global basis has all but disappeared.'"

"Birns & Sawyer, Hollywood’s longest operating Motion Picture Camera Rental facility will auction off its entire 16 and 35mm Film Camera inventory October 19th. Motion Pictures are no longer being captured on film in sufficient numbers (according Birns & Sawyer Owner William Meurer) to warrant keeping any film cameras."

Fact of the matter is, the major players in both camera and stock production are either slowing down, or stopping all together. Yes, there are cameras out there that are still shooting and will continue to shoot film for decades. But the fact that there isn't a need for more - as there has been for the last one-hundred years - underscores the point that film acquisition isn't thriving. And at least one major rental house has decided that stocking film cameras just isn't financially worth it.
 
Still photography has been around even longer. The early to mid 1800's saw many advancements in still photography. All of us grew up using a film based camera, but look at us now.

This article came out prior to the one in Source, and was used in the Source article, http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/film-fading-to-black. I think it's worth reading.

I've witnessed one film to digital revolution, and that was in the still arena. The exact same comments were made almost ten years ago, but the reality is digital came out on top, and not as an also ran, but a true victor, an evolution. We are not any worse off using digital, it has enhanced the craft. I remember seeing an article comparing a 4x5 film shot versus a medium format digital shot. The digital was beautiful, it had more detail and fidelity, at that point I was sold, no looking back. Cameras such as RED and others will evolve to be even better than they are today, but even today, what they capture is gorgeous.

So to those who are resistant, just look around at all the magazine ads, posters, billboards, jumbotrons, fashion magazines, trade magazines, everything is digital, and if it's good, it evokes an emotion from you, it gets your attention, but you never stop and say, oh, that's digital, no you have integrated it into your mind, because it does not look digital, just right, or beautiful. It is the same for high quality digital cinema, RED is high quality.

Von
 
Guys your bringing me down. Let's talk about life and the future and stop beating this Film thing to freakin death!!!
 
OK so I own a Epic M, next week I will also shoot with 35mm & an EX3, horses for courses.
 
Gavin Greenwalt said:
Andy you could always just force your crew to not play back any media for 24 hours.
Click to expand...
Naaaa. We routinely turned around film dailies in less than 8 hours at Technicolor/Hollywood, and did so for 20 years. To tell you the truth, it took us almost as long as to decode R3D files, then organize the renders and output them to HD dailies -- when we first started doing it 4 years ago. We eventually got much faster with Red dailies as the debayering tools improved. But it was no faster than Alexa dailies or F35 dailies.

Film has its place... cheap digital cameras have their place. HD cameras have their place. Alternatives to the Red have their place, too. In short order, DPs will have numerous 4K cameras to choose from. None of this takes away from Red being a major, important medium, too. Giving DPs and filmmakers options is always a good thing. As one example: Live TV shows will still need real-time HD cameras for the immediate future. If Red wants to put out a no-compromise real-time 1080i output option, that could change a lot of production options.
 
Film cameras have a very long life, the one I will use next week on an Omega commercial left the factory in 1944 some 67 years ago. It works as well as it did the day it left the factory. Just because new cameras are not being made is no reason to think the show is over yet.
 
Let's have some respect guy's. Film was a friend to us all. He was a friend to me when there was no one else. For the good and sad times,for history, Film was there rolling. Long live Film in our hearts and souls...
 
I'm still not relaxed shooting film. My heart still beats faster as soon as the sprocket wheels start to turn—There is both pros and cons to this.

Shooting film can be cheap, especially if you can find a modified 2-pef camera and get some cheap stock or ends from somewhere—maybe not enough to cover a feature—but it just has become far more practical for Indies to shoot digital. Anything with a modest budget and up can still choose the format they want.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top