The debate of what medium to use for shooting films seems to be quietly reappearing with some top releases of 2015. In February major film studios, Disney, Fox, Paramount, Sony, NBC Universal and Warner Bros all pledgde to continue buying filmstock from Kodak. The company proceeded to make similar deals with independent film studios. Among directors committed to film are Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, Judd Apatow and JJ Abrams. Although his latest film is shot digitally, Martin Scorcese was among those urging to keep film stock in use. Producer Harvey Weinstein has also lent support.
As a director, George Lucas was the leader in championing shooting films digitally, starting with Star Wars II. Ironically this years Star Wars VII-The Force Awakens was shot on filmstock by Mr. Abrams. Other films opening this holIday season shot on film include Carol (16mm), 45 Years (35mm), The Hateful Eight (70mm) and Son of Saul (35mm). Movies shown earlier in the year shot on filmstock include Phoenix, Batman v. Superman – Dawn of Justice and Ant-Man.
At the time of announcing the deal with the studios, Andrew Evenski, Kodak’s president of Entertainment & Commercial Films, said in a statement. “We’ve been asking filmmakers, ‘What makes a project FilmWorthy?’ Their responses have varied from the need for its exceptional depth to its distinctive grain, but overwhelmingly, the answer is ‘the story.’ They need film to tell their stories the way they envision them, and hold a strong desire for it to remain a critical part of their visual language.” Film has a softer creamier look – much better for older actors/actresses. When shooting 35mm film, shallower depth of field is a given. This means that creating areas in the frame that are soft focus or blurry is easier, and filmmakers love this to direct the audience’s attention.
During an interview at the Chicago International Film Festival, Director Todd Haynes in explaining one of the reasons he shot Carol in 16 mm “in order to preserve the rich grains and texture so often lost in today’s digital processes.” The grain from 16mm will show even when the film is regrettably viewed on a tablet. Having viewed the film at the festival I can assure you that the grain adds so much to this film.
With both Carol and Son of Saul look for theaters that will show the film in its original format using a 35mm projector rather than a digitized version. It will make a world of difference in your viewing pleasure. Similarly for The Hateful Eight you want a theater with the proper equipment to show the film in the original 70mm format.
Most theaters today no longer have the equipment to show a film in its original filmstock format. Once they converted to digital projectors they discarded their film projectors. Stephen Spielberg always shot on film and then transferred the final product to digital for release. This upset him because he felt that the digital product was not as good and a lot of what he had accomplished on film was lost.
Some people like to claim that viewers cannot tell the difference between a movie shot on film versus one shot digitally. When watching on a big screen I can assuredly tell the difference.
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