Film vs Digital: The Big Debate

[Flynn]

 

[hempo22]

Jokes aside, great clip, love the cooke channel. lot of my heroes share their wisdom in their videos.

[Marco Bentz]

"How you tell a story, how you use the camera is exactly the same, to tell a good story" ... " It's a shame one of those tools is disappearing ..." Film vs digital or how long the film will survive?

[Geoff CB]

I think what I have to get away from is the "fix it in post" mentality. I actually prefer a clean image right off the camera. I have to stop shooting in S-log on my A7r 2, every time I use it I just don't need it. Normal audiences DO NOT CARE about a "film - like" image and I have to constantly remind myself of this fact.

[zerocool22]

1 hour ago, Geoff CB said:

I think what I have to get away from is the "fix it in post" mentality. I actually prefer a clean image right off the camera. I have to stop shooting in S-log on my A7r 2, every time I use it I just don't need it. Normal audiences DO NOT CARE about a "film - like" image and I have to constantly remind myself of this fact.

I disagree, before I knew anything about camera's or filmmaking I was somebody from the audience, and I could always tell if the movie looked bad or not. When the first digital films came out, I just hated the look. I didnt even knew it was digital back then, I just thought It just doesnt look good. (years later, I can tell you it was the lack of high DR, highlights were overexposed, the image was too sharp, stuff that I didnt was used too before). Ok I was a more serious film enthousiast then your average cinema visitor. But there are millions like me out there, and its those serious film enthousiast who still make a difference in cinema sales & DVD purchases.

[Geoff CB]

1 minute ago, zerocool22 said:

I disagree, before I knew anything about camera's or filmmaking I was somebody from the audience, and I could always tell if the movie looked bad or not. When the first digital films came out, I just hated the look. I didnt even knew it was digital back then, I just thought It just doesnt look good. (years later, I can tell you it was the lack of high DR, highlights were overexposed, the image was too sharp, stuff that I didnt was used too before). Ok I was a more serious film enthousiast then your average cinema visitor. But there are millions like me out there, and its those serious film enthousiast who still make a difference in cinema sales & DVD purchases.

Sorry what I meant was that I shoot in S-LOG then mess with it endlessly in post, at the expense of working on the edit itself to make it better. 

More on topic, I do think the film grain and film look are not as popular now as just a few years ago. I think films will be moving away from film in terms of look to something that looks good on their own. To give an example MAD MAX is the direction I think budget grades are heading in, over-the-top bright and attention grabbing, not subtle looks.

[DBounce]

There may well have been a debate a few years ago, but clearly the question has been answered... digital is the way forward. Film is costly to shoot on and the workflow is more complex. I do agree with the idea of not constantly rolling. It requires more discipline. Film had a good run, but those days are nearing the end. 

[Tim Sewell]

I may be talking out of my ass here, but I have had the feeling for a while that what a lot of creators are striving for isn't so much a 'film' look, as an Alexa look, given its ubiquity in film and TV these days (and there's nothing intrinsically wrong with that - it's a lovely look!).

[AaronChicago]

I can't take a cinematographers point of view seriously when they don't even know what modern digital cinema cameras can do.

[mkabi]

5 hours ago, Geoff CB said:

I think what I have to get away from is the "fix it in post" mentality. I actually prefer a clean image right off the camera. I have to stop shooting in S-log on my A7r 2, every time I use it I just don't need it. Normal audiences DO NOT CARE about a "film - like" image and I have to constantly remind myself of this fact.

+1

That plus, I need to stop trying to do multiple takes. Make the first take the best take and move on. So much time is wasted on getting the 'perfect' take. Either that or delete the messed up takes when they are messed up and you aren't planning to use them in bloopers or anything.

[zerocool22]

13 minutes ago, mkabi said:

+1

That plus, I need to stop trying to do multiple takes. Make the first take the best take and move on. So much time is wasted on getting the 'perfect' take. Either that or delete the messed up takes when they are messed up and you aren't planning to use them in bloopers or anything.

Well I just saw "blood father" last night, and I was thinking why did the director did not shoot another take of this scene, and gave the actors some feedback as this clearly is not working. But I have also been on a set, where I had to shoot a scene 29 times, because the actors didnt deliver 100%, and in the end it was not much better then the first 28 takes. But we lost a lot of shooting time, so we had to cut a lot of other shots, and just use the master shot of that scene.

[mkabi]

43 minutes ago, zerocool22 said:

Well I just saw "blood father" last night, and I was thinking why did the director did not shoot another take of this scene, and gave the actors some feedback as this clearly is not working. But I have also been on a set, where I had to shoot a scene 29 times, because the actors didnt deliver 100%, and in the end it was not much better then the first 28 takes. But we lost a lot of shooting time, so we had to cut a lot of other shots, and just use the master shot of that scene.

See... I think that it depends on the actor(s) too. But if you discuss it with them, and may be ask them to practice what you want out of the scene (a couple of days beforehand). You should be able to reduce the takes at least...

Find a happy medium.

 

[odie]

for me...graduating and working in LA...film is a key element to the art of cinema...( and cheaper)...buy the camera..shoot 16mm..35mm short ends..  it does give you an edge in the digital world for jobs and your career  

 

but test and see for yourself..

[Snowfun]

Could it be film AND digital rather than film vs digital?