Film: there is absolutely nothing like it. With the movement toward HD acquisition and people clamoring to shoot their digital indie films ─ not to mention all the folks coming up with this technique and that approach to get that elusive film look, an often overlooked central truth emerges. If you really want the film look, you have to shoot on film.

But what is the film look…really? Comparing film to video is sort of like comparing steak to fish, and bad video like bad fish really stinks. What are you craving? No doubt, film is beautiful. Some will argue that it has to do with the frame rate (24fps versus 29.97 video); others will point to film’s more natural shallow depth of field. Those things are relevant, but I think the real difference with film lies in its wonderful contrast range, in which light falls off smoothly at the edges ─ rather than harshly, as in video. Creating pools of light, the Rembrandt look, and all those wonderful chiaroscuro lighting techniques, we struggle to make it happen on video but film just captures imagery that way naturally. Oh, and the color range. How can video ever hope to compare with the organic beauty of film? Granted, HD technology continues evolving and improving. Still, we have a long way to go before film will be replaced ─ if ever.

Personally, I fell in love with film in the most unlikely of places: the grade school classroom. Oh how I long for those sleepy afternoons wistfully watching the scratchy 16 mm science films with the warbling soundtrack. My first professional experience with film came when I was working at a commercial production firm in Salt Lake City. We had a client who wanted the quality of film ─ which, by the way, was not much more expensive than video ─ to portray the dreamy, exuberant love of young newlyweds. Our producer broke out his 30-year-old Arriflex 16-BL camera, took the client’s choice for the perfect couple to a scenic hillside, and returned back with the most beautiful footage I had ever seen. No special lighting or filters were used. All it took was some natural sunlight and that old BL to capture this happy couple strolling hand-in-hand with the scenic background just came together flawlessly.

We had a lot of fun with that throwback camera and I have always felt that film would remain the superior choice for acquisition ─ in terms of pure quality and flexibility. Bill Russell, Vice President of Western Operations for ARRI, Inc. agrees. “There’s quite a buzz around digital imaging,” says Russell. “But when the rubber meets the road, the latitude of film, the versatility built into a film camera, the choices of film stocks, [and] the fact that you can shoot in any environment, film still offers the greatest range of choices possible. All the features nominated for Best Cinematography this year were shot on film.”
It is interesting that companies like Bolex continue manufacturing film cameras, like the H-16, first introduced in 1935. And film cameras ─ no matter how sophisticated ─ are inherently mechanical. This means a 50-year-old motion picture camera has the potential to capture the same quality of imagery as when it was first manufactured. Can you imagine using a video camera for 50 years?  

Russell went on to say that ultimately, the choice of whether to go film or video depends upon the look and feel required for the production. “We let the cinematographer make the choice. Our goal is to provide the best tools for the job.”

Panavision Executive Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Radin says, “There are a lot of DPs who have shot film their entire career, and they are comfortable with that.” He says that most are open-minded enough to at least give video a chance. “It’s all about telling a story,” he continues, “Choosing tools based on the script is what is most important. What is the best way of bringing that vision to fruition? People are shooting on everything from cell phone cameras to our Genesis camera (an ultra, high-quality HD cinema camera), and everything in between; 8 millimeter, Super 8…you name it. Panavision’s endeavor is not to influence you on what technology and tools to use. Our endeavor is to make the best tools to choose from, whether film or video. From an artistic standpoint, people will choose what works best for the script.”