Digital vs Film

[AshG]

I personally dont use film, I dont like the hassle and added pressure. I am a big advocate for digital but 1/3" CCD cams are not the thing that will replace film cameras. The Viper, Genesis, Dalsa, etc. are getting close and perhaps RED will offer something more approachable for indie guys. That being said, it is not the tech or cameras that are holding back indie film makers, it is the monster that is Hollywood that would pass over 10 Napoleon Dynamites for 1 Deuce Bigalow 3.



ash =o)

 

[escozooz]

The DVX/HVX are great cameras but fall short in:

- Latitude (11 stops versus 7 Stops)
- Color Space (Uncompressed versus 4:2:2)
- Resolution (Optical or DI blowup to 35mm with super16 kills HD)

If you look at the number of movies being made at the independent level, more and more are going super16 with DI then to 35mm.

I have been shooting DVX for a while now, but once you enter the feature world, it is still all film.

I think for students/shorts/music videos the DVX/HD is great and economical. But for theatrical 35mm release there isn't even a question.

 

[roxics]

I am a big advocate for digital but 1/3" CCD cams are not the thing that will replace film cameras.
ash =o)

They already have. At least in the sub $10,000 level. How many low/no budget indie filmmakers do you know that still shoot film most of the time? I don't know any. Pretty much everyone I know who shoots on a shoestring budget shoots DV or HDV.

As for myself I love film as much as the next guy. At least the look of it anyway. When it comes to working with it I agree with Ash. I've shot film in the past on small projects. But it's been years since I shot real film (i.e. 16mm) where you had to load the camera and wave a light meter around.

I remember thinking to myself on my last feature "how in the world could I have done this on film?" There is just so much to pay attention to when you are on location with only a handful of crew that shooting with film would have just seemed rediculous.

Film definitely looks better then video though, but in the end if the quality is up there and the story is good, I've found that most people don't care or even recognize.