LA Weekly: Shortly before Christmas, director Edgar Wright received an email inviting him to a private screening of the first six minutes of Christopher Nolan's new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. Walking into Universal CityWalk's IMAX theater, Wright recognized many of the most prominent filmmakers in America — Michael Bay, Bryan Singer, Jon Favreau, Eli Roth, Duncan Jones, Stephen Daldry. If a bomb had gone off in the building, he thought, it would have taken out half of the Directors Guild of America.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Movie Studios Are Forcing Hollywood to Abandon 35mm Film.
LA Weekly: Shortly before Christmas, director Edgar Wright received an email inviting him to a private screening of the first six minutes of Christopher Nolan's new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. Walking into Universal CityWalk's IMAX theater, Wright recognized many of the most prominent filmmakers in America — Michael Bay, Bryan Singer, Jon Favreau, Eli Roth, Duncan Jones, Stephen Daldry. If a bomb had gone off in the building, he thought, it would have taken out half of the Directors Guild of America.
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6 comments:
...but why fight the inevitable? We're getting passed the arguments about the quality not being there (with the highest resolution, newest formats, anyway), and the costs mentioned in the article about distribution pale in comparison to the costs of recording on and processing 35mm.
We've known that digital would replace analog in cinema for a long time, like it has or is doing in most other media.
As for the safety of digital, the examples cited are of people being stupid and not backing up enough. And there exist digital media types not prone to rotting, e.g., data DVDs and data (gasp) tapes. Film burns, gets lost, and doesn't like dust and other debris.
The industry should let the digital revolution proceed at its natural pace. Film will still be around for a while, and then it will eventually retire to collectors' shelves next to the vinyl records.
The transition to digital formats is one that is occurring across many mediums. Music has basically made the transition at this point, moving from analogy vinyl to CDs, to digital distribution via iTunes and other stores now. The home movie industry has made the transition to their latest format in DVDs and Blu-Ray discs from VHS, and with Netflix, and online streaming services, is also making a transition to more digital mediums. The fact is that while there is some loss of data in transitioning from analog to digital, it is negligible, and not noticeable to the vast majority of consumers. While certainly there is a nostalgia factor, and there will always be who want the higher fidelity that an analog recording, be it of movies, music, or whatever can provide.
I myself will probably want to go and see those films on 35mm and continue to listen to music on vinyl because I do believe there is something you lose, and there is a greater care for the craft in terms of using those mediums. There has become a niche market for vinyl that is unlikely to disappear and has become stronger over the past few years, and likely a similar thing will happen for movies after this digital transition is complete. I understand that the mass market does not need that and that companies are trying to make money, and this is an easy way to take a fair bit of cost out of making movies.
Does something get lost in using digital? Yes, to a degree. But a vast majority of consumers don't care. The people that do will find ways to keep the old ways alive if they truly are important enough
First of all, I think it's interesting that so many established directors took the time out of their day to travel to wherever for what they thought was only 6 minutes of Christopher Nolan's new movie. Reading this, I'm curious how TV shows are shot. I would assume digitally, and that's a large part of the industry as well. The bottom line here is probably that this is a losing battle. Cutting expenses by so much isn't something studios are going to turn their back on, in the long run. For directors who insist on 35mm, they'll probably need to have a bigger budget to demand it. But I would assume that most won't, and the industry will continue to change to digital amid Christopher Nolan's protests.
We shouldn't fight the inevitable, but I would like to know that 35 mm wont disappear for ever. There is much truth in the article saying that film is much more beautiful. It is a style that simply doesn't come with digital. Perhaps the reason Im so against digital is that it baffles me, I just don't understand it. 35 mm goes back to a simpler time. Poor Christopher Nolan, he tried so hard...
I understand the desire of the producers to push the film digital because the copying and the shipping alone costs a 10th of the price as it would do if it was produces on 35mm. I wish that it explained more about why some directors 35mm are better than digital. If it is faster and cheaper and has the same if not better quality why should we use 35mm. I wonder if 35mm will be like vinyl by which I mean that even though it is not the most convenient form to listen to music but it is still popular.
I'm sorry to be the one to have to tell you this but 35mm film is dying. If you don't believe me, ask Eastman Kodak, oh wait, I'm sorry, they went bankrupt. I will agree and can see that 35mm is more beautiful and aesthetically pleasing than digital but convenience and savings will always prevail, it's the way of it which is why we don't have hand carved moldings in our houses anymore or granite floors in our hotel lobbies. 35mm will go the way of vinyl records. It is artistically a superior medium but the masses will win out. Every time a new technology rolls through there is a group of traditionalist that will fight against it just like these directors but I do not feel they will have long term success at preserving 35mm film.
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