…And with the onset of 2012, I thought I’d do a little sharing of the bounty myself. I’m a wee late on this for gift giving season, but so far, right on time for New Year’s… almost. Regardless, here we go-
The Good Stuff : Free Filmmaking eBooks from some very knowledgeable folks. Much like a holiday fruitcake, the links below are a merry mélange of filmmaking know-how covering many facets of the process; pre- to post production and then some.
Before we hit the roof in a fit of film production ecstasy, let me clarify: these eBooks are not my own efforts. Rather, I’m merely the friendly flag-waver, sharing helpful info I’ve unearthed plumbing the depths of the interwebs. Okay! That done, here’s a few of those filmmaking truffles I’ve uprooted in my sojourn;
The DSLR Cinematography Guide
Ryan Koo’s on my list of favourite folks to follow when it comes to Independent Filmmaking. He’s also got a great blog, nofilmschool.com where he shares an incredible amount of awesome via articles, links, etc. Koo’s blog is a veritable resource Must Have. To top it off, Koo’s recently dropped The DSLR Cinematography Guide online for we mere mortals to partake of. Got an inkling to hear the word on DSLR’s and filmmaking? Koo’s DSLR Cinematography Guide is The Primer to have in hand, my friend. Koo spills on his ebook:
“Digital cinematography is changing so rapidly these days that a printed book on the subject will likely be outdated by the time it reaches store shelves; this is especially true when it comes to the rapid release cycle of DSLRs.
Up-to-date information can be found on online forums, but forums lack the organizing principles of a book, and as a result it can take a ludicrously long time to piece together reliable information (I spent months forum-surfing to assemble my own camera package). Thus, this guide: I hope it saves readers money they would’ve otherwise spent on an out-of-date book, and I hope it saves forums from so many newbie — sorry, “n00b” — questions.”
Becoming The Reel Deal: Launching Your Career in the Camera Department
Evan Luzi has a great (GREAT) blog, The Black and Blue, covering tech stuff and camera work by way of the camera department. Becoming the Reel Deal eBook is 145 pages in length– that’s alot of work, and heaps of insight to hand around– and FREE! I’ve only just started (way-laying several other books in my pile) and already, I’m a believer. Here’s Evan’s take;
“While I can’t promise you’ll instantly get a job when you finish reading it, if you follow my advice, I can guarantee you will put yourself in a better position for long-term success. This isn’t about getting one gig — it’s about launching a career. That’s why I don’t even try to sell you in this ebook on any magic bullet, undiscovered method, or secret ways to the top — it’s simply tried and true methods that worked for me and others.”
Do yourself a favour; grab a copy of Becoming the Reel Deal here or cut and paste your way to ebook nirvana with this link: http://www.theblackandblue.com/reel-deal/
Camera crew happiness will ensue.
Richard Harrington’s CS5 Creative Suite Tips & Tricks eBook
EBook in hand, you’ll be primed to explore the creative possibilities of DSLR video editing with Adobe’s Creative Suite 5 bundle. Loaded with tips and tricks, Harrington’s guide is wired for navigating the mind-bending plethora of creative calamity that awaits in Adobe’s Creative Suite CS5. This wondrous gift, like happiness, is not something you can buy. Why not? Because it’s Free.
The MovieMaker Action Pack, a free (Free!) 100+ page tome of an eBook is online and for all to share in some filmmaking enlightenment. The Modern MovieMaking Movement taps a score of well informed folks in the Biz thru interviews in which said film folks chat about the voodoo they do, so well. Have a look at the list of contributors and co-conspirators in The Modern MovieMaking Movement:
Uncover Successful, Modern Screenwriting Tips with Jurgen Wolff
Find Out How To Make the Most of Movie Money with Norman C. Berns
Discover Six Ways to Finance Your Feature Film with Gordon Firemark
Navigate Film Festivals and Do Them Right with Sheri Candler
Sell Your Movie Without the Middle-Man with Jason Brubaker
Find Out About The Producer of Marketing and Distribution and Utilize The New 50/50 with Jon Reiss
Heavy-hitters all, I say. Well worth the cost of admission! Grab yourself a copy on the The Modern MovieMaking Movement website- or copy and paste the linkage, here: http://www.modernmoviemaking.com/
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SUPERMAG No. 4 via Final Cut Pro User Group Network
————————————————
Every year, the fine folks of FCPUG Net drop a handsome bunch of resources in the form of the preposterously cool SUPERMAG. What the hell is this? SUPERMAG No. 4, (released in 2010) is 315 pg of eBook awesome!
Jam-packed with info for all, be ye a director, editor, filmmaker, etc. Most of the info is Final Cut Pro centric, tho there is more generalized articles pertaining to Adobe and Avid stuff, too. Squeeze the fruits below:
- Canon EOS DSLR Workflow: Solutions when shooting video with DSLRS by Philip Bloom
- DSLR Audio Issue Solved! The man Behind PluralEyes by Gyula (Julian) Kazari
- Apple’s FCP and the Art of Storytelling by Rodney Mitchell
- 20 Filmmaking Lessons/ 10 Director Tips by Anthony Artis/ Pete Chatmot
- The Ideal Editor’s Suite by Tina Lung
- Why Do I Need RAID? And Why Should I Build My Own? by Ben King
- Becoming An Avid FCP User: Survival Tips for Avid Editors in FCP by Stephen Kantor
– and lots, lots more!
Sure it’s from 2010, but it’s still a helluva return of investment considering the price– and in that, there’s lots to glean for general know-how to make your filmmaking production easier all around. Expert to Entrance level, something for everyone to use or pass along to a friend/ cohort/ student. Be a buddy & grab a copy of the FCPUGNet SUPERMAG and share, or cut and paste the link here: http://www.supermeet.com/supermag/
“This independent film site offers advice, tools, resources, guidance, networking and practical instruction for new and veteran filmmakers. It also offers a kind word and a shared vision for filmmakers who take a project from the first script, through full funding, to production and finally to distribution.”
Since I’m a big fan of all that’s Free in Filmmaking (and the folks sharing their experience/ insight/ know how), might I suggest a trip to the Film Funding Club to partake of the goodness that awaits? In addition to free ebooks, Film Funding Club hosts a plethora of film articles, also free. Share and share alike everyone! Don’t forget to mention from whence all these treasures came. Nice people over there, so swing yourself over to MagicMirror, download some film production awesomeness, or copy and paste to your hearts content with this: http://magicmirror.com/download-all-our-guides-free/6-free-ebooks/
There you have it– Got some feedback, or additional ebook resources to peruse? Drop a line below and Happy 2012!
Seems there are two camps emerging in the midst of a burgeoning ‘Transmedia Spring’; those immersive experience creators pushing the story as the primary experience engine, and those with focus on the technical aspects of the experience via platforms, apps, etc. Interestingly, media columnist Nick Demartino noted this while attending Story World last month;
“Story World was filled with platitudes about the primacy of the story from many speakers, but the overall feel of the crowd was very nerdy and techno-centric, not at like what you get at a film festival or a writer’s conference.”
Apparently, the gap is widening between storytellers and the tech-centric crowd. Though transmedia projects require cross-platform participation from the audience, hopping from medium to medium to engage in the experience design, story is still the central ‘pull’.
Nick Demartino notes a growing reliance on technical whiz-bangery over story and narrative to spark audience engagement in ‘story universes’. From a Tower of Pizza perspective, focus leans to the ‘how’ and less toward the ‘why.’
Pitching in my two cents, I don’t think this is a transmedia-centric problem.
I’ve found filmmaking (and other digital story methods) are experiencing a similar focus shift. While Transmedia creators and programmers alike work out the idiosyncrasies of multi-platform delivery modes utilizing a plethora of fancy pants equipment, Filmmakers too are awash in technically amazing gear to create great visuals. But, pushing the point; great visuals don’t necessarily make for a great story & engaging characters. In my humble opinion, technology can easily get in the way of an immersive, engaging experience. I know, I know, this is a huge point of contention, but hear me out…
Those with the tools making the rules?
I’ve been a gear head for most of my career. Tools for every possible need (and want– mostly want) was available as I worked in various studios, often borrowing said gear, after hours, in-house. Halcyon days, those were. I was enthralled with the possibilities various gizmos presented to make films; from simple tools and techniques to computer-run motion-control systems. Myself and co-conspirators fell in love with the sheer potential of the stuff in hand. With all these crazy cool materials, tools and techniques to play with, we sometimes lost the trail of the purpose for the gear, the very core of our efforts.
Sometimes, we lost The Story.
With all the possibilities for making cool engagement aspects in transmedia projects — it’s easy for creators to wander off the path into the fields and forest.
Who was Martino speaking of at Story World? In Mr. Martino’s observation, the crowd appeared keenly interested in the technical aspects of creating engagement media. I can relate to both sides of Nick Martino’s observation, but I wonder, are folks losing the story as a result of tackling the humongous job of creating a Transmedia Experience?
Enter, The Matrix
It’s a maze. Assembling the resources necessary to get a mutli-platform experience off the ground and ready to release to the world is a huge endeavor, rife with twists and turns. Despite the Herculean efforts necessary to get an immersive experience up and running, the story is the core, shaping the experience. Note Producer Tavin Marin Titus’ success in attracting, retaining and entertaining the audience with transmedia web series, RCVR. Story is key.
Transmedia experiences should make people cry.
Nick Demartino says: “I go to the movies for a sustained emotional experience; I read novels to inhabit the detailed interior worlds of characters; I listen to music for joy and for tears. Transmedia experiences must find ways to do this, too.”
Jeff Gomez, Transmedia expert at Starlight Runner has this to say about instilling emotional sincerity, and telling your story over multiple platforms: ”Write yourself into the story world and infuse it with your soul. What’s missing is the pain — not yearning, but true loss. Audiences must know you really mean it or they will leave you.”
Themes, characters and actors will help generate engaging content, thus creating and fostering enduring audience engagement. But it’s got to be real, sincere narrative. Suprisingly, even MTV got this worked out with their lurch into transmedia via Valemont.
Jeff Gomez has a few other things to share about Storytelling in Transmedia- click the pic below for the video.
Gasses to Solids, it’s Transmedia Alchemy
It takes a massive effort, a lot of passion and tons of commitment to see a story-world and it’s narrative thru from concept to delivery, gas to solid. Transmedia is a hungry beast, eating money, time and resources by the bucketful. Then again, it’s similar to a lot of artistic endeavours in that way. Wanna make a film? It’s a lot to handle, but worth doing if done well. Does the story engage the audience? Portray the director’s vision? Can it pull you in to the world inhabited by the characters?
Good news is, new tools and techniques are surfacing everyday to help grease the wheels of transmedia creation. These tools and techniques aid in bridging the gaping abyss between conception and finished form. From writing, storyboarding and narrative structure aids to new production tools, platforms and transmedia production bibles, there’s much more available to help get things running now than a few years ago. Money not being one of them, of course.
Build a team with a shared vision for the story.
Need help? Gather a team of tech-savvy folks. Stay on track with the story; don’t let tech drive the bus. Keep in mind; you’ll do well to pitch the story, not the platform. For starters, a handy transmedia project primer via Zen Films is online, so get yourself some know-how before setting pen to paper.
For a great primer on the infrastructure pushing a transmedia project, Mike Jones (Head of Development, Portal Ent., UK) generously shares a wonderful Series Bible to help folks navigate the idiosyncracies of story world creation. Natch!
Mike Jones describes his Series Bible ; “A document package that details the scope, rules, concepts, themes, characters and parameters of the Story-World in which the series plays out in.” To mess with the Series Bible and get the most of it, you’ll need to download a free multi-media production app called Celtx. Mike has been working with the brainiacs behind Celtx for a long time and it shows. One of my fav applications, Celtx is Great Stuff and handy if you’re working on a transmedia project of any scope. Have at it!
In addition to this heap of helpfulness, Mike also graciously hosts instructional vids for using Celtx. Maximize the app for your projects with some of his generous offerings of How To info (Mike has long been involved with the development of Celtx over the years. Mike Jones Really, Really Knows This Stuff). Watch the Celtx vids here.
Any thoughts on Transmedia you wanna share? Drop ‘em below!
Oscar Nominee Cinematographer Roger Deakins recently came out loud and clear on his preference to shoot films with digital cameras for future projects, placing him amongst a host of filmmaking luminaries making the jump. As the film industry rolls with digital-imaging gear, several Hollywood heavies rally behind their trusted, tried and true companion, Celluloid.
A wonderful collection of reflections from directors Steve Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Jean Luc-Godard, cinematographer Dick Pope ( The Illusionist ), and even actor Keanu Reeves share a tribute to celluloid as the choice for filmmaking endeavors. Their collective musings prove poetic and eloquent, sharing concerns of a world making pictures without film, as we know it. Below, I’ve summarized their recollections and thoughts (from the original article) for brevity; the full monty can be found at The Guardian, UK.
Insightful, timely and a great read. What more to ask for?
‘… My favorite and preferred step between imagination and image is a strip of photochemistry that can be held, twisted, folded, looked at with the naked eye, or projected on to a surface for others to see. It has a scent and it is imperfect. If you get too close to the moving image, it’s like impressionist art. And if you stand back, it can be utterly photorealistic. You can watch the grain, which I like to think of as the visible, erratic molecules of a new creative language. After all, this “stuff” of dreams is mankind’s most original medium, and dates back to 1895. Today, its years are numbered, but I will remain loyal to this analogue art form until the last lab closes.”
“… The cinema began with a passionate, physical relationship between celluloid and the artists and craftsmen and technicians who handled it, manipulated it, and came to know it the way a lover comes to know every inch of the body of the beloved. No matter where the cinema goes, we cannot afford to lose sight of its beginning?”
“Film? 1974, 27 years old, first break as a cameraman, major TV documentary, stone age tribe, expedition, only three of us, director, camera, sound, no assistants, incredibly remote, hauling 500 kg of gear across world, air, road, sea, river, hike deep into rainforest, scorching heat, intense humidity. 16mm, 200 x 400 ft rolls, stored in coolest place, every foot used, no waste, Eclair camera, three magazines. Arms in black changing bag, open can, lift out, peel off tape, load mag, close lid, pull out arm, unzip bag, finish lacing, snap mag on camera, lift on to shoulder, turn over, shoot! Is it there, did we get it? Will it be any good? No way of knowing, just wait, see and shoot… Later in the darkroom’s red glow, printing my stills, black-and-white portraits of the tribe conjure up and materialise in the tray, this wondrous photochemical reaction of liquid solution, emulsion, celluloid, silver grains, gelatin and again the very same magic. It’s film.“
“… The biggest difference I have found when working photo-chemically versus digitally on motion pictures is the length of time the takes can last. Broadly, a 1,000 ft roll of 35mm film lasts around nine-and-a-half minutes before running out, while a digital tape or recording card or hard drive can last from 40 minutes to over an hour and a half. This translates to a very different rhythm on the floor; the pressure to “cut” to save film is alleviated.
Archiving digital images is a technological dilemma. The idea of that discovered shoebox of pictures, or wedding album, will not exist digitally in your camera or on your computer or in a “cloud”: you should print them. I often feel a photochemical image contains the mass of the subject and dimension; a digital image often feels as if it is mass-less. This could be nostalgia or simply how I learned to see. Others will not have this learning: they will probably never experience a photochemical image. Is this loss a tragedy, a revolution, an evolution? What have we lost, and what have we gained?”
“… My greatest fear is that as a discarded medium and corporate outcast, analogue will no longer be essential to visual education. Many young people will not know the difference between hand and button, they will only know the button; and their use of technology will be constricted by their ignorance of hand work. They will not perceive the qualities of optical photography because their eyes will only know digital imagery.”
“… Shooting digitally, David Fincher and Jeff Cronenweth in The Social Network (2010) created a claustrophobic world of low-lit interiors and shallow depth of focus, expressive of characters at ease with computers, not people. In Alexander Sokurov’s masterpiece, Russian Ark (2002), digital allowed him the artistic freedom to shoot his feature in a single shot. In Collateral (2004), Michael Mann and Dion Beebe created a digital world: modern, urban, blue-lit, nightmarish. Compelling works of art can be digital. But the qualities are not those of film. Digital can be fatiguing to watch (sometimes nauseating), as dead as mutton when not in the hands of a skilled director of photography.
Technological change brings gains and losses. I look forward to those who can transform digits into works of art, and to those who still use film in all its richness.”
As for me, I’d love to hear your thoughts on working with film- in the shadow of the Digital wave of filmmaking. What say ye?
Nowadays, one needn’t be enrolled in film school to get a heaping helping of info, opinion, and lectures to foster one’s creative efforts in film production. Ask Director Chris Nolan.
Of course, with the dramatic surge of accessibility of film production tools resulting in vast amounts of material being generated (Hello, YouTube), inevitably, critique of the material produced will be equally prevalent. It’s Ying/ Yang. These things need one another.
Arguable? Sure…. but true none the less IMHO. Solid critique keeps us honest; with a certain amount of folks diligently taking apart our much-loved films (yours, mine, Chris Nolan’s, etc) we all may be presented with opportunities to learn something of our craft from another person’s perspective. Now, Before you hang up, I ask you to read on…
“Press Play debuts a new genre of video essay we are calling In The Cut. These video essays will zero in on a crucial scene in a film and they will deconstruct, study and evaluate it for its technical merits and its cinematic effectiveness. Given the recent arguments emanating from this site and others about the state of action filmmaking, Press Play contributor Jim Emerson felt compelled to produce a series of threeIn The Cut video essays.
When taken cumulatively, these commentaries explain once and for all what a successful action sequence looks like and how such a scene should influence the viewer. His forensic analysis of the truck chase from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knightis Part I of these essays. Part II is Phillip Noyce’s Salt and Part III is Don Siegel’s The Line Up. We have included the full uninterrupted sequence from The Dark Knight so the viewer can compare Jim’s analysis with the finished product.”
But wait, there’s more! Here’s peek into Jim Emerson’s perspective regarding the process of making a film:
“Anyone who has participated in the making of a movie, whether a D.I.Y. project or a Hollywood studio picture (I’ve been involved in both kinds of productions), can tell you about the seemingly insurmountable difficulties of planning, shooting and editing a movie. Surely the use of large IMAX cameras for this segment of The Dark Knight made the filming more of a challenge.
Problems that could have been easily fixed on a film with such a huge budget (removing that phantom extra police car with CGI, perhaps) were also no doubt complicated by the IMAX process. And to the filmmakers’ credit, they decided against using CGI for the actual stunts, using real vehicles, miniatures and explosions instead. “
I for one am sticking around for the series. Sure, it’s ripe material for starting some high-temperature conversations- as several online forums will attest. Why So Serious?
In the end, it’s about making better films, no? Let me know what you think. -M
Wonderful post from Chris Dorr, Digital Media Strategist and Consultant on being a filmmaker in this burgeoning digital age in which we find ourselves. Have a read and please, feel free to share your thoughts – M.
Isn’t it curious in this age where more moving images get created and distributed digitally that there is this group of people who still call themselves “filmmakers”? It seems a term that is so archaic, so analogue, so yesterday’s news. But is it any of these?
I think filmmakers look for three opportunities that truly define them as filmmakers.
They are:
1. The ability to tell a visual story from beginning to end, without any interruption, as a complete, continuous experience. This is what separates them from people who create stories for TV as most TV series are produced with commercial interruptions or different viewings (episodes) in mind.
2. The chance to have an audience gather in a theater and watch this visual story together, as a shared experience in time and space. In the course of a film’s distribution it may be seen in a lot of different settings, public or private, but the filmmaker is making the film with this key audience in mind. This is the primary target of all his/her imaginings.
3. The opportunity to see his/her film with an audience. Filmmakers want to physically experience the film with an audience. The filmmaker wants to see if they laugh or cry when he/she intended, if the audience got the point–to see if their film really succeeded at reaching another human being. As every filmmaker knows who has done this–a genuinely scary moment.
So each of these opportunities really goes to the heart of what is most essential about calling yourself a filmmaker.
Think of them as a set of principles about the relationship between the creator of a film and the audience for which it is intended.
And here is what is most surprising as we move from the analogue past to the digital future.
These opportunities are not disappearing into the analogue past.
The advent of the DSLR camera has got the filmmaking world spinning.
Though a tremendous enabler of those with little budgets and big dreams, the DSLR as a film camera, as with many recent equipment innovations, comes with a number of drawbacks to be ironed out in the production pipeline before throwing oneself onto the set and hoping for the best. The reality is these camera’s were not built to shoot video, but have proven to be wonderfully adept at delivering brilliant images for a lot less cash outlay than a more traditional approach would demand.
Getting over the hurdles inherent with DSLR’s can be overwhelming, but with an informative guide to lead the way thru the techno-jungle, things get back in hand readily. Ryan Koo of No Film School.com has assembled jut such a thing with his DSLR Cinematography Guide. Ryan’s guide is an obvious labor-of-love, well researched, written for the lay person, and jam-packed with info. The DSLR Cinematography Guide covers much of what can be expected in shooting with a DSLR camera set-up. If you’re in the least interested in dropping into the DSLR filmmaking pond, Koo’s guide is your pair of arm-floaties.
Go. Get.
A big fan of digital cinematography, Director Robert Rodriguez is shooting music video and feature length projects with DSLR’s, proving a long-format production pipeline is quickly coming into its own as an efficient, streamlined production system.
In addition to Koo’s DSLR Cinematography Guide, Check out DoP Philip Bloom’s fantastic site, HERE. Bloom plumbs the depths of all things DSLR, with generous offerings of video, tutorials, equipment reviews, updates and behind-the-scenes reflections covering his broad experience shooting with these cameras.
Have a look over at No Film School.com, and download a copy of the DSLR Cinematography Guide. It’ll soon be a must-have in your arsenal of production literature. While your looking around, check out the amazing trailer for 36 Stairs, a short produced by a couple of Industrial Light and magic folks, shot on the Canon 5D. Very Cool Indeed. Cheers, M.
JJ Abrams has enlightened me once again. Speaking at TED, Mr. Abrams introduced the crowd to his Mystery Box; it’s a real one, a magic shop item he scooped as a kid in New York decades ago. Funny thing is, he’s never opened it. And he has no plans to- ever.
What the box represents to JJ Abrams is worth so much more to him than what actually might be inside. This hope, this potential for something really, really cool, something fantastical, is what drives his chat at Ted. JJ introduces his idea of Story as a bunch of Mystery Boxes, stories as boxes filled with infinite possibilities.
According to JJ Abrams, mystery represents something important for storytelling; the catalyst of potential and hope. The promise of something fantastic. Mystery. Box.
Television, film, gaming; it’s all based on story and in that, the mystery of story; the withholding of information to create an engaging and compelling experience. Leading the audience, let them see what they think they are getting vs. what they’re really getting. What the story is really about, vs. what it looks like from the outset.
Pretty inspirational and compelling, even – take a few minutes to have a look.
I wish I had this sort of resource at my fingertips in film school, many moons ago. OMG.
Now, one of my fav industry sites to visit regularly is MakingOf.com, the brainchild of actress Natalie Portman and producer Christine Aylward to provide a behind-the scenes look at the creation of entertainment, from the inside looking out. The site is one of the first (and one of the only places I’ve found) with this much behind-the-scenes content, both originally produced and studio produced, including more than 300 exclusive interviews with established and emerging filmmakers, trailers, clips, photos, et al. Much of this stuff is to be found exclusively on Making Of.com before the films are released! The fruit of leveraging industry connections for the benefit of many. How cool is that?
Of late, MakingOf.com is playing host to a series of behind-the-scenes interviews with the writers & producers behind HBO’s epic 10-part, $200 million World War II series “The Pacific“. First off is screenwriter/ co-executive producer Bruce C. McKenna, one of the main writers of another Spielberg/ Hanks war epic, “Band of Brothers“.
Here’s a bit from MakingOf.com website:
“The Pacific” tracks the intertwined real life story of three U.S. Marines across the vast canvas of the Pacific Theater during World War II. In part one of our exclusive interview, McKenna describes his high profile collaborators as being “extremely emotionally invested in the story.” The time the Marines spent in the Pacific Theater was long and more intense and emotional than one could imagine. Spielberg wanted the seven year production to be a personal, intense journey as well. He told his collaborators “No blinking – I want to see the moral cost of the war on my characters.”
Head over to MakingOf.com for the series- not to be missed. While you’re there, be sure to wander around in the archives; it’s film school, online. Brilliant stuff and a wonderful resource for the soon-to-be filmmaker and experienced pro alike.
‘… My favorite and preferred step between imagination and image is a strip of photochemistry that can be held, twisted, folded, looked at with the naked eye, or projected on to a surface for others to see. It has a scent and it is imperfect. If you get too close to the moving image, it’s like impressionist art. And if you stand back, it can be utterly photorealistic. You can watch the grain, which I like to think of as the visible, erratic molecules of a new creative language. After all, this “stuff” of dreams is mankind’s most original medium, and dates back to 1895. Today, its years are numbered, but I will remain loyal to this analogue art form until the last lab closes.”
“Film? 1974, 27 years old, first break as a cameraman, major TV documentary, stone age tribe, expedition, only three of us, director, camera, sound, no assistants, incredibly remote, hauling 500 kg of gear across world, air, road, sea, river, hike deep into rainforest, scorching heat, intense humidity. 16mm, 200 x 400 ft rolls, stored in coolest place, every foot used, no waste, Eclair camera, three magazines. Arms in black changing bag, open can, lift out, peel off tape, load mag, close lid, pull out arm, unzip bag, finish lacing, snap mag on camera, lift on to shoulder, turn over, shoot! Is it there, did we get it? Will it be any good? No way of knowing, just wait, see and shoot… Later in the darkroom’s red glow, printing my stills, black-and-white portraits of the tribe conjure up and materialise in the tray, this wondrous photochemical reaction of liquid solution, emulsion, celluloid, silver grains, gelatin and again the very same magic. It’s film.“
“… The biggest difference I have found when working photo-chemically versus digitally on motion pictures is the length of time the takes can last. Broadly, a 1,000 ft roll of 35mm film lasts around nine-and-a-half minutes before running out, while a digital tape or recording card or hard drive can last from 40 minutes to over an hour and a half. This translates to a very different rhythm on the floor; the pressure to “cut” to save film is alleviated.
“… My greatest fear is that as a discarded medium and corporate outcast, analogue will no longer be essential to visual education. Many young people will not know the difference between hand and button, they will only know the button; and their use of technology will be constricted by their ignorance of hand work. They will not perceive the qualities of optical photography because their eyes will only know digital imagery.”
“… Shooting digitally, David Fincher and Jeff Cronenweth in The Social Network (2010) created a claustrophobic world of low-lit interiors and shallow depth of focus, expressive of characters at ease with computers, not people. In Alexander Sokurov’s masterpiece, Russian Ark (2002), digital allowed him the artistic freedom to shoot his feature in a single shot. In Collateral (2004), Michael Mann and Dion Beebe created a digital world: modern, urban, blue-lit, nightmarish. Compelling works of art can be digital. But the qualities are not those of film. Digital can be fatiguing to watch (sometimes nauseating), as dead as mutton when not in the hands of a skilled director of photography.
“
“Anyone who has participated in the making of a movie, whether a D.I.Y. project or a Hollywood studio picture (I’ve been involved in both kinds of productions), can tell you about the seemingly insurmountable difficulties of planning, shooting and editing a movie. Surely the use of large IMAX cameras for this segment of The Dark Knight made the filming more of a challenge.
Television, film, gaming; it’s all based on story and in that, the mystery of story; the withholding of information to create an engaging and compelling experience. Leading the audience, let them see what they think they are getting vs. what they’re really getting. What the story is really about, vs. what it looks like from the outset.
