Attended a talk this week disscussing HD v Celluloid, held at the Curzon Soho, as part of the Short Film Summer School. OK, I know it sounds like an very old debate to be having now days, and to be honest, not a lot was said that I hadn't already heard or knew. But as it is a question at the forefront of our minds as we prepare to shoot Tree, so it seemed like a good idea to go...just in case!
It should be noted that the panel was sponsored by Kodak, and they tried hard not to be biased. HD is definitely the buzz word in the industry at the moment, and I think Kodak wants to just remind everyone that Celluloid is still the "best" high definition acquisition format. That is true, but their is no getting round the fact that shooting celluloid adds extra layers and cost to the production and post production process.
In the end it always comes down to a question of money and budgets. Video is just cheaper to shot and post produce, plain and simple. The one interesting question posed to the panel was: Why doesn't Kodak lower its film stock prices to better compete with HD? A good and valid question, that unfortunately was completely side stepped by the Kodak rep. He did talk a bit about the advancements and chemical developments that had happened in the last 5 years to film stocks, and the research the company is doing into "grain management" (i.e. trying to minimize the size of grain present in celluloid film stock) Personally I think they shouldn't go to far down that road as they'll start to loose the very thing people respond to in film prints, the organic, living image. Isn't film grain the first thing anyone shooting HD adds back to their video images!
There are pros and cons to each "acquisition" route. I'm all for letting the nature and tone of the project dictate the way it is shot. Liz, myself, and for some strange reason our D.O.P. Pete, all see Tree as a being better served by celluloid.
Two reasons are:
The distancing effect of film. I believe when we watch celluloid film, we think story, past, and we process the images in a subtly different way to say, video. When we watch video we think event, present. Our perception of Time is altered.
Slow Motion. The whole film is about perceptions and time. I want to play about with film speeds at moments in the story to highlight and accentuate action. Unfortunately, only the very top HD cameras have the ability to vari-speed. Film in this respect is more versatile.
UPDATE 31-08-2006
Here is a great link to the ongoing HD/Film debate. Its a good read. http://benegal.org/dev/2006/08/31/hd-versus-35mm-p1/
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