It took me a long time to gather the words to tell people
why I will never shoot digital. It’s not that I’m a “purist” in a cinema sense.
Nor do I not embrace new technology. It has made my life more convenient. It is
for the simple idea that it is not unique to shoot digital.
Digital is a translation of numbers that form images. It is
the matrix before our brains correct abnormalities. Film negative is a place in
time.
Not to completely romanticize it, but here goes…
When film is made, it is designed in a laboratory that is
temperature sensitive. The sheets are precisely cut, embedded with unique
keycode (kode) and ships out. I completely understand cinematographers who
thrive on consistency. What I shoot today will look like what I wanted to look
like and so forth. This is commerce.
Film is specific to the time and place, and…as most of us
post people have learned, even to the way film is processed. To the way it was
aged. It is stamped by film production companies
Case in point, I will be shooting negative from 10 years
ago. Could or would anyone replicate this look in digital? Probably not. And
they couldn’t unless they took a time machine back and bought the film. The
film is now linked to you (good or bad). This is artistry.
I think if digital takes over filmmaking, I no longer want
to be a part of it. The craft will no longer be worth it. And would
storytelling be worth it without craft?
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