Why use film?

With the advent of digital video, High Definition (HD) and now solid state acquisition (recording video on hard drives or memory cards without tape) why is there is any need for using celluloid – traditional film?  Despite all of this new technology, many top cinematographers involved in high end corporate film, commercials or feature films will still opt for film every time.

The reason for this is mainly down to the way the medium behaves under certain lighting conditions and also in terms of how it handles subject movement.  Like digital stills photography, digital video is now catching up and is moving closer to being able to mimic the quite unique behaviour of film.  However, top cinematographers with a keen eye for every conceivable detail, still maintain that video is a long way off.  Many will never be convinced, somewhat like the hardened core of professional stills photographers that continue to use traditional film.

The ‘techies’ no doubt will immediately subscribe to the digital camp and extol the virtues of an enviably cost effective and speedy work flow, new creative gadgets and features combined with ever increasing image resolution.

So why use film?  Well, the answer comes down to creativity and style – those awkward and indefinable elements that no amount of technical wizardry can replace.  Film is somewhat unpredictable – it throws up pleasant (and sometimes unpleasant) surprises under different lighting conditions – video is more ‘what you see is what you get’.  Film also tends to handle extremes of contrast more gracefully, whereas video has had a tendency to ‘clip’ highlights, though this is continually being addressed with new video technology.  Video has also traditionally suffered with ‘depth of field’ problems whereby everything seems to be in focus – backgrounds become cluttered and distracting, foreground subjects become muddled in the composition making it tricky to get stylised and creative shots.  This is down to technical issues such as the way in which the image is projected onto the sensing medium and the types of lenses used.  Additionally, film has a wonderful ability to ’soften’ an image and flatter subjects, the subtle rendition of colour and interpretation of subject movement are just some of the many unique qualities of film.

So despite what you’ll hear in the press about wonderful new technology and stunning results from the latest high definition cameras, there’s just something about film that remains alluring to the best professionals in the business!

James