Student aspiring cinematographer in Australia - film vs digital

Trevor McClung · May 28, 2012

I like you Travis.

I know the math. Digital is more expensive in many circumstances. Clients hire people because they don't know what to do. They want something that get's clients, attention and respect. Giving them something that causes them to lose respect in some communities isn't what they want. They don't know the difference but we do. Digital marketing has been focused on the death of film since the 70's. Do you really want to help those bastards? Plus film looks magnificent and it's timeless. You can't put a price tag on that. I care what happens to film because I want to shoot it. There are many like me.

Travis Gray · May 28, 2012

Do you really want to help those bastards?

I'd rather work than sit around and wait for the right person to come around and really want film.

I honestly don't think film will be going away any time soon. I still know plenty of photographers who shoot with hasselblads and polaroids, do wet plate process and their own developing. There's still an appreciation for old techniques out there. But there's some work that's just not practical to be shot on film.

I got a call a few weeks ago to shoot a video resume. Sure, not artwork, but I'm more than capable to pull it off and they were going to pay for the quick turnaround. I'm not pulling out a 16mm camera to shoot this when I can easily shoot it on digital, ingest, and boom. Done. Maybe at MOST the storage will be 100gb. That's cake. I backup corporate stuff online, and that's not even a drop in the bucket for my unlimited storage, and after a while, I won't even hang on to the raw footage. So a final ~5 minute piece is a footnote. The costs associated with something like that are nothing compared to film.

I get that it makes sense to be in support of the way things used to be, but are you arguing horse and carriages too? And guess what, those are still around.

I think there will always be a market for film. Maybe it'll become small. Maybe it'll become more expensive. But it's not going away.

If you're running a business, which 99% of people are, serving the client and at the very least not taking a loss is key. If you can convince the client that film is the best route for the project, then great. If they finance it, great. There are pros and cons to both.