If celluloid goes away are films still… films? This is just one of the many questions that ran through my mind before, after and while watching the spectacular documentary Side by Side. Here, producer and interviewer Keanu Reeves sits down with the cream of the crop when it comes to today’s directors along with several cinematographers, colorists, editors and more to discuss the rise in digital filmmaking, the perceived bygone era of shooting on film, 3D, color-timing, visual effects, editing and more as the industry moves from shooting movies on film to capturing them 5,000 pixels at a time.
Participants include directors such as James Cameron, David Fincher, Danny Boyle, George Lucas, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh, Lars Von Trier and the Wachowskis along with cinematographers including Dion Beebe, Wally Pfister, Michael Chapman and Anthony Dod Mantle and editors including Walter Murch and Craig Wood and this is just the tip of the iceberg. This documentary’s crowning achievements include not only the depth in which it explores its topic, but the wide range of names, and the prestige of those names, involved. When you want answers go to the experts.
Side by Side will undoubtedly play better to cinephiles interested in the past, present and future of how their favorite movies go from set to screen, but director Chris Kenneally and Reeves make sure everyone is working on a level playing field by including brief sequences detailing the techniques and mechanics discussed. This includes quickly describing how a film camera captures an image and is then color timed compared to digitally capturing an image and the ease in which it is manipulated and more. Then comes the questioning.
As has been mentioned time and time again, Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises) is one of the more vocal directors against the use of digital for filmmaking as is his director of photography on his last seven films, Wally Pfister. Both serve as the opposite side of the argument along with only a couple other hold outs interviewed here. Most have or are converting over to digital with the likes of David Lynch saying he’ll likely never shoot on film again, George Lucas is obviously big into digital, Steven Soderbergh gives the impression he hates film and David Fincher finds the malleable nature of the digital world to be highly agreeable. Within all these voices you find plenty of give and take as a balanced line is drawn, changing your opinion from one minute to the next.
Some discuss the amount of footage you can shoot on digital compared to film. Then some mention how this can potentially be a bad thing. David Fincher even points out how, on the set of Zodiac, Robert Downey Jr. hated the endless amounts of takes Fincher could do and would leave mason jars of urine on the set as his form of protest after not being able to get to the restroom.
Others point out the appreciation they have for the instant nature of digital and the ability to watch playback on set rather than having to wait a day for dailies to get back from the lab. Nolan argues the shots never look the same on tiny monitors as they do on the big screen so it doesn’t really matter. Joel Schumacher doesn’t like it because actors become overly concerned with their performances and hair and even Scorsese, who seems to offer the most balanced appraisal of both formats, says he still feels the need to watch rushes on a big screen just as a matter of focusing on only the picture rather than everything else around him on set.
One quote I personally grabbed on to was when George Lucas says he realized with digital, “I can do anything to fix this movie.” I don’t like the idea of a director thinking he can “fix” a film as long as he can manipulate the image alone. This to me suggests a lack of interest and/or focus on story and performance, but I can’t say this comes as a result of digital filmmaking and may simply be a piece of evidence as to what went wrong with the Star Wars prequels.
If anything, I’d say the one problem that may soon arise as a result of digital filmmaking taking over is the ease in using digital over film. Most directors making movies today at least understand what it means to shoot on film and the respect that must be paid to the process. There’s something to be said for understanding the value of each frame of footage whether you’re shooting 40 minutes of digital or only ten minutes of film. To begin to believe each shot is disposable because you aren’t beholden to the amount of film left on a reel and the costs associated with it could cause for some problems, problems I’m sure we’ve seen in numerous films already, but it could get worse.
As it stands now, digital is clearly taking over and in ten years you might not see any movies shot on film. Fox Co-Chairman and CEO Tom Rothman is interviewed for the doc and when asked if film is dead he plainly says, “Yes.” Meanwhile it’s agreed the best way for storing and archiving movies is on film. So what’s the answer? Is it dead or is it not? Will it ever be?
The answer is yes, it will be and most likely is. Eastman Kodak filed for bankruptcy in early 2012, theaters are removing 35mm projectors and replacing them with digital and soon there simply won’t be anywhere to even display a movie shot on film outside of art houses. Of course, that won’t stop people from shooting on what film stock remains, but they can, more often than not, trust it will be converted to digital before heading out to the multiplex. Download and press play.
Further evidence of the acceptance of digital can be found in the Oscars won for Best Cinematography by Slumdog Millionaire (DP Anthony Dod Mantle), Avatar (DP Mauro Fiore) and Hugo (DP Robert Richardson). It has taken a few years for it to make a dent, but at this point it has become the norm.
These are just the facts of the matter and I don’t think it’s going to lessen the quality of films out there, though the decrease in the cost of filmmaking will result in more movies being made. This means movies will likely seem worse proportionally, but as long as issues with digital continue to be raised answers to those problems will most certainly be dealt with until a solution is reached, which should ultimately satisfy all parties.
