Side by Side

The Death of Film

Side by Side, a documentary produced by Keanu Reeves is probably the best thing he's ever done. No, I am not a fan of Mr. Reeves. In fact, earlier today, I recently caught about 20 minutes of a movie starring him and Jennifer Connelly (of whom I am a huge fan) on FX, which I later learned was The Day the Earth Stood Still. No commentary on that film from me, as I hate to waste precious words on such drivel. And this isn't about that monstrosity.

I'll go out on one hell of a limb and say Side by Side is not a film that will appeal to most people. In general, only cineasts, and those interested in the current state of the film industry, especially as it pertains to film vs. digital (what the documentary is ultimately about), will find this as fascinating as I did.

Christopher Nolan and Cinematographer Wally Pfister

It is a great documentary that chronicles the rise of the digital era of film, beginning in the late 90s, and exploding in the oughts. Since then, digital has been embraced by a great many filmmakers - some new, and some old school (Fincher, Lynch, Lucas, Cameron, Scorsese). It has also been discarded as a falseness of cinema by some, who refuse to shoot on anything except celluloid (Nolan, P.T. Anderson, Tarantino). Though, I should note, that even Wally Pfister (Nolan's cinematographer) admits that he and Nolan will likely shoot on digital one day.

There are a great many excellent arguments made for both sides of the issue. Film has a greater latitude than digital. Then again, digital is cheaper; easier to use; and some films simply wouldn't exist without digital (Fincher sites several shots and scenes in The Social Network that they couldn't have done with a film camera). Not to mention, those directors like Cameron and Scorsese who have used the gimmick known as 3D - such films would literally be impossible without digital cinema. Beyond that, digital is growing more and more advanced every day - new cameras, new features, etc. are constantly being created and expanded. Whereas with film cameras, well, production on new film cameras has stopped. In October 2011, it was quietly announced that ARRI, Panavision, and Aaton had ceased production on film cameras, and were now focusing exclusively on digital. And, as the documentary notes, when film labs die, so does film entirely.

Sound of My Voice

I've grown up and entered the film arena during the revolution of digital. Since I've been screenwriting and making movies, I've seen the introduction of such cameras as a Red One (and it's varietals; Epic, Scarlett, etc.), as well as the very innovative dSLRS that shoot full 1080/24p with remarkable picture quality given their size and price. And, more recently, the introduction of the Panasonic GH2, an incredible little machine that Francis Coppola named his favorite digital camera in his shoot-out. Such devices make filmmaking ever more feasible for up and coming directors on a budget. Whether this is good or bad is not for me to say. But what I can say is - it certainly opens up a world where far more visions can be put to the screen, for better or worse. It's resulted in some delightfully low-budget features like Sound of My Voice, Like Crazy, and Tiny Furniture - all shot on the Canon 7D dSLR. Not to mention these features that used (though not exclusively) the 7D: Red State, The Avengers, Black Swan, 127 Hours, among many more (as well as the finale of House).

Like Crazy

Digital is here to stay. I think all filmmakers should realize that, and begin to embrace its possibilities, its future, and frankly, its - often - extreme advantages.

***1/2/****