Jerry Beck has posted on an issue very dear to me — the issue of film projection versus digital projection. (I know its main focus is the non-issue of whether 3-D is a faddish gimmick or not (FYI, it is), but this part was more interesting to me.)
Quite honestly, the only people who see this as a non-issue have never actually threaded a projector themselves. They don’t understand the beauty of being able to see and hold each frame of film; nor do they understand what an event it is to see a print projected.
Technology will march on. Give it a decade and, wow, you won’t believe the “film-like brilliance” of the latest digital projector. But if you’re into cinema history, and you’re a collector of classic films, who gives a shit? The films in question are not made to be shown on video. They are not digital. They are of the resolution they were created in (or close enough for us small-timers via 16mm).
Over and over I have the wonderful ability to blow people away by showing them the REAL THING, that’s right, the REAL THING, not a video replica (all video is is a replica). There is aesthetic (and cultural) value to presenting films in their original film format – period! (Which is why I’ve been weeding the Eastman stock out of my collection, because I can’t justify screening things that unquestionably have better color on DVD.) This “neato old stuff I still have” part is insignificant in the, well, big picture for many of us.
One more thing to think about: film may deteriorate in bad storage conditions, but in all but the absolute worst cases is the film not un-runnable, and I’ve been able to project horribly cared for films dating back to the 1910s. I’m lucky if a DVD I leave on my dorm room floor over night will actually work the next day.
A final thought: thousands of movies, thousands of hard drives, thousands of man-hours necessary to repeatedly back up/migrate/inventory these constantly-needed backups.
Unlike a 35mm neg. Which you put on the shelf and walk away from for 100 years.
Word, I feel the same way myself. I have some 16mm prints (and even had 35mm prints until I sold all of them) myself and I love being able to look at each frame.
Good point about the longetivity. Unless it’s REALLY damaged a film should play decades after being made.
16mm is still pretty popular among independent filmmakers (the ones that has enough money to pay for it, at least).
Thad, I’ll agree with you to a point, because you are contradicting yourself somewhat in the “Eastman vs. 100 years” department. Yes, we now have filmn stocks that can survive far longer, but with the exception of the oil painting, all man-made modes of media storage have deteriorated over time, unless the most absolute care is taken. Film stocks, paper media, magnetic tape, shellac & vinyl discs, magnetic videotape, optical storage media, magnetic data drives, and yes, stone, are all subject to degradation. I isolate the oil painting because it can at least be be seen by the public without the need for glass enclosures, refridgeration, underground dark/cold storage, etc.
That said, I love the esthetic of film media as well. I’ll protect what I have the best I can for as long as I can, and share my collection with those who are nerdy enough and are interested enough to realize that watching a film/movie is a communal experience – outdoor DVD screenings are not as head-turning as a couple of well lit projectors and an interesting library to spare. Film and its projection fascinated me before I was even into my teens, and that has not diminished.
Besides, a photo of a Bell & Howell projector is enough to turn my head. Now If I could just find a way to keep an Eiki EX-9100 in my apartment, I’d never leave home…!!
Sadly, 20 years from now film projectors will probably be seen by the then-current generation of yutes the way turntables, typewriters and rotary dial phones are by people under the age of 30 today.
“They don’t understand the beauty of being able to see and hold each frame of film”
How maudlin of you. :P
I might not know much about film projection, but I do know that DVDs suck.
Seriously, always skipping and stuff. Damn.
I couldn’t agree with you more! I don’t collect on film simply because I can’t afford to collect in that medium, but the finest way to see classic cartoons or films is exactly as they were intended to be seen by whatever generation created and first iewed the finished product! And we should all remember that, fewer and fewer times, as the years go by, we have “improved” anything classic, and that goes for the digitization of music. Classic tunes will always sound warmer to me on the medium for which they were recorded. All I have are replications, and the sad thing about these is that the companies creating the disks don’t care to perform genuine restorations, a.k.a. giving us the films totally uncut and with original title cards, studio logos, etc. Format “improvements” aside, most contents are usually left as ragged as they might have looked had everything generations ago slipped into the public domain. Video companies always act so overwhelmed by the task of complete and genuine restoration that they just shrug and don’t bother and we end up with this format that can hold twice as much but whose resources and abilities are never fully tapped! And then there are all kinds of “natural” disasters like studio fires that end up robbing us of our history before anyone realizes that they’ve made a hideous mistake in taking little care to see that none of these types of disasters take place. Be glad you have film; I wish we all had movie theater capabilities!
Thad, I’d agree with what you’re saying except for the well-proven FACT that NOTHING beats the the ultimate viewing experience of watching stuff on YouTube.
PWNED!
I agre with you but there is something that need to be said about the availability of digital content: is easier to distribute. In that way, maybe some child are not going to see a classic short of Bugs Bunny in a Big cinema screen, but he will be able to see it! Ans also this same short will be seen by a girl in Malaysia or a boy in Russia, people that have never seen Bugs in this way. I would like to have of those shorts in my house, but i can’t, but i have some copies digital resaturated, is not the same but works for me.
I feel the same way. While a well done BD playing on a properly calibrated video projector can come close, there’s nothing like a well-cared-for actual print of something. Especially for 2D animation: grain does amazing things to what would be flat, opaque areas.
The holy grail is to spend less time making the picture than it takes people to look at it. – Banksy