Topic: In praise of 16mm

[hookstrapped]

From a low-budget movie perspective, why film is better than digital (and cheaper)

“In Praise of 16mm” https://filmschoolrejects.com/in-praise-of-16mm-b91a36d5fdda

[MiguelCampano]

Very interesting indeed. I have always wanted to, at some point, take some footage of vacation, hikes, etc, in either 8mm or 16mm, for nostalgic purposes.

[EarlJam]

Another major attribute of motion picture film, relative to video, is longevity. Amongst the family archives I inherited were a number of reels of 9.5mm Pathe (B+W) and 8mm Kodak (B+W and color) shot by my grandfather between 1925 and 1960 or so. I bit the bullet, so to speak, and had high-quality digital transfers made for the family.

These two images have particular significance:

- Joe_2 is the only known image of my dad's cousin, Joe, as an infant, shot in late 1925 or early '26.

- Paula_01, shot in early 1938, is one of the only images I have of my great-grandfather smiling as he plays with one of his later grandchildren.

Long way of saying that motion picture film, like still image film, is something that can be "discovered" by future generations and provide context for those who came before. I have no such expectation that videotape or d*****l will be around 20 years from now, let alone 100 or more.

[Francois]

Just try and get codecs for some late 90's QuickTime files... or even worse FLI files!
And we're just talking 20 years...

[Nigel]

I'm not someone who believes one is any better than another, I use both for different situations.

However, like the filmmaker, I do like the look of 16mm. We recently saw Certain Women, one of the films referenced there and it did look beautiful, there was something about the look at seemed entirely appropriate to the Montana landscape. It's worth seeing IMHO.

[Francois]

What I find a bit sad is that almost all movies now fall into one category: uniform look and bad stories.
And there are so many processes I really miss in movies. Why can't they bring back that original Technicolor look?

[EarlJam]

What I find a bit sad is that almost all movies now fall into one category: uniform look and bad stories.
And there are so many processes I really miss in movies. Why can't they bring back that original Technicolor look?

Technicolor, like so many other technologies and processes, was undone by cost and a changing industry. In addition to the three strips of B+W original, there was the cost of the dye matrices plus the print stock. Add in the change in film style – think Gone with the Wind versus Raging Bull or Taxi Driver – and the sole source aspect of working with Technicolor for the camera and prints, and declining audiences and the number of screens, and the process became unsustainable. The Chinese bought the British Technicolor plant, shipped it to Beijing, and kept the process alive for a few more years, but even they shut things down in the mid-90s.

My dad had a number of acquaintances who worked at Technicolor Hollywood. His friends helped him acquire a Process II (two-strip) camera in 1976, along with lenses and a spare beamsplitter. I got a tour of the plant in the early 1970s, a year or two before the plant closed. The facility was literally built around the process. Dye matrices and finished film would pop out of a hallway ceiling periodically, run for a few yards, and then disappear back into the plenum. I got to see a couple of Technicolor originals in that era, a nitrate print of Phantom of the Opera (1943, with Claude Rains) and the restored version of Becky Sharp, both of which were stunning. Like the tri-chrome Carbro process for color stills, the look is irreplaceable.

[Francois]

I know it's hard to replace...

But the funny thing is that with all the computing power we have these days, producers prefer to go for that blue/orange cast than to go for something truly delightful...

[EarlJam]

I know it's hard to replace...

But the funny thing is that with all the computing power we have these days, producers prefer to go for that blue/orange cast than to go for something truly delightful...

That one has me baffled, too. It's as if producers and DPs have decided that they need to use an Instagram filter to make the look of the film relevant. If not Technicolor , I'd be happy with the 16mm Ektachrome look, where reds appeared to be sitting off the screen a foot or so.