Monday, October 22, 2012

"Side by Side" Can Film Survive Our Digital Future





I recently watched (2 times!) a documentary narrated by the actor, Keanu Reeves. The title of the film was "Side by Side." The question it asked was "can film survive our digital future?"

This film, in my opinion, is relevant for both still and cinematographers. Since the inception of movie-making, film has been the standard format for recording movie images. What has emerged in the past 20 years has been a totally new format of movie-making ... digital film-making. This has created a groundbreaking evolution in the film industry. This holds true for still photography as well.
Here is a link for the trailer: Side by Side ... The Movie.

I, for one, love film. I am still capturing all of my images on film. I like its grittiness and organic qualities. I especially like the way it records the dimension and latitude of light. During the past few years I have been playing with digital capture, but have not made the leap to "the dark side!" After seeing "Side by Side," I am a lot more open than ever to capturing my images digitally.

In the film "Side by Side," Keanu Reeves takes us on a tour of the past and future of film-making. He explores the development of cinema and the impact of the digital medium via in-depth interviews with Hollywood gurus, such as James Cameron, David Lynch, David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh and many more.  Profound ... that's all I can say! Rent it, buy it ... find a way to see it, but don't miss out seeing it. It will be the fastest 99 minutes you will ever spend.