The Imminent Death of Film
Like it or not, the day is soon coming that will mark “The Death of Film”. Since the age of DV began more than a decade ago, digital video technology and tools have been getting better and better and is in more wide use, while at the exact same time film technology and usage has been stagnant on a good day.
Regardless of what you feel about film as a creative medium, it has become less and less of a practical and cost-effective one for the people shooting as well as the people supporting it as evidenced most recently by two watershed events:
1) the recent stock dive and bankruptcy rumors surrounding Kodak and
2) something I just learned from the below article- the three major film camera manufacturers – Arri, Panavision and Aaton have all recently ceased making any new film cameras. So someone somewhere right now may very well be in possession of the last Arri film camera to roll off the line…crazy thought right?
I have always been a video guy for purely practical reasons, but I personally love the look of film and have no ill will towards it. Nevertheless, I am also a big fan of reality. And the cold reality is that while film is not dead yet, it’s damned sure sick, ailing, if not slipping into a deep coma. Digital video is indeed the future.
Read Debra Kaufman’s illuminating article on the Creative Cow website for a more in-depth look into the impending death of film entitled, Film Fading to Black.
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Skye Dent
What I see as more discourgaging is that, in many way because of the availability of digital cameras, college students who wish to be filmmakers are being guided by many professors into being event type videographers. I wonder if, in prior years, the costs of film cameras and the rarity of film classes nationwide, encouraged more respect for the art and craft of making narrative films. (no disrespect to event videographers intended)