Comments on: What’s Your Medium? by Elite Team Member Bodie Orman

By: Mike Martin

Mike Martin — Fri, 06 May 2011 19:15:16 +0000

I shot with 16mm Bolex and they are beautiful cameras and last forever!

By: Tim Porter

Tim Porter — Mon, 02 May 2011 04:42:12 +0000

Man I really want to see your super8 / HDSLR cut together! I was just thinking today about creating a short film with super8 and 5d mk2 footage cut together. I think I will just do it… can’t wait to see your’s for inspiration!

By: bodieo

bodieo — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 03:52:57 +0000

Hello Dylan,
Thanks for reading the blog. Your last line hits the nail square on the head. Cheers.

By: bodieo

bodieo — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 03:51:06 +0000

Hello Steve,
I like what you have to say about the discipline that comes with shooting film. Visualizing exposures with a light meter is a great exercise for any film maker who wants to better understand the dynamics of light and emulsion. And what a payoff when it does what you thought it would do :-) Thanks for the unput!

By: bodieo

bodieo — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 03:33:39 +0000

Hola Jerry Rojas: Elite Team Mexico,
Well said, and great to hear from you!

By: bodieo

bodieo — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 03:28:00 +0000

Hi Ramses,
Thank you for the kind words and support. We really appreciate it.

By: Rob Scribner

Rob Scribner — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 08:11:30 +0000

Hi Bodieo, I ran into the same problem as Timothy Donovan; I went to films school and never once touched film :(, which greatly disappointed me. For some time I have been really wanting to start educating myself on any sort of film and found your recent post here very inspiring and a good starting point for me to begin. I also jumped on board with the HDSLR movement right away and love every aspect…including the down falls but feel I like in order to be successful(long term) I need to expand my horizon to other formats such as film. Thanks for the post/links; I will put them to good use.

By: Dylan Glockler

Dylan Glockler — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 16:59:07 +0000

Excellent editorial. You’ve published what I’m thinking each time I read a forum of flaming posts arguing one format over another. I love shooting on film, 16 and 35 – the color, range and beauty of the images produced by a physical, chemical process, not to mention the joy of the practice. Equally, I love the instant gratification and immediate feedback of shooting digital and the excitement of an ever-changing medium. Keep up the posting.

Often, the best camera you can shoot with is the one you can get your hands on.

By: Zack Coffman

Zack Coffman — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 00:42:00 +0000

We just finished shooting our horror feature on S8 with a 1014xls, great camera!

By: Steve Oakley

Steve Oakley — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 19:22:35 +0000

I’ve shot S8, quite a bit of 16mm, and some 35mm. I’ve also pushed a shutter button upwards of 200K times :)

its been years since I’ve shot film, and I don’t miss it. really I don’t.

what a lot of people do miss is the discipline in shooting film, especially 35 when your kissing $85-$100/ min away rolling the camera ( stock, processing, transfer ). So with media costs that expensive, you do stop to check everything to get it right. Whats amazing is that with smaller 35mm productions, where you are watching the budget a lot more closely, you are far more selective about when to roll, do some rehearsals, ect before committing to a take. the complete opposite of the video mentality of its cheap to shoot so spray it like a machine gun type coverage. The shooting ratios on film are lower and more controlled with most projects under budget constraints which makes post easier – less junk to wade thru and toss out anyway. you knew is was junk when you shot ti in video, but it was cheap to roll so you did. please don’t think I’m trigger shy either, I know you need to roll enough to get it right, but balance is the key, not shoot every thing and sort it out in post, which costs money too.

having switched to mainly shooting on dslr’s and the occasional RED, the discipline and methodology is back like it was in the films days. if you expect your shots to be in focus, you have to pay attention to what you are doing, not all paying jobs call for or want ultra shallow DoF with people / subjects moving in and out of focus.

so I think dslr’s are a great creative tool and bring back the good parts of shooting on film, but would I ever want to go back to film ? no. just pass my one of the higher end cameras with more dynamic range and ‘ll be happy. and FWIW, I also still have a conventional video camera for ENG / news shoots when its appropriate. right tool for the job.

By: Jerry Rojas

Jerry Rojas — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:34:23 +0000

Hey Bodie! Nice article my friend and very true indeed.
Sometimes we get stuck in the HOW and I think we should be thinking more the WHY. Why I should shoot this project with film? why go with softlight?… And once you answer all your whys then go with the how.

As you said “there are thousands of brushes and strokes to use”, and we need to experiment with them so later we can choose the right tool for the job. I know there are always budget problems, but if we do not push ourselves to try new things we won’t grow as filmmakers.

Now I live at Yucatán (Mexico Southeast) and I shoot primarly digital because here we don’t have the facilites and budgets we do have at Mexico city where I used to shoot film.

Cheers my friend.

By: Ramses

Ramses — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 21:16:06 +0000

Just wanted to say that this was a great article because sometimes we get cuaght up in a particular gear and forget that there just tools for the job. Its all about tellying a story and how creative we want to be in the process. On another note,I’ve only recently started to read this blog and I find it extremely useful and educational.Thank you guys for dedicating time to this for people like me.

By: bodieo

bodieo — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 05:47:38 +0000

Thanks Josue,
Follow those s16 film projects through the whole process. You’ll learn alot during the telecine/colortiming.

By: bodieo

bodieo — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 05:44:47 +0000

Hi Toby,
It is exceptional how fast the technology has blossomed, and how many choices we now have for cameras. It is good to have options :-)

By: bodieo

bodieo — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 05:38:28 +0000

Good luck on your next project, Alexander. The 7D stuff looks great! How did your projects with the Scoopic go? Is it a pretty friendly camera to work with?

By: Josue

Josue — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 03:08:18 +0000

I recently began shooting digital. I really was an editor before having a camera in my hands. weird. I been shooting Super 16 in film school and now own a t2i. I have a lot to learn. I just basically threw myself and now recording some promotion videos. The idea is to hopefully launch with my own short. But yes, the aesthetics behind film is like no other. Great post.

By: bodieo

bodieo — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:34:00 +0000

No problem Timothy,
Also check out http://www.yalefilmandvideo.com/ and http://www.dwaynesphoto.com

By: Timothy Donovan

Timothy Donovan — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:20:58 +0000

Thanks for the information Bodie I greatly appreciate it!

By: bodieo

bodieo — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:59:16 +0000

Tim, the best thing to do is start sniffing around and educating yourself on the options that are available to you in your area. You might be suprised at how accesable shooting film can be.
Yes, shooting film out of pocket is tough. Getting a few people to share the cost helps. If you have a director who is passionate about shooting film, then the two of you could share the costs and the education that comes with it.
Contacting Kodak and Fuji directly is a great place to start with film. Find someone in sales and tell them who you are and that you want to shoot some tests on film and they might just give you some for free!
I get my film developed at Deluxe here in L.A. Check out your local film schools, and ask where they get thier film developed. You might have to mail your film somewhere, depending on where you live. Again, call these places and let them know who you are and what your doing. You’ll be suprised at how receptive these companies are to young film makers.
Telecine can be themost expensive part of the equation. There are alot of different companies all over the country, so doing alot of looking is a good idea. I use a place called FIlmpool here in LA.
Of course, the other option is to learn how to develop it yourself, cut it by hand, and project that baby in your local movie theater!!!

By: bodieo

bodieo — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:32:02 +0000

Hello Duane
Canon 1014 and 1014xls are pretty snappy s8mm cameras. There are so many great s8mm cameras out there its tough to give a recomendation. These are just the ones I’ve used and they have nice features like faster framerates, motor zoom, and manual iris that I like. A good resource for s8mm is http://www.pro8mm.com and if your in Los Angeles, checking out the Echo Park Film Center is a must! As for 16mm, yes Bolex makes a great camera. To be honest, I’ve never shot on a Bolex but am also searching for a solid used 16mm camera. If any of you film guys are reading this, what are your thoughts?