Whenever I am out filming with my antique cameras at least one curious onlooker will come up to me and ask, “Wow, you can still buy actual film?” Yes you can. At least for now.
It’s been a rough year for motion picture film. The rapid shift from analogue to digital technologies threatens the future of this distinctive medium that I so dearly love. A major film lab in Montreal shut down without warning this past July citing “the rapid shift to digital since 2010″ required them to restructure. And last month after 123 years ARRI announced it won’t be producing motion picture cameras anymore. I’m not anti-digital, but I adore film and do not want to lose my ability to create with it.
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Other artists are starting to publicly declare their fears of the future of this medium as well. Tacita Dean, a British artist shares her distress stating film is about to die through an exhibit that opened last month at the Tate Modern. It’s both an homage and requiem to the medium itself simply called “Film”. She says, “this beautiful medium, invented 125 years ago, is about to go,” unless fast action is taken. The language of analogue filmmaking, said Dean, is as important to her as a painter’s canvas and paint. I absolutely feel the same way.
I also believe that a moment becomes more precious when it is captured on film and one of the reasons our work resonate with so many people. Film is a physical medium - you can feel as much as see the difference between a film and digital recording….just as you can hear the difference between music recorded on a vinyl record and a CD of the same performance.
Steven Spielberg, one of cinema’s best storytellers of all time, still chooses film and has said, “I will remain loyal to this analogue art form until the last lab closes.” So, like Spielberg, myself and other film artists choose film not because it is easier to use or less expensive, but because it evokes a sense of intimacy that can be felt by the viewer. And the image it creates is simply breathtaking.
My personal fear is that my medium of choice will one day be a thing of the past. So, if you love film, I urge you to use film or support artists who choose to create with this incredible medium…otherwise, the choice may not always be ours.
Long live film,
Bridget
