Click here to view the embedded video.

If your in need of a little creative inspiration then you could do worse than check out this Steven Spielberg speech. I’m not sure what the event was but Lucas is in the audience and John Williams is plucking away so I guess it was invite only!

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In bizarrely the same week as the Tate moderns new Turbine hall exhibition celebrates celluloid in cinema and artist Tacita Dean explores the history and beauty of the medium. The famous Hollywood rental house Birns and Sawyer announces the end of their interest in supporting celluloid. This is a truly terrible moment for film because without the support of the ‘Industry’ then the demise of motion picture 16mm & 35mm is guaranteed to come about very quickly.

I grew up on film stock, first shooting on Super 8 and then moving on to 16mm. I made many shorts on film before moving on to shooting feature film ‘Fatigue’ on super 16mm so I have a very strong attachment and love for the texture of celluloid in both it’s physical and visual form.

Shooting ‘Fatigue’ with the Arriflex BL

I feel like I’m in mourning – pathetic I know.

Time for a lens change

Recently I have been shooting on the RED One Camera and without doubt this camera is truly incredible. With HDR technology built into RED’s Epic camera, video finally surpasses the latitude of film.
But something is missing, I can’t put my finger on it but for me the romance and craft of cinematography is diluted by the technology.

like painting or sculpture, a film camera is an incredibly simple device that takes a lifetime to master and that is incredibly attractive, it’s easy to understand how it works – you quickly realise if the camera is upset just by listening to the reel revolve in the mag while shooting.

A video camera like the RED is incredibly complex. I actually teach RED camera technology to students at film school so I have an in depth knowledge of the system but the remarkable technology involved creates a distancing feeling for me.

It’s a bit like being at a dinner party and your stuck next to someone much more intelligent and knowledgeable than you and they keep insisting on lecturing you about your favourite subject – your impressed but can’t help but think this person is a twat.

So that is my conclusion about the difference between shooting on film and video – film is like a good conversation with an inspiring friend. Shooting RED is impressive if you don’t mind being lectured to by a complete twat for the whole working day. I know that doesn’t make any sense but it’s the best I’ve got.

Sad days – Film R.I.P.

Extract from the variety article on Birns and Sawyer below, full article here.

Birns & Sawyer stops renting film cameras
Legendary equipment house switches to all-digital line
By PETER CARANICAS
As reports have surfaced that motion picture film cameras are no longer being manufactured, a major Hollywood rental house said has stopped renting film cameras altogether and will auction off its entire 16mm and 35mm inventory on Oct. 19.
“People are not renting film cameras in sufficient numbers to justify retaining the assets,” said William Meurer, owner of Birns & Sawyer, Hollywood’s longest operating motion picture camera rental facility house. “Motion Pictures are no longer being captured on film in sufficient numbers to warrant keeping any film cameras.”

Birns & Sawyer’s inventory includes such digital cinematography cameras as the Arri Alexa, Red Mysterium X, Sony F3, Canon 5D and 7D DSLR, and Panasonic AF100 and P2 camcorders. The company has been a player in the field of motion picture film cameras since 1954. Life magazine still photographer Jack Birns founded the company along with fellow war veteran Cliff Sawyer. The company was instrumental in introducing the German-made Arriflex line of 16mm and 35mm cameras that offered more mobility than U.S.-made Mitchell cameras, which had become cumbersome and outdated. As Motion Picture production expanded, and filmmaking went into more and more practical locations, lighter-designed Arriflex cameras gained in popularity on films such as “Easy Rider,” “Bullit” and others – many of which rented production cameras and lenses from Birns & Sawyer.

“While cinematographers appreciate the superior recording of images with film, the difference has become so small that the economics of the industry have finally placed the last nail in the coffin of film origination,” said a Birns & Sawyer statement.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Okay I know allot of you who read this blog are secretly into ‘killer-stoner-sludge-doom-metal’ so this post is especially for you.

I recently directed, filmed and edited this music video for the awesome Zonderhoof.

Filming took about four hours on a very hot day in a practice room in Cwmbran. The vid almost didn’t happen when a fuse blew early on but we managed to find another outlet and powered 10 lights, a PA and a kettle through one 13 amp socket – not recommended. Many thanks to Mark Faiers for his great assist.

Zonderhoof (Max Von Beek – drums, Didier Baja – guitar, Otto Kraal – bass) are doing very well having recently signed to the highly respected ‘Undergroove’. The Zonderhoof website can be found here

So close all doors and windows, put granny and your pets in the sound-proofed bomb shelter…….turn it up loud!

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