Robert Rodriguez - Film is Dead Part 2

[taoworm2323]

Rodriguez couldn't be more wrong.

HD Video has a VIDEO COLOR Palette

Film has a color palette that matches the human eye color curve response.

(Not to mention films superior dynamic range and skin tones.)

HD video and 35mm film stock is like night and fucking day. There is NO comparison.

Film forever bitches! : )

[timothy666]

Welp - I'm a student filmmaker and I'm shooting on 16mm. I don't give a fuck about the money or time - IT LOOKS BETTER.

[anessone]

@ChetR dude, the type of filming equipment you use doesnt make a good movie. what makes a good movie are the story characters setting the journey. not the camera of digital or film.

[rodcrippler]

First time ever seen Robert without his hat????

[Frontigenics]

Anyways, John Lassater (since your ill-informed) has directed the majority of Pixar films. Computer animation is new technology. So would you say that Pixar films are automatically devoid of life and art? Have you even tried your hand at 3D animation? It's in fact much more artistic, creative, flexible, and difficult that any other animation form that has ever come before it. People who use phrases like "they just do it on computers" are only afraid of their own ignorance and inability.

[Frontigenics]

@ChetR Anyone can use quotes, but not all quotes are equal. The one you used is dumb and from a shallow mind afraid of change. Gore Vidal is obviously just making statements like that out of jealousy and spite. He feels out of the loop and resorts to attacking those with a higher understanding of the current organization of the world (i.e. technology).

[Frontigenics]

@ChetR Ok Robert Rodriguez can make those statements because he's successful and proven himself. You're just an pretentious idiot on the internet that like to pretend you know what your talking about. It's obvious you're clueless. Also, "art challenges technology, and technology challenges art" is a quote from John Lasseter (The chief creative officer of Pixar). If you're an aspiring film-maker, i can guarantee right now that you will never make anything worthwhile.

[garrettmyreel]

Still my hero.

[rapist41]

IMAX IS THE FUTURE FOR THE BEST CINEMOTOGRAPHY IN THE WORLD

TERRENCE MALICK AND CHRIS NOLAN

[idedesign]

With him being the editor, I'm surprised he keeps the camera running forever. If you've ever tried to edit a HD film (even a short one) where the director always leaves the camera running it's a nightmare. Hundreds of hours of footage to wade through.

[TheWorksful]

Yeah I know. You bring all that talent, time, and money and the movie has a lousy story and stock humor and character archs. Robert does good work.

[IGetAround29]

Im not against Digital but at the same time I don't think we should let go of film. And for some reason I think that majority of people in the business look down on it.

[skydivingatnoon]

Love the story Rodriguez shares on why we should question tradition. Skip to 1:21.

[UnpunishedMovie]

For what it would cost to do 2-3 minutes on actual film, I shot, edited, and produced a feature length movie with dolby sound.  This includes trailer, stills, complex layering and compositing, out take clips, behind the scenes clips.

That's all I have to say.

I love this guys approach, because it works.

[philmore24p]

analog film is for people that's slow and old :)

[xTazerx]

This interview/speech is so old now. Now there's RED-Cam & in a decade film will be so dead and stinking. They'll make more cams that look like 35mm film, but it will be in HD digital all the way. On film it's a wrap!

[AugyAtarashii]

I do like Rober Rodriguez opinion to all of this developement, but hd is that as easy as he described. HD is very limited in terms of digital image processing and conding and even the type of sensor. What I mean is that if you what to be precise what you see on the monitor is not exactly the result product. That's why many DP's use exponometer even for digital... So this is still contaversial.

Anyway, for low budget digital is the way to go in terms of everything.

[tpsisokayiguess]

I'm a bit skeptical about this since vinyl really is better than digital sound. Just look at the loudness war. I'm not saying digital music is never going to exceed analogue, it just hasn't yet. Now, I don't know much about the technicalities of film, but I would say that this nostalgia may be more important a factor than RR imagines, especially in light of all of those crappy action movies that don't really say anything; if they represent HD, then I'd rather stick to the old ways. Peace.

[44eelz]

@tpsisokayiguess ... Exactly! with all due respect to RR, because he made Desperado he will always be on my top filmmakers list, but I completely agree. its a matter of personal taste i guess! :-)

[Westcroft]

It not fair to judge HD over the fact that there's been some crappy action films shot on Hd... what about crappy bands on vinyl? Does that mean vinyl isn't as good because of content?

[BXMammal]

@tpsisokayiguess The old way requires a multi million dollar budget. If you have access to that kind of cash, then stick to the old way. Hollywood way of making film is outtdated. That's where someone writes a script with no regard to budget then he desperately seeks financing. Digital fillmaking allows one to make a film on their own with their own resources without giving up creative control.

[rapist41]

DUDE, WHAT ABOUT 70MM IMAX this is the best camera in the world

[TrevorDeanM]

I like the look. It's so awesome.

[mainline6]

HD frees you up????? Look at the size of the fucking camera he's holding, it's bigger and heavier than any 35mm camera i've ever used!! Not to mention all the cables coming out of it to the monitors!! He talks out of his arse!!

If you want to make great looking images shoot film! full stop!

[KariKiljunen]

pretty sure he means frees you up in the sense that you're not worrying about all the stresses inherent to shooting on film, you get that instant gratification if a shot turns out well and you can focus more on making something new and exciting and really getting to stretch your creative muscles, i used to shoot 16mm and now i shoot hd, and its true, i have way more fun on hd because if i'm not stressed, my crew and my talent arent stressed

[KariKiljunen]

some projects are more suited for film i agree, like i still love that really grainy home movie aesthetic you get with 8mm and i love experimenting with cool film effects be it on 16 or 35, but i'd rather spend relatively very little money on a project and have a blast doing it, than spending a fortune and being stressed the whole time

[mainline6]

Sure, but iv'e been shooting film for fifteen years and have never felt this so called film stress. In my experience this is this least of my worries on a film shoot. Usually it's everything else involved in making a movie that causes stress! Instant gratification on a moniter can never beat the the viewing of a good film rushes screenings. Iv'e tried HD....never again. I volentarily take a slight pay cut to continue to shoot 35mm.

[OverlordJake]

Thanks for posting it, it's really cool.

[44eelz]

personally i look at how movies are made today, visually i dont like it, some HD looks good i guess like RR's films, but most of the stuff these days looks no more worthy than being a Disney channel TV movie. i mean FILM is what looks best to me, i dont want to see every detail of every shot with as much light as possible, i like the element of mystery as well,

i think 90s movies looked best. i just wish there

were more creative filmmakers like Robert

making HD stuff,

[kinaskatinaszalia]

i agree with you and shooting on film is more chalenging cause you have restrictions of sorts.

[mattsf2003]

I agree...something about HD "takes away" that mystique & intrigue of film.

Movies are suppose to take you to another dimension, instead HD keeps you in reality.

[JohnothanK]

@mattsf2003 matt, this mystique & intrigue you speak of is nostalgia. It's an incredibly powerful emotion. Coming for someone who works in the music industry, I see this nostalgic-vintage-established-­retrovertigo whatever you wanna call it daily. Vinyl re-releases? Magnetic tape? Wolfmother? It's nonsense.

The other dimension you speak of is your childhood. Which in it's own right is another dimension i guess...

[TheWorksful]

@mattsf2003 I don't think so. I think HD takes me into the movie.

[alistahr]

yeah but for young filmmakers, DV and HD is the way to go, cant really afford that much money on film

[AGentertainment]

I'm pretty sure if El Mariachi was shot on DV or HD, it wouldn't have mattered. It was all about the story he told. That's what really matters.

[sebasrobot55]

@alistahr right! untill yesterday i still shot with digital 480 p.

[alistahr]

@sebasrobot55 yeah i still shoot with my gl2 every once in a while but i recently got a t3i so ive been shooting with that

[ilovepanslabyrinth]

@alistahr

It allowed me, and it has for many others and will continue to, let them get an idea and they can film it straight away. I could wake up on Saturday mornings as a kid and make my stop-motions by pressing the red button on and off, and then watch it.

[MrPerdition]

I ain't saying film is dead but 35mm is becoming less & less of a factor in shooting Television & you have to have name recognition w/an audience of financiers to convince people to shoot 35mm 4A feature. By this time next year half of the kids trying to get a feature made will have a Scarlet 3K & I think its for the better. Nothing wrong with shooting digital to get your foot in the door. When you have financiers putting 5 million in your hand you can be more picky.

[HunterMann]

Let's see $5K to rent a Panavision camera with film & processing vs. buying a $5K digital camera? I'll rent the Panavision.

The greats of filmmaking have always rented Panavisions(you can't buy them anyway).

The runaway costs of filmmaking should not be blamed on film itself, blame it on the unions who want such a huge piece of the pie. Video is not film... film is true cinematography... video is just... video.

Why is this guy so proud of not using a light meter? That's not a quality.

[ILoveFilm247]

Maybe you should listen to his ham story again.

And BTW you can get a digital camera for cheaper than 5k

Crank 2 is shot entirely with consumer level dv cameras.

The other benefit to digital, is it will continue to get cheaper, while getting better and better quality. Whereas, when shooting in film, it will just stay the same price, and the quality is pretty much going to stay where it is.

[kinaskatinaszalia]

and great cause film is much better imo.

[poolboyinla]

and Crank 2 looked great.

[officernarc]

it's not just the cost of the film stock, it's the fact that shooting on digital video is much more efficient than film. it allows shorter shooting schedules which mean less wages that need to be paid to surly teamsters.

[Kalle72]

Also, digital tapes and drives take up less physical space and is easier to transport and store. Another obvious advantage is, that it is easy to back-up, because it is digital. Also, you can show dailies to several people around the world the same day by using an Internet connection.

[ooganblat]

Face it.... Film is slowly but surely dieing off. It wasn't bad for its time but now it is. Like R.R. says, " It's for nostalgic purposes only." When it's being compared to HDV / SDV, there's no argument in efficiency or practicality. HDV / SDV is becoming the "film" camera of its time.

BTW!!!! What's your opinions on the JVC-110??? I've operated those since they were produced...

[MidwestMex]

thanks for posting. RR da man.. anyone going to Dallas AFI?

[shailladotcom]

Thanks for uploading!!!

RR is always so inspiring!!!

xoxo

[HunterMann]

I don't shoot film for nostalgia, it's simply superior to digital video. Rather disappointing to hear Robert also kinda put down vinyl records over digital CD,etc. Robert, perhaps you should chat with Neil Young and Eddie Vedder who both still record in analog sound. Give me a 35mm Panavision, or Arriflex anyday over video. viva filme reale!

[cforcalvin]

Yeah and we should also continue driving gas guzzling SUV's because they're more powerful than Prius's right? I feel it's incredibly ignorant of you to refuse change- the only way humanity can progress is if we open our minds to new things we create.

Film is not 'superior' because digital quality's growth rate is extremely fast. Instead of saying let's hope that digital can one day be superior to film so we can stop trashing our environment and stop paying so much to tell stories? Ignorant.

[mard420]

OK OK, i like HD and it takes you beyond the limits of film. But i like celluloid and i like my vinyl. its just fine wine, you can't use them all the time

[WallyWadeMovies]

I guess there is nothing wrong with shooting with film. But i do like it that he pointed out that movies are getting out of control with their budgets. Robert just sees things in a practical way. There are alot of movies out there that are shot in digital and most people don't realize it. If its easy and does not compromise your creative side, then go for it. If you feel that film does that for you then shoot on film. But for me, who doesn't have alot of money, using digital its just easier.

[CHIHUAHUAconda]

thanks for uploading.

[drich90212]

I agree I'm new to film making- I've tried film once, and its just too much hassle. There's like a formality to the process I felt like I should have been wearing a dinner jacket.

Photography has gone Digital and thats the way film has to, and is going.

[jonhartwig]

I agree. I feel like film is on its way out the door. Eventually it'll be so obscure that Kodak and other companies won't be able to keep their processing plants open and film will be out, or at least even more expensive.

[WallyWadeMovies]

I remember when they were shooting the Superman returns movie, the cinematographer and the director were trying to figure out if they want to use the new HD cameras or still go with film. Ultimately they went with film. Its a shitty movie, but it looks great. I figure if HD meets that standard then it should be logical to shoot in digital.

[fishcreature]

Superman Returns was not shot on film. It was shot on Genesis, which is a digital format.

[shroomsrgood]

david fincher shot "Zodiac" in HD digital... he loved it...i wonder if kubrick was alive, would he have given HD a try...

[illapu05]

of course, kubrick was going to do AI before his death in HD

[Jackinthehizzle]

Awesome. Thanks for posting.

[davidcovo]

cool

[proflonghair07]

good stuff