Shot on Film · the process
Shooting on film, from the decision to the negative.
Ten pages, in the order the work actually happens. Written for people who already work in the industry and have never worked on celluloid, which is now most of the industry.
The thing to hold on to: a thousand feet of 35mm runs about eleven minutes. A magazine is a clock. Almost every difference between film and digital comes out of that one fact.
The spine
Ten pages, in order.
1 · Is film the right call
What film gives you, what it takes, and the productions where the answer is no.
2 · Development
What has to be decided before anyone can cost it, and why the script gets read differently.
3 · Budget and schedule
The lines that only exist on a film shoot, and the ratio conversation. The producer’s page.
4 · Technical prep
Camera, lens, stock and lab tests — and the part people skip, which is watching them.
6 · The magazine and the load
The loader, the darkroom, the reports, the cans. The highest-risk job on the unit.
7 · On the day
Run-outs, mag changes, gate checks, and what “cut” means when the film is still running.
9 · Scan and conform
Keykode, the scan, and what editorial inherits that digital never asked of it.
By department
What shooting on film means for your department.
Most people caught out by film are not in the camera department. One short page each, for the people who get handed the consequences.
Producer
The shooting ratio, the lab relationship, who is loading, and what "negative" means on the insurance policy.
Costume
Film renders colour and fabric differently from any monitor, and you cannot check a garment on a screen.
VFX
Grain, registration and weave, the camera metadata you will not get, and scan spec for plates.
