bak to film?

Film or digital what do you prefer to work on? We’ve recently had the pleasure of co-producing director, Joe Cornick’s elegy to the last days of the Port Talbot Steelworks, Steel The Blood of Us. Uniquely for a contemporary feature documentary we shot on 16 mm film before going to 35 mm for the print. This has only been possible through the support of Kodak and Panavison UK on a relatively low budget project such as this. But why is Joe and so many other directors now turning from digital back to film. At bak this is the second project we’ve co-produced on 16 mm in the space of a year and we seem to be carving out a space for ourselves in the field of ‘film’ production. There’s no simple reason to be using film, but is it indicative of the perceived ‘superiority’ of the film aesthetic that directors such as Nolan and Tarrantino continue to exclusively shoot on film? Shooting on film requires care, thought and planning. It’s an expensive medium and you won’t be able to shoot your way out of trouble by covering a scene from 360 degrees and shoveling the result at your editor to sort it out. 4k and 6k are becoming expensive in terms of backup drives, and storage and shooting a scene from every which way translates into increased time in post and the editor often having to deal with a surfeit of material, not all of it shot with due care and attention and time is money.

There’s also the pure romance of film, the touch, the feel, the smell, the excitement and anxiety of waiting to see rushes. The alchemy and magic of film against the hard drive of digital. Both have their place but it’s pleasant to be part of a small push back to celluloid. You can read more about the data and economics behind this in this article in The Pudding or hear our creative producer, Dave Evans, talk about the romance of film on our Insta feed.