Post

One of the biggest differences today is the light gathering capability of modern digital sensors. They see everything (ok, they go a bit iffy in the highlights sometimes) which means deep shadow recovery isn't the problem it was with celluloid. You can add it in post. But they tend not to these days

I would only say that he muddies up digital tech and lighting. Lighting is an art. It applies to all formats. Digital is a technical parameter. And yes, digital may never look like film, but it can look pretty bloody close, with the right equipment.

I used to watch films and marvel at the location and the cinematography. Now I think everything is just fake, A.I. generated. I’m not impressed. I don’t feel transported to another place or world.

BecUse of digital they can actually film at night. They used to film in the bright sun and then pit a filter over it. It looked hokey. They couldn't film a night sky. They can do that now.

In Blowout, when Travolta goes to make a phone call at the gas station, it's raining and the raindrops on the glass are lit by a red neon light that resembles blood, creating a visually chilling effect. De Palma was all over stuff like this. 

Film and digital sensors are both mechanisms for recording light. I don't understand why any lighting would have to be (or would be by choice) any different when recording using a digital camera than when recording using a film camera.

They work and read light/colour differently. I really noticed it when I was still shooting still photography. I always got better, and more interesting pictures out of my 35mm camera than even the digital ones I use now

Furthermore, film (Kodak, Technicolor) often wasn't entirely accurate. But that often enhanced the movie, making it seem larger than life. Technicolor is not accurate, but it is beautiful.

You just said it. It's a choice. Case and point. Here is a shot from the werewolf movie The cursed. And A shot from Deadpool and wolverine. One says "Proudly shot on film" in the credits. The other digital. But they look like they could be the same scene.

Film is organic Digital is clinical It’s all about exposure, shadows and color temperature. My 2 favorites: Apocalypse Now Days of Heaven I would include My Fair Lady, but that would be rather self-serving… I’m the rather distinguished gentleman escorting Eliza.

Film stock is less sensitive than a digital camera. You need to throw a lot more light about. Film and digital capture colour in very different ways. While over exposed film desaturates smoothly to white, digital will skew colours and then clip, so a different lighting approach is required.

LOVE. This. Of De Palma's films, I think I'm most in awe of that bookkeeper apprehension scene on those steps in 1987's The Untouchables. This is absolute art, and therefore attains timelessness. It should be required viewing for anyone entertaining the idea of becoming a serious filmmaker.

There's like 14 millennials in hollywood who can bridge the gap but none of them can even get their scripts read because they forgot to be born to a celebrity.

I think that the nostalgia part is complicated because there was far more money for movie and TV at the time, studios could and took more risks, it's not unreasonable to think that movies were generally better, and not only because we were younger.

Yup - it’s all relative. When my parents took me & my sister to a rerelease of “Gone With the Wind” in the mid-80s, I didn’t like that movie at all, and not just because I couldn’t relate to its plot. It’s also because, aesthetically, it looked so garish and STAGED. I was used to the… (1/2)

What an incredibly valid point,there's no possible way that any movie has beauty, worth or validity unless it was made after 1987. The gold standard of all art is if you can personally relate to it.

I agree 100% Shooting on film is an art because there is no tweaking later. Yes they can reshoot it. The cinematographer, art director and director all must be in sync with what they are filming. How it looks. What they are trying to show to the audience. Digital is a poor substitute.

I hadn’t thought about it but he is so right. I think sound has also been made so much worse. We all have to have subtitles to understand what is being said.

The lightning is horrible (always dark) & it seems like the cameras are always way too closed in on the actors. It always feel like the camera needs to be zoomed out at least 2 feet when they are on an actor. I dont need to see the damn pores in face. Half time, whole face is barely in the frame

He’s not wrong. The human touch can’t be replaced by digital. I went to the louvre and was blown away by the greats. Amazing art that will never be duplicated by digital

Imagine watching Gone With the Wind in 2026 & your big takeaway is how well Vivian Leigh’s face is lit & how “kids today” make 💩 movies. “We were enjoying of one of the most remarkable examples of antebellum apologia ever put on film… just awestruck by the sheer beauty of it…” COOL STORY BRIAN.

Am I off base in thinking that they are using darkness as a "cheat"? Like, we have such high resolution and clarity available now, that tiny details can be easily seen. Dark lighting hides/obscures the lack of detail that would be very expensive and labor intensive to provide.

Yeah, laziness is likely a part of it... But I think more about "tight finances". It may just be prohibitively expensive to get all the little details "right" - even when using digital magic. Think of how much detail went into The Lord Of The Rings movies. Good thing they had the budget!

Another reason for this is that for the past 15-20 years the use of green screens (rather than shooting on scene or in real sets) has increased exponentially.

It's like the difference between physical painting with actual oils or acrylics that have to be mixed and tweaked; and digital painting using software that *approximates* hues and values. Art and filmmaking aren't about being more efficient, or cleaner. It's about using tools in a physical universe.