See that oval shaped gray thing between this man’s hands?  It’s a film magazine for a 35mm motion picture camera.  And it’s something that’s quickly disappearing from commercial shoots.  Including this one: we are also running a Canon 5D.

As much as new technologies bring their unique thrills of discovery and innovation, the demise of well loved technologies sends advocates into depression and anger.  Tens of thousands of people have built very successful careers and lives off of film technology.  Whole industries have thrived for decades providing the cameras, lenses, and film stocks, and handling the transferring, coloring and printing.  But as digital continues making it’s inexorable advances and refinements, the advantages of hard drives over celluloid, the convenience of instant transfers and the flexibility of manipulation without degradation spell an inevitable end to this era.  Ask yourself–when was the last time you dropped off a roll of film at Wolf Photo?  Maybe you did this past year, but that was the exception not the rule.

Knowing the end is near for these wonderful Arri’s and Panavisions fills me with the same feeling I get when I see a classic musclecar.  They are so beautiful and represent such a time of open-windowed optimism, you have to love them.  And yet when you actually feel the jarring, kidney-bouncing ride with its crank windows, primitive shock absorbers and engine dampening, you realize even an entry level Kia boasts a more enjoyable ride–aesthetics notwithstanding.  And you’re glad you’ll be making your Summer road trip in a car from this millennium.

Film is fading.  Long live film.

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By Dennis Ryan, CCO, Element 79

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