Theatrical screenings are either projected in 35 mm film or in digital format.
Through the years, the cameras used in professional film productions improved as technological breakthroughs in filmmaking continued to occur. Yet, since the birth of film during the late 1890s, one common thing that remains unchanged in movie production is how live footage gets recorded using a camera. In contemporary times, Hollywood productions have two options when shooting movies: film or digital format.
35 mm Film Cameras
With the film projection standard in regular theaters still in 35 mm film format, along with the fact that the best acquisition format for live action still uses the film negative, many Hollywood productions prioritize using film cameras for their projects. In Hollywood, movies are popularly shot using Panavision cameras. There is also a significant portion of the market that uses Arri cameras.
Film stocks used may be in 8 mm, 16 mm, 35 mm, or 65 mm formats, but commercial productions typically use the 35 mm or 65 mm formats. Some independent filmmakers still opt to use the cheaper 16 mm format, while only a few still use the 8 mm format because most prefer using the more practical and convenient digital camera to shoot videos.
Digital Cinema Cameras
As a more practical way of filming, especially in middle- to low-budget Hollywood movies, digital cinema cameras like the Red One, Alexa, Viper and Arri D21 relieve productions from the burden of laboratory processing and the more expensive and one-time-use negatives in film cameras. Digital cinema cameras capture footage that can be readily transferred to computers for post-production work without the need for telecine transfer, a process used to digitize film-acquired footage for post-production.
Although not yet surpassing the film format in terms of overall quality, high-end digital cinema cameras are improving rapidly and have almost reached the quality of film cameras.
SLR Cameras
Those who want even more cost-effective ways to acquire movie footage consider less expensive cameras and low-maintenance cameras that shoot video in high-definition (HD) format. By the late 2000s, top camera manufacturer Canon pioneered the use of digital SLR cameras to shoot both photos and videos. This paved the way to a number of independent and even mainstream Hollywood productions exploring the use of SLR cameras for filmmaking work.
Aside from the more affordable advantage an SLR shoot offers, it also allows filmmakers to shoot more freely in public places without the presence of conspicuous film or digital cinema cameras. Filmmakers who participate in guerrilla shoots and those who find it more convenient to bring small cameras for shooting in challenging locations and shooting conditions find it beneficial to use SLR cameras for their productions.
3-D Cameras
The hype and demand for 3-D cinema led to many camera manufacturers releasing 3-D cameras and rigs to shoot films in stereoscopic 3-D. Simply, a 3-D camera imitates the function of a pair of human eyes. Instead of having only one lens to process the scene being shot, a 3-D production requires two identical cameras combined as one camera to simultaneously record the scene. There are other productions that also use 2-D cameras placed on a 3-D rig so that they can simultaneously capture the left and right parts of the scene, like a pair of eyes that see the footage in specific measurements from each other.
After the shoot, the stereoscopic images from 3-D cameras are processed for post-production use and released in theaters using special glasses meant for 3-D viewing.
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