35mm film
is considered the worldwide standard for film projection in theaters.
35mm film is the worldwide standard for film projection in movie theaters. As the basic film gauge most commonly used, it has remained relatively unchanged since its introduction in 1892. The film is literally cut into strips 35 millimeters (about 1 3/8 inches) wide. In the same way, the 70mm film measures 70 millimeters (2.8 inches).
Digital film shoots footages in either standard definition or high definition. High definition is more widely referred to as digital film, as it is commonly used for theatrical releases to achieve the highest possible quality and resolution, especially when projected on a big screen. Yet, even in 2010, high definition is still developing to reach the quality and resolution offered by 35mm and 70mm.
Shooting on Film
Shooting on film has more than 100 years of continued history for filmmakers and film audiences alike. Whether 16mm, 35mm, 65mm or 70mm, these film formats are the most reliable in obtaining the best picture quality for movies. This is comparable to the still picture shot with a camera using 35mm film. Even with the cheapest camera available, a good quality picture shot with it can be readily blown up to 10 inches or bigger from the original 3R (3x5 inches) size. For digital cameras, which work with pixels and digital storage instead of exposing an image onto film, the maximum print size of a photo is dependent on the image's resolution and file size.
The reason for the high quality of film compared to most digital formats is the medium itself and how it organically processes the exposed image. The developed image is printed on a positive film stock (similar to the negative of a picture shot in a nondigital still camera, only that it already has the correct colors of the image). And when the film is projected on the big screen, the quality does not suffer, because film is made of grains that are circular as compared to the digital format's pixels, which are made of squares. Pixilation shows up when the movie is projected on a big screen, once it reaches its maximum resolution limit.
Digital Advantages
The advantage of shooting digitally is that it makes the filmmaking work flow faster and more efficient. In modern film production, even those shot on film need to be digitally scanned during post-production (a similar concept to scanning a photo print and editing it using any photo-editing software). And bypassing the scanning part makes the editing process faster by simply dumping the digital files onto the post-production equipment ready for editing.
Another disadvantage of shooting on film is the medium doesn't allow the viewing of the exact image it provides while shooting since the film stock needs to be developed first through chemical processing. In digital shooting, a properly calibrated monitor allows the filmmakers to view the exact quality of the scene being shot.
Technical Comparison: Film Vs. Digital
When shooting on film, digitally scanning it for post-production provides a resolution approximated to be 4K pixels per line. This is when using a full scan resolution of 4096 pixels by 3072 lines when digitizing the analog film negative.
High definition (HD) refers to the video system of higher resolution than standard definition (SD) video. The HD format can also be referred to as "digital," while the SD format is more often attributed as "analog" (except for the analog film format that offers optimum image quality better than HD). The most commonly involved display resolutions for the digital format is 1280 --- 720 pixels (720p) or 1920 --- 1080 pixels (1080i/1080p). The "i" refers to interlaced while "p" refers to progressive. These two involve more technical descriptions that need in-depth technical explanation on how each one works.
35mm and 70mm Film
70mm film is a wide high-resolution film gauge with higher resolution compared to the standard 35mm motion picture format. As used in a camera during the shoot, the film is ideally 65mm (2.6 inches) in width; while in projection, the original 65mm film is printed to a 70mm (2.8 inches) film stock. The additional 5mm is meant for the magnetic strips holding four of the six tracks of the film's sound.
Although more recent 70mm prints can already use digital sound encoding, the majority of 70mm prints still predate this technology. And a number of film theaters are still unable to handle 70mm film because this entails a huge investment in theatrical equipment. Thus, 70mm films are better shown in 35mm print versions by utilizing the regular Cinemascope/Panavision aspect ratio of 2.35:1. This format provides wide-screen image that has a longer width than regular 35mm film, which has an aspect ratio of 16:9. Using the right anamorphic film equipment usually achieves the wide-screen format.
Digital Film
The digital format offers improved signal/noise ratios, which are considerable compared with the sensitivity of film. However, the challenge in digital filmmaking is achieving enough dynamic range (the ability to resolve extremes in dark and light areas in a scene to result in the specific exposure of the footage) as that when using the film format. In fact, even the best HD cameras today are still inferior to the dynamic range a regular 35mm film can offer.
The best part in shooting digitally is how it provides a significantly much cheaper option to filmmakers. A conservative budget for a digital feature film can go as low as $20,000, while a minimal budget for a 35mm feature film can be more than four times its digital counterpart. This is because each film stock, one can of 35mm film negative (around 3.5 minutes of footage) already costs around $270. The filmmaker also needs film prints. A can (worth around 18 to 20 minutes of footage) costs around $1,290. There are still other requirements, including intermediate films and laboratory expenses, among other things. Kodak's Motion Picture Catalog for March 2009 reports these cost figures.
On the other hand, shooting digitally requires just HD tapes (one tape is worth 30 to 60 minutes of footage) costing around $300 each. The post-production process can also take place in a home editing suite with decent hardware and software for a reasonable price.
Tags: 35mm film, film stock, digital format, minutes footage, picture shot