The Good Soldier - Notes 17 - Film Processed & Transferred!

From The Good Soldier Production Photos

Let me see if I can put all of this into perspective. I had this idea. I wrote this story. I found some brilliant and motivated people to help. I shot this movie and learned a ton.

I just returned from Burbank, CA where I saw the developed film for the first time. I sat in on the transfer process where they take the film from its "film" version to a digitized copy; files on a hard drive.

I sat in amazement as I watched reel after reel of incredible black and white footage scroll by. I am so impressed what this collaborative effort of filmmaker, cast, and crew has brought us.

The entire staff at Yale Film & Video did an awesome job and I am so grateful that I selected them to develop and transfer the film. I especially must thank Keith, the owner of Yale Film & Video, who really went out of his way to welcome me. Everyone at Yale was very friendly and professional. I look forward to future projects with them.

Visiting with the Yale crew has only reinforced my belief that, regardless of the progression of the digital revolution, HD and RED cameras, there is a special place for FILM and what film can do and offer as an artistic expression of life and story. I would truly hate to see the film labs of the world go by the wayside because of digital. Keith and I had a discussion about this during lunch. Cameras and the medium they shoot are nothing more than tools, much like brushes and paint, and picking the right tool for the project is important. Sometimes that tool is digital. But sometimes that tool is film.

I am a bit bias I suppose, I have a deep-rooted and heart-felt tie to the medium of film, more so than digital. I feel more expression, more life, more realism in the medium. Not to mention more challenge. That's not to disqualify digital, I think it has its place and its uses, which is why I use it too, but one can never forget the history of film and the power of it.

From The Good Soldier Production Photos

I think people are sometimes scared of film. What if it doesn't turn out? What if it comes back blurry? Out of focus? Completely black? These are all legitimate fears - and ones that I encountered first-hand. My first test footage was shite. But part of making something look good has to do with a learning curve. Too many times I think people get a hold of a top-of-the-line digital camera and automatically think: I'm a filmmaker (or photographer) now.

I remember having this discussion/argument way back in high school when I worked in the film/video studies program and our high school "news" channel. Someone would say, "Let's go make a film about...," and I would correct them with, "You mean video." And though it got on my friends' nerves, the more I repeated it the more they realized, there IS a real difference. FILM IS NOT VIDEO. Film is a physical and chemical process. Video is a magnetic and digital (i.e. numbers) process. They are different and the end result is not the same.

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From The Good Soldier Production Photos

But, wow. I am incredibly off topic now.

What I really want to say is that the footage looks incredible! Sure, there were scenes that didn't turn out as well as I thought but I think I have enough to work with.

Burbank was a great experience and I am forever grateful that I was lucky enough to experience that part of the process.

Now, the editing begins! Stay tuned and stick with me. We're going to Sundance, baby!