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Author Topic: 'End of film is nigh' piece on BBC Radio Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 05-29-2013 02:21 AM                        Today, this morning, 0739-45hrs. It was a complete nostalgia-fest: interviews with three projectionists, all of them at indie arthouse-type venues and talking about the craft skills involved and how the DCP had destroyed them. No mention of the extent to which bad film handling practices degraded the viewing experience (which, ironically, was the most serious problem in the art/rep circuit, in my experience), the cost of prints being an obstacle to low-budget filmmakers, or in fact any mention of the other side of the story whatsoever. One interesting tidbit was that the reporter claimed that by October this year, there would be no more cinemas in Britain running 35mm. I'm guessing what he actually meant was that significant chains would all have converted by then, and/or that this is when the last of the mainstream distributors is planning to cease the UK distribution of 35mm prints. I certainly know of several rep houses that have no plans to tear out their film projectors by October (the campus cinema I run being one of them!), even though they are now only used rarely. But I'd be interested to know where he got that date from.  |  IP: Logged John Wilson Film God Posts: 5438 From: Sydney, Australia. Registered: Dec 1999 posted 05-29-2013 08:41 PM                     Thanks Leo. I see the part in the timeline, but is there a way to hear the story? If the link is there, I can't find it.  |  IP: Logged Tim Asten Film Handler Posts: 98 From: Brighton, United Kingdom Registered: Nov 2006 posted 05-30-2013 06:15 AM                     You can hear it Here . Press play and scroll along to 1 hour 41 sec. Its only a few minutes long.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 05-30-2013 06:48 AM                        I recorded it offair (just managed to hit the button in time!) and have it as an MP3 file. The F-T upload facility won't accept anything other than image files, so I can't upload it to this site: but I've put it on mine - here (direct link to MP3 - edited and starts straight away).  |  IP: Logged Tim Asten Film Handler Posts: 98 From: Brighton, United Kingdom Registered: Nov 2006 posted 05-30-2013 08:35 AM                     The presenter corrects the statement at 2 hours 43 sec, from that no cinemas will show 35mm, to no NEW 35mm prints will be shown. I wonder which cinema will show the last print? I think the occasion should be newsworthy. Perhaps they could have a mock film print funeral, like they did at a cinema in the U.S.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 05-30-2013 09:32 AM                        Point taken, though he clearly got October from somewhere and meaning something - I'd be interested to know where and what. The NFT, a few City Screen sites, the Tyneside, the Cornerhouse, some university campuses etc. will continue to show archival film prints for a good few years yet, especially of more obscure titles that aren't likely to be transferred to a decent DCDM/DCP any time soon. I projected a BFI 16mm print here only last Wednesday (a French film that was not available in any other form with subtitles, hence we had to go with the 16mm - which actually looked better than I was expecting) and from talking to Bryony, Fleur and others there, get the impression that they have no plans to stop loaning their prints to venues that they're confident will look after them properly. But in terms of the mainstream, film has virtually gone. I guess I was probably being a bit harsh in the opening post above - to be in your 80s, like one of the interviewees, and see the profession you've dedicated your entire adult life to simply disappear within the space of half a decade must be very, very hard. I've probably become swept up a bit in re-watching all the arthouse classics that grabbed my imagination as a teenager on BDs and DCPs, and seeing details in the images that I simply didn't notice in the worn-out prints I projected and saw the first time round.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-30-2013 10:19 AM                        I wonder how long it will be until all of those archive prints are worn out? Obviously theaters that handle those take better care of film than your average neighborhood cinema, but inevitably they will wear and degrade.  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 05-31-2013 05:50 AM                     Leo, I just sent you a private message about this but go an error message which didn't seem to make sense. It's in my 'sent messages'; did you receive it. At least in the UK there seem to be few new films now which are available on 35 mm, so presumably the labs will cease production in the not too distant future. I would be interested in what people think about producing new prints of existing films while this is still possible, in order to keep them available on film for as long as possible. Would this be worth doing, or would the money be better spend on making good digital transfers of these films?  |  IP: Logged Gavin Lewarne Master Film Handler Posts: 278 From: Plymouth, UK Registered: Aug 2009 posted 06-02-2013 12:43 PM                     We wont be removing our (almost new) 35mm Vic5. We sometimes run BFI prints for linked-to-the-art-exhibition films, often of really old or obscure stuff chosen by the resident artist. For our day to day running however, as soon as all the distributors received our digital cinema info that was it they sent us, by default, nothing but DCPs for all our main run films. The last mainstream 35mm we played was life of pi which had been around a bit and was a real mess. I would have preferred a DCP of that just for the customer experience. Keeping 35mm is all well and good as long as quality prints are there. If we receive another bad print of an archive film we will probably try and find a bluray of it instead in future. For all their great intentions the BFI have some really crappy prints  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 06-02-2013 03:40 PM                        quote: Stephen Furley I would be interested in what people think about producing new prints of existing films while this is still possible, in order to keep them available on film for as long as possible. Would this be worth doing, or would the money be better spend on making good digital transfers of these films? Assuming we're talking about stuff that was originated on film, I'd say film for preservation and DCP for viewing now. A critical mass of cinemas have now converted and the cost of producing decent DCDMs/DCPs from preservation masters on film is plummeting: scanner and editing/rendering hardware packages that can handle 4K in real time for around the $200k mark, which will enable the realistic creation of a feature film DCP in a single day, will be on the market by this time next year, and for 2K they are already. Given that almost all new films and probably most restorations would be printed to film from a DI anyway, the only argument I can see for a 'last ditch' printing initiative would be to equip museums and cinematheques with a stock of prints with which to provide a long-term base for occasional screenings, to demonstrate what the film viewing experience was like. Most museums, archives and cinematheques already have major collections of existing prints. quote: Gavin Lewarne For all their great intentions the BFI have some really crappy prints And the crappiest ones are of the titles that aren't readily available on DCP and/or Bluray, and so they get the most intensive use and the result is a vicious circle.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 06-02-2013 05:34 PM                        They still treat this as "news"? One of the comments about that article on the theatre going digital was "....and it must be much cheaper." Which is an interesting point. Yes, if what they have been lauding about is true, that digital will save billions by no longer needing to manufacture film or produce prints for distribution plus the money saved not needing to ship some 80 odd pounds of film for every feature to every theatre in the world, then that does raise an interesting question -- will those billions that are claimed to be saved by digital be passed on to the movie-going consumer? Of course, that's a rhetorical question...we all know the answer.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-02-2013 09:13 PM                        quote: Frank Angel will those billions that are claimed to be saved by digital be passed on to the movie-going consumer? No, because the theaters' costs have gone UP, not down. The studios are the ones saving the money, but where is film rent going? It's going up. Of course this is partially due to some movies costing $250 million or more to make, too.  |  IP: Logged

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