---
title: 'How Movies Are Shot On Film In The Digital Era'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=5DFKLVuxmS4'
video_id: '5DFKLVuxmS4'
date: 2026-06-30
duration_sec: 716
---

# How Movies Are Shot On Film In The Digital Era

> Source: [How Movies Are Shot On Film In The Digital Era](https://youtube.com/watch?v=5DFKLVuxmS4)

## Summary

This video explores why motion picture film persists in the digital era, covering both the aesthetic and practical reasons filmmakers choose it. It then provides a detailed breakdown of the entire film shooting workflow, from pre-production stock selection to post-production scanning and finishing.

### Key Points

- **Why film is still used** [1:00] — Film offers a unique look (highlights, sharpness) that digital cannot fully replicate, and a more disciplined on-set atmosphere due to the cost and scarcity of film.
- **Selecting film stock** [3:03] — Cinematographers choose stock based on ASA, colour balance (daylight/tungsten), and look (grain/texture). Kodak is the only remaining manufacturer.
- **Loading and shooting on set** [6:22] — Film is loaded into magazines in a light-free tent, labelled with red (tungsten) or blue (daylight) tape. The gate is checked after each shot to ensure cleanliness.
- **Post-production workflow** [8:56] — Exposed film is developed chemically, then scanned (e.g., Scanity HDR) into DPX files at 2K/4K. These are edited, graded, and output as a DCP for digital projection or a film print.

## Transcript

This video is sponsored by Sonata. The best royalty-free music for your videos. Although there was a time when many thought
that shooting on motion picture film stock would quickly die out after the launch of
high quality digital cinema cameras like the Arri Alexa in 2010, film still persists. In fact in recent years it's seen a bit of
a resurgence. In this video I thought I’d do a bit of
a deep dive into the topic.
So sit tight while I go over why some productions
still choose to shoot on film over using digital cameras and outline the whole process of how
film is shot, from pre-production and production all the way to it’s post production workflow. Before going over how film is shot I think
it’s important to understand why it’s shot. On the surface digital has many apparent advantages. It’s often cheaper. It’s possible to roll for much longer. There’s less room for exposure or development
errors.
You can view the rushes immediately. The list goes on. When it comes to listing the pros for shooting
on film it usually comes down to two factors: the look and the way of working. My favourite cinematographer, Sayombhu Mukdeeprom,
sums it simply: “It’s a better practical experience and aesthetic choice.” Nowadays it is possible to recreate most of
the colour and texture of film with digital footage in the colour grade, so that it’s
perhaps a 95% match or whatever number you want to use.
However, I’m still yet to see the highlights
and natural sharpness in a digital image effectively manipulated in a way that is 100% indistinguishable
from film, particularly 16mm. And if you have the budget to shoot on film,
and that’s the look that you are after, why shoot digitally then spend a load of effort
in post trying to achieve a look and texture that is achieved out of the box with film. Having spent time on both film and, of course,
digital sets, I can attest that there is a
marked difference in the vibe on these sets. Because you’re shooting on an expensive
and limited commodity. When the film starts rolling through the camera
everyone on set is far more focused. Also the build up to shooting on film is more
focused. Shots are carefully planned, movements and
performances rehearsed and only a limited amount of takes are shot. This contrasts with the so-called ‘spray
and pray’ method that sometimes happens when shooting digitally.
So for filmmakers that value both the aesthetic
and more disciplined on set manner of working that film provides - shooting in 16mm or 35mm
remains a viable choice. Now that you’ve done the maths on the viability
of the costs of motion picture film and chosen it as your working medium, how is it practically
shot? It all starts in pre-production. Before arriving on set the director of photography
will either conduct camera tests with various
film stocks, or use their prior shooting experience
to select a stock or a few stocks that are correct for the project. Today this means choosing between Kodak’s
range - who are the only remaining manufacturer of motion picture film stock in the world. The cinematographer will base this decision
on 3 factors, the ASA, or sensitivity of the stock, the colour balance, daylight or tungsten,
and the look. They’ll look at how the stock captures colour,
each is subtly different, and the amount of
grain and texture that they have. Stocks with a lower ASA, like 50D will have
very fine grain, while higher ASA stocks, like 500T, will have more noticeable texture. Daylight stocks, rated around 5500K, have
colour that is balanced to look normal in daylight. Tungsten stocks, around 3200K, have colour
that is balanced to look normal under artificial tungsten light. It is possible to shoot tungsten stocks in
daylight and either add a warm 85 filter to
correct the colour temperature, or shoot without
a filter and correct the colour balance in the grade in post production. Some cinematographers may choose multiple
stocks, for example 250D for exteriors and 500T for interiors and night scenes, while
others may choose to photograph an entire project with a single stock. It’s on them to estimate how many rolls
of film stock will be needed, which the production team will then go about sourcing.
Short form projects like commercials will
usually order all the film upfront, while longer feature projects will often keep ordering
new film as they go. Often you can return excess film stock back
to the supplier as long as it hasn’t been opened and loaded into a magazine. However it’s still best practice to acquire
the amount of film as accurately as possible. You don’t want to order too much stock and
lose money because it can’t be returned
but you also never want to run out of stock
or be unable to shoot. It’s the job of the camera team to determine
how much stock needs to be ordered and pass that information on to production, who will
order it. Before we move on to how film is practically
shot and how it is dealt with in post-production let’s take a second to acknowledge another
important part of post-production which can form the backbone of a film: music.
Selecting the right track is incredibly important
as it can affect the entire tone of the film! One way to get your music selection right
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With film stock in hand, or in the back of
the camera truck, it’s now time to load it and start shooting. This is either done by a dedicated camera
loader, especially when dealing with multiple cameras, or done by the 2nd assistant camera. Since film captures an image by being exposed
to light for a fraction of a second, it's of the utmost importance that the raw stock
is never exposed to any light. If a film can pops open for even a second
outside the film will no longer be usable.
That’s a good chunk of money down the drain. The 2nd uses a light free film changing tent
and loads the stock from the film can into the camera magazine completely in the dark. Once in the magazine and completely sealed
the assistant then labels the magazine using tape. Red tape for tungsten film or blue tape for
daylight film. With a sharpie they’ll write down information
like the roll number, what stock it is, the
code that identifies the stock, how many feet
of film is usable and any necessary developing instructions. The 2nd hands the mag to the focus puller
who laces it onto the camera where it is ready to shoot. Before rolling DPs metre how much light there
is with a light metre and set their exposure. Nowadays they often carry their own digital
stills camera and double check their exposure with it. For example, if shooting 500 ASA film with
a 180 degree shutter they set the digital
camera ISO to 500, the shutter to 1/50 and
manipulate their aperture until they find an exposure they are happy with. The aperture of the film camera is then set
and any necessary ND filters added or subtracted to cut down or increase the amount of light
that enters the camera. After each scene or shot is completed the
assistant director will announce ‘check the gate’. The focus puller does this by taking off the
lens and examining the film gate to ensure it is clean.
Any dirt of hairs on the gate means the shot
will be ruined. If the gate is clean the 1st AC announces
‘good gate’ and the production moves on to the next shot. It’s the job of the 2nd AC to consistently
check the film counter to know when the magazine will run out. Once all the film in a mag has been shot it
is removed and carefully unloaded in the tent by the 2nd. They put it back in its can, seal it securely
with tape and place the tape label from the magazine onto the can.
At the end of the day they will make a camera
report, stating all the rolls that were shot with all the necessary information. From the 3 copies of the report 1 copy goes
with the raw footage to the film lab to be processed, 1 goes to the production team for
their records and 1 backup copy is kept by the 2nd. Once the film arrives at a lab, such as Cinelab
in the UK or Fotokem in the US, the first thing that needs to happen is to develop it. The film is passed through a combination of
chemicals.
This sets the image on the film as a negative. Once developed, the film can now be handled
in light without concern. In order to edit the footage it needs to be
converted to a digital format so that it can be worked with in the same way as files from
a digital camera. To do this the film is either scanned or goes
through a telecine. For a telecine, as the film passes through
a machine it is captured and recorded as a video file in real time - usually in HD.
A scan is slower, more expensive and records
much higher fidelity video files. The most common modern industry scanner is
the Scanity HDR. Each roll of film is put onto the spools of
the scanner and motors run the film past a gate. At the gate each individual frame of film
which was shot is scanned at either 2K or 4K resolution and saved as a digital DPX file. It is capable of scanning up to 15 individual
frames every second.
These DPX files are uncompressed and lossless
with very high dynamic range. This means they are similar to RAW files that
are captured by some high end cinema cameras like ArriRaw or Redcode Raw and retain a huge
amount of colour information. Due to the high quality of the files they
are fairly large. About 24 minutes of footage can be stored
on 1 terabyte. These files are then worked with in a digital
post production workflow similar to how digital RAW files would be worked with.
Once edited, those lossless files will be
graded by a colourist, who will find the desired levels of saturation and contrast and correct
any colour balances that are off. Finally, the finished, graded footage along
with the final sound mix will be converted into a DCP, a digital cinema package, basically
a hard drive, which is used to digitally project the final film in cinemas. Occasionally a film-out is done where the
final DPX files are converted back to a film
print, which is projected in cinemas the old
school way - with light. Thanks everyone for watching and a special
thanks to all Patrons who continue to support the channel and keep it going. Hopefully this workflow breakdown was useful
or interesting. Otherwise until next time, thanks for watching
and goodbye.