Let me tell you a brief story. It begins with a little boy who started making movies in his parents’ musty basement when he was nine years old. He used a bulky Windows ’98 computer and a small camera to photograph LEGO figurines, as he manipulated their limbs frame by frame. When the images ran together, his toys sprung to life. It was profoundly enchanting for him. This was my introduction to cinema.
Now twenty-two, I’ve taken the next step in my artistry by exploring cinema’s metaphysical properties and renouncing the digital format of my past with an online Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign entitled, “Illinoisan filmmaker’s switch to 16 mm film”. The transition to Super 16 mm film requires a $7000 camera. One might ask, “Isn’t film an obsolete format?” A visit to Kodak’s ‘Shot on Film’ webpage proves otherwise. In fact, the digital format has made many attempts to replicate film’s aesthetic qualities such as its grain, color, and imperfections. Why? It is void of these essential qualities ascribed to cinema––such qualities embedded in its genetic code much like the vibrations from a single note of music.
The digital format has initiated the degeneration of the artist’s self-discipline and sense of ethical responsibility. We accumulate hours and hours of footage, only to use minutes of it when editing. We rehearse less and make far more mistakes. We believe any error is fixable in post-production. Film speeding through the camera is money being spent, and footage must be developed before reviewing. This process means more care and forethought are required during production. It demands that everyone involved on a production operate at their utmost potential.
I do not know how this story ends, but I do know that I am presently in the midst of a pivotal chapter and will need your help. Any donation to the campaign will be reciprocated with a profusion of my paintings and artwork, an album of music from my solo effort, Trees Are Angels (named after the short film), special thanks and executive producer credit, and an invitation to a film shoot on my first 16 mm project.
Contributions are not only helping me as a filmmaker, but will sustain the life of cinema and pave the way for film to exist in our future. Every artist should have the privilege to choose film. The day that choice is torn from us because of our own greed to capitalize on technology is the day cinema will die. www.indiegogo.com
