Twistersis set to be one of the biggest movies of the summer. However, in great news for proper cinephiles, the movie — set to be filledwith eye-popping visual effects— has actually been shot entirely on Kodak 35MM, a new featurette has revealed. In the sneak peek from the noted film manufacturer, directorLee Isaac Chungextolls the virtues of shooting on film, discussing how film makes the colors of the landscapes pop.
StarsGlen PowellandAnthony Ramosdiscuss the fact that the cast and crew up their game when they know it’s being shot on film, which is the true filmmaker’s medium. Ramos describes the “adrenaline” that comes with it, knowing that the film stock is limited so the actors know they need to nail their spots.Daisy Edgar-Jones, who joins Powell and Ramos in leading the movie, also describes her character’s love of shooting on film, and the actress even took her own Super 8 camera on a storm chasing escapade with real storm hunters while prepping for the movie.
Is It Important to Shoot on 35MM?
Many top-tier directors are staunch advocates for shooting on 35MM film.Quentin TarantinoandPaul Thomas Andersonare just two of the biggest directors in Hollywood who love shooting on film, withTarantino hosting months worth of sold out screenings of his most recent movie,Once Upon a Time in Hollywoodin 35MM at his theater, the New Beverly, in Hollywood.JJ Abramsis another who loves the look of film, and made the decision to shootStar Wars: The Force Awakensin the format, despite the futuristic nature of the franchise. Abrams told WSJ back in 2015 that he wanted the movie to feel real, rather than synthetic and that film “sets the standard”.
Movies like “Star Trek” and “Star Wars,” you have so much that will be created or extended digitally, and it’s a slippery slope where you can get lost in a world of synthetic. You really have to keep away from that, especially with “Star Wars,” which I wanted very much to feel like it is part of another era.
I would argue film sets the standard and once it’s no longer available, the ability to shoot the benchmark goes away. Suddenly you’re left with what is, in many cases, perfectly good but not necessarily the best, the warmest, the most rich and detailed images.”
Twistersblows its way into theatres on July 19. Check out the Kodak featurette above.
An update to the 1996 film ‘Twister’, which centered on a pair of storm chasers who risk their lives in an attempt to test an experimental weather alert system.
