Shooting a Marriage Film on Film
This is mostly just going to be a budgeting experiment for an idea I’ve had.
Why Shoot on Film?
Because it’s the best. Quite simply, there is not a single digital cinema camera out there, not even the new ARRI, that can match the subtle light capturing qualities of good film stock (16mm and bigger), in particular the way bright things look (highlight rolloff), as well as the way film captures colors. Many Hollywood films, especially the ones which are intentionally artistic and win a lot of Oscars, still shoot on 35mm or sometimes even 70mm film stock.
The best color scientists in the best companies, working as hard as possible for over 4 decades now, have been trying to replicate the way film looks, and they’re still only about 90% of the way there. You can tell the difference, with minimal attention. Film looks better, basically without even trying.
For Weddings?
Not sure honestly, it would be a lot of fun for me. Really up to you, however. You’d need to be spending upwards of 200K on your big day for this expense to be even remotely worth it.
Currently, round-tripping cinema-grade 16mm film stock costs about $500 for every 11 minutes (1000 ft). About $250 to get it, and $250 to develop it. That doesn’t include the price of renting the film camera, the camera operator, the sound recordist, or any of the other critical gear.
So a potential budget to shoot a wedding film on film stock might start to look like…
PRODUCTION
7000 - 150-ish minutes (5500 feet) of film - round-trip (assumes no losses)
2000 - 2-day film camera system rental
500 - 2-day lens kit rental
1500 - camera assistant & PA
2000 - overworked (digital) second shooter with own gear
600 - sound guy with own gear
200 - production insurance
POST-PRODUCTION
3000 - editing
2000 - color grade
500 - finishing
ADDITIONAL FEES
5000 - Producer Fee
500 - Other random stuff
About 25k total to start. It’s definitely a luxury item. And we’re not even bringing on a cinematographer yet. This could easily run up to 30-40k if you include a DoP who actually knows how to shoot film, backup cans in case your AC screws up the loading, and better pay for better planning.
So yeah, it’s a thought.