Digital Filmmaking by Mike Figgis

Mike Figgis recently released a short book called Digital Filmmaking which I just read, it's quite excellent. I haven't done a lot of digital filmmaking myself, although my last film was shot digitally (supervising the final edits now). I wish I had read this book two years ago when I shot the film. Figgis is a real artist amongst beasts. But it's a real no-bullshit book too, no touchy-feely artist stuff, just "here's some good advice about digital filmmaking" — no-nonsense advice and a general overview of why digital video is worth using, how it differs from film, etc. Figgis is best known for the feature film Leaving Las Vegas, for which he received two Academy Award nominations, but in recent years he's become a digital convert, since he quickly grew sick of Hollywood. the great advantage of video, as Figgis points out, is that it allows you to do things professionally yet cheaply. the fact of filmmaking is that the less money you need, the less you need to raise, and maybe you can even bankroll the film yourself. The advantages of paying for your film out-of-pocket are manifold, but Figgis points out the main one, control:

There are many ways to finance a film. The conventional way is to raise a lot of money, shoot on some form of film, probably 35mm, and with the kind of equipment that requires shooting over a period of five or six weeks. The minute you have committed yourself to spending that much money on the equipment and format of the film, you are dealing with people who are giving a disproportionate amount of money to what, at this point, is an abstract idea — a script. You've crossed into a territory where you are inviting them to comment on the script, because it's their money. Therefore they feel they have a right to control elements of the film and that their taste should influence the story. Which is a disaster, because it's never been proved that the fact that you have money means that you have taste, or any concept of the way film works. (47)

I'm not about to become a digital convert, but this book is a great buy for anybody who ever intends to shoot anything digitally. It's only 158 pages and is very readable, intelligent yet down-to-earth, and affordable (I paid about $16). I disagree that you can't shoot film for cheap. Rodriguez and Carruths have both proven this, with 16mm features in-the-can for $7000 US. And the great disadvantage of digital film is that (for bizarre, complex, and utterly incomprehensible reasons) you need to convert your video to film anyway, which is expensive, if you want to get a distributor. Plus, you can use experimental processing techniques (such as hand-processing) or cheap film stocks like Super 8mm. However, it's still cheaper to shoot video. Figgis points out the pitfalls that people bring, attitude-wise, to video (I'm sad to realize, now, that I'm guilty of a few). Anyway, definitely worth your time and money if you're at all planning to film something, ever.

Digital video, like it or not, is the future. I just saw my first film projected on a HD projector and it was amazing quality, I was stunned. The technology, in many respects, is already there — but, as Figgis points out, the industry is (typically) lagging behind by miles.