Ah, Film! This 70mm Projection Time-Lapse of 'The Hateful Eight' is Just Lovely
Anyone who knows at least a little bit about Quentin Tarantino knows that he prefers to shoot on film.
For his latest film The Hateful Eight, the director resurrected Ultra Panavision 70mm, a format that hasn't been utilized since 1966 (for Khartoum), and decided to take his film on the road to give his audiences the experience of a "grand film exhibition." Cinematography Andrew Walker was lucky enough to be one of the projectionists at one of these 59 exclusive screenings and decided to make a gorgeous time-lapse of The Hateful Eight's projection process using his Nikon D810 and a Kessler Second Shooter TLS system. Prepare to be wooed.
I love film -- celluloid. Love it.
I was the kid in the movie theater, turned backward in her seat, fixated on that little projection room window while the projectionist threaded the first reel of film. I loved everything about film: the flicker, the sound from the shutter, the little imperfections in the celluloid. Even though the film department at my university was 100% digital, I signed up to catalogue and maintain the vast collection of 16mm nontheatrical films at the U of O, because I just had this need to nurture my local celluloid culture. In fact, I was pretty heartbroken when Eugene's art house cinema, The Bijou, went digital, because I knew I wouldn't be able to experience the weird, nostalgic magic of film projection locally again. (Okay, I'm being a little dramatic.)
This short, little time-lapse was not only beautifully shot and interesting to watch, but it helped reignite in me that love of celluloid and film projection. It's a delicate and intricate process. It's very human, magical, and special. It's a bit of an event -- even a spectacle. This is something Tarantino seems to understand. He said this referring to The Hateful Eight 70mm roadshow:
The thing about the roadshows is that it made movies special. It wasn’t just a movie playing at your local theater. They would do these big musical productions before the normal release of the film. You would get a big colorful program. It was a presentation. They would play a Broadway show overture version of the soundtrack. If you’re going to shoot your movie and release it in 70mm, it’s really the way to go: twenty-four frames a second flickering through a projector, creating the illusion of movement.
Who else misses watching film on film? (I'm not talking about you lucky bastards who get to watch film projections all day, err day.) Let us know in the comments!
Source: Andrew Walker
