The new possibilities of visual expression hidden in 16mm film The challenge of the movie “Toki” [CINEMORE ACADEMY Vol.17]

Just because it's digital doesn't mean it's cheap

Q: As a producer, what made you decide to shoot on film?

Imai (producer): Personally, I've always wanted to make a movie using 16mm film. However, when I talk to various directors, including those from overseas, I find that a surprisingly large number of them say they don't want to shoot on film. Young directors also want to shoot digitally. There are many directors who would like to shoot with film someday, but find it difficult to shoot on a low budget, and especially with 16mm, they don't want it to look too much like film.

At that time, Mr. Tsukada came to me with this project. I had heard that it would take 10 years to film, but at first I hadn't decided to shoot on film. Afterwards, I spoke with Mr. Tsukada and Mr. Haga and heard that they both wanted to shoot on film. Many people who want to shoot with film say they like the colors and tones, but this is the first time I've heard the reasons you both explained earlier. So I decided to shoot on 16mm film.

(c)Movie "TOKI-" Executive Committee

Q: Film shooting requires purchasing the film itself and developing it, so as a producer, aren't you also concerned about the budget?

Imai (producer): I don't think it would be cheaper if it were digital. For example, even if a movie that wins an award at a major film festival is shot digitally, it takes a lot of money and time to create the visual colors using art, or to make the colors look very artistic through color grading. There is. What's more, rather than trying to make it look like film, we are pursuing the best digital colors.

Therefore, there is no need to consider the digital option for budget reasons; if there is a reason why you want to shoot with film, I think you should shoot with film.

The good tension that film shooting brings