Before watching the documentary, Side by Side, I didn't think much of using digital versus film. Of course, I'm not that young, I still remember the days of using cameras with film. It was a frustrating experience because I had no idea whether the picture you took came out or not. Then, I had to wait a few days for the film to be developed, just to find out that half of my shots didn't come out.
As illustrated in the documentary, filming with cameras that used film was just as frustrating. One roll of film can only shoot around 10 minutes of footage and would have to be changed constantly throughout the filming process. Then, it would have to be taken to develop overnight. However, what seemed the most frustrating was the editing process of cutting pieces of film and combining it to other pieces of film. In a sense, this process made filming at the magnitude of a professional filmmaker less accessible to the average Joe because it took certain skills and at times, it was very costly.
The digital camera presented a bunch of new possibilities for filmmakers, both professional and amateur. Digital cameras are 10 times more convenient to use. Of course, the biggest benefit of digital is that fact that you can preview shots at any given time. However, the use of digital also bring new possibilities in the filming and editing process. You can shoot hours of footage at a time and edit it through a software program. Also, adding effects tends to be easier when using digital.
It seems like digital easily wins the round about what medium is better, but in the beginning, most professional filmmakers and other members of the industry was hesitate about using digital. Part of the concern was that it took the artistry out of filming. There are subtle differences between film and digital. For example, there's a bit grittiness to film that you don't get with digital. Also, from personal experience, film tends to capture light in a different way than digital. Other than that, the differences are not so obvious.
The use of the digital camera made filming and photography more accessible to the average person and people really don't need to go to film or art school anymore to be a filmmaker or a photographer. Almost everyone now can shoot a film and edit it in iMovie or take a picture and edit it in Photoshop and get a decent quality product. Some take this as slap in the face and proof that the medium of digital is depleting the quality of filming and photography. But, others have accepted digital with open arms and has adapted to the change.
Here's the trailer to the documentary, Side by Side. It's a very interesting documentary and I recommend it for anyone interested in film. (A lot of well known people are in it too)
Also, here is a link to a interesting article I stumbled upon while doing this post for further reading. The article is about how digital vs. film affects still photography.
