The Digital Bits; "Grain is supposed to be there!"

[welwynnick]

Yes, but would Da Vinci have been using paints and brushes if he had had a camera instead?

Would Hitchcock have used film if he could have used video instead?

The answer may be yes in both cases, but the question is entirely rhetorical. We have gotten used to seeing grain on films in the cinema because we don't know any different. Film is used because it's what we've got. Imagine if movie-makers had been using video cameras for all those decades, then some smart kid came along with this thing called film, and tried to persuade the industry to use that instead. What would everyone have said?

"Whoa - what's all that speckly-stuff, where did that come from?"
"Hey Alfred, what was wrong with your camera?
"Where did that fog come from in those shaddows?"
"Are you SURE it looked like that during the take - go and do it again!"
"Why is the motion all blurred and jumpy, my eyes are going funny trying to watch."

There's nothing divine about film, or 24 fps for that matter, and I wish people could have the opportunity to simply discuss it without being accused of trechary or sacrilege.

Essentially, I think it's about what we want our home theaters to do. Should they simply try to recreate a cinema?

Nick