Film is Knocking at The Door

Ezra Buzzington and Elina Madsen as John and Wilma Hopper

A few years back, I received a call from Chad Ferrin about a film he was making called Someone's Knocking at the Door. Chad asked me to be the Gaffer on the film (I had been the Gaffer on Chad's 2 previous films Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill! and The Ghouls ) More importantly (to this blog) Chad also asked me to shoot some stills for the picture. A scene in the file room required photos of patients to be attached to the files, and Chad wanted the photos to be of the rest of the cast. Beings as these photos were supposed to be from files dating back decades, we felt it was appropriate to shoot them in black and white, on film. I decided to shoot with my Bronica 6x4.5 and use Ilford HP-5 Plus Film. (The Actors in the above shot are Ezra Buzzington and Elina Madison. They play the villains in the film.)

Some of the cast of Someone's Knocking at the Door

I processed all the film myself using D-47 developer, and printed the shots in my darkroom on Ilford paper. (You can see the Ezra, and Elina prints in the trailer below). I believe that as long as I can get the film and chemicals, I will continue to shoot black & White film when the opportunities arise. There is something magical about setting your enlarger, exposing the paper, putting it in the developer bath and watching your image appear. I prefer the glow of the red darkroom light to the glow of my computer monitor any day... or maybe it's just the fumes from the developer getting to me.

Director Chad Ferrin takes a breather

Then there's the grain. Besides shooting the file photos, I was also able to shoot some behind the scenes photos during production. For this, I used a Canon 35mm, and Ilford 3200 speed film (I also had a Canon XTI dslr along for color shots). There is something special about the grain in 3200 speed film. It's like printing a picture on sandpaper. It gives film that gritty, organic look that sets it apart from digital. Face it, Digital noise is ugly, film grain is beautiful. The shot to the left was taken during the morgue scene. the make-up team is putting finishing touches on the back of actor Jordan Lawson, while Cinematographer Niklas Larsson looks on. Director Chad Ferrin rests on an apple box.

Lew Temple as Coroner Collins

This next shot was taken during rehearsals and features the coroner (played by Lew Temple) facing the camera and one of the detectives (played by David Z. Stamp) with his back to us, as well as the before mentioned Jordan Lawson on the table. Also shot on 3200 speed Ilford film the grain, and shadow value adds to this shot, giving a different vibe then is in the actual scene in the film (part of which can be seen in the trailer below).
Although digital imaging has risen up to take the place of film as the main source of image acquisition these days, I feel film will continue to be a viable option. It will always have a unique look, and will therefore always be used when that look is needed.
So I end this post with a digital shot. The fat man, like film, wandering off alone.

Det Fuller walking alone.

Check out the trailer for the film below, or pick-up a copy if you haven't seen it.