My Experience with the Bolex Long Take

Working with a Bolex presented a challenge for me. In the past, I have always created my cinema digitally via. DSLR. However, with the Bolex, I only got one chance to produce a film. It is very interesting how complacent I have become with the record button because in my view, pressing the record button is completely free and harmless aside from the task of sorting through footage whilst editing. With film it is a whole different story. Film costs money and for this assignment, I only had one full wind of the Bolex to create a story of sorts. The planning for this was a lot more in depth than previous pursuits because this one take had to be exactly how we wanted it; no do-overs. It was also challenging because I had to figure out the light with the desired exposure in mind as well as account for shade and such. I had never worked with a light meter either so this was uncharted territory for me. Overall, though, it was really fun. It felt extremely authentic to me and made it seem like I had stepped back in time to that era. My team used a wheelchair as a "dolly" which sparked some laughs. This assignment has definitely inspired me to consider the aspects of film when shooting digital and now I want a film camera!

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