Reel Film Day

Reel Film Day is March 5th

Reel Film Day is a day to celebrate the movies that were shot on film. From the late 19th century when the first motion picture was shot on film, The Horse In Motion (1878), to the present day, movies have used film to capture moments of entertainment for years. Well, that is until movies started to be made digitally. In 2002, according to the Digital Cinema Initiatives website, Disney, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal, and Warner Bros. Studios came together to create the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI.) In short, DCI allowed for movies to be shot digitally “that ensures a uniform and high level of technical performance, reliability and quality control”. But on this day let’s look at the beginning of film, and celebrate the motion pictures that were shot on 35mm film.

History of the 35mm Film 

There are many people who contributed to the invention and production of the 35mm film for films to be shot on. First there is Thomas Edison, whose camera and projector invention were used to shoot films. Edison’s cameras and projectors had a width of 35mm. This means the cameras needed film the same width. Eastman Kodak Company's (Kodak) founder George Eastman created and produced the film rolls that would eventually be used for movies. To this day, Kodak still supplies the film used for movies. The 35mm film is the standard size movies are shot on.

Since the creation of DCI, movie directors have been moving away from film to create movies digitally. But according to one technical director from the Music Box Theatre in Chicago, movies shot and viewed on films should be preserved. Below is the youtube video of technical director, Julian Antos talking about why people should view a movie on film.   

Celebrating Reel Film Day!

There are many different ways to celebrate Reel Film Day. You could search to see if your local theatre is hosting an event for Reel Film Day. Sometimes theatres will play movies that were shot on film the entire day. Or you could sit down on your couch with a bucket of popcorn and snacks and have your own movie night watching movies that were shot on film.

Below is a list of some great movies that were shot on film:

• Wonder Woman (2017)
• Interstellar (2014)
• La La Land (2016)
• The Spectacular Now (2013)
• Cabaret (1972)
• The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
• Saving Private Ryan (1998)