UNQUESTIONABLY, Kodak 35mm stock still rules as the premier format of choice on prestigious motion pictures. The list of 2004 Academy Award-nominated films shot on Kodak includes Cold Mountain, House of Sand and Fog, The Last Samurai and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Recent Canadian productions originated on Kodak include the Lyla Films comedy Camping Sauvage and Being Julia, coproduced by Serendipity Point Films.

Meanwhile, Fuji continues to try to challenge Kodak’s supremacy, and has been used on several recent noteworthy indie films, including The Cooler, Girl with a Pearl Earring (which shot some Kodak as well) and, on the home front, Rhombus Media’s Childstar.

In the digital video realm, Sony’s CineAlta provides an alternative to photochemical imaging that major players are taking increasingly seriously. Aside from being called upon for the Oscar-winning doc Bowling for Columbine, CineAlta got the nod on Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over and Once Upon a Time in Mexico as well as Robert Altman’s The Company. Meanwhile, George Lucas is lensing Star Wars Episode III on Sony’s newly developed HDC-F950 4:4:4 camera and HDCAM-SR recording format.

At the same time, Panasonic’s competitive HD offering, the AJ-HDC27 VariCam, continues to make inroads in film and TV production. Aside from being chosen for several indie films, including Sundance award winner Dopamine, to be released this March through Mongrel Media, the VariCam was also announced several weeks ago as the camera brand for The Casino, the next reality TV series from Mark Burnett Productions (Survivor, The Apprentice).

The accompanying chart indicates the stocks and digital systems employed on selected film and TV productions.

Kodak Stocks
Movies
Being Julia
Brain Power (IMAX)
Calendar Girls
Camping Sauvage
Cold Mountain†
House of Sand and Fog
The Last Samurai
The Lord of the Rings:
The Return of the King
Peter Pan
TV Series
Cold Case
24
†Oscar nomination for
cinematography
Fujifilm Stocks
Movies
The Cooler
Childstar
Dirty Pretty Things
Girl with a Pearl Earring*†
(*partial – shot Kodak
as well)
TV Miniseries
Kingdom Hospital
†Oscar nomination for cinematography
Sony HDCAM
Movies
Bowling for Columbine
The Company
Ghosts of the Abyss
(IMAX and 35mm 3D)
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
Star Wars Episode III
TV Series
The Clinic (pilot)
Doc
Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye
Panasonic
(VariCam HD unless
otherwise noted)
Movies
Conversations
(AJ-SDX900 DVCPRO)
Dopamine
The Inner Circle
Where Have You Gone, Juan Jose?
TV Series
Arrested Development
The Casino
The Everest Story (AG-DVX100 DV as well)
This Week in Baseball (Fox)