iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

(In all sincerity - as I hope is conveyed in the episode - our issue is not with people who can see that mainstream Hollywood cinema is in an uninspired place, but with a system that rewards reductive thinking from high-profile influencers.)

030

Boy do we ever go long on that one.

120

[Spoiler alert: I think the incentives that guide the people perpetuating this discourse are at least as relevant as the discourse itself.]

160

Movies these days are dim, flat, dull. You know it, we know it, everyone seems to know it. But is it true? To sort through the wreckage of this discourse, today's Film Formally gets back to basics with a @willaharlowross.bsky.social-and-Devan-hash-it-out special. In MULTIPLE ASPECT RATIOS!

Film Formally | Are Movies Getting Uglier?

YouTube video by Film Formally • How Would Lubitsch Do It

0112

Reposted by Devan Scott

A P *demon bursts out of my face* Clarke @apclarke.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I found these 4 lectures about cinematography, by @dagscott.bsky.social , to be wonderful, pragmatic, useful. He shows you in real time exactly what he means! It's great. So if you have interest in lighting in specific, or just cinema history in general, watch them! youtu.be/sKKQ0toDyYI?...

youtu.be

A Brief History of Lighting Motivation in Cinema, Part 4: The Digital Era [VIFF Film Studies]

YouTube video by Devan Scott

243

Devan Scott @dagscott.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Thanks so much! Glad folks are still finding them useful.

010

Devan Scott @dagscott.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

We're getting discourse-y on the podcast on Tuesday. Buckle up, and stuff! [Title pending.]

181

Devan Scott @dagscott.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

A trailer so scandalous, the bots at Bluesky don't want you to see it!

040

Devan Scott @dagscott.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Vancouver folks: I shot a feature-length motion picture! It's called A SAFE DISTANCE and is playing at VIFF on October 5th. Come say hi. viff.org/whats-on/vif...

1102

Devan Scott @dagscott.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Our latest episode of FILM FORMALLY drops right now! James Flower and James White from Arrow Video join us to discuss the world of film preservation and boutique home video labels, and in particular their recent release of Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy. cc @willaharlowross.bsky.social

Film Formally | Restoring the Dollars Trilogy with James White & James Flower of Arrow Video

YouTube video by Film Formally • How Would Lubitsch Do It

044

Devan Scott @dagscott.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Tomorrow, 9am PDT: a discussion with the good folks over at Arrow Video about their restoration of Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy! Mark yer calendars!

Film Formally | Restoring the Dollars Trilogy with James White & James Flower of Arrow Video

YouTube video by Film Formally • How Would Lubitsch Do It

093

Devan Scott @dagscott.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

It's not just the depth of field, too: the lenses clearly don't pull focus smoothly on a mechanical level and breathe a bunch too, which just compounds it.

130

Exactly! The idea that you can just throw Cineon on there and be done... even in the photochemical era, things were more interventionist.

010

(8 Weeks is also unusually long for a $1.5m film; I'd expect closer to 3-5 weeks. )

010

This is more reasonable, but $3500 per day is pretty steep for a $1.5m indie feature. Those are rates I'd expect for higher-budget shoots or some commercials: I'd be surprised to ever pay that for even a reasonably mid-range Alexa 35 package.

210

To put things into perspective, these figures are fully an order of magnitude more than just about any reasonable production would spend at that budget level.

020

This exchange exemplifies the nonsense that flies around most arguments about how celluloid is somehow cheaper than digital image capture. $200k on a digital camera package on a $1.5m film? $200k on color grading? My guy, that's just catastrophic mismanagement.

Tyler Shields argues that shooting on film is actually cheaper than digital… #movies #film #movie

YouTube video by Raiders Of The Lost Podcast

430

Reposted by Devan Scott

Spooky Mulder Bat Flip @mulderbatflip.net · 02/08/2026

Quite enjoyed this lecture series. Good historical nuggets and good formal analysis. The movies!

031

Devan Scott @dagscott.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

This phony Sony camcorder is endlessly funny, though.

160

Reposted by Devan Scott

Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Come find out how someone would even figure out all the new (and old) looks that the digital filmmaking revolution made possible!

031

Devan Scott @dagscott.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Up now on FILM FORMALLY: from the long-take trenches of RUSSIAN ARK to the boundary-pushing digital grading of ANTICHRIST and SECRET AGENT, colourist Dirk Meier has seen it all. We break down the evolution of look-development and how to build a visual language from scratch.

Film Formally | Digital Colour w/ Dirk Meier, Colourist of 'Secret Agent'

YouTube video by Film Formally • How Would Lubitsch Do It

083

Reposted by Devan Scott

Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Very exciting episode!! If you're interested in the formation of aesthetic trends and artistic solutions from the onset of the digital era to the present, this is a must listen: Dirk has been a key player with a front view of this stuff for a quarter century now.

051

Devan Scott @dagscott.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Mark yer calendars for our next Film Formally episode, coming out July 21st. We talk digital colour with Dirk Meier, colourist behind SECRET AGENT, ANTICHRIST, DREDD, HAPPY AS LAZARRO, and various Roy Andersson films with titles too long to recount here.

Film Formally | Digital Colour w/ Dirk Meier, Colourist of 'Secret Agent'

YouTube video by Film Formally • How Would Lubitsch Do It

090

Devan Scott @dagscott.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Does the shot on the right "punch" more? Sure, but It's a significantly less effective composition.

191

Devan Scott @dagscott.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Know what a carefully-calibrated contrast curve can do? Create depth by allowing a smart visual designer to subtly differentiate the luminance levels of various layers in a scene! All out the window when one cranks the knobs willy-nilly.

2132

Devan Scott @dagscott.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

I know that "the film look" [a caricature thereof] is the hammer of the moment to which everything else is a nail, but this is exemplary of why things like "more contrast!" and "more saturation!!" aren't an inherent good. It's clear Villeneuve/Fraser didn't compose around it.

3141

Reposted by Devan Scott

Kenny McMillan @kwmcmillan.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Y'all need to watch all 4 of these lectures.

071

Devan Scott @dagscott.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Surprise! An early extra-hot special emergency dispatch episode of FILM FORMALLY appears! I went halfway 'round the world to IL CINEMA RITROVATO, aka "That one festival that only plays old movies", and you can now vicariously experience my adventure in the form of this new episode!