Side by Side – a review by Amy
First of all, let me tell you that there is very little of Reeves in it (I can hear the sigh of relief from most Media Pros on that but his acting skills are not the wooing kind). Every now and then you will hear Reeves’ gravelly voice question the interviewee, which gives a nice familiarity to hang the film on, but actually, his face is usually covered in fur and he’s constantly hidden by a camera, so if you came for him – go home.
Now, to the meat and bones. This documentary is so current to media production now that it would be silly not to participate in ‘the great debate’. We’re at a point where film and digital are both being used on major productions, and the question here is which is better?
I was worried that the film would be full of technical jargon that I wouldn’t understand. Actually thinking of it now, there are a lot of technical processes to get your head around in such a short space of time, but thankfully the Producers talk you through the point of each process within film-making and why they are central to the argument. The documentary has taught me so much more about the effect of film vs digital far more than ‘is it cheaper?’ and ‘can I do this with a computer?’. Almost every role in film production is affected by the decision including changes to Actors’ behaviour and health, and Colourists’ role changing from a necessary tool to now a more creative position within film creation, and many others have been affected by the change.
As a media recruitment agent, this documentary has helped me to understand the opinions of many of our great storytellers of our time and how media production could potentially evolve in future. I urge you to take the advantage and see this film, and be enlightened like myself. Check out where here: https://www.axiomfilms.co.uk/