SIDE BY SIDE.

REVIEWS:

Le Monde
14/06/2014, par Thomas Sotinel

VARIETY
Feb. 15, 2012, by Leslie Felperin

Likely to prove utterly irresistible to geeks of all descriptions, but especially fest programmers, upscale broadcasters and anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of filmmaking, "Side by Side" examines the impact of digital technology on film. Asking canny questions oncamera while also acting as one of pic's producers, Keanu Reeves canvasses opinions from a truly impressive array of talents, including not just helmers like Martin Scorsese, David Fincher and Christopher Nolan, but also some of the industry's finest lensers and below-the-liners. Ironically, the tech package could look a little classier itself, but with material this intrinsically fascinating, who cares?

Opening montage of talking heads sounding off on the merits of old-fashioned photochemical film versus the newfangled means of production gets things off to a rousing start, with plenty of robust opinions, ranging from Steven Soderbergh rhapsodizing about the liberation of digital to one d.p. lamenting that switching to digital is like trading in oil paints for a box of crayons. A brief history of photochemical filmmaking whizzes by in a flurry of fair-use-sanctioned clips and somewhat primitive but helpfully explanatory animation, as several artists -- and not just ones from older generations -- exalt the glory of silver halide, grain and fingers sliced on Steenbecks.

Thereafter, writer-helmer Chris Kenneally (who made docu "Crazy Legs Conti: Zen and the Art of Competitive Eating") and Reeves methodically work through how digital technologies have been introduced in several fields of endeavor, not just lensing but also editing, color correction, visual effects and projection. Pic even explores the contentious issue of how digital film is to be archived, given the speed with which formats reach obsolescence; Fincher, one of the pic's most engaging, articulate and foul-mouthed contributors, explains how he has master copies of early films that he can't even watch anymore because he has nothing to screen them through.

Although laid out with such clarity that any layperson could catch the gist of what's being discussed, "Side by Side" is not afraid to get nitty-gritty about more technical matters, such as why the invention of Bell Labs' CCD chip was so game-changing, how stereoscopy works or why a Red camera or a Sony F950 is so much better than a standard-definition rig (answer: It's all in the pixels). Yet plenty of airtime is also given to those who prefer the aesthetic of photochemical stock, which, as helpful clips illustrate, still has a much wider dynamic range than digital.

For other, less nerdy-minded auds, simply hearing great masters of the craft talk about their work with passion, specificity and acumen will be enough of a treat. Pic generously apportions roughly equal amounts of screen time to big names and lesser-known craftspeople such as ace editor Anne V. Coates, vfx legend Dennis Muren and top colorist Tim Stipan, who speak just as eloquently about the work as their more famous colleagues. Nevertheless, Joel Schumacher delivers possibly the pic's funniest line when he sighs that the problem with instant playback via digital is that actors get obsessed not with their performances but with what their hair looks like.

Ultimately, the docu doesn't argue that one format is necessarily better than the other, but it does make clear that we're living through a key moment in film history. Interviewees differ in their estimates of how long photochemical filmmaking will last, but nearly everyone agrees the balance of power is shifting ineluctably toward digital, simply because it's cheaper. Fittingly, venerable lenser Michael Ballhaus ("The Marriage of Maria Braun," "GoodFellas,") gets the last word: "If you do something with your heart… it doesn't matter what you're using."

The Hollywood Reporter
Feb. 16, 2012, by Jordan Mintzner

Keanu Reeves co-produces a documentary on the rapidly evolving film industry.

It’s the end of film as we know it, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of cinema, at least according to the all-star list of directors and technicians interviewed in Chris Kenneally’s illuminating documentary Side by Side. Tracing the rise of digital movies via a wealth of charts, clips and candid testimonies, this Keanu Reeves-produced and -narrated investigation offers a thorough analysis of what’s very likely the most important cinematic development since the advent of sound. Critics, crew members, students and any lover of the seventh art should seek this out on DVD, broadcast and select theaters, though probably not on celluloid.

Because movies are a business as much as they are an art form, technological advances that allow filmmakers to make movies more easily and, most important, more cheaply, have as much of a role to play in the final product as the script, direction and acting. But rarely do audience-friendly documentaries focus on the nuts and bolts — or nowadays, the chips and pixels — of the filmmaking process, which is why Kenneally’s intensive study feels both necessary and long overdue.

After all, and as Side by Side methodically explains, the revolution has been happening for more than four decades, but it’s only over the past 10 years that most viewers have become so conditioned to (some would say bombarded by) the powers of digital imagery. Chronicling the medium’s development — from the original CCDs invented by Bell Labs through Sony’s first Standard Definition digital camera to the most recent HD models by Red and Arriflex and finally to the postproduction evolutions of CGI, the Avid, the Digital Intermediate and DCP projection — no stone is left unturned by Kenneally, whose army of above- and below-the-line interviewees debate the merits of digital filmmaking and its effects on longstanding cinematic traditions.

Among the Hollywood heavyweights questioned by Reeves (often sporting long hair and a beard, presumably for the shoot of the upcoming CGI blockbuster 47 Ronin), the most fervent supporters of the new process are clearly George Lucas and James Cameron (“What was ever real?” the latter snaps when Reeves complains about green screens), while holdouts like Christopher Nolan insist they’ll continue shooting on film for as long as they can. Somewhere in between are directors like Martin Scorsese and David Lynch, both of whom see the advantages of digital but also the uniqueness of celluloid (“That was precious stuff rolling through there,” remarks Lynch, though he also is referring to the price of film stock).

Beyond the talks with directors, it’s the conversations with a host of top-notch cinematographers — among them Vilmos Zsigmond, Michael Chapman and Anthony Dod Mantle — that make Side by Side a particularly engaging exercise. Learning about digital imagery from the horse’s mouth is essential, and nobody is as affected by the changes as the DPs who battle with new shooting formats on a daily basis. What one pulls from such discussions is that the cinematographer’s power on set used to be almost magical (“They loved the voodoo of it,” claims an especially insightful David Fincher), but once the photochemical process was replaced by on-set monitors and the DI, anyone could come in and tell them exactly how things should look.

The cameramen are joined by editors, special effects supervisors and color correctors, who explain in laymen’s terms how digital has changed the way movies are finalized. While their remarks reveal to what extent the workflow has shifted in favor of postproduction, certain transformations, such as the rise of Fusion 3D, don’t seem to garner much favor with the majority of interviewees (“It’s a motherf—ing marketing scheme, isn’t it?” wonders Nolan DP Wally Pfister). Such candor is a welcome antidote to the usual industry backslapping, and Reeves manages to charm his subjects into speaking truths seldom heard by the general public. If any complaint can be lodged against Side by Side, it’s that there’s perhaps too much material on hand for only 99 minutes, and things sometimes fly by before there’s enough time to let them register. Still, anyone who needs to give the movie a second look can eventually catch it on a range of digital formats, though, according to the documentary’s final segment, the most foolproof archiving system is still good ol’ fashioned 35mm stock. In that respect, the future of film is film.


ACCREDS

Par Nathan Reneaud le 18 septembre 2012

La révolution numérique sous l’oeil de Keanu Reeves et des plus grands artisans du cinéma américain contemporain. Une investigation brillante, qui pourrait bien faire autorité.

Keanu Reeves, à l’origine de la plus imposante investigation sur le passage de l’argentique au numérique : faut-il vraiment s’en étonner ? Producteur de Side by side, l’acteur intervient aussi comme narrateur, intervieweur et confrère à l’évidence passionné par le sujet. C’est trop d’implication de sa part pour qu’on y voit un simple argument commercial. Sa présence est lourde de sens pour qui se remet en mémoire sa filmographie. Dans les années 90-2000, Reeves a été l’homme de deux mondes « côte à côte » : le mécanique et l’organique dans Johnny Mnemonic, le virtuel et le réel dans Matrix, la prise de vue réelle et sa déformation en animation rotoscopique dans A Scanner Darkly. Ce n’est pas un hasard si Richard Linklater et les Wachowski sont de la partie. Il aurait été dommage que Reeves, par modestie ou pour ne pas être taxé de nombrilisme, mette de côté sa propre contribution à la révolution de ces dix-vingt dernières années. Side by side en retrace la généalogie avec une extrême précision.

Side by side séduit d’abord par son casting. On y trouve les réfractaires comme Christopher Nolan et son chef opérateur Wally Pfister, les progressistes comme David Lynch et Steven Soderbergh, les modérés comme Martin Scorsese, archiviste et historien du cinéma à ses heures, qui aurait très bien pu être à l’initiative d’un tel projet. Hors Hollywood, l’enquête fait la part belle au Dogme, soit la première enfance (ingrate ?) du cinéma digital dont l’impact se ressentira chez un Danny Boyle – voir le Londres de 28 jours plus tard et l’errance de Cillian Murphy en dernier des hommes, rendus avec une dizaine de caméras DV postées à des endroits stratégiques. Majoritairement hollywoodien – on ne saurait lui en vouloir, le documentaire de Christopher Kenneally ne pouvait pas non plus se passer du gourou George Lucas et des grands prêtres James Cameron, David Fincher et Michael Mann. Collateral parle à la place de ce dernier. Le taxi qui trimballe Tom Cruise stoppe au milieu d’une route déserte pour laisser passer un coyote. Les yeux de l’animal brillent comme deux phares dans la nuit. Remis en contexte, l’extrait est une superbe image de ce que Mann a apporté en se convertissant à la HD. Avec Collateral, le cinéma est devenu nyctalope.

Il faut enfin souligner combien Side by side prend soin de n’oublier personne, aucune étape dans le processus de fabrication, aucun maillon de la chaîne. Cela va des fabricants de caméras aux chefs opérateurs, de l’acteur au projectionniste, du monteur à l’étalonneur-coloriste qui, un jour, c’est à craindre, prendra la place du « DP » ou directeur de la photographie. A l’autre bout de cette chaîne, le spectateur et la diversité des modes de consommation : salle de cinéma, téléphone portable, écran d’ordinateur. A la réflexion, le travail brillant de Keanu Reeves et du réalisateur Christopher Kenneally devrait questionner la critique et tous ceux qui écrivent sur le cinéma. La révolution en marche est aussi sémantique. Les mots qu’on utilise sont ceux de l’ancienne ère. C’est déjà un contre-sens de parler de « film », de « long métrage » à propos d’objets qui ne doivent plus rien à l’argentique. Sauf quand se pose le problème de la conservation. Car tel est l’horizon de la pellicule : le stockage, la mémoire, l’embaumement. La grande angoisse de l’âge numérique, c’est que, pour la première fois, les films pourraient ne plus survivre à ceux qui les font. Side by side le rappelle sans prendre parti pour un support contre l’autre. En attendant que le cinéma s’humanise de ce côté-là.

SIDE BY SIDE (Etats-Unis, 2012), un film de Christopher Kenneally, avec Keanu Reeves, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Danny Boyle, Lana et Andy Wachowski, Richard Linklater, John Malkovich, Greta Gerwig, Robert Rodriguez, George Lucas, Lars Von Trier, Walter Murch, Steven Soderbergh, David Lynch, Lena Dunham, Walter Murch…Sortie en France indéterminée.