Tarantino hates shooting with digital cameras. He’s a true film enthusiast. He believes that film stock is the one and the only format that is deserved to be screened in a movie theater. In his opinion, it’s like eating a steak (film) vs. tofu, or veggie burger (digital). Yeah, that’s what he said in this fascinating interview below.

Quentin Tarantino: Top-notch film enthusiast

There’s no doubt that Tarantino is a genius. His true dedication and love for moviemaking have led to some of the best and most unforgettable movies ever made. It’s no secret though that Tarantino shoots only on film cameras, just like the mighty Christopher Nolan. Nevertheless, a spotted interview sheds light on how much Tarantino despises digital cinematography. For instance, Tarantino claims that cinematographer Roger Deakins has chosen to shoot on digital cameras because it’s easier. 

“Deakins doesn’t want to spend time on lighting”

Here’s what Tarantino says (quoted from the interview): “I just want to spend time on lighting. It’s that really simple. He (Deakins) doesn’t want to spend time on lighting. [In digital] what you see is what you get. He looks at the monitor, there are no..five processes that he’s going to have…He’s not going to work through a degrading process that was actually playing at the theaters. He [Deakins] has to know that I got to get this, so four steps down the line when they see it in a movie, at a movie theater, it’s going to look like that…what you see is what you get”. Tarantino continues to speak about Sicario where Deakins was a DP: “Of course, he [Deakins] can shoot night scenes in Sicario. He doesn’t have four tracks full of lighting equipment just trying to get an image. It’s easier for him. He doesn’t have to do that much on the day. There’s a lot of stuff he can do later”.

“In digital, you can do everything”

Tarantino: “I like cinematography that you get what you do on the day. [In film] you can do a bleached print and there are all kinds of little things you can do. But if it’s not captured on the day, then you didn’t capture it. They (digital cinematographers) just got an image. So they weren’t f***ing around on the day of shooting, and then planning on doing all these windows —bring the guy out a little bit more here….let’s bring the background..give me a bit more black over there…It’s all a point box set. That’s when it’s done on film. When it’s digital, forget about it. You can do literally anything you want”.

Film emulators are just like a “veggie burger”

Tarantino says that everybody wants to make digital looks like film: “Well..film looks like film!” he laughs. “If you were gonna create something that could not be done on film, and I’m not talking about just the hard work of it, but if there was this other format that creates a look that just film is incapable of doing, well… that would be something…that would be legit. But trying to add…you know… take a digital and then add a shutter effect, to grain, or speckling or anything like that… what the F*** you doing man? —Just shoot on film—This tofu tastes just like steak…it’s like a veggie burger”. Listen to the interview below:

Does shooting on digital like eating a veggie burger? Let’s know your thoughts about this.