Twisters, directed by Lee Isaac Chung, is bringing gigantic tornadoes to the big screen, and will do so by honoring the 90s original and shooting on 35mm film. Despite digital cameras being the mainstay in Hollywood filmmaking, many directors still prefer to shoot on analog film.Twisters is the second major motion picture this summer to be shot on film, with Yorgos Lanthimos also using analog film for his recent film, Kinds of Kindness. In a new featurette by Kodak, director Lee Isaac Chung explained his decision to shoot the blockbuster, disaster film entirely on Kodak 35MM. Shot on location in Oklahoma, Chung said that a large part of the decision came from wanting to capture the natural, vibrant colors of the state.

"As soon as I got on board with this project, I knew that I wanted to capture this movie on film. Oklahoma just has these incredible colors. The landscape can get very green, and I love the way that film stock can render those colors, and just how poetic it can make an image look.

This movie is about nature. It's about the natural world. It's about things that are tangible, you know? We're doing a lot of respect for what we're capturing."

This sentiment was shared by Dan Mindel, Twisters' director of photography. Mindel explained that the environment plays a large role in the film, almost acting as another character. Film was the obvious choice to capture the uniqueness of the Oklahoma landscape in as much detail as possible. Mindel explained:

"It's super, super important to make the environment part of the character of the movie. It's red dirt roads, green green fields, and blue sky with puffy clouds. It doesn't get better than that. The countryside here is absolutely incredible, and we've hit it at peak saturation of the color of the fields and the trees and the sky. It's just it's monumental."

Twisters Was Shot During Tornado Season

As with any Hollywood disaster film, audiences expect that the twisters shown on screen are 100% CGI. However, Lee Isaac Chung made the risky decision to shoot the film in Oklahoma during tornado season. This paired well with the director's decision to shoot on 35mm Kodak film, as the erratic weather conditions and moody sky would create panoramic bliss when shot on analog film. Working with a tangible format also gets the crew excited about working on the movie, according to the film's star, Glen Powell.

In the featurette, Powell expressed his excitement about performing on film. The actor said that the crew feels an immense sense of pride in their work when handling the format. Powell said:

"The fun part about shooting on film is that everybody gets excited about shooting on film. The camera department has such a pride in the fact that they're shooting on film. It feels like everybody raises their game."

Powell co-stars alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones in Twisters. Edgar-Jones plays Kate, a retired storm chaser who is brought back to the game to test a new technology which can disperse tornadoes. Kate joins forces with Powell's Tyler Owens, a daredevil storm chaser, known as the 'Tornado Wrangler'.

Twisters releases in theaters on July 19, 2024.