Danny Boyle

I would consider Danny Boyle one of the fathers behind digital filmmaking.  Boyle is known for his embrace of digital format over film when making his movies.  Boyle has experimented in several of his films with multiple types of cameras, from digital to film.  He is most known for his experimentations in 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire, and 127 Hours.

28 Days Later

Choosing MiniDV digital camcorders was a daring move by Boyle in 28 Days Later. Many looked down on his choice to use the Canon XL1, but the look of 28 Days Later is incomparable of the time.  Boyle felt that using cheaper cameras, like the XL1, gave him the opportunity to supply more cameras to benefit the cinematography.  Boyle has artistically portrayed an amazing story with low budget equipment.  Lately there has been a hype of zombie movies that seems to be growing more and more popular, but I can honestly say that this film has been and always will be my favorite in the genre.

 

Slumdog Millionaire

When filming Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle decided to venture out and use a new camera that could show all of the Indian streets in a different perspective.  The camera used was the Silicon Imaging SI-2K.  This digital format camera was exactly what Boyle ordered, because the time consuming 35mm film cameras would disrupt the natural and fast paced feel of the Indian alleys.  In order to get the cameras completely mobile, the crew held Macbook Pros in their back packs while freely running throughout the narrow pathways.  These cameras were establishing the advantages of free moving smaller equipment.

127 Hours

Boyle used several cameras in the filming of 127 Hours.  Just like Slumdog Millionaire, the main footage was shot with the Silicon Imaging SI-2K.  He also switched between digital and film cameras in the movie.  He shot with a 35mm film camera, a mini-DV camcorder (Canon Elura), S-VHS, and a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV DSLR.  Using all these different cameras allows Boyle to truly achieve a unique style.