> P.S. An interesting footnote... Film IS USED in Network TV- Look at LA LAW,
> Thirtysomething, Gabriels Fire...and all other hour format dramas.    ey are a
 
Major network shows are shot on film, true. But the majority are
now edited in multi-million dollar editing suites, keeping the
film only as archival source media.
 
This is NOT an argument against using 16mm in film courses,
because amateur editing facilities can't compete with
professional facilities, and the field is changing too rapidly
for schools to be capable of competing in this area.
 
16mm film is an ideal medium for schools wishing to teach
professional film-making because it has higher resolution than
television, meaning that you can shoot and edit a film with
limited theatrical potential (you can blow it up to 35mm), yet
produce better results using TRADITIONAL TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
than using amateur video facilities.
 
I say the latter because in the initial challenge/query which
generated this conversation, I detect the attitude that bothering
with film is somehow outdated. I can assure you that in this town
(LA), where the craft is more than a matter of academic debate,
opinion on film vs. video is still widely in favor of film,
except for television productions.
 
All new media begin as imitations or automations of previous
media, only finding their independent nature later on. The same
is true of video and video editing. To approach them without a
grounding in traditional film-making is, in my opinion, foolish.
Vive 16mm!!