Any Super 8/16mm Shooters Here?

:*(

I can't seem to find this on the Amazon site--could you post a link?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000BZLYQ/ref=wl_it_dp/002-4160407-9801626?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=I2PXGHX0FX7MC0&v=glance&colid=21CSZ25FXZH4F

More exciting links to come!!

Transfer:
Maybe these guys?

If anyone uses either of these, I'd like to know what you think.

I used Digital Transfer Services and I would highly recommend them. Extremely courteous & an incredibly quick turnaround time.

Most companies won't TOUCH a 16mm paint film for fear of screwing up their projectors. I asked DTS if they would do it & even offered to pay a premium. They not only were very welcoming to it, they only charged me the standard price. They also let me send my own miniDV tape to save money on the transfer fee.

I probably wouldn't send them anything that I was going to be picky about in terms of quality (I noticed threads in the projector, light shifts outside of just in-camera exposure, some color washout, etc.), but if you're just looking for a cheap & quick transfer, they're terrific.

See, that has nothing to do with Super 8, though.

I like that video you made, Chris.

I have some DVD-Rs of the "Saskatchewan: The DVD" project (videos for all 6 songs on the album). I just need to figure out packaging, and all.

I have failed utterly at coming up with any good ideas for videos for my new album, though. I was thinking of resorting to stock footage. Editing is the funnest part of the process, after all.

Then I will do some more random Super-8 "art".

I've made three music videos with Regular and/or Super 8. All were professionally telecined, but we needed to do a quick reshoot for one of them and decided to just film the projection for that one roll's worth of footage, since it was all just the opening scene. The flicker actually helped, believe it or not.

8 and 16 are vastly different beasts. Reading over a Jem Cohen interview (thanks Jay!), he mentions how the imperfections and limitations of 8 actually make it a better impressionistic medium. When you go up to 16mm, increased size, equipment R&D, register pins, etc all make the image look like something much different. It's fun, too, but 16 is always a medium I have difficulty really coming to grips with on a metaphysical level. Whereas 35 has its discreet charm and 8 is like a perenial mistress I'll always have on the side.

I put in an order for 16mm through Kodak yesterday. Unfortunately, my Bolex is an old dual-perf camera, so my film stock choices were pretty limited. I ended up order two 100ft reels each of 7212 & 7218. Total bill was $150.

The processing will be about $7.00 a reel. I can do the transfers & color correction myself. So all in all, about $40 an 8 minute reel.

I could buy seven hours worth of miniDV tape for that...oh well.

I'm thinking of braving some hand processing using the B&W Super8 on Amazon. I'll let you know the results if I do.

And I should also mention that I really love R8 over S8 - Super 8 sometimes looks too good to me - a well shot roll can look as good as a decently-shot roll of 16. R8, though, has a surreal quality that I love. If you need any evidence, check out Cex's "Kill Me" music video, which we shot last year on a tiny Movex.

About 3/4 of the way down the page--

HPI 8MM SPLICING TAPE (6) - Package of 30 splices for standard 8mm film or 15 splices for 16mm film. Works fine with any splicer - $5.50

They also have regular 8mm presstapes, which are the easiest way to do it.

I have a 16mm viewer and projector somewhere in the attic, which I can dig out if anyone is interested.

I'll give a full report once I get my film back.

That said--

http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~ralph/process_site/contents.html

I'm not trying to talk anyone out of hand processing, but I just strongly suggest knowing the effects of the chemicals you will be working with & be sure to take all necessary precautions.

I have a budget of about £4,000 I could stretch to that I'm sure I won't have to. But I don't want to buy crap obv.

I would preferrably like just a single good camera, multiple types of mics, and some really good mixing, editing equipment.

If you have a Mac, go with Final Cut Pro HD for editing. If you're on a PC, either Premiere Pro or Vegas. For both, be sure you get the Adobe Creative Suite and After Effects.

I'm not good on sound recording, but I know the Sennheiser ME66/K6 comes highly recommended by many.

It's usually a 50/50 shot with buying cameras used from eBay. And if you're concerned about the cost, keep this in mind--I've actually made a profit from my camera. Not just from paid shoots, but I've rented it out many times (my rate is $150 a day, if you need a reference price). Be sure to insure the camera & create a contract for the renter to sign before you start renting it out though.

I would like to hear from anyone that has tried manipulating their image IN CAMERA shooting Super-8 with filters or lenses or some antiquated DIY method. I realize there is a very limited selection of filters and lenses for Super-8 but I want more control over my image in terms of producing something a little more deliberately stylized! First prize to the guy who tells me I should just shoot 16!

There's a lot of different ways to manipulate the image before or after shooting (outdated stocks, hand processing, skip bleach or other chemical manipulation, scratching/painting on developed film, image manipulation in AfterEffects, etc.)...

But in camera...hmm. As long as you have some type of screw mount, you can attach other lenses or filters (you may have to get an adapter though). Barring that, there's always the poor man's method of taping larger filters over the lens, coating the lens, etc.

If you have a junker extra camera you don't mind breaking, you could always tinker around with the mechanics to try to alter the frame rate/lens refraction/etc. Considering it only costs about $2 for an old super8 camera at a yard sale & $25 to buy/develop a reel of Super8, it's worth experimenting.

First off, they were cheap--$82.00 for 1 reel of 16mm color neg processing & processing & transfer to miniDV of two reels of Super8.

Here's the bad part:

1) Over three weeks from arrival of film at their facilities to delivery on my doorstep.

2) The transfer of the Super 8 footage was poor--they obviously just shot it off of the wall with a video camera. And worse, the projector they were using had a bad bulb so there was a lot of vignetting & the wall they were shooting from had a stucco-like texture that caused the image to take on similar characteristics. Some areas of the image were too dark (edges) while the center was often completely blown out. Fortunately, the footage was of old broken down railroad crossings, so it actually worked out well. But I would have been some kind of peeved if it had been something important that I wanted to shoot "straight".

3) The 16mm stuff came out ok.

All in all, I'll probably go through them again if I have a non-rush 16mm or Super8 process-only order. I wouldn't recommend them for transfers or rush jobs.

I should add that this is a narrative film so I would like the image to be fairly discernible, just a little distressed or odd.

The effect is usually subtle, and would be appropriate for experimental narrative use. (BTW--just watched WKW's "Fallen Angels" last night--some incredible in-camera formal techniques at work there)

I've actually done "flash exposure" with still film. It gives it a "solarized" look? How can you do this with of Super 8 and (somewhat) evenly expose the whole roll?

Thanks for your help, by the way!

Burying film stock is interesting. Potting soil works well, but even natural soil is pretty acidic & contains lots of different minerals that can alter the chemical makeup of the film stock. I think under average conditions, you're only supposed to do it for a day or so. Just be sure to bury/dig up at night.

Baking the film stock is tricky. You want to do it at a low temperature (so that the celluloid doesn't melt) and just enough that the emulsion starts to slightly bubble. the effect is incredible, but I've heard it's extremely tricky to perfect.

A TREMENDOUS resource for this kind of stuff is the Frameworks listserv, which is composed of hundreds of experimental filmmakers who have tried all of these techniques. They should be able to answer any questions you might have.