Super 8mm Feature Film

Hey.

So, we are going to be shooting our next feature on...wait for it...Super8. We are looking to score the Nizo 6080.

The film is going to be exploitation...hence our choice to go old-school Super8.

What do you guys think?

And for those that have never seen an actual 'film' done on Super8...check this out for reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTaNY7F7WI8
 
Heh, that's awesome. :cool:

I'm brainstorming for my next S8 short - I have to use up my last 4 rolls of K40 before Dwaynes stops processing it later this year.

Super-8
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I'll definitely follow your progress on this project.
 
Well, it's good that you guys are all excited about shooting on Film. I do not share your enthusiasm. I am not saying that I wouldn't shoot on film ever, don't get me wrong. If a studio were to pay me and fund my project and I could afford to shoot on film I would. However, using my own money to pop for film seems silly in this day and age. Technology has made leaps and bounds in the recent years. We now have the ability to feature films on a fraction of what it used to cost.

I do understand you want that look and feel of actual film. I certainly can respect that and I wish you luck. I just think that not embracing what can keep your cost down is a silly move. But all the best and can't wait to see it.

Edit: Just out of curiosity is it going to be color or black and white?
 
Shooting on film is silly LOL. :rolleyes:

Wow, let's not turn this into a film vs. video debate. The dude is making a film on Super-8.
 
I didn't say shooting on film is silly, what I said was that working on a very limited budget and choosing a more expensive medium instead of embracing what technology has given us was silly. And I am very much for shooting on film, if someone else is funding it for me. I don't think we need to debate anything, do we?
 
Brooksy, Everyone wants to make their film look as best as possible. And theres a lot of people who put the expensive of shooting on film above other priorities.
 
I shot a feature on Super 8mm! Cameras were Canon 1014 and Sankyo XL-620. Oh, yeah - the movie was distributed internationally, in the 90's.

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BCLarryonhood.jpg


BlackCrystalcover.jpg



Yes, the distributor spelled "Tucson" wrong!

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Trailer HERE


We shot on reversal film, back then, but you should have access to some nice Vision negative stock now! If you want less grain, use a low ASA and light the heck out of it. My stuff looked good at 50 ASA, but that was with the old Kodachrome.


EDIT: My mistake - Kodachrome 40, not 50.

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I’d like to see The Black Crystal (It looks 80’s tastic!), is it floating around on VHS somewhere?
I’d love to have a 1014. (I have a little 310 xl.)

I die a little inside every time I think of sound film being extinct.
What a colossal blunder. :(

-Thanks-
 
Dude, TBC looks awesome! That's just the look we are going for. And to answer Brooksy, we are shooting in color.

We got the 35mm stock that is cut down to 8mm...not sure myself why that's better or different, but the DP says it's better...higher quality or something. I always thought 8mm *is* just a sliced down miniture of 35mm...maybe someone can explain this to me? :)
 
We got the 35mm stock that is cut down to 8mm...not sure myself why that's better or different, but the DP says it's better...higher quality or something. I always thought 8mm *is* just a sliced down miniture of 35mm...maybe someone can explain this to me? :)

Your DP is right, the new stocks are much better. I shot reversal, but with negative, you will get a lot more latitude and not get the blown out picture, by being a stop off. The new stocks are sharper and you can even use 500 speed film. I guess the emulsions have been reworked, so grain isn't going to be the issue that I was having with the old ectachrome.

There's no reason that you shouldn't be able to make a movie that looks a lot better than what you saw in my trailer. But, even that old reversal stock had a cool look to it. With the telecine transfer, your Super 8 movie can look as good as what the old 16mm looked like. People expect Super 8 to look like home movies, but the new stocks and the transfer will blow them away, if your DP is any good.



EDIT:


A couple more clips, if you're interested. These are cool.


Nervous Hitchhiker

Roadside Violence

Daniel Slaps Daphne

Fight to the Death

Nothing Stops Him!



The best part of the movie was that bad guy, Mark Lang. He appeared in series like HEY DUDE and THE YOUNG RIDERS. Check him out at the 5 minute mark of this YOUNG RIDERS clip:

Mark Lang
 
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M1chae1-

Are you guys nervous about lighting film or just looking forward to the challenge? Are you guys gonna post some kind of blog or give us updates at all?

Hey. Well we'll have several people helping with lights (including myself)...but I believe the Dir/DP himself (Richard Griffin) is doing the majority of the lighting design. This will be his first feature shot on film, but he's well aware of how to shoot with it, as well as light for it.

We'll be shooting on our HD camera as well, using that as our sound recorder and lip syncer.
 
I shot that film in 1989 and find it amazing that are still copies floating around, 21 years later! I have to warn you, it is a first feature, self-funded effort.

Scoopicman! My first feature was shot on Super-8, Kodachrome 40, self-funded, in 1989! A Cold War thriller completed just as the Cold War ended. Timing has never been my strong suit.

How did you edit? I flew to Boston and had the footage transferred to Beta SP at Broadsky & Treadway, then did an offline edit on VHS, then conformed to a 1" C format master. Wasn't able to get distribution, though. :(
 
Thanks, M1chael! At least you know my feelings about your choice of format. I'm thinking that with the new stocks, you can light as you would any other film. When I shot TERRARIUM in 16mm, I used that 500 speed stock and it looked great.



Scoopicman! My first feature was shot on Super-8, Kodachrome 40, self-funded, in 1989! A Cold War thriller completed just as the Cold War ended. Timing has never been my strong suit.

We have a lot in common, including timing! When THE BLACK CRYSTAL came out, Gulf War 1 was already going and the recession followed soon after. Recessions are tough on indie distributors. I'm going through that now, with EXILE. Your movie sounds interesting.


How did you edit?

I got the film transferred, via the Rank Cintel to 1" broadcast tape, by Starfax, in California. Then, I had a friend of mine, who was an editor at a local station, transfer the 1" to 3/4" and then VHS, with timecode. I edited on my home VHS machines! I did a rough edit and then a fine cut. I wrote down all the SMPTE in and out points, for each shot. Then, I took the SMPTE list and the 1" tapes to KMSB, in Tucson and hired an editor for $100 an hour. We logged 45 hours, which included dubbing sound from a sequencer and samplers. I brought a Yamaha SY77 and 2 TX16W samplers to the TV station! I had about 120 floppy discs of audio and 2 sampler machines, which could load 2 discs at a time! The editor would cue the footage and when there was a cut, I would press START on the SY77 sequencer and trigger the audio. We did a lot in those 45 hours!


To see what I'm talking about with the sound, check the 2:20 mark of this youtube vid:


Synth Setup 1991



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These days, I think it's funny when people with computers ask how they can sync audio up. All you have to do is nudge snippets in the Timeline, do some ramping/fading and it's done. Back then, I would play a keyboard for entire scenes and get everything in sync, just by watching the TV or monitor. A single line of dialogue was sometimes culled from multiple takes, so I might have to press 4 different keys just to have a character say one sentence!
 
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