8mm Forum: Superheroes and Myths trailer reel

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Topic: Superheroes and Myths trailer reel

Douglas Meltzer
Moderator

Posts: 4554
From: New York, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted January 15, 2011 04:34 PM

Larry Arpin announced his return to releasing new product on Super 8mm here in June 2010 with a reel of 4 blockbuster trailers in scope. The big questions had to do with quality. What could we expect from the lab work and equally important, what would be the caliber of the sound? I’m thrilled to say that Superheroes and Myths looks spectacular and has the most amazing stereo sound I’ve heard on Super 8 in years! I screened this reel at the CineSea convention and also to Forum members on different occasions and every showing brings praise for the stereo audio. Kudos to Lance Alspaugh for a magnificent recording job.

The reel starts with Watchmen, which definitely tests our favorite format in terms of color rendition and contrast. The night scenes look crisp with plenty of detail in the blacks.

Sherlock Holmes follows, and while this trailer doesn’t fill the screen in the 2:40 format, it is fun to watch and the brighter look contrasts well with the dark look of Watchmen.

Clash of the Titans held the biggest surprise for me in that it has become my favorite of the four. Very well edited, this is one thrilling two minutes and ten seconds of celluloid. I especially appreciate the way the trailer is cut to the music. The giant scorpion even attacks on the beat!

Robert Downey Jr. makes his second appearance on this reel in Iron Man 2. Tony Stark’s takeover of a congressional hearing starts us off and then it’s quick cuts and a great deal of action.

With a running time of 9:30, Superheroes and Myths is highly repeatable and an excellent example of how good Super 8mm can look and sound. It is available from The Reel Image (937-296-9036).

Doug

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I think there's room for just one more film.....

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Larry Arpin
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 953
From: Sunland, CA, USA
Registered: Dec 2006

posted January 15, 2011 08:20 PM

Wow, Doug, thanks for the glowing review.

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Bill Phelps
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1482
From: USA
Registered: Jan 2009

posted January 16, 2011 09:51 AM

Yes, I too saw a screening of this at Steve's cinema and it looked great and the sound BOOMED! I love the cover also!

Nice job Larry!

Bill [Smile]

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Gary Crawford
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 979
From: Manassas, VA. USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted January 20, 2011 08:27 AM

I saw the print that Doug showed at the cinesea show...and commented at that time that it was "OK"....but the colors were not printed true..... I later got my own print...super sharp...very good sound...very entertaining...but again...the colors were not color corrected. The whole reel tends to the browish ...almost like it had been eastman that had faded a bit...and then been duped. The American flag covered coffin ...in one of the trailers....the red stripes...not red...but leaning toward the purple brown end of the scale. Not a huge problem...but, and this is just my opinion, not as good as Super 8 can ..and has looked. It is ,however , about as sharp as any I've seen. That color thing was the only flaw in this very nice reel....but the muted look and the color shift does run through the whole reel. Admittedly these are almost noirish films...where colors can be muted and not true...but even in the outdoor scenes...particulaly Clash of the Titans...the blue sky is not quite so blue...the sea the same. Flesh tones throughout the reel on the brownish side. Still a nice reel to have...and great job on the box art.

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Adrian Winchester
Film God

Posts: 2941
From: Croydon, London, UK
Registered: Aug 2004

posted January 21, 2011 05:52 PM

Gary - Is yours an acetate print in stereo or a polyestar print that's single stripe (and therefore mono)? If it's acetate, I think the colours being a bit muted applies to ALL the Super 8 prints from the lab in question, and has applied for quite some time. It's revealing if you look at the blank leader of any prints or even the area in-between the sprocket holes. Surely that yellowish cast must also apply to the printed area. I know that the lab has tried using new fresh polyester stock for certain mono prints and personally I can't wait for it to be used for everything because I'm sure it will result in better and brighter colours.

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Adrian Winchester

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John Hourigan
Master Film Handler

Posts: 301
From: Colorado U.S.A.
Registered: Sep 2003

posted January 23, 2011 11:45 AM

I find that many of the newer Super 8 releases (particularly trailers of recent movies) suffer from the same malady that Gary describes in his post. The colors are "muted" even for those features that don't originally employ a "muted" color scheme. Call me crazy, but for the amount of money that we shell out for new releases, one should expect the quality to be damn-near perfect, but unfortunately that's not always the case. Case in point -- the recently released promo for PAL JOEY. The soundtrack is full of static. I at first thought I had a faulty print, but soon learned that this is the way it was released. While I fully appreciate that some of the master materials will have some imperfections from time to time, this is the kind of thing that tests my enthusiasm for the hobby that I love. While I prefer film to the digital medium, one would readily return a $20 DVD if it contained the same defects -- however, we film collectors are expected to chalk it up to a much more expensive "oh well". . . . .

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Mark Todd
Film God

Posts: 3846
From: UK
Registered: Aug 2003

posted January 23, 2011 06:13 PM

Hi you can ask Steve to order in prints on poly kodak stock, a tad dearer but well worth it, its also single stripe.

As far as I`m aware there no slight hue on the poly kodak ones.

Even so I still think the ones on acetate are rather nice.

I noticed the new Robin Hood is muted an darkish even on dvd, no loss mind as the film is pretty poor as well.

Best Mark.

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