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Topic: What is the source material for NEW Super 8 prints coming overseas?
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Rob Young.
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1633
From: Cheshire, U.K.
Registered: Dec 2003
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posted December 08, 2017 01:52 PM
Regarding the production of super 8 prints back in the day, things were slightly complex.
Looking at, say, Derann prints from the early 80's onward (which I'm sure many will regard as the revival period) the edited prints (Gremlins, Superman II, etc,) were made from physically edited 35mm prints. A 16mm negative reduction was made from which the 8mm positives were printed by the lab.
The results could be very good indeed, although some degree of contrast was inevitably lost.
The key to quality was in starting with a decent 35mm print and good lab work.
The very best super prints were made from 16mm negatives produced and provided by the studio, the Disney prints for example.
Sometimes a 35mm inter positive was reduced by the lab to a 16mm negative for super 8 printing, eg. Star Wars.
Again, quality depended upon the original 35mm inter positive condition.
Also, the move from wet gate printing to dry gate printing by the labs that Derann used in the 90's resulted in sharper prints, but much more visible negative wear on the final super 8 print.
For example, an early print of Predator looks like the very best 16mm, but later print runs suffered from negative marks.
The only prints truly reduced directly from 35mm to 8mm were the early Derann Standard 8 features.
In the 70's, many super 8 prints in the UK were made from 16mm positive prints and the results were, let's say, variable.
Really, the best super 8 prints were made by Derann in the 90's using 16mm negatives provided by the studios, but, as said, all of the edited super 8 prints which we love started as 35mm positive prints.
Same for all of the last releases, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, etc.
It would be interesting to know what Walton used as source material to produce stunningly sharp feature prints of, for example Dr. Who and the Daleks in the late 70's.
We really need ex Derann director Ged Jones on this forum to explain all...
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