8mm Forum: What future for Super 8 now?

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Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on December 21, 2007, 08:33 AM:

Well it’s been a funny old year for Super 8 here in the UK. Quiet at the start then a feeding frenzy towards the Northern Film Collectors Convention and into Christmas with many films available for sale second hand. I suppose the greatest hope for many was that we were going to see a new Super 8 feature become available in early 2008 but hopes of this seem dashed as we have started to receive refunds for deposits left with Derann for a forthcoming release. Not an ideal Christmas present here and the refund receipt was received without any explanation at all. Its been a year of highs and more recently lows if we were to lay our cards on the table and exit from the many emails which seem to have been circulating via forum members, these for me have proven most disappointing having received a few inadvertently informing me of wheels in motion. The saddest part of this failed attempt for a new feature release is that some seemed to have wanted it to fail and may have even lent a hand.

So here we have our refund receipts which will come in handy for lighting your lime light lanterns over Christmas, but my greatest hope is that we can all realise the desperate need for new features if 8mm is to have any chance of survival, or will it just become alike to my beloved 9.5mm which these days hangs by a thread on pure nostalgia alone.

We shall see…

Posted by Joe Caruso (Member # 11) on December 21, 2007, 09:29 AM:

Well Lee, I wouldn't sound the death knell quite yet, those who seemingly lent a hand to the format's demise, I would care about either. We have some one thousand and more members who, could impishly start a definitive petition requesting new features for the coming year, as well as adding our two-shillings' worth of what we'd all like to have on the Super 8 scale. There is a trend that is high on the early part of the year and tends to lapse about now, yet as Dickens' 'Great Expectations' claims, such will be the case. Both Super and Std 8 are also like 9.5 and other gauges, in the nostalgic valley, though Super 8 is holding its own, and has been for forty two years since its start, about as long as I've been collecting it - As long as we're around to breathe new life into it, so it shall remain with us - Cheers and Merry Christmas from Shorty

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on December 21, 2007, 09:49 AM:

Thanks Joe, you have cheered me up.
Bit disappointed this end, but we live in hope for new releases or as my dad calls them... escapes!

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on December 21, 2007, 10:28 AM:

Sadly, since none of my auctions sold on ebay, I couldn't throw in my hat for Terminator 3, as I had hoped ...

But this doesn't mean that Derann couldn't come up with other feature releases in the future, it may have just come down to lack of available negatives, though I would hope that Derann will give us a slight post to explain the lack of T3, as I believe that quite a few of the pre-orders were due to this forum.

I must remain "small potato's OSI" and limit my collecting to things on a very strict budget, but then, I have NO IDEA what optical features I'll run into this coming year.

For instance, I just bought "The Takedown" (1978) from Alan Rik, with apparently good color, (I know Rik wouldn't steer me wrong), and it's a film that's STILL NOT available in DVD or laserdisc, and, a long time ago, on VHS. I get to enjoy this film in my own home, while everybody else pipe dreams.

When it comes to second hand collecting, the skies the limit, as (sadly) more people will evacuate the super 8mm filks and sell thier collections with no doubt scrumptuos goodies hidden there-in. (I'm still hoping to find my long lost "High Road To China" optical print from 17 years ago!)

Will Super 8mm pass? As with all formats and things in ngeneral, of course. It's amazing to think that Super 8mm has existed from, what? 1962 to the present day with br4and new prints still being manufactured? That's 45 years, for pets sake! No other modern format can even come close to boasting that!

Posted by Graham Sinden (Member # 431) on December 21, 2007, 11:16 AM:

Lee,

The reason Derann have given back the deposit is because Arnie is funding it himself after fiddling the tax budget in California [Big Grin]

Posted by Claus Harding (Member # 702) on December 21, 2007, 11:28 AM:

Don't forget the 'shooting' end of Super-8; that's alive and well. Companies like Pro-8mm are making new 8mm stocks available, stripped from from 35mm reels, full-on telecine transfers are available.....
In terms of shooting Super-8, things look good for now. But for collecting prints, I don't know how things will go.

Best,
Claus.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on December 21, 2007, 03:16 PM:

Claus
I will be trying out a couple of rolls of Ektachrome 64T next week on my old Canon 512XLE, first time in years, if the results are anything like what I have taken in the past I will be very pleased, will get back into using Super8, my biggest regret was giving it up years ago for video.

To highlight this was a short film made here on 16mm the film was so well done that it was shown at one of our conventions and was well recieved. The colour stock was very impressive, comparing this to modern video which in itself is good, film still came across much better, I think part of it is that people who use film are often more aware as to the high running costs and are more careful how they use it, often finishing up with better results.

Lee
Sorry to here that Terminator 3 is not going ahead, for me the cost would have been around $700 so I never considered getting it, however it is a shame that those who were serious and wanted to buy it are missing out, it would have been great to read all about it in future reviews, and would have shown companys like Derann that there is still a future in releasing new Super8 features, hopefully a cut down version might become available in the near future.

Regards Graham.

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on December 21, 2007, 06:35 PM:

I'm totally baffled to hear that deposits for T3 are being returned without any explanation. It just doesn't make sense, unless it's down to no master material being available after all. Otherwise, at the very least you would first expect an announcement along the lines of "We can only proceed if we have ... deposits by ..." And surely it would also be sensible to publicise this in publications/newsletters and not rely only on Forum members. Some who were supporting the release made it clear that they could not send the £50 immediately, and December is obviously an expensive time for many people. I wrote out my cheque earlier today and I was about to send it tomorrow!

[ December 22, 2007, 03:55 AM: Message edited by: Adrian Winchester ]

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on December 21, 2007, 08:05 PM:

Any possibility here that Derann have every intention of going ahead with a release of T3, but have decided that they don't think it necessary (or advisable) to secure customer deposits before printing?

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on December 22, 2007, 01:58 AM:

Paul : I doubt it. It is strange though that Adrian and his gang didn't offer any explanation.
I think it might be connected to the fact that source material was unavailable.

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on December 22, 2007, 06:48 AM:

Not so Jean.
Sorry to say it looks like another issue, but as we have learned over many years of the hobby these little problems to happen. I don’t want to drag out the Arnie thing, short to say a big thank you to all who put the money up front and committed to a possible new feature. In time I am sure things will improve.

Thankfully Bambi is going down well here and we have done 2 screenings this week. What a lovely print and a joy to project and see those smiling faces in the audience.

Happy Christmas one and all.

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on December 22, 2007, 02:30 PM:

As my wife always says, I always see the glass as half full [Wink]

.

Here's my take on the current state of super 8-

I had some down time the other day, and I stumbled across the 2007 Derann super 8 catalog. As I browsed the pages, I was reminded of the ABUNDANCE of movies that Derann has to offer. Features, as well as shorts and cartoons....STILL AVAILABLE- and brand new!

Not to mention the quaint and unique releases coming from Classic Home Cinema. And not to mention all the fine quality used stuff available. I only wish I had more money to spend on film [Razz]

.

So, my fellow enthusiests, during this slight "slump" in new feature and extract releases, lets browse the pages of new listings, you might be surprised, and say, "Oh yea, I forgot, I wanted to buy that one a while back. I forgot it was available".

A very merry Christmas to all- hope you find something you like under the tree!

James.

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on December 24, 2007, 10:59 AM:

Does that mean saving private has a chance??? [Big Grin]

Have a great xmas all and a happy new year.

Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 67) on December 26, 2007, 07:16 AM:

James is right. It came home to me the other day when we were reading the wish lists of people....many of them were already available , either from Classic or Derann. They have a tremendous catalog of prints .....classics. A few weeks ago I ordered The World is Not Enough ....which has been printed in Germany..and will be recorded in L.A. My favorite of the Brosnan Bonds. They have Robin Hood....North by Northwest. Terminator....You Only Live Twice....just some great things...there for the taking,....if you can scape up the money....but the money issue would be true for new releases as well.

Posted by Joerg Niggemann (Member # 611) on December 26, 2007, 05:50 PM:

I didn't know that a Brosnan Bond was released on S8. Where can I order one...?

Posted by Mark Norton (Member # 165) on December 27, 2007, 08:46 AM:

Joerg,

Bond extracts from Goldeneye and The Living daylights, as well as the feature mentioned available from Classic Home Cinema. Any one know if the new pixar short is available yet? Can't remember the name but a violin player was pictured.

Posted by Mark Mander (Member # 340) on December 27, 2007, 01:53 PM:

Hi Mark,yes the Pixar short is called One Man Band and a review of it is on the forum best Mark

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