8mm Forum: Introducting a new ultra-wide film format called UltraPan8

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Topic: Introducting a new ultra-wide film format called UltraPan8

Nicholas Kovats
Junior
Posts: 29
From: Canada
Registered: Jun 2011

posted July 29, 2011 10:33 PM

The emerging popularity of 1.33:1 televison in the late 1940s and early 1950s spurred tremendous development in ultrawide motion picture technology. Its zenith best represented by the stupendous Cinerama and Cinemascope film based formats.

I would like to expand upon these spectacular ultrawide antecedents with the ntroduction of UltraPan8.

It is a new ultrawide native spherical film format utlizing modified 8/16mm cameras and the entire 16mm width of 2 perf regular 8mm motion picture film.

It's native gate dimensions are 10.52mm x 3.75mm with an aspect ratio of 2.8:1. This is wider than Cinemascope at 2.39:1 and a bit smaller than Cinerama's 2.87:1 aspect ratio. UltraPan8 represents a 41% increase in imaging area over Super 8 film and a respective 62% increase over regular 8mm film.

Standard 16mm optics provide optically centered full frame coverage.

Key design principals were the interchangable film transports of the Bolex H8/H16 ameras and the historical engineering of both 8mm and 16mm film formats sharing identical perforation dimensions.

One of the design intents was freedom from bulky 16mm Cinemascope anamorphic projector lens setups. Here are some examples of previous ideas and testing for comparison purposes, i.e.

1. My original design for a potential adapter setup which was never implemented, i.e
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90929958@N00/423625964/in/photostream/

2. Anamorphic test shot utilizing 16mm anamorphic projector lens + stepdown ring + Beaulieu 4008. Cinematography by Justin Lovell,i.e.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrvQCV2kfn4

The camera was modified by Jean-Louis Seguin and includes a native 2.8:1 UltraPan8 viewfinder with a Cinemascope 2.4:1 mask. We are also working towards modification of a 1936 8/16mm multiformat worm gear Bolex projector for film based projections.

The 8 bit digital overscanned files of the inaugural test roll were provided by John Gledhill of bitworks.org utilizing his sprocketless 16mm transfer bay in conjunction with a linear 12 bit imaging camera w/ 14 bit mask.

The digital deliverables included

1. Sequential 8 bit JPEGS. Full and half resolution. No color
correction applied albeit some gamma.
2. 1700x600 DIVX file.
3. 700x250 DVCPRO file.

Here are some sample frameshots of the overscanned final output 8 bit JPEGS, i.e.

1. http://db.tt/mOoaVKp
2. http://db.tt/yQvrul9
3. http://db.tt/JSbM3IC
4. http://db.tt/qXFY2mJ
5. http://db.tt/kAhNgUU

Here are MPEG4 links to the 1700x600 DIVX file. I have added music/credits to the unedited raw footage but I have decided to display the test roll in its entirety, blemishes and all, i.e.

YouTube = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJHso5-F6WM
Vimeo = http://vimeo.com/27074208

Here is the orginal 1700x600 DIVX file available for download and for your examination. Keep in mind this is not the full resolution sequential JPEGS, i.e. DropBox = http://db.tt/rnEYkBs

There are visible issues in the footage and they are being addressed.

Although this was my first time filming with a Bolex I could not wipe the perpetual grin of my face as I shot this test roll, that being the fact of native UltraPan8 in the palm of my hand...a tad lighter than Kubrick's handheld 25 pound 65mm camera shots in 2001! In fact 2001 is THE original inspiration with its gorgeous 65mm Cinemascope cinematography.

And why not re-introduce film based spectacle in these times of the digital imaging onslaught?

There will be forthcoming updates regarding additional footage and an inspiring academic paper detailing the important historical engineering modifications of the UK based WideScreen Association.

"From the heavens sprung such images."

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Pasquale DAlessio
Film God

Posts: 3523
From: Bristol,RI, USA
Registered: May 2010

posted July 30, 2011 06:44 AM

WOW!

That is fabulous. Almost like Cinerama from backin the 1960's. Great work. [Cool]

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Winbert Hutahaean
Film God

Posts: 5468
From: Nouméa, New Caledonia
Registered: Jun 2003

posted July 30, 2011 09:08 AM

Hi Nicholas,

I live in Toronto as well. I bought film stock from Justin once at his studio in Yonge St.

Love with 8mm but more in film collecting my self. I still shoot with E100D for my home movies.

cheers,

--------------------
Winbert

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Martin Jones
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1269
From: Thetford , Norfolk,England
Registered: May 2008

posted July 30, 2011 09:12 AM

Methinks you have just "re-invented" PAN 16 from the UK Widescreen Association days!
Wasn't it Stuart Warner, and didn't Tony Shapps state his approval?
Martin

--------------------
Retired TV Service Engineer
Ongoing interest in Telecine....

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Nicholas Kovats
Junior
Posts: 29
From: Canada
Registered: Jun 2011

posted July 30, 2011 10:03 PM

Thank you, Pasquale, for your kind words.

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Nicholas Kovats
Junior
Posts: 29
From: Canada
Registered: Jun 2011

posted July 31, 2011 10:06 AM

Hi Winbert.

Indeed, I am also a resident of Toronto and Justin Lovell has been scanning my Super 8 footage for the past 5 years.

Is it normal for this forum to only allow postings every 24 hours?

Regards,

NK

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Douglas Meltzer
Moderator

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

posted July 31, 2011 10:35 AM

Nicholas,

Very impressive! Yes, there is a minimum amount of time before you can reply to "yourself". This is to prevent a number of continuous postings in a row from one person. You are always free to add on to your concluding post by using the edit

function.

Doug

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

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Bill Brandenstein
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1632
From: California
Registered: Aug 2007

posted July 31, 2011 10:13 PM

Nicolas, nice work from concept to transfer. That looks really lovely -- the colors pop off even my crummy monitor, and the wide images are something to reckon with.

Why hasn't anyone done this before? Hope it can catch on.

You know, that would've made a killer home movie format if it had dual mag stripes and prints of theatrical titles...

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Nicholas Kovats
Junior
Posts: 29
From: Canada
Registered: Jun 2011

posted July 31, 2011 11:45 PM

To Martin.

I am direct contact with Tony Shapps of Widescreen Association fame and he is quite enthusiastic regarding the debut of UltraPan8. Tony has requested an article for his forthcoming September newsletter.

What Stuart Warner accomplished with Pan 16 was very difficult from an camera engineering perspective and is not cheaply reproducible for the masses. He choose the more arduous path of modifying the 16mm gate to replicate the 1/2 pulldown cycle of 8mm. But its even more complicated than that as there is only a single standard 16mm perf per 16mm frame height.

How in gods creation did he manage TWO half-pulldown 8mm gate cycles with only ONE perf! Think about it.

Film transport is a modern and proven engineering wonder. Continuous movement to intermittent to full braking to expose the frame in the gate then immediately switch to ramp up to intermittent back to continuous. All in 10ths or 100thss of a second.

And he achieved two PAN16 frames per standard 16mm height with ..I repeat...one single perf. The head hurts. I suspect Stuarts' invention of the mythical VPC (Variable Pitch Control) for PAN16 projectors was an attempt to control the variability of his PAN16 camera gate pulldown and PAN16 projector gates. One has to respect his pioneering efforts, indeed.

Jean-Louis's utilization of the pre-existing "off-the-shelf" H8 film transport with the required half pulldown gate necessary for the 3.75mm frame height of UltraPan8...is classic engineering "re-purposing". He modifies specifically the optics, i.e. utilizes H16mm viewfinder optics, widens the H8 aperture and mills the H8 gate to some degree. Additional details forthcoming.

A 2nd UltraPan8 conversion has been ordered as of yesterday by another individual. My conversion cost me approximately $460 CAN as I supplied a complete Bolex H16 for the required optics. A very modest sum indeed in comparison to a standard Super 16mm conversion.

"Vivre la film! Vivre!

---

To Douglas:

Thank you for your kind words and confirmation of the official secondary posting policy. [Smile]

However when I click on the edit function the following pops up, i.e. "FYI Only administrators or moderators may perform this action."

Mystifying. I guess Canadians are allocated fewer posting privileges by default. [Smile]

---

To Bill:

I concur with your exact sentiments!

I am in direct contact with Guy Edmonds, the academic and author of the following excellent overview of the history of Tony Shapps et al and their engineering efforts regarding the Widescreen Association. They were actually courted by industry types and a few implementations were manufactured, e.g.The Emel Panascop a la PAN-8 which had a slightly more modest aspect ratio = 2.2:1.

http://academic.csuohio.edu/kneuendorf/frames/P&S/Edmonds07.pdf

We are investigating a forthcoming 1936 Bolex worm-gear multiformat projector known as a 816. It has interchangeable external 8mm and 16mm movements with a very interesting 8mm/16mm gate selector switch. This is somewhat of a side project for the few remaining purest 8mm film only festivals, e.g. 8Fest and the new Chicago 8Fest.

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Brad Kimball
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1171
From: Highland Mills, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted August 01, 2011 12:39 AM

Nicholas, good stuff, Man! I love what you've been able to do. Gee, I wish I had the time and energy to shoot film. I think its texture is so much more pleasing to the eyes. Digital has its good qualities, but film for me is the real deal and always will be. Nice job!

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Nicholas Kovats
Junior
Posts: 29
From: Canada
Registered: Jun 2011

posted August 01, 2011 08:53 AM

Thanks, Brad. Part of the design intent of UltraPan8 is to get people excited about shooting film with commonly available tools. May you receive a Bolex H8 camera for your next birthday! [Smile]

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Douglas Meltzer
Moderator

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

posted August 01, 2011 09:05 AM

Nicholas,

The entire sentence reads: "Only forum leaders or the person that posted this message may edit this message (and only registered users may edit/delete posts)." You can always edit your own posting.

Doug

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

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Nicholas Kovats
Junior
Posts: 29
From: Canada
Registered: Jun 2011

posted August 01, 2011 10:43 AM

Doug,

Whilst it is nice to edit one's original post ad infinitum my typical forum preference is distinct and separate postings per issue or reply. Thanks again.

Nicholas

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