8mm Forum: How much film time on a 1200'?

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Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on October 19, 2014, 11:37 AM:

I have bougth some months ago a feature of Heartbeeps. It seemed to be the whole movie and I got it fitted perfectly on a 1200' ... So how much time will a filled 1200' reel give with the different types of film? I assumed it was about an hour of "normal" film, but polyester is thinner, right? Are there any more types than these two?

Thanks

Posted by Jim Schrader (Member # 9) on October 19, 2014, 11:42 AM:

most 1200' ft reels in 16mm hold a 1/2 hour tv show, a 1200ft super 8 reel maybe an hours worth since 2 600ft reels are roughly 30 mins apiece.
hope that helps.

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on October 19, 2014, 11:58 AM:

Not really, as that is acetate running time ... I got a feature of 1:20 something and it's not overflowing on the 1200' but it's full. Polyester is thinner, ain't it? Meaning more film time on a reel. Just wonder how much more a polyester will fit on a 1200'

[ October 19, 2014, 12:59 PM: Message edited by: Vidar Olavesen ]

Posted by David Ollerearnshaw (Member # 3296) on October 19, 2014, 02:33 PM:

Looking at the super8database for a Fujiscope that takes 360m reels of super 8 , single 8 comes out at 540m. You should of course get more if its optical sound, due to magnetic sound adding a little extra thickness.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on October 19, 2014, 02:45 PM:

As a guide Vidar, I have managed to squeeze Die Hard which is 131minutes long onto two Elmo 1200ft spools. That means that around 1hr 6 minutes are on one reel. It is full to the rim but not overflowing by any means and of course, this film is on Polyester stock. Hope this helps Vidar.

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on October 19, 2014, 03:03 PM:

Thanks. Did not even think about the magnetic track. So about 6 minutes extra for a 1200 then.

Posted by Lars-Goran Ahlm (Member # 1908) on October 20, 2014, 07:46 AM:

It depends on film thickness and manufacture of reel.

On a Elmo 1200 I have managed to get 71 minutes + leaders.
On a Grasso 1200 I have got 76 minutes + leaders.
(Grasso reels have slightly smaller hubs)

And none of these where to the brim, but almost.
Both are with magnetic sound.

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on October 20, 2014, 08:41 AM:

Then I assume it's possible to have an optical print of 1:19 on a 1200' ... Nice ... Now I wish everything was polyester and optical :-)

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on October 20, 2014, 10:45 AM:

Not for me Vidar, the sound is invariably fairly poor I find on many optical prints and produces a fair amount of "running noise"as it passes the exciter lamp.

I don't really mind what stock a feature is on too much, I just put it on bigger reels than 1200ft if necessary.

The main thing to me is having as few splices and intervals as possible, though for a very long feature a single interval around half way through is most welcomed I find.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on October 20, 2014, 12:25 PM:

Depends on whether it's polyester of acetate film stock.

Polyester can mean more than an hour. Acetate tends to be thicker, (some actetate is very thick!), and you can end up with only around 50 or so minutes. (that is, safely putting it on the reel, without it spilling all over the bloody place!)

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on October 20, 2014, 12:27 PM:

I expected the polyester to be thinner, just wanted to know how much will fit on a 1200'. Was surprised to get the whole Heartbeeps onto on reel and it looks complete too.

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on October 20, 2014, 03:42 PM:

I readed a few months ago that black and white camera filmstock is thinner than colour one. I don't know if that's also true for projection filmstock. Anybody knows ?

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on October 21, 2014, 12:37 PM:

Are you sure that "Heartbeeps" is the complete feature Vidar? Super 8 optical sound features were on a very thin polyester stock, but I'm quite surprised that the whole feature would fit on one 1200ft reel.

However, super 8 optical sound features did tend to be a little edited for running time due to being in flight movies and he need to edit them for content (any "naughtiness" that the whole family shouldn't particularly see), but heartbeeps was rather tame.

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on October 21, 2014, 01:00 PM:

It came on 3 600 spools. And I haven't seen it since VHS release. I will time it next time

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