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Topic: Filming in 16mm or S8.
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Lars Pettersson
Master Film Handler
Posts: 282
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Registered: Jan 2007
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posted February 22, 2009 10:29 AM
Hi Michael,
This is actually a good question you post here! ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
I´m in my mid-forties so when I grew up there was NOTHING but film apart from professional video gear used by broadcast television companies. Then came lightweight affordable video gear for consumers in the 1980s, the quality was atrocious compared to good 16mm equipment.
For someone in his or her twenties today, using film cameras instead of DV, HDV must seem like madness -WHICH INDEED IT IS, to some extent!
The only way I could explain it, is if I shoot something with super8 or 16mm, I can obtain images with extremely good contrast, colour depth, resolution, and that elusive "Film Look" -images quickly start to take on a 3D quality (due to the aforementioned reasons) and objects look and feel like the real thing (skin, wood, fabric), rather than like coloured surfaces. The fact that it is expensive actually adds to it; these are brief, exquisite images, which, like jewellry, will look the same to my grandchildren decades from now!
For a lovely illustration of the "Film Look" check out the Blade Runner Final Cut box-set; even some of the outtakes look like Rembrandts!
But we need to keep buying, using this stuff. Kodak/Fuji killing these products would surely doom it all... ![[Frown]](frown.gif) Hopefully that´s a long way off, though, as many blockbuster movies today open on 10 000 screens -that´s an unimaginable amount of 35mm print stock!
Cheers
Lars
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John Hermes
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 139
From: La Mesa, CA, USA
Registered: Nov 2008
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posted February 22, 2009 12:37 PM
One sad occurance was when Kodachrome was discontinued. Kodak's Super 8 Ekatchrome 64 replacement is definitely a step backwards. The color is good, but, oh, that grain. It just doesn't have that "magic" look of Kodachrome. I transfer film for a living, and when I come across well exposed 16mm Kodachrome movies from the 1950s, it's like stepping into a time machine. Wow. Certainly, Kodachrome was one of the great inventions in photography, and is sorely missed.
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John Hermes
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Mark Norton
Master Film Handler
Posts: 330
From: Hampton Hill, Middlesex, U.K.
Registered: Feb 2004
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posted February 22, 2009 01:14 PM
Mike,
I have had a choice to make, wether to buy a new Digital Video Camera or to have my aging super 8 cameras repaired, the cost I expect would be the same.
As well as 8mm, I've got 1080p video projection so I could also project my digital films, if I bought a new camera, alongside my old super 8 home movies.
A friend gave me a demo on his new Panasonic HD Cam and his films looked good, but I can't seem to find the same enthusiastic interest in this new technology.
Currently I use 3 cameras, Nizo Pro., Eumig Nautica and Fujica P2 mostly with Wittner's Fuji Velvia 50D, as it comes in super and single 8 cartridges. After editing I video the film straight off the screen and load on to the Mac, where in Garageband i'll make the soundtrack and burn to disc. Then I show the film on the GS1200 synced to the sound on the disc. I don't capture sound live, but i'll write down any dialogue then have that person speak in to the mike when it's on the mac.
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Steve Klare
Film Guy
Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted February 23, 2009 09:53 AM
I use both Super-8 film and Digital Video, but they are different things for different projects. My typical Super-8 film is usually about a topic and it has music as a sound track. The DV is for the traditional "home movie" kind of stuff and is more or less the camera as a set of eyes and ears in the room when something happens. There is no editing involved, and not even a title other than the label on the tape. Of course there are overlaps between these two ideas, but where either DV or film is really great for a project, the other won't work out as well.
The deciding factor is mostly the difference between the ease of recording sound with video vs. the nice bright, big picture I can get from film.
Making a film is often an end to itself and there is a long project between the idea, the camera, the editor and the screen. Editing is very hands on: preparing a cut list, sorting out shots, splicing it together at the editing bench.
Video as I experience it is plugging a cable between the camera and the TV and pushing "Play".
I don't miss the lack of sync sound when I'm working with film. I actually find sound to be kind of a pain sometimes. Not only is it a second set of variables to fight when I'm shooting a scene, but I find it makes the camera intrude on the subject because voices in the room often start talking about it:
"How much time is left on that tape?"
"Did you charge the battery?"
"Why can't I see anything?...Take the lens cap off!"
I’d really hate to invest in sound film and get these results back.
It goes to show why commercial studios shoot on sound stages if they can get away with it and dub a lot of sound instead of catching it on scene. Sound comes at us from every angle and is a lot harder to control than the visuals we aim the lens at.
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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...
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![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
, so it´s really a miracle Kodak stuck it out for as long as they did.
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
that I did enjoy using a DV camera at work on our last little project, recording the behind the scenes at the cinema. The LCD screen "very handy" and the ease of use, plus the auto focus and a more fluid use of the camera made everything come across very well. I edited down what we had taken "cut things right back" put titles on it and with the final cut "sort of speak" recorded on a seperate tape deck the narration in sync to what we were veiwing "that was fun" ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
this was one project that was more suited to DV recording. I intend to get out and take more Super8 soon but unlike using a DV camera I will have to be a lot more carefull with my finger on the trigger 
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