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Topic: The end of Kodachrome
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted June 22, 2009 07:49 PM
As George Harrison stated ...
All things must pass ...
It's one of the reasons why I would like to get this reel of animated commercials out there on Super 8.
Things tend to follow like domino's. Before we know it, even those who have said that they'll be in the Super 8 film business for the long haul, when they see that the profit margin dwindles more and more, the almighty dollar will sadly have the last word and there will be no more Super 8 film stock produced.
I WILL get my reel of commercials made before then!
It's strange. I have always have a melancholy love for the passing of things ...
The passing of the Old West ...
The passing of the silent era ...
The passing of radio's Golden Age ...
The passing of the American animated cartoon studio's ...
The passing of the age of Super 8?
An earlier, simpler time, with it's simpler pleasures, is replaced by the quicker paced, hi-tech age ...
But ohhh ... how much do we truly lose, in favor of the next age?
We have a clearer digital image on a DVD, to be sure ...
But where is the reel changes?
The unkeep and care of those projectors?
What is left?
Insert disc, push play, and lie back in our Lazy-boys, while the next phase of modernization will insert disc, push play ...
and make ourselves, obselete.
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted June 22, 2009 10:44 PM
You know Steve, we really aren't all that far from that today, as I'm sure you well know.
Most people, whether young or old, believe everything they are spoon fed whether on the networks or beyond.
The attention span has went to bountiful to nearly a split second, and that, only long enough to see something go "Boom" or entrails splattering across the screen.
It is a fact, that this present generation of young people coming up, is the first generation in years that will actually have a shorter life span than they're parents; due to they're sedentary stationing before the video screen.
and, if I have properly stocked up on lamps and such, I'll be the old crank with one of those old shiny metal things, with strange discs on each end, magically projecting images on walls and such, and they will stare, drooling and proclaiming ...
" Oooh, Purdy! "
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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John Hermes
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 139
From: La Mesa, CA, USA
Registered: Nov 2008
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posted June 22, 2009 11:10 PM
Kodachrome was a beautiful thing, especially the 1950s version, before Kodachrome II in 1961. I transfer films for a living and have seen hundreds of thousands(maybe a million)of feet of Kodachrome from the 1930s-1980s. Sometimes, well-exposed, in focus, 16mm Kodachrome from the 1940s-1950s has a dreamlike quality. I remember once transferring a particularly good batch from the this period. I made a DVD of it and watched it on my DLP projector. It was like being transported back to those peaceful, slower-paced days, which people who lived back then will remember.
The filmstock didn't have much exposure latitude and an ASA of only 10, but when the photographer nailed the right settings, there's nothing like it. There's a psychological feeling to Kodachrome which no other film or video seems to have. The replacement Ektachrome 64 is a definite step backwards. The color is okay but it's too grainy and just doesn't have the "look". I mourn the loss of this wonderful invention.
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John Hermes
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Paul Adsett
Film God
Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted June 23, 2009 09:20 AM
I share your sentiments John. There will never be anything to compare with Kodachrome film. It was the equivalent of Technicolor to the home movie maker. As you point out, Kodachrome had very little exposure latitude, so you had to really know what you were doing to get a great picture. You had to learn about film speed, apertures, depth of focus, shutter speed, and parallax in those days. So you took great care on every shot to get it just right. As a result, your films usually looked great with steady camera work and short well exposed shots. And, most subjects were carefully spliced and edited and kept mercifully brief .
Contrast that with todays home videos - hours and hours of endless, monotonous, panning and tilting, and talking heads, with no careful composition or editing.
You tell me which is the best.
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The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj
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