8mm Forum: The Romance Is Missing

»	8mm Forum » General Yak » The Romance Is Missing (Page 3)

UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3

Author

Topic: The Romance Is Missing

Tom Spielman
Master Film Handler

Posts: 339
From: Minneapolis, MN, USA
Registered: Apr 2016

posted June 06, 2016 07:46 AM

Dave, you're exactly right. For most people (even outside their 20's), it's just pictures on a screen. They don't care about the technology behind it. They're there to enjoy the imagery, the story, the characters, and to step outside their normal lives for a couple of hours.

Digital technology makes it a little bit easier for independent, low budget filmmakers to get their work seen but whether digital or film, the technology is only a small piece of the puzzle. Creating a movie that somebody would be willing to show in a cinema is no small feat.

However, even prior to the digital age plenty of bad films were made. MST3000 wouldn't have existed if that weren't true.

| IP: Logged

William Olson
Master Film Handler

Posts: 287
From: Poughkeepsie, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2010

posted June 06, 2016 08:57 AM

Happy Birthday Ken!

Just a note to all: I have spent years professionally transferring home movie film to VHS and then DVD. Some film dating back to the 1930's. I would say that most of the films were in beautiful condition after 20-70 years. Those that weren't had clearly been stored under adverse conditions. Yes, I used current technology to transfer them. However, without those beautiful originals there would be no moving images of the past. Are they obsolete? Just sayin'.

| IP: Logged

Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 06, 2016 09:12 AM

They aren't obsolete, they have been obsolete-ed.

-but the joy of it is they will never become more "obsolete" than they are now, so people that are fond of them aren't waiting around for the next new thing so we can shove it all out to the curb.

We watched "The Martian" on Blu-ray last night: love the movie, also read the novel in about a week.

-after we were done I watched a couple of films.

You would think after that much "screen time" I would have had my fill!

--------------------
All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

| IP: Logged

John Hourigan
Master Film Handler

Posts: 301
From: Colorado U.S.A.
Registered: Sep 2003

posted June 07, 2016 09:49 AM

I don't read any of the posts in this discussion as "trashing the past" or indicating that any format is "obsolete." What I do see is the natural progression of technology in life.

Heck, I still listen to AM radio, but that doesn't mean I don't partake in other options that provide better audio quality. Same goes with my film collecting pursuits -- I enjoy film, but have absolutely incorporated digital into my screening pursuits, and have never looked back. To excerpt Paul Adsett from earlier in this thread if I may, "... there is no way that I would want to go back to pre-digital projection days .... My home cinema never looked or sounded so good." I wholeheartedly agree.

In terms of the loss of "specialness," "romance," or "magic" of film-making or screenings, that's just the natural progression of technology. When radio first came out, groups of people would gather around the radio as it was a "special" "event" in those early days -- now radio is everywhere and, as a result, it has progressed beyond the "event" stage. The same can be said for cars, microwaves, televisions, etc. -- these modern conveniences have now become an integral part of everyday life, and have progressed, and rightly so, beyond the "specialness" phase of when these technologies were first introduced. Film is no different in that regard.

I think the real difference that comes into play is that some people appear to constantly view everything through the lens of pining for the nostalgia of the past. While to each his/her own, life is way too short to constantly be looking in the "rear-view mirror" rather than looking forward and enjoying all that life has to offer today.

| IP: Logged

Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 07, 2016 10:41 AM

Sometimes I think part of the appeal is the obsolescence: the challenge of making something grown scarce work, and not just a display.

Look at it this way: if you COULD still go down to your local Ford dealer and pick up a brand new Model "T", would it have any appeal at all?

"I want a car with GPS and this one doesn't even have a heater!"

-but as something that you can't have anymore without it being kind of an achievement, it becomes a passion.

I did film back when it was the only game in town, but the nostalgia is part of the appeal to me as well.

--------------------
All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

| IP: Logged

Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted June 07, 2016 12:05 PM

Yes Ken, there is defintely some nolstalgia, with a little bit of 'things were just made better back then" thought process. [Smile]

--------------------
"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

| IP: Logged

Tom Spielman
Master Film Handler

Posts: 339
From: Minneapolis, MN, USA
Registered: Apr 2016

posted June 07, 2016 12:45 PM

quote:
Sometimes I think part of the appeal is the obsolescence: the challenge of making something grown scarce work, and not just a display.

Yes. This is very much a part of the appeal for me.

quote:
... -but as something that you can't have anymore without it being kind of an achievement, it becomes a passion.

I did film back when it was the only game in town, but the nostalgia is part of the appeal to me as well.

Also true for me, except that I wish that obtaining and processing Super 8 film didn't require as much of a financial achievement as it now does. [Big Grin]

| IP: Logged

All times are Central

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3

Printer-friendly view of this topic

UBB.classic^TM 6.3.1.2