Author
|
Topic: Super 8 v 16mm v 35mm
|
|
Jean-Marc Toussaint
Film God
Posts: 2392
From: France
Registered: Oct 2004
|
posted March 06, 2008 12:07 PM
Robert, each and every day, I am amazed by the quantity of titles that have been released in super 8. Some films I won't keep as I am not a big fan of the original feature, but still, I always get the projector ready. There's nothing like watching a 400fter for the first time, just to see what kind of a process the editor went through to get below the 20 minutes running time bar.
I recently acquired a bunch of reels from Craig off that auction site we all love to hate. There were titles in there I had no idea they existed on super 8 and there were films in there I had no idea they existed at all! I guess this is all part of the fun.
Sure, if we exclude the dreaded fade parameter, 16 and 35 win hands down as far as pic quality is concerned. Recent titles are difficult to get but we managed to awe our audiences these past few weeks with screenings of films that had been released a few months ago. But, here's an anecdote that happened just this afternoon. A friend of mine, who runs a cinema near my home came for coffee. He was bringing his print of "North by Northwest" on 35 which we are planning to screen next week. And we ended up watching the "pod race" extract from Star Wars Episode I on super 8.
Super 8 is in our heart, as the true original home cinema format...
-------------------- The Grindcave Cinema Website
| IP: Logged
|
|
Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
|
posted March 06, 2008 01:04 PM
What stuns me is just how affordable 35MM can be. A few years back, I saw a print of "Gorky Park" on ebay, for 50.00, on 35MM. Since I had always been a fan of this film, I decided to try for it and was stunned to actually purchase it for that one bid of 50.00! It was a lpp print with perfect color in the "letterboxed ratio". I ended up selling it a few months later for 100.00, and I kind of wish I had kept it ...
... but I still see 35MM prints going for a lot less than I would think. Strangely enough, in many cases, Super 8, though not up to 35MM (obviously) tends to keep it's value, especially when considering those scope features.
-------------------- "All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
| IP: Logged
|
|
Graham Ritchie
Film God
Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006
|
posted March 06, 2008 01:31 PM
Hi Robert I think the limits in each of the film formats in part is what material is available to the collector and what they are interested in. I use all three, Super8, 16mm and 35mm, with 35mm for most people is not practical, the projectors are noisy so you really need a projection box, even just one feature can take up a lot of room, thats the down side, however the print quality is stunning.
With 16mm what I have found is the wear on the films "past owners" sprocket hole damage etc is far more of a problem than Super8 on the plus side with 16mm is the odd scratch is less likely to show up as bad as Super8 and a good 16mm print in flat or Scope can look really good.
Super8 still has a lot going for it, there are films on Super8 you will never see on any other format, eg many short interest films, also the Derann Disney films are stunning with better picture and sound than 16mm.
It was interesting to read the end credits on a TV programme lately an Australian short film about people recounting there early childhood the end credits stated it was filmed in Super8 Kodachrome even mentiond the name of the Super8 projectionist.
Graham.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
Larry Arpin
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 953
From: Sunland, CA, USA
Registered: Dec 2006
|
posted March 06, 2008 11:12 PM
I'm always stunned at the prices that 16mm goes for on Ebay. A LPP Tom & Jerry cartoon just ended for $119. LPP prints of Ray Harryhausen films have gone for $1300(Golden Voyage) & $2000(Mysterious Island). I have a moderate collcetion of super 8mm, only 3 features, about 8 400 footers and a dozen 200 foot cartoons. On 16mm I have about a dozen features, mostly Harryhausen, both Jolson features, Heston feature, Disney's Pecos Bill, & 3 Mouse & Motorcycle TV specials. The only 35mm film I have is my own, still in progress. Although I'd love to get more I don't go crazy on buying films, especially when I have my own to finish.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|