Melbourne Super 8 Film Group

[Rodney Bourke]

The Melbourne Super 8 Film Group was a co-operative group of filmmakers (using the Super 8 medium) that existed between 1986 and 2001, and it was very dynamic (in the days before digital cameras), publishing a newsletter/magazine each month, having screenings each month, a big festival each year, and also programming films within Melbourne International Film Festival.

As part of his "Shoring Project", Dirk de Bruyn has scanned nearly all the newsletters and released them on Vimeo.

Here are Dirk's notes on this archive -

"I have animated the Melbourne Super 8 Film Group Newsletters (1986-2001) as a 4k Vimeo. It is not really meant to be watched but scrolled through frame by frame. This is the first move in bringing a compacted Research Archive, an invisible history of innovative film culture in Melbourne to public international access. Please use. For extended use I recommend you download in 4K to have greatest frame to frame control of this document. These pages will eventually be available on the Melbourne Independent Filmmakers website in more accessible form (PDFs), thanks to Bill Mousoulis, the MS8FG founder. I thank Jim Bridges for his collaboration in this project. I thank Chris Windmill for lending me the bulk of the newsletters."


When you click the link to Vimeo, next to Volume, is Symbol called Settings, were you can slow down the SPEED, to 0.5x and also choose quality at 4K. And pause to read, it goes very Fast. Starts after 10 seconds.

[Ed Gordon]

The link to the video is: https://vimeo.com/793526440

If you want to download it, go to https://www.4kdownload.com/downloads/34# and download and install 4K Video Downloader. You will be able to download the video in 4K.

To view the video frame by frame use Media Player Classic - BE which can be downloaded from https://sourceforge.net/projects/mpcbe/

[Rodney Bourke]

"The Melbourne Super 8 Film Group" First started by Bill Mousoulis at RMIT University Melbourne VIC, Australia.

They met every 2nd Tuesday of the Month for 16 years, every film Screening was like a Mini Film Festival, plus they had Film Festivals too.

Here in PDF Form is every MS8FG Newsletter all 170 Issues of them from 1986 to 2001



https://innersense.com.au/super8/newsletters.html

[Juergen Kellermann]

What a strange way to release a printed publication online...

Why not just do it as PDF. At least everyone could read it then without problems.

[David Kilderry]

I attended a few of the Melbourne Super 8 Film Group screenings and also saw a few of their Super 8 films at the Melbourne International Film Festival. One of the things that caused it to wind down was the withdrawal of Super 8 sound film cartridges. Most of the screenings that they presented that I saw were in this format.

[Joerg Polzfusz]

What a strange way to release a printed publication online...

Why not just do it as PDF. At least everyone could read it then without problems.

Just click onto „direct PDF download“

[Rodney Bourke]

Here is an ad from the 80's listed are Camera Houses, for Victoria in the Country and Metropolitan Melbourne.

[Rodney Bourke]

Also Teds Camera stores across Melbourne, more places to get Super 8 Film, Cameras and Equipment.

[Osi Osgood]

I really don't remember the name of the company, but I once bought a Star Wars part 2 Ken films cinemascope print from "Down Under", late 80's, and I always wondered what happened to the company later on. I wonder if it might even still exist today?

[Winbert Hutahaean]

I really don't remember the name of the company, but I once bought a Star Wars part 2 Ken films cinemascope print from "Down Under", late 80's, and I always wondered what happened to the company later on. I wonder if it might even still exist today?

Osi, that must be Aussie's "Films On Super 8" based in Sydney (It is at 563 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills, Sydney). Even their website is still active to date although I am not sure if they are sill selling:

https://filmsonsuper8.com/

Cheers,
winbert

[Osi Osgood]

Thanks Winbert! 😁

[Rodney Bourke]

The "8mm Film Centre" above was the Biggest Film Shop in Melbourne Victoria,
selling Full Length Movies as well as Shorts in 50 feet, 200 feet and 400 Foot film.

But the Largest Super 8 Film Distributor in Australia was "The Home Talkie Co of Aust"
in Sydney, New South Wales. I'll put up their ad in Sydney Super 8 Film Group page.
I last visited them in person around 1995, and bought many Super 8 Films all Mint New all
Sealed in Shink Wrap Plastic. And I saw 1000's of Super 8 films all Sealed on many rows of Shelves.
I believe the above company mentioned by Winbert in NSW has taken them over,
as all the films they sell are Mint New all Sealed in Shink Wrap Plastic.
Even though Sealed would this stop Colour Films from turning Red, as many Have after some 40 years ?

[David Kilderry]

The Eight Millimetre Film Centre was an amazing place. Even in the late 1970s they always had quite a few affordable used Super 8 films as they encouraged trade-ins on new prints. I bought many digests, cartoons, boxing films, docos etc both new and used from them over the years. They remained in business right through the 1980s but their shop closed around 1984. The shop walls were lined with racks and racks of film and they were always good with advice and provided great service too. Pam Sanson was the lady that ran it and her father had run a large photographic store that sold film and projectors years before. Her brother William (who I knew well) was a newsreel cameraman for Movietone News here in Melbourne.