Super 8

[Guest ric]

Hi,

 

i am ric and into Super8 - pretty experimental - interested in celluloid/emulsion effects

 

glad to find this site

 

:)

 

bests in 2006!

 

r

[Mike Crane]

Hi Ric,

 

For an intense effect, try spraying a small amount of bleach on your film and washing it off. It produces a blotchy spotted effect you might find interesting. Keep in mind that this will permanently alter your film. So, you should test it on some old film first.

 

If you are interested some interesting (non digital) effects without damaging the film you might want to try some telecine at Spectra. They put plastic, filters and other stuff in their telecine gate to produce effects both bizarre and subtle. Movement is sometimes used to produce exposure flare effects. The result is more of an organtic look that blends better with film.

 

You can also try gluing cellophane of different colors to the film. I have also seen some also scratch and soil the film on purpose for a more dated look.

[Guest ric]

Hi Mike,

 

bleach sounds cool - thanks!

 

on a film course i was shown how to 'solarise' film by exposing the raw footage - but you need a ciné developing tank for this. painting acrylic on emulsion can also give some pretty interesting effects (shrinks the emulsion); yes, i heard of someone who buries film in order to organically deteriorate it.

 

very flexible medium - 8mm!

 

bests + thanks again,

 

ric

 

 

 

Hi Ric,

 

For an intense effect, try spraying a small amount of bleach on your film and washing it off. It produces a blotchy spotted effect you might find interesting. Keep in mind that this will permanently alter your film. So, you should test it on some old film first.

 

If you are interested some interesting (non digital) effects without damaging the film you might want to try some telecine at Spectra. They put plastic, filters and other stuff in their telecine gate to produce effects both bizarre and subtle. Movement is sometimes used to produce exposure flare effects. The result is more of an organtic look that blends better with film.

 

You can also try gluing cellophane of different colors to the film. I have also seen some also scratch and soil the film on purpose for a more dated look.

[Mark Dunn]

It's trickier on Super-8, but I've just tried scratching straight onto black 16mm. leader and you get a lovely 'breathing' sort of animation. Kind of like the paper animation I used to do on Super-8 when it didn't cost a small fortune and arrived back through the letterbox in a few days. Ah nostalgia! Still, at least equipment is cheap now- I've recently got a Steenbeck for £75 and a pic-sync for £1. (One pound). And the black leader was 4p a foot, all off ebay. More power to you. Who needs a camera anyway?