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rewinding carts?


Liam Dale

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Well, my main use of it was on a science-fiction film, so weirdness didn't hurt. There was a LOT of jarring in that picture, some of it intentional. Sound stripe doesn't much like four-frame jump cuts; the projector's not that keen, either. Still, it was good fun and it got me into film school ;)

I did manage a fade-in and -out for the superimposed white titles, though, accomplished, in the absence of aperture control, with a Heath Robinson strip of plastic, spray-paint graduated from clear to black, drawn through a matte box while the camera ran.

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  • 13 years later...

This is a great discussion and I am also interested in rewinding Super-8mm film. There has got to be a way - like, a cartridge that can be opened and closed easily (like the reloadable film cartridges) and the user would be able to open, rewind, reload.

But what no one answered yet is why it wouldn't be possible to just rewind by cranking the cartridge's spool in the other direction, before reaching the end of the film? So you'd lose maybe half a foot of film to make sure it's still spooled on one end and then just "rewind" it?
Any modern screwdriver with a large flat screwhead would do the job...

Has anyone tried that?

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Early methods to rewind a portion of Super 8mm cartridge film was basically to stop the film core from rotating by taping it over......filming up to 300 frames and then via cartridge removal, use a specially made device such as the EWA Film Rewinder or Craven Film Rewinder.   Going the full maximum of 300 frames though could sometimes cause marks on the film due to the bunching up inside.  

    The Super 8mm cartridge is a coaxial design, in which film runs from one side of the cartridge through a somewhat torturous path, to the take up core side of the cartridge.  There isn't any feasible method of fully rewinding the film within the cartridge.

- - -> However, the cartridge can be opened carefully in a darkroom, the film removed and rewound and reinstalled back into the cartridge.  I have been doing this for over 40 years, also as a lab service to a few customers that have wanted this done.   Using this method, it is possible to do a variety of effects, such as burning in Titles, Split Screens, mat effects etc.   It is best to experiment with some scrap film in room light to understand how to do this and practice.   The process is a bit involved but very doable, and once mastered can be done in under an hour's time, which includes cartridge opening and resealing after reloading the film.  It also is very helpful if you have an old video camera with Infrared Dark viewing, mounted on a tripod in front of your work table so you can see in the dark and avoid mistakes.  I have a couple that don't record, so was able to buy them cheap off EBay just to use as a Darkroom Camera for doing just such specialized work.

    It also is important to have some backup cartridges since survival of the original one after opening can be a 50/50 possibility.  Once a cartridge has been carefully opened and prepped for reuse, it can easily be reloaded and reused many times.  I still have the very first 2 cartridges I began with and reloaded them several times, and they worked fine each time.  So much for a cheap piece of plastic.......quite sturdy actually and can last for many years.   The former Super 8mm Sound Cartridges are even easier to open, and they have a reversable rachet design.  The Silent Super 8mm cartridges have a non-reversable rachet.   For some uses, this can be disabled by rotating the core counter-clockwise which defeats the rachet by bending it back a little.....allowing limited film rewinding without having to tape the core over to keep it from moving.  

    Anyhow, so yes, it is very possible to rewind a Super 8mm cartridge, and it can be done numerous times as well to allow all kinds of special effects work.

Edited by Martin Baumgarten
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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 months later...

I managed to do a full double exposure take!
Cutting the lenscap in half worked beautifully for the splitscreen, and after practicing for a while with a another cartridge + a leftover film I managed to do the film rewinding in the dark.
I did buy an infrared camera in case the rewinding would be too hard to do, but I thought the light coming from the viewfinder was too strong and reflected from the wall (ok I did it in my bathroom). I'll post an image of my setup in which I made a contraption for reversing the film and getting it off without a core.
(Unfortunately I developed the film with the emulsion on the inside in my tank so there's a black line on the side, didn't know about that, but in general the whole process works beautifully).

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