Lighting for B/W 8mm

[Hayley Grant]

Hi,

I am planning on shooting a short film on my Bolex B8. It takes double run 8mm film. I want to shoot in black and white (film stock I can find for my camera includes Fomapan reversal 100, Fomapan negative 100, and Fomapan negative T200). I am relatively new to shooting on 8mm and I was wondering if anyone had any tips for me, especially in regards to the best way to light for B/W 8mm?

I hope to get as sharp an image possible, I understand that shooting at a higher aperture will help, and that using newer lenses will also help (although I do not plan on purchasing new lenses). I love high contrast images but I am not sure how well I will be able to achieve this with 8mm.

Is there anything in particular I should keep in mind when I am lighting? Is one of the film stocks I mentioned better to use than the others?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[David Mullen ASC]

B&W reversal is sharper, you just have to nail the contrast levels and exposure.

 

You need a strong key light -- when I started out in Super-8, I had a 650w open face tungsten light that I found in a garage sale for $5, which I used for everything. Then when the bulb finally burned out, it turned out the replacement was $25!

 

I don't know the Fomapan stocks, I used to shoot mostly on Kodak Plus-X Reversal.