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Printing, Printing Services & Printing Machines


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Hi. I'm a newbie to cinemetography. I have an idea for a product. I'm far from establishing market viability and the whole project could easily die the death.  It would first require making picture negatives (copies) of positive stock  Of course, the picture negative(s) would then need to be developed into positive stock. I think the picture negatives would be called duplicates. So, in the first instance I'm trying to make dupe negatives from a master positive print  (a print not a master negative) .  At least that's my current understanding gained from the book "Basic Motion Picture Technology" I just recently acquired.  It is imagined, that the "master positive" would be bought from a retailer who sells films .  Or made new by a cinematographer. So, I'm talking about printing and printing machines.  Specifically, the continuous printing type of machine which is the most suitable type I believe . Firstly, can continuos printing machines still bought that can make copies of super 8mm film? Can they be" homebrewed"? Thank you. Rich

 

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Richard,

I am not being condescending or dismissive of your ideas, but  you are about 70 to 100 years too late to the game.  All this has come and gone;  the machinery is rare, the duplicating film stocks required for color work are long since discontinued and the market for film copies is practically non-existent. 

What exactly are you trying to do?  Are you hoping to dupe and sell old 8mm copies of films sold for home projection?

Like I say, I am just trying to understand your end-goals;  maybe then I can offer some useful suggestions.

Frank

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Hi. I understand the situation. If anyone is going to make use of super 8mm film, or if anyone is trying to create new demand for super 8mm film, an entirely new market would need to be created  I should talk to someone who might have the knack of calling out whether the market is likely or unlikely viable. In my particular case, confidentiality would be essential.  The assumption would be that  new film stock demand might lower it's costs. Theoretically it would, but who knows if practically costs would come down. But, if there are no duplicating machines, nothing can be done. Maybe I should contact Cinematography.com, place it under confidentiality, then explain my idea, and get it's input.

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Richard,

I see.  I wish you luck, but would council that you first become acquainted with what it actually takes to copy film properly.  There are underlying principals in film stock duplication, in both physical transport and color science, that are not readily apparent to casual observation. 

It is not a trivial task, nor is developing a new film stock.

I will also state that the lack of copying services for 8mm film is not due to a lack of knowledge, skill or even equipment (although it would take great effort  and expense to assemble such a service), it is due to the lack of consumers who would be willing to pay the actual cost of such a service. 

Good luck.

 

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if your goal is to make new Super 8 Prints, you may want to check used book stores for books about how it was done in the prime days of Super 8.  typically the starting point was a low contrast negative made from original sources.  the Negative might have been larger than super 8, (16mm or 35mm) and optically printed on Super 8 perforated stock.  Super 8 print stock would typcally be be 16mm wide with two rows of perforations, or even 35mm wide with 4 rows of perforations and a "discard strip" with another row, which would be cut off and discarded after processing.  (try to find a 1970-ish copy of "eastman motion picture films for professional use" )

as far as making copies from existing super 8 Prints, have you considered that in many countries the copyright laws give the rights to make copies exclusively to the copyright holder for up to 95 years?  if you were to negotiate permission, the copyright holder whould no dount perfer that there work be presented in the best light, again wanting prints made from 16 or 35mm pre-print material.

the lightest objection, that their is no longer any available print stock, may be overcome as their are a few die-hard firms who can perforate any stock in almost any perforation, although to get unperforated stock from Kodak will likely require a large special order and also some assurance that the project will not cause any harm to their reputation.

 

 

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