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The AWARD WINNING super 8 short film THE LAST RESORT


Lance Lucero

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Amazing things are happening with super 8.  What started as an experiment, and then turned into a production, was my short western film THE LAST RESORT.  I acquired a CANON 1014 XL-S.  I primarily shoot film, so i knew that I was going to shoot something, but I didn't know what, until I took a hike at Castlewood Canyon in Colorado. I ran across this amazing ruin and immediately made a decision to shoot a western there.  After I staged a test shoot on location using a roll of Kodak 7266 Tri-X, had it processed and scanned, I fully released the possibilities of super 8.  The film looked amazing!  I completed the film in 2019 and it has been making the rounds in the festival circuit since.  The film won the BEST IN PRIZE and the AUDIENCE AWARD at the UNITED STATES SUPER 8 FILM & DIGITAL VIDEO FESTIVAL, the biggest and oldest super 8 film festival in the country, if not the world.  We are very proud of our cool little western film!  Although I'm back to shooting 16mm, I have to shoot more super 8.  Who else out there is producing projects on super 8...?

THE LAST RESORT teaser:

 

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Thank you.  The Canon 1014XL-S can record sound, but I did not record any sound while filming.  I shot the film at 24fps and recorded all dialog in post production.  I "looped" the footage and had the performers say their lines about three times each and synced what worked to the proper take.  All sound effects are canned.  The complete mix and sound design was manufactured at Warehouse 9 Productions, Ltd.  It was really fun!

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Very cool! I've been shooting some super 8 recently to compare modern stocks to 16mm for my new YouTube series. Doing Ektachrome first and then come color negative. Trying to convince people that shooting 16mm isn't much more money per finished minute of film @ 24fps, but you get WAY more information. I personally haven't shot a narrative on super 8 before, it seems tricky to me due to the camera limitations like being able to run sync sound and such. However, I envy anyone who is willing to take the risk and make a project like this, so bravo for that alone! 

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Thanks!  I'm trying to convince new film/movie makers as well that super 8 an 16mm is more cost effective than people think...  It's hard fighting the HD invasion... 

Super 8 is not as limiting as you/people might think.  All the dissolves in my short film THE LAST RESORT (except for one) were done in camera withe the lap dissolve button.  My Aaton LTR can't do that.  Plus, using a separate sound unit is common in film/movie making and super 8 cameras that have sound capabilities are "blimped" enough to record while shooting.

As far a 16mm, I have been shooting it again.  My latest film is called THE UNMENTIONABLES and it is in the festival circuit at present.  I used the same film stock as did for the last resort, 7266 Tri-X reversal Film.  Man, I love both formats!

Here's a the teaser for THE UNMENTIONABLES:

 

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6 hours ago, Lance Lucero said:

Thanks!  I'm trying to convince new film/movie makers as well that super 8 an 16mm is more cost effective than people think...  It's hard fighting the HD invasion... 

Oh I wasn't trying to say that film was cost effective against digital cinema, no comparison. Digital cinema is practically free compared to film, especially with longer projects and good cinematographers. For instance, my last short (mind you it was 35mm) cost us around $6k to produce on film. Our next short is going to be shot with an Alexa Mini LF with anamorphic lenses and our budget is half that, for a more complicated shoot. If cost savings is your thing, digital is the only way to go really. 

My comment was about super 8 vs 16mm and cost per finished minute of film @ 24fps. A lot of people shoot super 8 because they don't know that 16mm can be shot for basically the same price cost per finished minute @ 24fps.

6 hours ago, Lance Lucero said:

Super 8 is not as limiting as you/people might think.  All the dissolves in my short film THE LAST RESORT (except for one) were done in camera withe the lap dissolve button.  My Aaton LTR can't do that.  Plus, using a separate sound unit is common in film/movie making and super 8 cameras that have sound capabilities are "blimped" enough to record while shooting.

I mean if you're shooting "in camera only" meaning not editing anything, then yea I can see how a dissolve in camera could be nice. But nobody really shoots that way. You really can't when you're doing multiple takes of a scene. Plus you don't want to bake in your edit, so you can't make changes later, that's how you get stuck with lousy product sometimes. 

Yea, you can blimp the super 8 cameras, but the sound will fall out of sync because they aren't crystal locked. It's kind of a problem with all non-sync sound cameras of any type/format. Motor's generally don't run at a perfect 24fps unless they have that crystal sync module. This is one of the reasons sound on film was developed, that and of course ease of use. 

6 hours ago, Lance Lucero said:

As far a 16mm, I have been shooting it again.  My latest film is called THE UNMENTIONABLES and it is in the festival circuit at present.  I used the same film stock as did for the last resort, 7266 Tri-X reversal Film.  Man, I love both formats!

 

Nice! You sure like reversal! I had to use it when I was younger, but haven't in over 20 years. I have shot some B&W negative, it's so nice and smooth, without the sharp bite of contrast from reversal. It's hard to go back to reversal after shooting that stuff. Watch 'The Lighthouse" just amazing beauty captured in that movie with Kodak 5222. 

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11 hours ago, Lance Lucero said:

Thanks!  I'm trying to convince new film/movie makers as well that super 8 an 16mm is more cost effective than people think...  It's hard fighting the HD invasion... 

How much was all the film to shoot your short?

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 4/1/2021 at 7:03 PM, Tyler Purcell said:

This was the last time I shot it... but this is a bit cheating because some of it is color negative turned B&W for the sake of higher ISO and more dynamic range in dark scenes. 

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/71441272

"you are unauthorized for this action"

Is there a password or something? 

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

For those interested, here's an opportunity to see the award winning short film (shot on film) THE LAST RESORT virtually at the GeekFest Film Festival Year 8 (June 4-6) hosted by itsashort.com.  You can purchase a $4.99 festival pass and watch THE LAST RESORT along with twelve other short movies.  There will be a creator panel on June 5 at high noon (mountain time) as well.

https://itsashort.com/geekfest

Thanks for your support.

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  • 4 weeks later...
THE LAST RESORT short film (shot on film) will be live again!  There's nothing cooler than watching your film on the big screen with a live audience.  Action On Film Mega Fest, July 29th, Las Vegas, NV.  Miracle Makers Int. Film Fest, July 28th, Las Vegas, NV.
GeekFilmFests, Orlando MegaCon, Orlando, FL, July 8-11th.
 
Watch the teaser: https://vimeo.com/364828403
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On 4/1/2021 at 10:38 AM, Lance Lucero said:

Thanks!  I'm trying to convince new film/movie makers as well that super 8 an 16mm is more cost effective than people think...  It's hard fighting the HD invasion... 

Super 8 is not as limiting as you/people might think.  All the dissolves in my short film THE LAST RESORT (except for one) were done in camera withe the lap dissolve button.  My Aaton LTR can't do that.  Plus, using a separate sound unit is common in film/movie making and super 8 cameras that have sound capabilities are "blimped" enough to record while shooting.

As far a 16mm, I have been shooting it again.  My latest film is called THE UNMENTIONABLES and it is in the festival circuit at present.  I used the same film stock as did for the last resort, 7266 Tri-X reversal Film.  Man, I love both formats!

Here's a the teaser for THE UNMENTIONABLES:

 

THE UNMENTIONABLES short film (shot on film) will be live!  There's nothing cooler than watching your film on the big screen with a live audience.  Action On Film Mega Fest, July 29th, Las Vegas, NV.

 
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  • 1 month later...
On 6/27/2021 at 11:43 AM, Lance Lucero said:
THE LAST RESORT short film (shot on film) will be live again!  There's nothing cooler than watching your film on the big screen with a live audience.  Action On Film Mega Fest, July 29th, Las Vegas, NV.  Miracle Makers Int. Film Fest, July 28th, Las Vegas, NV.
GeekFilmFests, Orlando MegaCon, Orlando, FL, July 8-11th.
 
Watch the teaser: https://vimeo.com/364828403

I'm pleased to announce that THE LAST RESORT won BEST SHORT, AOF 2020 and Best Experimental Film (the film is not experimental, but okay) Miracle Makers IFF 2021 last week in Las Vegas.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Correction...  DUFF has been rescheduled.  There is not an exact schedule of what is playing on what days yet...

The festival venues and times are as follows:

Thursday December 9
Althea Center Auditorium
1400 N Williams St, Denver, CO 80218
Filmmakers reception: 6:00 PM
Show Time: 7:00 PM
Free parking available at the venue.
The auditorium is located downstairs. 
No ADA access available.

Saturday and Sunday December 11 and 12
Foss Auditorium at the American Mountaineering Center
710 10th Street Golden, CO 80401
Schedule for both nights:
Filmmakers reception: 6:00 PM 
Show Time: 7:00 PM
The auditorium is located in the second floor. 
No ADA access available.

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The award winning western short film (shot on film) THE LAST RESORT will play at the Los Angeles Comic Con December 3rd. If you're going to attend the con, swing on over to the Geekfest screening area and check out the film and other great movies! By the way, distributors, this film is DELIVERABLE READY. Do not fear film!

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  • 3 weeks later...

The award winning western short film (shot on film) THE LAST RESORT will be playing FOUR times in December!

12/01/2021, FlickFair virtually.  flickfair.com


12/04/2021, L.A. Comic Con. If you are going to be at the con, head over to screening room 405!


12/9-12/2021, The Denver premiere - Denver Underground film Festival.  Check the website for locations, times, and ticket info.  https://www.duffcinema.org/


12/18-19/2021, Comic Con Revolution Ontario (CA).

Seriously, this is huge! If you have a chance, check out this film!

Oh, if there are any distributors that are not afraid of REAL film, this picture is DELIVERABLE READY.

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

We rocked The Bug Theatre last night in downtown Denver! Our award winning western film (shot on film) THE LAST RESORT was a hit! What a great venue! The audience was amazing! So many questions about shooting on REAL FILM. There's nothing better than watching your film in a theater! FILM RULES! This film is deliverable ready.

 

The_Bug_Theatre_01

 

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