Michael Ryan

Some of my super 8 shorts are available on-line at:

http://exposure.cbc.ca/user/friendly-fire

 

There are 13 shorts in total. Puta, the Door, Kettle On, 40 Winks of Fury, Taste Test, Feet First, Handsurdity and Hi Lights were shot on super 8. The others are 16mm (Brickenstocks is analogue video).

 

These were uploaded as part of a competition. I didn't win anything but Good Night was aired nationally.

 

Rick

Hello Rick,

Wow! Nicely done. The CBC has a really nice site to show off these films.

Rick, I have a question about PUTA. I assume that was shot in Super-Duper 8, but it looks much wider than SLEEP ALWAYS. To my eye it looks like it's just over a 2:1 aspect ratio. Was that shot with a different camera than SLEEP ALWAYS? I noticed in some shots you could see the sprocket holes and others you could not.

Great video by the way, very well shot (the music was not my taste).

Mike

I am looking to acquire a Leicina Special so I can use interchangable lenses, and I found one on eBay now with an Optivaron 1.8/6-66mm lense in excellent condition for a Buy it now price of $745.00USD. It's in Budapest and Im in California, so Im sure the shipping cost will be expensive. Is this a decent deal or can I do better for a camera of this caliber? I am looking for input regarding this price vs other Leicina Specials, not silly debates about how I should get a Beaulieu instead. I don't want a Beaulieu, I want the Special. Any input is appreciated!

Hello Matthew,

I wouldn't bid on that item from that seller for a few reasons. First, that seller has only sold about 35 items which isn't many on eBay, so his "trust" factor is small. Second, he doesn't take PayPal as a form of payment. PayPal is a company that is owned by eBay and is very safe and secure. If you pay through PayPal your item is covered in case of a variety of reasons. Which means that you will normally get your money back if things go wrong. That seller only takes money order which means if anything goes wrong, if he doesn't give your money back, you are out of luck.

Also, that seller has tried to sell that same camera two other times in the last 30 days on eBay with no bidders. Both times the opening bid was 650.00. That tells you that 650.00 is too much for that camera.

For my money I would buy a Canon 1014XLS which is an outstanding Super-8 camera.

I would pass on that auction and wait for another seller and another Leicina Special. Bad things can happen on eBay and how would you feel if you lost that kind of money?

Mike

Hello All,

Just to give Rick some support here, I like the name Super-Duper 8. It brings to mind all those great widescreen names from the '50s like Cinearama, VistaVision, Ultra Panavision etc.

You know the old saying, "a rose by any other name..."

How did they come up with the name eBay? Or Bluetooth or iPod. It's just a name and it sticks.

Super duper Mike Ryan

In lieu of a proper meter its close enough for rock and roll yes (even for reversal) - and a little over exposure never hurt anyway...

 

I'm interested though where did you get the figure for the exposure ? - do H8's also have a 135deg shutter angle like the RX windup H16's ? In which case the exposure would be (1/24)*(135/360) = 1/64sec physical... then taking the prism into account >> approx ~1/75sec relative

Hello Nick,

My Bolex H8 Reflex was made in 1962 and has a variable shutter. The front of the manual has a very extensive table for all shutter speeds for all the different frame rates and also the different shutter settings. It also includes the shutter rates with and without the Bolex reflex prism system included. It's quite a list!

I had used this 35mm camera light meter method for another movie camera and the results were very good.

I had never thought of the focal lenght issue before. I imagine it wouldn't really make a big differnece unless the movie camera had a very long focal lenght. My still camera has a 50mm lens.

If anyone is great with math out there, how many tenths of a second could you go before it would make a difference? We might need David Mullen for that...

Mike

Hello All,

I have a Bolex H8 Reflex. I'm shooting with Kodak Ektachrome 100D reversal film. I'm shooting at 24 fps which gives me a shutter speed of 1/112.

I don't have a hand held light meter, but I do have my 35mm still film camera that has a built in light meter. The trouble is I don't have a 1/112 on my still camera, the closest shutter speed is 1/125.

My question is can I use the F stop reading on my still camera (set at 1/125) for my Bolex? I'm thinking that the difference between 1/125 and 1/112 is so small that it won't make a difference?

Thanks for your help.

Mike

Hello Anne,

I'm so sorry to hear of John's passing. You and your family are in our prayers. He was a good man and he will be missed.

At this time words can't really say what needs to be said, but here is something that has always helped me. It's a poem that was written by Mary Elizabeth Frye.

It was read at John Wayne's funeral, which is how I came to know it.

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am in a thousand winds that blow,

I am the softly falling snow.

I am the gentle showers of rain,

I am the fields of ripening grain.

I am in the morning hush,

I am in the graceful rush

Of beautiful birds in circling flight,

I am the starshine of the night.

I am in the flowers that bloom,

I am in a quiet room.

I am in the birds that sing,

I am in each lovely thing.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there. I did not die.

God rest your soul, John.

Mike

Hello Michael,

Contact Bernie O'Doherty at Super 16 Inc for the Super 16 conversion. Bernie has good prices and is, perhaps, the best motion picture repair guy in the world (over 35 years experience). Check out his site here: www.super16inc.com

As someone who grew up in Huntington Beach, good luck with your surf film. Chase the sun, baby!!

Mike

Hello,

There are several good Super-8 repair places, but, you should check out Super 16 Inc. Bernie O'Doherty has 35 years experience with all kinds of motion picture cameras and was even nominated for a technical Oscar. Bernie, is perhaps, the best Super-8 repair guy in the world.

Check out his website at www.super16inc.com

Mike

Hello John,

Keep moving forward. Viva Life!

Mike

Hello All,

For those of you interested in the film work of cinematographer Michael Grady, you should check out the in-depth interview with him in the current issue of SUPER 8 TODAY magazine.

He talks a lot about his work on FACTORY GIRL and a little about BUG (William Friedkin). Also some comments from director George Hickenlooper.

In the same issue is an interview with actor Guy Pearce about playing Andy Warhol in FACTORY GIRL.

You can pick up single issues from eBay or from their website www.super8today.com

Mike

Of course there are resolution limits with anything, particularly a small negative, but Super-8 / 8mm can look pretty detailed, especially in tight shots. But I can't really quantify it for you -- you are pretty much learning the limits by shooting with the camera.

Hello David,

thank you for the response.

Would it be a true statment to say that using an anamorphic lens (with any film format) gives more detail, sharpness than using a spherical lens (both lenses being the same quality)?

I think what I'm trying to get at is: if I had shot the jet with the anamorphic lens and than the regular lens what shot would have looked better (detail wise)?

Mike

Hello David and others,

I have been shooting some film tests with Kodak Regular 8mm color 100D reversal film. I have been shooting this film with a Yashica 8 movie camera from the early '60s. Yashica actually made an anamorphic lens specifically for this camera (strange, but true!). The anamorphic lens has an aspect ratio of 2:1

I have received the film test back from the lab (Nano Lab in Australia, excellent by the way) and have projected it a few times.

So, David and others, is squeezing that much visual information onto an 8mm frame too much for it to really handle? Or is it actually better to have more visual information on the frame via the anamorphic lens.

I projected the film with an anamorphic lens on the projector and the images look really good. 100D is a very fine grain film and the film caught a great amount of detail. I filmed a parked fighter jet and the numbers and decals were very sharp.

I felt the film and lens fell down on the long shots. Shots of a country barn and trees that were several thousand yards away. Perhaps 8mm can't really cope with long shots as the frame is just not big enough to capture detail of trees that take up a very small area of the frame?

In general it seemed that anything that was within 20 feet of the camera turned out very well (color, sharpness, detail).

I was very impressed with how the 100D captured the parked fighter jet. There was a medium shot of the jet with harsh, bright sunlight on the top of the jet (the wing was several feet above my head as I shot). When I viewed the film I was really shocked at how well the under side of the wing came out. It was slightly darker, but lots of detail and not washed out. It looked almost as if I had used a reflector to bring out the detail in the shadows.

Any thoughts or help you can give me will be fantastic. Thank you in advance.

Mike

Hello Mark,

There was an issue of SUPER 8 TODAY that covered, in detail, this very topic. At the moment I can't remember what issue it was.

However, I do have some good news for you. A few years ago if someone told me that they wanted a big, or near big star in their small, independent film I would have laughed very loudly and looked the film maker in the eye and said good luck.

In the last few months I know of two examples that have changed my opinion. I know of one big Hollywood star who did a small, short film for FREE!! I kid you not. I was actually shocked when I found this out.

The vast majority of big stars are not going to do your film, even for money. But, with a good script, professional attitude and the right actor, you do have a shot.

One word of advice, if and when you do find that actor who might do it, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER give up. This method really does work.

Good luck.

Mike

In the above post I simply am reporting a rumour for it's entertainment value.

I personally think Gordon Willis is one of the few geniuses in our profession.

Hello Paul,

Just to clear something up, a reporter reports on the facts, FOX NEWS passes along rumour for it's entertainment value.

Sorry, I couldn't pass that one up...ha ha.

Mike

And I second Matthews "three chreers" Hip Hip Horay!!

John, I would truly enjoy hearing any stories funny or just "slice of life" stuff from your days at the drive in. 67-70, there would have been lots of widescreen stuff on those late nights in Western New York.

Mike

Hello All,

Professor? My kid is still in public school, he is 12.

Well, since I last posted I have found out some very interesting stuff. Now I should add that this stuff only is for Canada I don't know about your neck of the woods.

In Canada there are two companies that license movies to be shown at schools (I didn't know that before). The school pays a yearly fee and they are good for showing Hollywood movies in class. In Canada showing a movie in class is considered a public performance.

Now, here is the interesting part. Even under this program you can not show pirated movies. I spoke to the woman at the company and she said to do so you are breaking the copyright act of Canada. So it was cool to find out that when my son's teacher put on the pirated copy of of PC3 she broke the law and is/was subject to civil and criminal action. Also the criminal act includes the teacher, the principal and the school board.

So in Canada, NO YOU CAN NOT SHOW PIRATED COPIES OF DVDS IN THE CLASS ROOM.

Mike

As a daddy too, and precisely as an elected parent representative of a national federation, I'm astonished you didn't ask the teacher before calling the police ! lol ! What does (s)he say ?

Hello Laurent,

Just to be clear, I didn't call 911 (the emergency line), I just called the general inquiry line just to find out if there was anything illegal about what the teacher did. I wanted to find out before I called the teacher in case she said, "so what". Then I could say, didn't you know that it's a crime in Canada to....

Maybe I could be wrong. Maybe it's not illegal in Canada.

Mike

Hello All,

OK, I'm I the last person on earth who thinks this is wrong?

Today, at my son's school the teacher put on a movie in the DVD player for the class to watch. (How come they didn't show movies during class when I went to school???)

The film that they watched was PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 3. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but this movie isn't on DVD yet. So, it has to be from a stolen print.

OK, so I'm the only dad that thinks this is wrong?

I called the police (not to press charges, just to get some information) and granted the person that I talked to wasn't a detective, but I explained the situation and the women thought it was wrong, but she said the movie studios give cities and towns permission to show movies in public as (for free) as long as it's run by the city. Now, I've never heard of this either (I live in Canada).

Thoughts anyone?

Mike

Hello All,

 

If you are talking about a brand new 16mm camera, then I think you are right. It wouldn't make any sense to change the film gate for Ultra 16. If, however, you are talking about a 16mm camera off of eBay that you paid 100.00 dollars for, then I think it's an excellent way to give your old camera a make over. Here is a comparsion chart: http://marylandfilms.com/16mm-super16-ultra16-compared.html

If those figures are correct, then it's very cool and not a lot of money to change over your old camera.

Mike

try this link http://marylandfilms.com/16mm-super16-ultra16-compared.html

Hello All,

If you are talking about a brand new 16mm camera, then I think you are right. It wouldn't make any sense to change the film gate for Ultra 16. If, however, you are talking about a 16mm camera off of eBay that you paid 100.00 dollars for, then I think it's an excellent way to give your old camera a make over. Here is a comparsion chart: http://marylandfilms.com/16mm-super16-ultra16-compared.html

If those figures are correct, then it's very cool and not a lot of money to change over your old camera.

Mike

Hello Benny,

Wow! Really nice music. Keep writing! The world and the cinema needs more music like yours.

All the best,

Mike

Hello John,

There is always hope.

I remember reading what Eisenhower told the troops just before they crossed the English Channel on D-Day. He told them to prepare yourself for the worst, but hope for the best. I never forgot those words.

When ever I need some hope, I turn to any of the "Road To" movies...as in Bob Hope. There is not a more delightful way to spend some time.

You are a great man John, and you always will be.

We will all keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

Mike

Hello All,

I received two lenses with the K100. There was a Kodak 50mm (no viewfinder) and a Kodak 25mm with 25mm viewfinder. Unfortunately the 25mm is in such bad shape it's really only good for a paper weight.

Here is my question: Will my Bolex Switar 12.5mm H8RX work on the K100? The lens is a C mount, but will it cover the 16mm frame?

I tried out the hand crank for the K100 and it worked like a charm. At a constant rate of hand speed I think I could only do about 6-8 fps. Any faster you would be turning your hand like you were running from Bigfoot.

OT. I just downloaded Paul McCartney's new single EVER PRESENT PAST. Wow. The lad from liverpool still has it.

Mike

www.super8today.com

www.charliedontfilm.squarespace.com

Thanks Ian and Herb for the info.

Herb, I will put some pictures up, but it will take me a few days. The same guy I bought the hand crank from also sold me the motor drive shaft (also very rare). Both items were also NEW! They had never been used in all these years. They both come with their own set of directions (which I just read). I feel like a bit of a lug nut because the directions just answered some of my questions.

The hand crank says on it, "two frames equals one turn."

Here are some excerpts from the hand crank instructions you may find interesting: "LONG DURATION EXPOSURES. If the hand crank is rotated in the forward direction 45 degrees from the normal stop position, and the exposure lever is held down, the shutter will open and time exposures of any duration can be made. Long duration exposures are useful in certain types of lapse-time photography."

" BACKWINDING. One of the most frequent uses for the hand crank is to wind the film through the camera in reverse for such effects as lap dissolves, double exposures, etc. The film can be backwound a maximum of 40 turns (80 frames or 2 feet).

"FORWARD. The camera can be operated in the forward direction indefinitely by means of the hand crank."

Here is a bit from the motor drive shaft directions: "The motor drive shaft is for use with an external power source, such as an electric motor. The drive shaft is made so that direct coupling of a standard 1800 RPM synchronous motor drives the camera at 24 frames per second.

"CAUTION. Do not use a motor with a shaft speed greater than 4800 RPM because the camera governor shoes will be worn excessively."

Mike

Hello All,

I have been watching eBay for several months for just the right Kodak K100 16mm movie camera. I picked one up a few weeks ago (the single lens, no turret) and much to my surprise the camera was as described. It's in mint condition.

I know it's an old saying, but it's true, "They don't make them like that any more." What a really well made camera. It runs as well today as it did 45 years ago.

I have a couple of questions that I hope someone can answer for me. The K100 is a non-reflex camera, but it has a viewfinder. Now, the viewfinder has a focus control on it. So when I look through the viewfinder you can focus on what you are looking at. What purpose does this have?

What are the Kodak lenses like that were made for this camera?

I have the very rare hand crank adapter for the K100. If I hand crank, what frame rate would that most likely be?

Thanks for your help. I can hardly wait to run some film through it. On one wind the camera will run 40 feet of film through the gate! When you release the trigger it almost sounds like an electric motor is inside.

Mike