Michael Ryan

Hello David and others who may know, I have a Canon 814XLS Super 8 camera and I want to put a widescreen mask on the front of the lens. This mask will give the look of 2.35:1. It won't be exact, but it's a test. I'm going to black out the top and bottom of a Cokin square filter (so it will have a roughly 2.35:1 aspect ratio). Will this cause the image to have less resolution? Anything else I should know? I'm editing the footage in Final Cut. I know I could put the mask in during the editing stage, but here is why I'm not. For me, I find it very hard to frame (for widescreen) when you are looking thru the viewfinder and you are seeing the 1.33:1 aspect raito. I know that when I get the footage back from the lab the edge of the mask is going to be soft, that's OK. I'll use Final Cut to put the sharp black edge over the in camera mask. Thoughts? Mike

Hello David, First off, I have to say I have an incredible amount of respect for your talent and your craft, and I also respect those three letters after your name...for those who don't know, they just don't hand those out, you have to earn them the hard way. David, check this out...this is all I'm trying to say. Digital video and HD and all the other forms of video are really fun and they are part of this "Brave New World" that everyone wants to plug into, but there is a ground swell of young, independent filmmakers out there with not much money, but a whole lot of vision and talent and passion and Super 8 is their "get out of jail free" card. They can't afford 35mm or Super 16mm, but they can afford that Super 8 Bolex off of eBay. And with their pocket change maybe this is as close as they are going to get to the BIG GAME. They love film. They love the way it looks, the way it captures light, the way it makes them feel. David, of course you are right. 35mm and Super 16 can do it all so much better and there is so much more equipment out there that was made to do the job right. However, The land of Oz will only hold and allow in so many cinematographers and directors and lady luck only smiles on a very few. Super 8 is not for the faint of heart, but it can get you "in" as in "I'm in, baby, I'm in". Ben Crowe shot his short film THE MAN WHO MET HIMSELF on Super 8 and it was the ONLY British film that was screened at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. Even though it was projected digitally, by all accounts it looked very good. Cindy Stillwell just had her film HIGH PLAINS WINTER (shot on Super 8) screened at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and it too was projected onto the big screen with excellent results. It can be done. Sure, perhaps it could have been all done better on 35mm or Super 16, but Super 8 was the only way these dudes could get it done. I say more power to them. Now, David, you can't tell me, in your heart of hearts that if someone offered you the chance to shoot 30 minutes of 70mm film with any actor in any location with any budget or the same with an HD camera...which one would you choose? I ask you this: If film dies, it is not that pixels are more beautiful, but rather there is more profit in one pixel than there is in a 1,000 feet of film. Should it be profit that decides how we will capture light from a single red rose? Mike

Hello All, Hey all you dudes...you need to turn down the digital just a notch. While you guys are at it, you should have told him, "Isn't film dead?" If you read the post there are some key words there, "I want to learn about film and filmmaking". In case you guys haven't noticed there are about 3 billion (OK, maybe not 3 billion) websites where you can find out everything you want to know about digital video. On the other hand there are just a hand full of safe harbors where you can learn about Super 8 filmmaking...and of course this is the Super 8 forum. You dudes are telling this dude to grab a DV camera on a Super 8 forum? To paraphrase Jim Morrison, NOW IS THIS ANYWAY TO BEHAVE ON A SUPER 8 FORUM? Super 8 was good enough for the Lizard King to learn on, so it's good enough for me. If CHEAPER and EASIER were the only things in life that mattered, we would all be living in a Wal-Mart married to Pamela Anderson. Your honor, I rest my case. Mike

Hello Wildgrace, If you want to get into film, then Super 8 is a good way to start. Before you think about sound or anamorphic widescreen I would get shoot some test rolls of film to see how you like it. Rick Palidwor (who is on this site) shot a feature lenght movie on Super 8 called SLEEP ALWAYS (highly recommended viewing) and he also teaches a course on Super 8 filmmaking (in Toronto). You may want to get in touch with him. As David Mullen mentioned there are some problems shooting sound and widescreen in Super 8, but it's not impossible as many Super 8 filmmakers have found out. To rent a Super 8 camera in Toronto check out Exclusive Film and Video. But, get in contact with Rick as he is the KING of all things Super 8 in Toronto! Mike

Hello Tim, Yes, you can edit Super 8 film on a computer (with programs like iMovie, Final Cut Pro and others). There are a few ways to get your film into your computer (some cheaper and some more expensive). If you have a digital video camera and a projector, this is the cheapest method. You show your movie on the wall and videotape it, then hook your video camera up to your computer and download it into the editing program. Now, while this is the cheapest, the results (how good the film will look) is a mixed bag. If you want it to look much better then you need to send the film off to a company that can telecine your film onto digital videotape. This will look much better, but depending on what equipment they use the price will go up. I have seen prices from 20 dollars a roll to hundreds per roll. Mike

Thanks for the information Ropbo! Mike On their website they mention they do telecine. I think it's fairly cool that they are such a high end FX house and they also develop Super 8.

Hello All, There is a place in Vancouver, B.C. that develops 64T (I believe it's the only place in Canada that does it), does anyone know their correct, full name and address and or phone number and website? Thanks, Mike

Hey Rick, Week days I'm chained to a desk slaving over articles and interviews (including an an amazing interview with Rick Palidwor, the KING of all things Super 8) and on weekends I can be found standing in front of Loblaws with a sign that reads: WILL WRITE FOR FOOD. One of these days I will make it into Toronto, but I'm having a bit of a problem with my lead sled dog and my igloo has a nasty leak (for all you American readers, that last bit is secret Canadian code) Mike now really, would you want a guy like me showing up at your Super 8 festival?

Hello Rick, This sounds fantastic! I wish you and everyone else there the best of luck. Mike

Hello Ian, There is an article in the January/February issue of SUPER 8 TODAY on The Supermag. It's a great article. The article also lists the website for The Supermag www.supermag400.com Hope this helps, Mike

Hello All, I have to take exception to something that Arisian has said. You said in your post that, "I hate Pro8mm as a company." First off, I think "hate" is a fairly strong word. I think it's valid that you dislike their service (or whatever the reason is) because that's your opinion. I'm fine with that. But I think it's unfair on a forum to "label" a company a certain way without any facts, especially since Pro8mm is such a very important company in the Super 8 world. They are a small company that contribute a great deal to the health and wellness of Super 8 filmmaking. Outside of Kodak, do you know of any other company that is willing to take 35mm professional film stock and cut it down and package it into Super 8 for us? It's amazing that they can do that at the price they sell it for. A lot of people have said their pricing is very high. Very high compared to what? Compared to Wal-Mart? Yes, I would agree that if you are comparing their prices to Wal-Mart, then they are very expensive. But you have to look at the "big picture". They are a very small company serving a very small market. Without that price point on their products, quess what...they wouldn't be around. That fact is, they have helped lots of filmmakers in many different ways. They did a lot for Ryan Thomas and his film THE BRUCE MOVIE. So much so that he gives them a credit in his motion picture. All companies large and small make mistakes. I wouldn't judge any company on one service failure. If they always let you down, then that's a valid point. One time only is not a pattern. To sum up, all I'm saying is it's easy (and the trend these days) to rant and bash over anything. You have to pick your words carefully. Because the fact is, Pro8mm is an important company in the Super 8 world and they provide an important service to Super 8 fimmakers. Mike

Well, the thing about film equipment is it is mainly (not always) mechanical and so it can be fixed years and years later. A VHS machine is mainly electronic and just won't stand the test of time. We are going to have the same problem with VHS machines that we do with 5 year old computers. There is mountains of them that either don't work or nobody wants and they are filling up our landfills. 42 years from now consumers will be buying their movies and storing their home movies on magnetic bubble or whatever the format is. A good case in point is laserdiscs. I had hundreds of laserdiscs, but my player broke down and there were no new ones, the cost of getting the old one fixed was unreal. So, you may want to keep watching laserdisc, but there just isn't the supply of working machines to keep your collection. I mean, I could be wrong, but 42 years from now there won't be lots of VHS machine around. Mike

Hello All, I just picked up a Gossen Super Pilot SBC light meter. I can't figure something out, so I figure this is the best place to ask this question. I have a Canon 814XLS Super 8 camera. It has a varible shutter (150 and 220) and it has frame rates of 9,18,24 and 36 fps. My Gossen shows frame rates and F stops, but it doesn't show shutter speeds. I looked all through the manual but I couldn't find anything on cine shutter speeds. A pal of mine says he thinks it is hard set at 1/50th of a second. Does anyone here know if that is the case? He also said that a shutter set at 150 degrees at 24 fps would give me a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second, does that sound about right? Is there a formula for determining shutter speeds? Thanks for your help, Mike

Hello All, Now that I have my Chinon 2500GL up and running and in near mint condition, I pulled out some 8mm Kodak film that my Dad shot 42 years ago. All I can say is that 42 year old Kodachrome looked incredible. The reds, blues still looked good to me. The film projected like it had just come back from the lab. Now, let's see a show of hands, how many of you think my VHS will look as good as the Kodachrome 42 years from now. On second thought, I don't think I'll even be able to find a player to view the VHS with. Film is timeless. Digital is a corporate plan to keep you buying new equipment every three years. Mike

Hello All, I just picked up a Chinon 2500GL (projector) and it's in great condition and a good buy for the money. It comes with a little brush (kind of like a bottle brush) which is used to clean the film gate (which is all metal). It seems that every time I run a film in the projector the gate is always picking up dust. Is there anything I can spray on the gate or any kind of cleaner that will repel dust? Sidenote: the Chinon 2500GL has a rheostat that you can change with a screw driver. So, you can make it project at more than 24 fps. The only trouble is: how would you be able to tell what frame rate you are at (the metal knob that you can change has no numbers on it). My Canon 814XLS can shoot at 36 fps, so if I can get my 2500GL to project at 36 fps I'll have kind of a Maxivision going on...well, kind of. Mike

Hello Santo, I know you feel passionate about your filmmaking, and that is a good thing...a very good thing. However, you need to do so in a civil manner. I'm quoting for this forum's guidelines: "You may not use profanity in usernames, posts, signatures or anything else on this website. It is unprofessional and offensive and will not be tolerated. We have word filters in place for the most vulgar terms. Circumventing those word filters will result in punitive action." This forum is not like Filmshooting.com or as I like to call it "I love to rant shooting.com" Many professionals don't go to the other site because it is rude and offensive. Let's try to be civil to one another. Thank you Mike

Hello All, This is a great thread about Hitchcock. For those of you who can remember, I was always glued to the TV when Hitchcock was on the Merv Griffin Show. He was on several times and had fantastic stories. I remember on one show Hitchcock talked to Merv at lenght about his very real fear of policemen. He said his fear was in the fact that they had the power to do anything they want to you and get away with it. Also Merv had on Orson Welles many times as well and all of those were very interesting. Welles had a love of magic which he performed for Merv and also Welles was the person who got me hooked onto Nicola Tesla. Merv Griffin has a website and everyone should go there and tell them this shows should be put onto DVD. Mike

Hello Landon, "Hitchcock? I never did see what was so great about him anyway." As you grow older, it is my sincere hope that you will find great humor in this quote. Just to give some perspective here, people will still be watching VERTIGO long after everyone on this forum is gone. I'm fairly certain that time will not be as kind to HOSTEL. Mike

New Super 8 films from Kodak and Pro8 and a great new issue of SUPER 8 TODAY .........life is good................ Mike

Hello Dominic, WOW!!! That was incredible. Very well done. I like the details of the opening credits casting a shadow on the earth. Also the UFOs casting shadows in the sun light as they hover in the skyline. The UFOs exploding is also a big standout. Keep filmming, keep getting it out there. Great stuff. Mike

Hello Spencer, You can get a copy of the manual from www.craigcamera.com I'm not sure how much it will cost you. You can also search the web as someone may have it on for free. Mike

Hello Alex, I think you should follow through because it will be a good experience for you, but the reality is that any Beatles song is going to be well beyond the budget of any small budget film. But stranger things have happened, so give it a go! Mike Let us know the results.

Hello All, If you watch a lot of anamorphic films from the late '50s and '60s you can see that there was a real "art" to shooting an anamorphic film. There were some DP's that handled it better than others. Also, when they shot these scope films they were shooting them for movie theaters and movie theaters only. There wasn't any real thought about how they would play on TV. Today when they shoot these widescreen films, it's always in the back of their mind how it will look on TV and you get a lot of scope films that are really a "compromise" as to how it will play on the big and small screen. Director James Cameron has talked a lot about this and most of his films are shot in Super 35. So, for the movie theaters they show the "matted" widescreen version and on TV they show the full frame version. I read that he actually likes the full frame version of his movies better than the widescreen. Now with television sets being made in 16x9 it might go back to the true art of the scope film? I don't see very many modern scope films that take advantage of that aspect ratio. Mainly they have 3 or 4 shots that show off the scope and the rest look like they are really trying to frame like a 4x3. In most modern films an extreme long shot is considered the "outside" of the house. Take a looks at many of Hitchcock's films, especially from the '60s and he gave the viewer a real sense of place. Those big vistas of San Francisco in VERTIGO for example. You really don't see anything like that today. When a character goes to another city you see a short short of a plane in the sky and maybe a tight long shot of the airport. That's it. Take a look at the new release of John Wayne's film THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY. Those great long shots of the airplane flying in the sky. Wow! It gave you such a fantastic feeling of space and perspective. Mike

Hello R, I can't remember all the differences between the two (other can fill in the gaps), but the major differnece is the XLS is a sound camera so it does not make as much noise. Also the XLS has a variable shutter (you can switch it between 150 and 220 for low light. This is a very good feature). There's more, but that will get you started. Mike

Hello Thomas, There is a really great article on the Kodak website that talks about shooting the White Stripes concert and what film they used. You will find it a good read. It's here at: www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/s8mm/bAdams.jhtml Mike