Samuel Berger

So my immaculate, near pristine K3 arrived today. First thing I did was test the wind-up system and press the trigger. Well, whoever had it last had it set to 60fps. I went on to read the manual, and wouldn't you know it, it specifically says in various places DO NOT RUN THE CAMERA AT HIGH SPEED WITHOUT FILM. What catastrophic malfunction should I expect now that I unknowingly broke that often-repeated sacred rule? At least I didn't feed it after midnight.

The "footage counter" doesn't care what happens to the film, in most cameras it just calculates how many times the roller has rolled over and translates that to used footage. But it has no real connection to the cartridge. If you open the cart slot door in some cameras it will just reset to zero even if you only have 3 feet of film left. So if your film jams but the camera keeps turning, the counter will keep going. It's like those fake, placebo "progress bars" in the internet which are just animations that don't really represent any real progress.

That is ABSOLUTELY TRUE. But...that doesn't keep me from hiring someone who does. ;-) Or at least thinking about it. I think Paul paid $5000 for the dies. But I saw that in Kiev the other day some guy converted a sewing machine into a film perforator. I guess the machine part of the deal must be very simple.

I'm curious as to what would happen to the film during processing if there's silicone globules or carnauba wax spots on the raw stock, and whether it would cause any spots in the exposed image.

Oh HAHA your PM makes sense now....

I saw this on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Trident-Grade-Silicone-Snorkel-Spearfishing/dp/B001O75238/ I'm considering spraying it on some gun cotton fabric squares and wiping the film gate and channels and the cart's film pressure plate with some of it. I thought I'd ask if anyone has had any results with this method, taught in the old 90's WWW by Martin Baumgarten.

Hi all, As of a few years I have lost touch with film hobbyist Paul Cotto who was working on his own perforator for Super 8. It is obvious that the project is not going to move forward, as this was over a decade ago. I'm very interested in building my own or getting one built somewhere. The idea is to slit and perforate 35mm film and load it into Single-8 and Super 8 cartridges. But before I try to reinvent the wheel I would like to know if anyone else on these forums has attempted this before. I can't imagine it being an agonizing brain twister, I mean, it's just a machine that punches a sequence of holes into film.

By the way, I've recently developed an interest in Techniscope and found out that TGTBATU had been filmed in 2-Perf. One of those things I feel like I should've known for years but didn't.

Has anyone who speaks English tried this? ;-) It would definitely give me a reason to buy an Arri 2C.

I saw this: His explanation: "sheet metal, laser cut 9.45 mm 22 mm and pasted. polished. sorry use translator" Results: Is that really all it takes? You can see he just masked half of the film, then rewound the film and used the same roll again. It's more like split-screen than actual 2-Perf. Any drawbacks to that process?

Might be dictated by the notch.

I guess I can call and ask, but they themselves don't do it. This is from their site: "IMPORTANT: DO NOT SEND FUNGUS DAMAGED LENSES TO CINEMATECHNIC. It is nearly impossible to repair lenses that have been damaged by fungus. We cannot accept lenses for repair that have fungus present inside the lens. The main reason for this is that the fungus will emit spores the minute the lens is dissasembled, and this will contaminate our workshop, possibly destroying other customers lenses as well as our own optics and test equipment. Carl Zeiss has a similar policy. Fungus usually damages the lens element making repairs impossible because the glass surface has been etched by the acid emitted by the fungus. Even if the lens is completely disassembled and cleaned, and new lens elements are installed, we cannot guarantee that the fungus will not return." So, magic spores are scary to them. ;-)

Unsworth! What a talented man! Certainly fond of his #2 fog filter. I wish I knew more about his processes for SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE. That film has a very unique look and I think in part it has to do with how the lighting and set pieces complement the Superman suit. Donner and Unsworth were quite the combination.

When TGTBATU came out it instantly became one of my favourite movies and I have extremely vivid memories of watching it and re-watching it many times. It did not look like that yellowish thing, on the big screen. I don't know who thought that would be accurate. I also remember watching SUPERMAN in 1978. Now there's a movie that seemed to shun yellow. Even considering the desert scenes, when I close my eyes and think of it, all I see are the night colours of Metropolis, the red and blue of the Superman suit, and black and white. Unfortunately when I think of MAN OF STEEL all I see it orange and teal. And if I absolutely have to think of Marvel Universe videos...movies... I just think of grey and brown.

That's your problem right there.

Thanks all who replied. I'm going with the "put a sign up and film" thing, and not feature anyone.

Hi all, I live in the US and my Angenieux 12-120mm lens has developed fungus in it. Is there anywhere I can send it to, to get it professionally cleaned? CinemaTechnic won't take it, apparently due to magical thinking. I live in Seattle but can ship it anywhere in America for servicing. I just need to know where. :-/ Thanks.

I've read that for filming the opening shots of NYC for DOG DAY AFTERNOON, Sydney Lumet just drove around with an Arri IIc in a station wagon and grabbed footage of non-actors going about their lives. Is this something that can still be done, considering all those shots were filmed in a public place? I watch IMPRACTICAL JOKERS a lot and they always get releases from people they film, and when they don't, they blur their faces.

Years later, bump. Still not found.

Thanks Stuart, I'll give it a go with the 18mm. Chris, as bad as you guys may think it is...it's still memorable! ;-) I don't dislike it. The films themselves are visually BEAUTIFUL but extremely painful to sit through. 9 hours of walking and not enough Cate Blanchett. But yeah, we're stuck with it. ;-)

Hi, there. We're recreating a shot of Galadriel from Lord of the Rings for a vfx class final project. The idea is to redo the shot where Galadriel is tempted by the ring and consumed by its dark appeal. I'm attaching the screenshot of the original here. I would love some help from you guys in choosing the right lens for achieving this framing in exact the same way. We're using a Canon T3i for the filming. The class is a compositing and visual effects class. The final image would be cropped to achive the correct aspect ratio in Fellowship. The model will be shot in front of a green screen. To be specific, any ideas how distant from the subject I would have to be, and what focal depth (if I can use my zoom). I'm not a great cinematographer, I'm actually the one shooting the scene by default since I'm the only one in our compositing class with the camera. ;-) Not too worried about the aperture etc. because the goal is to colour correct the footage and add glow, etc. The main concern is getting a good, useful shot. Many thanks! Sam

Howdy! I was wondering if anyone would have a good suggestion as to the best Pelican case for the Eclair NPR. Thank you.

Howdy Paul, thanks for the reply. I'm certainly going to shoot with a crystal sync motor. I'm picking up my Eclair NPR from my parents' place next month and sending it off to Bernie, for Ultra 16 conversion. My one worry is whether the motor is still working as it should. If not I'll need to find a replacement somewhere, because I'd definitely need crystal sync. I have your rate card, is that 20 roll deal for 400 ft spools or 100ft daylight reels? Also, what are the student discount options? Thanks. Sam