Wooda McNiven

Congratulations to Mono No Aware for achieving (and exceeding) its Kickstarter goal. I was more than happy to contribute and I look forward to its future motion picture lab in Brooklyn NY. I wish them success and will urge those young artists I know in and around Brooklyn to go ahead and work on a project, big or small, that uses Super 8mm and/or 16mm film!

I have to say I think Mono No Aware is a terrific initiative. I agree with Perry's assessment and he should know... I have used Gamma Ray Digital's services (Perry's company) and they are top notch. I will be using them again. As someone who attended NYU film school back in the late 70's / early 80's, I remember when I could drop off a roll of B/W reversal film to a local lab in the morning and have it back in the afternoon. We had at least half-a-dozen labs to choose from back then in Manhattan. To the best of my knowledge, there are no remaining film labs in the greater New York City metropolitan era. I couldn't find any for a recent project of mine so I had to use Cinelab in the Boston area (still in business, thank goodness) and Alpha Cine in Seattle, which sadly is no longer in business. This is a sad thing indeed given the thousands of talented young artists living in the NYC area, particularly in Brooklyn, which is a thriving hub of young artists of all types, many of which would jump at the chance to undertake projects using Super 8mm and/or 16mm film if resources were readily available and reasonably priced. I have helped fund movie and multimedia projects (all digital based) for a few Brooklyn-based artists and some of them have expressed a real interest in doing something using film. I wish Mono No Aware the best of luck and they are in the perfect place and time to make this happen. Wooda

Guess I've been away a while. Thank you Jay. Matt Stevens gave me a lot of great advice recently including a suggestion that I get Howard's Keep made into a Blu Ray format. So that's my goal for this year. I will call up Perry at Gamma Ray Digital and see about getting this done.

Thank you everyone for the kind comments about my movie. I'm just a hobbyist but I learned a lot making this and also received a lot of great advice here at cinematography.com while I was in production. As some of you may already know, Kodak is holding a Super 8mm challenge. Unfortunately the time limitation for entries is five minutes. This is dissappointing as I would love to have entered "Howard's Keep" but it is ten minutes in length. Oh well, dems da breaks! Wooda

It took a couple of years but my film "Howard's Keep" is ready in time for the Halloween season. Shot all on Super 8 Tri-X, (Canon 1014 XLS and 1014E) it's a ten minute dark fantasy. Make sure to watch it in HD mode and headphones are best but at minimum, turn up the volume... my sound guy did an awesome job. I finished principal photography not long before Alpha Cine stopped processing film, so it was the lab I used. The HD transfers were done by Perry at Gamma Ray Digital in Boston. And finally, I've asked for a lot of advice on this forum over the years and so much of it was helpful (thank you) so I had to give cinematography.com a credit at the end. It's only right! Hope you enjoy. Wooda H. McNiven https://vimeo.com/143762163

I once faced a similar situation... if I understand your situation correctly. We just used cheap old women's hairspray. It cut down on the specular reflection of various surfaces. It also was used to fog up windows so the background (through the windows) did not create a distraction for the viewer.

In the NY Metropolitan area there is another service (in Brooklyn) called DijiFi. I have been meaning to give them a try but have not yet. They use MovieStuff equipment and seem reasonably priced.

I sent in my last three rolls of Super 8 on December 28. On January 31, I finally received shipping notice from Dwaynes. Should be in my mailbox by week's end. They must have had one huge backlog of Kodachrome (all types). In the past, I usually got Super 8 and 35mm rolls back in a week.

When I was in high school and college in the late 70's, early 80's, I worked at a camera shop just outside New York City. For Kodachrome and Ektachrome processing by Kodak (there was another less expensive lab we used for our price conscious customers), normal turnaround time was 48 to 72 hours. However, we had a rush bag, which usually resulted in a 24 hour turnaround. I think the Kodak lab was in Cherry Hill NJ. Needless to say, I always put my own personal films into the rush bag. Those were the days!

I sent my last three rolls USPS Priority mail on Tuesday, December 29th. According to the online tracker, my film made it on December 30 with only an hour or two to spare to deadline. A week later, on January 6, I finally received my PayPal notification. I think Dwaynes is working through a very large backlog this week for all Kodachrome that made it under the deadline.

I agree completely with Friedemann. In addition, get as familiar as you can with the camera before principal photography. Read the instruction manual. Little things, like correctly setting the eyepiece diopter (to the camera operator) can make a big difference in the quality of your results. If you can shoot a test roll (highly recommended) try and do it under similar conditions to what the real shooting will be like.

Just set the camera's aperture to the reading indicated on your light meter. I recently conducted a series of lighting and exposure tests using a Sekonic L-398M, Tri-X, and a Canon 1014XLS. The shots were outdoor at night using various lighting set ups and differing footcandle measurements on a human subject (that needed to be properly exposed). My primary concern was T-Stops. But I found that the best exposure was in fact the one indicated by the Sekonic. This held true up to a 30mm focal length. As I didn't use a focal length longer than 30mm during these tests, I did not find out if a T-Stop adjustment was needed in the 30 to 60mm range. As you are using negative film, which has much more exposure latitude than reversal, you should be just fine setting the camera to the f-stop indicated on your external light meter.

Use it or lose it is right. On the plus side, I sent to Dwayne's 5 rolls of K40 on 10/12 and received them all back on 10/18, less than a week. Nice turnaround time. I plan to shoot my remaining rolls of K40 all within the next month.

What about a Digital SLR that can shoot video (Nikon, Canon)? I've seen some impressive video footage from these cameras. I haven't gone down this path yet but I do intend to give it a whirl soon.

Chris, any recommendations on labs? Also, please explain 'flat pass transfer' (to date, I'm just a reversal shooter). Thanks!

Yes, I did use reversal (Tri-X, as reported) and I did view the results using a projector. Because light loss through the viewfinder (or is it through all the glass elements of the lens? Or both?) should require a T-Stop adjustment, I performed these bracketed tests to determine how much I needed to adjust from the external meter's reading. The Sekonic meter's reading was f 2.8. So I shot at f 2.8, then again at f2 and finally at f 1.4. I expected a half-stop or full stop adjustment over meter would be needed. But this was not the case. The Sekonic's reading furnished the best exposure. But again, I only performed these bracketed tests at the shorter focal lengths; 10mm, 15mm, 25mm. Perhaps longer focal lengths will require some adjustment over meter reading. I intend to test this out as well. But I am satisfied that with my particular camera, I do not need to concern myself with T-Stops at these focal lengths. As for how my tests will look after telecine, that is an excellent question. I intend to send one of my test rolls to a professional telecine outfit and see how it turns out.

I'm no expert in either editing or telecine... but I've dabbled. I have a Moviestuff Workprinter XP and its not this equipment that determines final frame rate, its the Cinemate capture software that let's you set the desired frame rate, e.g. 18 or 24 fps among others. Not really knowing what I was really doing, I have taken some of my material (set at 18 fps in Cinemate because that's the speed it was originally shot at) and imported it into I-Movie and Final Cut Express (and I think Vegas too), and was able to work with it just fine.

For what it's worth, I too wanted to determine the correct T-Stop to use on my Canon 1014 XLS with Tri-X. My external meter is a Sekonic L-398M. I set it to ISO 160 (Tungsten lighting) As I was shooting at night, I set the shutter at 220 degrees and shot at 18FPS (1/30 shutter speed) I adjusted my light source (1K Lowell with a chimera and a rheostat) until I got a 40 footcandles reading on the Sekonic, which equates to a 2.8 f-stop. I shot three tests. Each test started at F 2.8 (meter reading), then I opened up 1/2 stop over meter for the second test then a full stop over meter for the third test. I shot these three tests at three different focal lengths, 10mm, 15mm, and 25mm. I just got my film back from Alphacine and to my surprise, the meter reading (2.8) was spot on, providing the best exposure. So now I know I don't have to worry about T-Stops at these focal lengths. I will, however, need to repeat this test using longer focal lengths, e.g. 35mm, 45mm, 55mm, 65mm.

What camera are you shooting with? I use my Sekonic incident meter most of the time and shoot with a Canon 1014 XLS. In the viewfinder I can see the F-Stop and set it manually. In general I open up a half to a full stop from what the meter indicates.

I shot a roll of Tri-X today, exterior, daylight. My objective was to compare the Canon's internal light meter to incident readings obtained on the Sekonic Light Meter. A T-Stop test. Frame rate was 24 FPS, shutter angle was 150 degrees, therefore shutter speed calculated to just about 1/60, which is what I used on the Sekonic. Sekonic was set to Kodak daylight recommended ISO of 200. I believe the Canon just reads the Tri-X cartridge at 160 ISO. I then selected four focal lengths to shoot at, 65mm, 30mm, 15mm, 6.5mm. My expectation was that the longer focal lengths would produce a greater difference between the camera's meter and the external meter. I used a human subject so at the 65mm focal length (head & shoulders close up), my gut would have been to trust the camera's reading as there was no background or foreground (either lighter or darker) to influence the camera's internal meter reading. I also expected the Sekonic's reading to be higher, perhaps as much as by a stop. This didn't happen. The camera's readings and the light meter's readings were identical at F-11. Any ideas why there might have been no difference? The exterior conditions were uniform overcast skies with light snow. There was also snow on the ground but this was not in frame at 65mm. Everything I have read about exposing Super 8 film suggests that you will see a variance between internal and external readings due to the amount of glass found in many Super 8 zoom lens (like this Canon's 10:1 zoom) plus light diverted to the viewfinder. Has anyone performed similar tests with the Canon 1014 XLS? If so, what were the results? I plan to repeat this test but indoors using artificial lighting. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. PS: as I rolled film at the wider focal lengths, there was, of course, some variance. As the snow came into frame, the camera metered down to almost F-16. The Sekonic, as expected, read a constant F-11 as the daylight conditions did not change at all during the tests.

Wayne, It's too bad you do not have time to shoot some tests. This is really an essential part of using film. Because you can't see immediately what you have shot, you need to know beforehand what to expect. Tests allow you to familiarize yourself with the film stock, among other important considerations. That being said... learn how to manually set the exposure on your camera. Just before you roll film, zoom into that part of the frame that you want to expose correctly (e.g. an actor's face). See what exposure the camera is telling you to use then lock on this exposure value using the manual controls. You can then zoom back to the framing you want and start to roll film. The above recommendation is very simplistic as there are often multiple other factors to consider, but for a beginner it should produce more than acceptable results. Good luck.

Bruce, Paul... 2 perf 35mm you say. Very interesting. I read something about it a year or two ago but really know nothing about it. Can you recommend any sources to learn more about shooting with 2 perf 35mm? Thanks

Super 8 is great for short films, personal projects, etc. But a feature length film? If I were to make an indy feature, with commercial aspirations (low budget a given), then I think 16mm, or better yet, Super 16mm, is the smart way to go. It will look much better and will, in all likelihood, cause far less problems during principal photography than Super 8. Down the road, if needed, it can also be blown up to 35mm and still look pretty darn good. If you're dead set on Super 8, then all I can say is shoot lots of tests before principal photography. Know your camera (have a backup and know it too), know your film stock, and be prepared for common Super 8 issues and problems. You WILL encounter them. WRT light meter, shoot lots of tests here too. For most Super 8 cameras, you can't simply use the exposure value indicated by the light meter. Check out the Brodsky and Treadway site (littlefilm.org) about using a light meter with Super 8 cameras. Lots of good info. Good luck

If I may add my .02, I believe the effort to procure a Sound Super 8 camera in good working order AND a sufficient supply of Super 8 sound film will be exceedingly difficult. Super 8 sound film was discontinued a number of years ago. Yes, you can still find some, and purchase it (usually at hyper-inflated prices) but is it still any good? That's a big unknown. Can you risk that as you shoot your project? If you must shoot sync sound, I believe shooting double system is the best route. It's more flexible and IMO will cause far less aggravation in the long run. I am certain The Film Group (TFG) in Wethersfield CT still makes its crystal sync unit. Their website details what cameras can be used. If this sounds like a viable approach, first research TFG site for the cameras they can work on. And then make sure that the camera you are interested in can still be worked on by repair shops such as Du-all or Spectra. Don't expect old used cameras purchased from ebay or anywhere else (other than a place like Du-all) to be in satisfactory working condition. Good luck

IMO, a good alternative to the 'in demand' cameras (Canon, Nizo, Nikon) are the Bauers. I have a Bauer C5XL and C50XL, which are identical but the C50 has a macro. When I do not want the bulk of carrying around my Canon 1014E or 1014XLS or my Nizo 6080, I use a Bauer. It is great little run and gun camera, lightweight, very ease to use. I imagine you can buy one for a lot less than those others. The Bauers I cited have an 8mm to 40mm zoom and shoot at 9, 18, 24 and 36 FPS (plus single frame). The only possible drawback is they were designed to accept only 17 and 23 DIN films (50, 160 ISO). However, these cameras do have manual over-ride and you can set your own f-stop. I have not yet shot 64T with my Bauers but Kodachrome, Plus-X and Tri-X have all turned out very nicely. my .02