Jon O'Brien

This is, I think, a worthwhile subject for an episode of 'Australian Story' on ABCTV, or some similar program. An Australian designed and manufactured film camera, the whereabouts of the prototype being unknown. I think it would be a cool show to watch. Might put together a proposal and seek funding. Australia also had a major input in the invention of the IMAX camera - which I hope to research soon.

I'm pretty sure Laurie lived in Victoria, Australia. In fact I think I lived about 5 minutes away from him, as a kid, during the time he was designing and making this camera. It looks great.

I agree.

I always assumed it was just an arbitrary choice, made by some unknown person long ago. The standard was 4 perf 35mm, with the given aspect ratio after allowing for the optical soundtrack. It was then decided a wider screen was desirable in theatres. Too much image cropped on top and bottom resulted in too much image degradation. The aspect ratio was probably decided just by eye. 2:1 was too cropped, and 16:9 wasn't wide enough. So someone just said, "okay, 1.85:1 looks about right .... we'll make it that." In other words it wasn't a mathematically neat proportion, it was just a good creative

So frustrating. But, apart from the big productions, great to see 35mm motion picture film surviving by the efforts of a tiny, dedicated band of people willing to put up with all the problems, patiently looking for solutions. For that level of camera you need a technician to help you out. To go it totally alone would really be tough. Maybe get your money back and get a 2C or III or something like that, that generally has more spare parts available out there.

I was going to say the same thing. Gold just looks pretty and it doesn't tarnish. It's practical because it's easily identified by appearance, malleability and weight. It can be easily scratched or cut to check that its solid gold. You can't eat it though and it isn't much good as a spear thrower or spear tip or digger. With farming came banking. Or something like that.

Presumably black and white film is technically easier to make and process. Perhaps if Kodak completely gave up on film that some enterprising company somewhere could nevertheless take up the production of black and white film to keep movie cameras whirring away.

I go into appliance stores and walk around truly in amazement, looking at the television screens. I look at screen after screen of what to me looks the most amazingly unappealing imagery I could ever imagine, all shot on digital. I stare at it in wonder. It is fascinatingly awful. Film is beautiful, expensive, and it's worth the extra cost. Digital's position at the top is unassailable of course but that doesn't mean film won't survive.

That's interesting. It's a pretty long lens he's got on the 2C, on the turret without lens support. I always wonder at what point lens support is needed.

With 2 perf for films made to be seen on a big screen with digital projection, the audience can just see a suggestion of grain without it becoming too noisy as can be the case sometimes with Super 16. 2 perf looks very sharp in the theatre. It's the format just made for the current cinema experience where you want a real film look. It could be coming into its own now ... if only there were enough cameras around. I now prefer the look of 2 perf and Super 16 in the cinema, for features, to 4 perf anamorphic, which these days with digital post and projection looks almost indistinguishable from so

A good work of art reveals truth though. Perhaps that's what Goddard meant.

I'm with Brian DePalma there. To me the camera lies. A creative writer 'lies' too, but creative written compositions have been called "the most beautiful lies." Not really lies at all, that's being sort of tongue in cheek. But creative people are in the business of deception to some degree. Just think of live theatre. We want to sit back and be told a story and not care about how it was cobbled together. The camera routinely conceals authenticity and truth a lot of the time, a simple example being framing a shot 'way out in the remote countryside' that avoids showing the busy metropolitan moto

The thing about low-energy art is that it can lack energy.

This lighting trend seems to be a type of minimalism that is prevalent across the arts at the moment. It's a low-energy approach and I think is supposed to be cool, and Bohemian, ... or something. Fair enough, if that's the look you're going for.

I didn't know that Stuart. Thank you.

Does anyone know if you can get an optical director's viewfinder that has 2.20:1 aspect ratio? There was a model by Cavision that has 2.20 but it doesn't seem to be available anywhere at the moment. Alternative is of course an app but I'd also like to play around with an optical viewfinder.

That's sort of what I want to do. Combine artistic imagery with classical and classically-inspired music such as played by the Kronos Quartet.

I love it. Renews my hope I can do some arty little films soon on 35mm. All I can say is well done and please make more.

That's interesting Phil. Because when I see 70mm film projection, as good as that, I see flicker occasionally, a little bit of weave at times if I notice it, and just simply beautiful 'optical' photography and projection that is so much more magical than digital. But then that's what I see. It seems you don't see that. I see something that looks, to me, nothing like digital. Nothing like it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I use the word 'optical' in a non-scientific, vague sense. Because really I don't know how else to define in words something so beautiful as photography made and proje

My IIC has a seven pin socket on the camera motor, and the cable connects with this and has a 4 pin XLR connector at the other end. I will very soon be soldering a fuse case with 5A fuse into a length of electrical cable, with 4 pin XLR connector at one end and terminal connectors for the battery at the other. I will be using a standard 12V, 7.2 AH sealed battery. I'm advised that I must solder the positive wire coming off the battery to pin 4 of the XLR connector. Between the positive terminal and pin 4 goes the fuse. The negative wire off the battery goes to pin 1. Pins 2 and 3 are apparentl

I'm not a pro cinematographer, but those fluid heads look like pretty recent ones. In earlier times they'd often have been geared heads possibly? So maybe a fairly recent photo? Yes looks like a 'standard' Panavision 35mm anamorphic set up.

Well, none of them look like Scope (1.2:1). It's difficult for me to see as it's in the shade but one of the gates looks a bit like 1.85:1 or thereabouts, which I find unusual. I presumed the usual practice when shooting 4 perf spherical was to shoot 'full' academy frame and crop to 1.85 either in the print making process or in the projector. Or maybe I'm just not seeing it well enough in the picture. Or is it a 2-perf gate (I'm referring to the bottom RH gate)? Doesn't seem quite to be 2.40:1. What do the labels say?

I beg your pardon, I mean Boris. I can't edit my original post for some reason.

I've got one too Bruno and am hoping the both of us can learn some good things from this thread. There are some brilliant technicians here who regularly advise. My question at the moment is can I get away without a fuse in the battery line from a Bescor 12V battery to the camera. There's basically two main gates that are generally found in a IIC, and both are 4 perf and off-centre slightly, due to the practice in the past of making room for an optical soundtrack about 2 mm wide to the side of the image. One is Academy, roughly 1.33, and the other is Scope, approximately 1.2, so nearly squ

And final 'aerial' battle sequence was first class and an incredible technical feat for the day, and any day.