Super 8 Book

[Douglas Hunter]

I think Lipton's book is wonderful because it has a pedagogical vision. He would not have put it this way, but his was a "tools not rules" approach. Lipton wanted the reader to understand the potentials of the technical aspects of the medium, exposure, splicing, color or b&w etc. He didn't want to just indoctrinate the reader in professional methodology of "correct" or "good"(sic.) filmmaking. To that end the reader needs to do some work, ask some questions of themselves and what they would like to do with the medium. All valuable, and focused on achieving one's own aesthetic ends.

 

there is nothing outdated about that approach. I don't know of newer books that do this as well as Lipton did.

[Jon-Hebert Barto]

Couldn't help but write in with my favorite "old" book...

 

Bela Balazs' " THEORY OF THE FILM". He wrote the first published formal theory on film and championed the "film as art" movement very early on. This, his last,book came out in 1945, a few years before his death.

 

His analysis of the power of the close-up, camera angle, etc., are written about in a dated style, however the text still stands on its own.

 

If you appreciate the technical virtuoisity of Riefenstahl, Pudovkin, etc., this is a must have.

 

Chapters include IN PRAISE OF THEORY, A NEW FORM-LANGUAGE, VISUAL CULTURE, THE CREATIVE CAMERA, EDITING, EXPRESSIVE TECHNIQUE, FORMALISM OF THE AVANT-GARDE, SOUND THEORY, PROBLEMS OF STYLE, and more.

 

Technical writing at its most emotional!

[Guy Bennett]

Couldn't help but write in with my favorite "old" book...

 

Bela Balazs' " THEORY OF THE FILM". He wrote the first published formal theory on film and championed the "film as art" movement very early on. This, his last,book came out in 1945, a few years before his death.

 

 

In the "film as art" category let's not forget Arnheim's Film as Art, which is currently available in a new printing.

[Douglas Hunter]

In the "film as art" category let's not forget Arnheim's Film as Art, which is currently available in a new printing.

 

 

Also in the film as art catagory Maya Deren's Anagram and Tarkovsky's Sculpting in Time. Neither book is technical but both represent high achievements in cinematic aesthetics. Despite Tarkovsky's overt classical stance I think his aesthetics have something to say to the super 8 filmmaker.

[Jon-Hebert Barto]

"Sculpting in Time" is badass...period. As a matter of fact, I recommend those looking for books to read on the subject of film theory to read Tarkovskys book then go directly to Eisenstiens work. Diametrically opposed views from two giants of not only Russian cinema, but world cinema.

 

Good calls by both of you. :D

[Douglas Hunter]

I recommend those looking for books to read on the subject of film theory to read Tarkovskys book then go directly to Eisenstiens work.

 

 

That's a great suggestion. The two couldn't be farther apart in their aesthetics and understanding of how the cinema works, Tarkovsky (as you know) was passionate in his total rejection of montage theory. The juxtaposition of these two thinkers / filmmakers is a great comparison for anyone who wants to understand cinema and its history.

[Guy Bennett]

There's also a substantial recent monograph on the films of Kenneth Anger, if you care for his work, and a couple of interesting books of essays by Brakhage.

 

For Tarkovsky fans, his diary has just been published in French by the Cahiers du cinéma.

[John Adolfi]

Sent this out this morning.

 

 

Dear Aaton Sales Rep and the President of Aaton.

 

Many are believing that the time has come to produce a new super 8 camera. With the support of the format by Kodak, Pro8mm and others, super-8 has a future. What do you think?

This link gives your company a consensus of feedback on this subject from the Cinematography.com forum.

Both you and the president of Arriflex have been notified with the hope one will respond and give this some serious consideration.

 

http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...=15040&st=0

 

Sincerely,

 

John Adolfi

[Blue Demon]

What happened to Santo? He had some points early in the thread and now he's suddenly "unsibscribed"? Was this voluntarily? Or was he banned from here like on the unrealistic filmshooting/flamebait/slotcars.com forum?

[David Mullen ASC]

I may partially be to blame. When he brought up the term "Japanozoom" in his continual diatribe against all things Japanese (Nikon lenses, Fuji film, etc.), many of us told him that the term was vaguely racist. So rather than bring it up again in the body of his posts, he made the term part of his signature file.

 

Not wanting to give him an opportunity of making the offensive term more commonplace through repetition (his obvious intent), I asked Tim Tyler to ask Santo to change his signature file -- but he decided to unsubsribe instead of changing his signature. So he was not banned, he left voluntarily.

 

I'd also remind you that we have an unofficial policy of signing our posts with our real names.

 

Santo had a lot to contribute, but for some reason, he felt the need to throw in a lot of offensive and confrontational garbage into the mix rather than be part of a filmmaking community and share his hard-won knowledge with everyone else.

[Michael Ryan]

I may partially be to blame. When he brought up the term "Japanozoom" in his continual diatribe against all things Japanese (Nikon lenses, Fuji film, etc.), many of us told him that the term was vaguely racist. So rather than bring it up again in the body of his posts, he made the term part of his signature file.

 

Not wanting to give him an opportunity of making the offensive term more commonplace through repetition (his obvious intent), I asked Tim Tyler to ask Santo to change his signature file -- but he decided to unsubsribe instead of changing his signature. So he was not banned, he left voluntarily.

 

I'd also remind you that we have an unofficial policy of signing our posts with our real names.

 

Santo had a lot to contribute, but for some reason, he felt the need to throw in a lot of offensive and confrontational garbage into the mix rather than be part of a filmmaking community and share his hard-won knowledge with everyone else.

 

First off, I want to give a big THANK YOU to David's last post. Unfortunately, most forums around the Internet make one feel that they are participating in a teenage pukefest, where the F word seems to be the extreme limit of their vocabulary. It's so refreshing to come to a forum where people are civil and want to exchange ideas and knowledge like adults.

 

I also want to second David's request that everyone sign with their real name or at the least their real first name. When I respond to some questions I like to use the persons name not, "Hello There, Blue Dick Weed Motor."

 

Mike

[David Mullen ASC]

The truth is that this forum is relatively unmoderated compared to some others.

[Robert Hughes]

It's a shame that Trevor feels a need to hide behind a mask and strike out at his fellow filmmakers, but that's how some people are I guess.

 

Kind of like a chimp who throws turds at <Iraqi civilians> innocent bystanders then runs for cover. :ph34r:

 

Hey, big guy, come on back as yourself, leave the mask behind....

Edited July 8, 2006 by Robert Hughes

[Blue Demon]

I don't understand how Japanozoom can be seen as racist. Criticising a nation's technology in one area is not criticising their race, rather the direction they took with a certain type of product.

 

One forum I participated in gave me a warning because I explained that Saban was a jew. The warning came in the form of "we noticed your comment about jews, another thoughtless post and you will be banned". I too unsubscribed but not before telling the board regulars that the place was being run by retards. There seems to be a witch-hunt against racism that spots it everywhere, and I admit I find this disturbing. I could see a whole South Park episode stemming from that incident but anyway...I understand santo's decision, it's our loss that people decided to give him crap about his choice of words. The guy really pushed Super-8 beyond the level of home movies it was designed for and his posts will be missed at least by those of us who can see the hare in the briar patch.

 

Anyway my name is Hideki, so that should say my position on the "japanozoom" issue. has some weight..

 

またね～

[steve hyde]

RE: "Santo"

 

He is clearly an historian of super 8 cameras, thus he had many valuable insights on the subject. I have no idea if he is actually a filmmaker....

 

One characteristic of a good forum is one that encourages open, uncensored dialogue and if someone wants to be controversial and contrary, that should be encouraged if it is productive. However, it is clear that Santo was being contrary to be contrary and that isn't really all that productive. Sure it is true that c - mount Beaulieu's and Leica's are better cameras than many of the automatic Japanese makes. It's a non-argument. Why champion a non-argument?

 

I also think he was using an authoritative tone to spread some bad information about telecine technologies that he really knows nothing about. That is definitely counterproductive.

 

On filmshooting.com Santo was invited to leave and he returned several times under a different alias. He mostly played games with members by starting threads and posing questions that he knew would start conflict among members. In other words he was "trolling." In this case he was basically entertaining himself at the expense of the forum members.... very tiresome, disruptive and unproductive..

 

Steve

[Blue Demon]

Well I did not agree with his points but it was nice seeing a divergence of opinion from my own. For the most part he really underestimated the SINGLE-8 format. A Fujica ZC1000 with a Zeiss 10-100 zoom would be simply amazing. I'm not a historian myself but I am a collector of Fujica Single-8 cameras with many in my collection. Hey some of them even work, ne? :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

I hope santo with come back to both forums and continue to defy complacency as he always has.

[Guy Bennett]

Folks,

 

The last several posts have nothing to do with the subject of this thread (Super 8 books). Could we get back to it?

 

Perhaps there could be a separate thread for those wishing to discuss Santo. Or better yet, maybe people could just talk about filmmaking.

[David Mullen ASC]

It is certainly possible to talk about the problems with zoom lenses on old Super-8 cameras without resorting to insulting nicknames. The trouble with the term "Japanozoom" is that it assumes that everyone knows that the "Japano" prefix has negative connotations, or else it wants you to start making that assumption, i.e. Japanese-made = bad. That sort of short-cut to thinking, attaching an ethnic or racial identification to something negative, is a dangerous verbal game to play.

 

Anyway, Santo left on his own accord because, I guess, it meant more to him to be able to play those nasty verbal games than contribute positively to a discussion. All he had to do was drop the insulting signature line.

 

And being HALF-Japanese, and born in Japan, my opinion on this also has some weight, maybe only half yours though...

[Guy Bennett]

...*sigh*...

[Blue Demon]

すごいね！！　日本語がわかりますか？？

 

Ok since Guy is beginning to steam from under his collar and out his ears...My favourite super-8 book was one brought to me in 1984 or 85. It had a red cover and was my favourite book for years, but I can't remember the name. It was full of fantasy filmmaking info, it explained how several effects were done, mentioned that you can get away without fx like in "On the beach" or "THX 1136"....does anyone know what this book was? I'd love to buy a new copy. I remember a lot of the contents but not the title or authour.

[Jon-Hebert Barto]

I believe you are thinking of "FILM MAKERS GUIDE TO SUPER-8" by the editors of SUPER-8 MAGAZINE. It was my first filmmaking book ever. It's hardback with a red dust jacket. It came out in 1980. Is this it? Also, I don't remember any "THX 1138" stuff in there.....fantasy fx stuff, yes.

[steve hyde]

すごいね！！　日本語がわかりますか？？

 

Ok since Guy is beginning to steam from under his collar and out his ears...My favourite super-8 book was one brought to me in 1984 or 85. It had a red cover and was my favourite book for years, but I can't remember the name. It was full of fantasy filmmaking info, it explained how several effects were done, mentioned that you can get away without fx like in "On the beach" or "THX 1136"....does anyone know what this book was? I'd love to buy a new copy. I remember a lot of the contents but not the title or authour.

 

 

Blue Demon,

 

From looking at your previous posts, I see that you are a high school student. Most high school students I know were born in the late 1980s and 1990s. ... How did someone bring you a book in "1984 or 1985". Is it time to take the GED?

 

Steve

[Rick Palidwor]

Blue Demon,

 

From looking at your previous posts, I see that you are a high school student. Most high school students I know were born in the late 1980s and 1990s. ... How did someone bring you a book in "1984 or 1985". Is it time to take the GED?

 

Steve

 

Good detective work Steve.

Is any one else suspicious that around the same time Santo vacates someone, in what is basically the same mask, appears and tries to back-up Santo? BTW, what's the GED?

 

Rick

[Dan Salzmann]

GED is a General Equivalency Diploma. And I agree, good sleuthing!

The similarities are a bit of a coincidence.

I think it's the butler!

[John Adolfi]

Hey what about Brodsky and Treadway's contribution with the latest on the subject in the late 90's?

Edited July 10, 2006 by John Adolfi