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Big screen films shot on R16


Oliver Smith

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This question has been asked a lot in this forum, there's probably a list somewhere if you check under "films shot on super 16," but from memory, here go a few:

 

HUSTLE & FLOW

THE DEVILS REJECTS

THE CONSTANT GARDNER (partial)

CITY OF GOD (partial -- most)

28 WEEKS LATER

 

Hope that helps.

 

--g

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The older Texas Chainsaw massacre had some footage shot with a bolex. I don't know what in particular, but I remember pictures of a tiny little bolex mounted on a big, heavy iron crane.

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He asked what was shot on R16 (Regular) 16mm film.

 

I saw one made in the late 90's that was normal 16mm. It may have been in a couple of theaters, which is the best you can expect out of an indie film anyway and many would only dream of that.

 

This one is called A Better Place. Kevin Smith helped produce it for (I heard) under $200k. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118705/ It was good and worth renting or buying. The 16mm had a hell of a look to it and I think worked perfect for the story where video would have hurt it. It was shot with an SR1 I heard as well. There have been several horror movies made on 16mm recently that made it to good DVD markets, which is all you can hope for again. If you keep the stocks sorta slow, your lenses great and your story is good, it won't matter if it was Normal or Super.

 

And yes the only good Tx. Chainsaw film was all shot on 16mm normal.

 

Just remember to frame for 16:9 for post work needs as any legitimate DVD distributor will want to make anamorphic DVD's.

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The older Texas Chainsaw massacre had some footage shot with a bolex. I don't know what in particular, but I remember pictures of a tiny little bolex mounted on a big, heavy iron crane.

 

Most was shot with an NPR on ECO.(ektachrome commercial ASA25).

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How recent?

Woodstock, Monterey Pop.

'Business as Usual', my student film in 1982; 1.66 soft matted, with a C-roll matte on the print. I haven't seen it since (sob). The director legged it with the answer print . I didn't have £250 for a print, or a Steenbeck. I have both now.

Ah, history.

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  • 3 weeks later...
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I only just found out recently that The Gods Must Be Crazy was shot on 16mm with a Bolex. Though it's been a while since Ive seen the film so I can't recall the aspect ratio to determine whether it was shot on regular 16mm or super 16.

 

Hi Patrick!

 

Do you mean the 1980 The Gods Must Be Crazy from Botswana, that was shot on 35mm and released in 2,35:1, according to IMDB.

 

Cheers, Dave

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I only just found out recently that The Gods Must Be Crazy was shot on 16mm with a Bolex. Though it's been a while since Ive seen the film so I can't recall the aspect ratio to determine whether it was shot on regular 16mm or super 16.

 

now that's crazy. It was shot in 35mm Techniscope, same as 'El Topo'.

 

This is from Wikipedia & is a frame grab from DVD.

 

Xi_at_end_of_earth.JPG

 

http://imdb.com/title/tt0080801/technical

 

When I saw it in a theatre, I was pleasently surprised to notice certain frame line artifacts and that all the hold frames were not dupes. Which meant it was optically printed from a Techniscope OCN.

The picture quality was impressive. Since it was shot in the late 70s, it was on 5247.

 

Let's suppose the movie was a blow up from 16mm. The print would have been projected 1.85 whether it was shot in 16R or S16.

'Thermin' was projected 1.33/1, because it was blown up to the height of the 1.85 frame.

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"...now that's crazy. It was shot in 35mm Techniscope, same as 'El Topo'."

 

Woah....it wasnt very long ago when a cinematographer posted on this very forum that The Gods Must Be Crazy was shot on 16mm with a Bolex! I admit, I was more than a little surprised when I read that. I can't remember the poster's name. Certainly a lot of misinformation going around the Internet.

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When I saw "Once" I immediately assumed it was R16, but IMDB says it was 35. Do production companies often lie and say they shot on 35 to help their distribution efforts? Maybe i'm mistaken, but it sure looked like 16 to me. It has that doccumentary look and feel that screams 16, not at all glossy like most 35 productions. Maybe they were using old stock or something. Anybody seen it yet? You'll be hearing about it come Oscar time,

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Have any films, of recent times, been shot on R16 and had notable success on the big screen?

 

Hi Oliver,

A lot of successful shorts are shot on R16mm and projected on the big screen. Some have had a lot of success even shot R16mm cropped to 2.35 and blown up to 35mm prints. Not that they look flawless but a real testament to making do with the resources at hand. These newer stocks are really opening up possibilities.

 

Sasha

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When I saw "Once" I immediately assumed it was R16, but IMDB says it was 35. Do production companies often lie and say they shot on 35 to help their distribution efforts?

 

I think that's shot on HD.

IMDB is not the most reliable source for tech specs.

 

But how could I have forgotten Bergman's "The Magic Flute', made for Swedish TV.

1.33:1, 7247, Canon 12-120mm macrozoom.

 

The image glows. A very beautiful & charming film.

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Almost all of the Antarctica footage in BBC's Planet Earth was shot with super 16mm film, not sure what type of camera. but it was so cold their film jammed up. They were SOL for the night of shooting and had try again the next day. They talk about this in the Planet Earth Diaries.

 

Vera Drake was shot with Super 16mm Film as well, for the whole film from what I am told, very nicely done movie.

 

Don't know if this counts for "Big Screen" though..

Edited by Curtis Bouvier
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Oliver et al,

 

A recent film that received quite a bit of critical attention and theatrical success was Andrew Bujalski's Mutual Appreciation (shot on SRII with Canon 8-64, entirely on 7222 in 1.33), and his previous film Funny Ha, Ha (shot on Aaton 54LTR with Angenieux 9,5-57 on Kodak color stocks, in 1.33).

 

Milestone just did a theatrical re-released Charles Burnett's shot in 16mm black and white (1.33) Killer of Sheep. The re-release was distributed on 35mm, and looked outstanding.

 

Of note, films by David Williams, Rachel Reich, Caveh Zahedi's A Little Stiff, John Cassavetes Shadows and Faces, Mark Rappaport, Kelly Reichart's River of Grass, early films by Greg Araki, John O'Brien, Gordon Erickson, Everett Lewis, Allison Ander's Border Radio, Lizzie Borden, Peter Goldman's Echos of Silence, Jim McBride's David Holtman's Diary, early films by Robert Kramer, the BBC film work of Mike Leigh (some of which toured as part of a travelling retrospective), work by the infamous Jon Jost, and Chris Smith's American Job (one of his best films).

 

All of the above had some kind of festival life, and limited or wide theatrical release. These are just a few of the "forgotten" independents.

 

Don't forget Rick Linklater's Slacker which toured around as a 16mm print before Orion sniffed profit potential and pick it up for release.

 

And Don't forget Rick Schmidt... Feature Films At Used Car Prices. He made a number of features over the years. Many in 16mm before switching to video.

 

 

-Alain

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