Bolex Super 16mm Summer footage

[Elliot Rudmann]

Hey guys, this is a link to a little film I cut together from some stuff I shot over this past summer on my Bolex EBM (S16). I would not dare call it serious work, just some fun I had with the camera and my friends that some of you Bolex/16mm aficionados might enjoy. There is some noticeable vignetting from the Switar 10mm preset I used, but for the most part it didn't bother me. Overall this camera can make for some great looking outdoor footage.

 

Shot on Kodak 7201 and 7246 stocks. Footage was scanned @ 2k resolution on an Arriscan and colored on a Baselight. Enjoy!

 

http://vimeo.com/10424494

[Dimitri Zaunders]

Wow, this is absolutely beautiful! I can't believe you got such great images out of your Bolex, I'm yet to shoot anything more than B&W reversal because I can't really afford all the stock/telecine costs right now, but you've given me hope that one day I can produce something anywhere near as incredible as this!!

 

Out of interest, how many feet of film did you have to shoot off to end up with so much great material? I would imagine your shooting ratio would have to have been really high to end up with so many great images!

 

One other thing: what's your experience with using the Canon FD mount lenses on the Bolex? I bought an adapter to attach my old Olympus 35mm SLR lenses to my Bolex but so far I've been too afraid to shoot anything in case the focus is off or the aperture doesn't set itself properly while filming (I've noticed on my SLR that the aperture doesn't close down until a photo is taken, at which point the camera body seems to control the iris). Have you ever had any problems, or is it just a case of attach it and forget about it?

[Elliot Rudmann]

Hey Dimitri, thanks for watching and I'm glad you like the footage! I shot 1200 feet total that summer, couldn't afford any more! So the ratio was about 6:1 or 1 good minute for every 6 minutes shot. I've had no problems with the FD lenses except a weird flare every now and then. The FD lenses do the same thing where the aperture doesn't close until you snap the photo, but Les Bosher made me a Bolex Bayonet to Canon FD adapter that engages the iris control lever so you can freely shoot at any aperture.

 

I shot plenty of B&W reversal in film school and it was fun, but it's amazing how much tonal and color detail you can tweak in negative film.

[Dimitri Zaunders]

Hey Dimitri, thanks for watching and I'm glad you like the footage! I shot 1200 feet total that summer, couldn't afford any more! So the ratio was about 6:1 or 1 good minute for every 6 minutes shot. I've had no problems with the FD lenses except a weird flare every now and then. The FD lenses do the same thing where the aperture doesn't close until you snap the photo, but Les Bosher made me a Bolex Bayonet to Canon FD adapter that engages the iris control lever so you can freely shoot at any aperture.

 

I shot plenty of B&W reversal in film school and it was fun, but it's amazing how much tonal and color detail you can tweak in negative film.

 

 

Yeah reversal is fun but unforgiving, although I'm really looking forward to shooting some colour reversal in the near future! I'm envious that you have the resources to shoot and scan 1200 feet of negative film though, the results are just stunning.

 

Actually I just realised that you are the same Elliot who posted the Bolex test footage that I absolutely fell in love with a while back. Vimeo seems to have deleted all my old 'likes', but I swear that your Chicago footage may have been the first video I ever saved to my favourites. Incredible stuff, I love your work!

 

And now I'm curious about your custom lens adapter, it sounds a lot more advanced than mine. Would you happen to know if they make them for OM mount lenses?

[Tom Hepburn]

Some really nice footage there Elliot. Love the slo-mo at the lake.

Tom

[Tim Carroll]

Nicely done Elliot. Had an EBM many years ago, wasn't Super 16, and my images didn't look that nice. Impressive.

 

Hey, what do you think of Nolo and their Arriscan? As a fellow Chicagoan I have thought about using them, but haven't as yet. Did they transfer direct to a hard drive for you? And what codecs do they put out, ProRes HQ, Quicktime, etc?

 

Best,

-Tim

[Elliot Rudmann]

Hey, what do you think of Nolo and their Arriscan? As a fellow Chicagoan I have thought about using them, but haven't as yet. Did they transfer direct to a hard drive for you? And what codecs do they put out, ProRes HQ, Quicktime, etc?

 

Best,

-Tim

 

Well Tim, I have nothing but good things to say about Nolo. Of course that's an extremely biased opinion because I work there :lol: I'm an assistant who does most of their scanning and some color correction. We offer scans direct to hard drive in virtually any format you could want. Quicktime (Prores codecs), MXF/DNxHD for Avid users, tiff/dpx, anything. PM me if you'd like to get more info.

 

The film for this project was scanned to 10-bit DPX log > brought into Baselight for a one-light color pass > exported as Prores quicktime file for offline edit in Final Cut > then with an EDL from Final Cut, reconformed in Baselight for final color > then rendered out (mastered) as an Uncompressed Quicktime.

 

-This is a workflow I prefer since I didn't want to perfect the color for every single frame I had shot, but only the ones that ended up in the final cut. But scanning and applying scene-to-scene color correction and then delivering to Prores HQ to harddrive seems to be the popular choice for those shooting film who want to avoid the extra costs of tape based workflows.

 

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Dimitri - Glad to hear to liked my previous footage! Not sure about the OM mount, but I would email Les Bosher and ask him what he is capable of constructing. He may have one already made. Check out his website http://www.lesbosher.co.uk/

 

Tom - Those dogs were great actors!