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Newbie: Filming a short movie


Guillaume Gaubert

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Hello everyone,

 

First, I'm a total newbie to Super 8, so there's a high chance that I'll say stupid things.

 

I bought a Canon Auto Zoom 814 recently in the aim of shooting a short film at 18fps (about 7-8 minutes) with it and a bunch of Kodak Ektachrome 100D. I'll record sound and dialogues with an external microphone and then sync it with film in post. The movie itself is composed of 2 indoor scenes and 2 outdoor scenes. It's kind of a gangster movie which each scenes are mainly focused on characters.

I wanted to go with film because this is how I think a film has to look, and I love the picture. I wanted to have the look of the classic films.

 

I would like to know if some of you could give me some very general advices before starting shooting.

 

Thank you a lot,

 

Guillaume

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Hello everyone,

 

First, I'm a total newbie to Super 8, so there's a high chance that I'll say stupid things.

 

I bought a Canon Auto Zoom 814 recently in the aim of shooting a short film at 18fps (about 7-8 minutes) with it and a bunch of Kodak Ektachrome 100D. I'll record sound and dialogues with an external microphone and then sync it with film in post. The movie itself is composed of 2 indoor scenes and 2 outdoor scenes. It's kind of a gangster movie which each scenes are mainly focused on characters.

I wanted to go with film because this is how I think a film has to look, and I love the picture. I wanted to have the look of the classic films.

 

I would like to know if some of you could give me some very general advices before starting shooting.

 

Thank you a lot,

 

Guillaume

 

The Canon Auto Zoom 814 doesn't have crystal sync sound. Meaning that the motor doesn't run at an exact constant speed, so whatever you record on your external sound recorder won't necessarily sync up.

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Do you have an iPhone or iPod Touch? If so, snag one of the light meter apps that are free to double check your camera's light meter, which is quite old and could be off a smidge.

 

Yes, I have an iPhone, I'll check this apps.

 

Finally, I'm thinking about shooting at 24fps because of dialogues and sound sync.

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Shoot it at 18fps. If this is your first film, no worries. Use the extra length it will give you per roll. Syncing up sound is not a matter of fps.

 

Here is a straight 8 I did, shot on Ektachrome 100D, single take, 18fps. You will see that the lips go rubbery here and there. The Nikon R10 I owned at that time was the bomb. Absolutely pure perfection and selling it was the worst mistake I have ever made.

 

By the way, the sound recorder actually went out on this halfway through, so we had to loop the second half based upon the digital video backup we were shooting.

 

http://vimeo.com/28619261

Edited by Matt Stevens
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I really love your film, it's very funny actually :P

 

So do you mean fps has no effect on sound sync problem?

 

Correct. 18 or 24, you just set your timeline in whatever program you are using to edit to play back at the speed you recorded, or add a pulldown to 30fps (3:2 pulldown for 24fps, as an example). I've shot a lot of 18fps material and will continue to do so if it is only meant for the internet or home use.

 

Oh and thanks for the compliment. :)

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Correct. 18 or 24, you just set your timeline in whatever program you are using to edit to play back at the speed you recorded, or add a pulldown to 30fps (3:2 pulldown for 24fps, as an example). I've shot a lot of 18fps material and will continue to do so if it is only meant for the internet or home use.

 

Oh and thanks for the compliment. :)

 

Thank you for the information.

 

What do by "only meant for the internet or home use"? What are the uses where 18fps can cause problems?

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If you are shooting for broadcast television or especially cinema release, you want to shoot at 24fps simply for ease of frame rates. For the internet or playback at home, shoot whatever you want.

 

Thank you Matt. I'm going to shoot it at 18fps to get more time per cartridge.

 

I would like to ask another question regarding lighting. I want to shoot an indoor scene of a man talking to the camera behind a table with a very little (25W) incandescent lamp on it, with the sunlight arriving from the right, lighting the character. I made a draft of the scene: Scene.png

 

So I know we can choose between daylight filter and Tungsten filter for indoor shooting. But since I have these two types of light lighting the scene, I don't really know what kind of filter to choose.

Can anybody light me up about which filter I have to choose?

 

Thank you!

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Assuming you actually use the daylight rather than simulating it, you use the daylight filter. 25W is nothing like bright enough so you might use a blue photoflood such as this

 

http://www.bulbtown.com/BCA_250W_120V_BLUE_PHOTOFLOOD_E26_BASE_p/00050.htm

 

which has a blue lacquer to correct the output to daylight.

An ordinary bulb would appear very orange but this might suit your mood; the higher the wattage the less orange. You could proof it with a digital camera.

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Assuming you actually use the daylight rather than simulating it, you use the daylight filter. 25W is nothing like bright enough so you might use a blue photoflood such as this

 

http://www.bulbtown.com/BCA_250W_120V_BLUE_PHOTOFLOOD_E26_BASE_p/00050.htm

 

which has a blue lacquer to correct the output to daylight.

An ordinary bulb would appear very orange but this might suit your mood; the higher the wattage the less orange. You could proof it with a digital camera.

 

Thank you for your reply, Mark. So I'll be shooting using the daylight filter, I think the orange can fit the scene pretty well ;)

 

Another thing: another scene takes place in the berm of a mountain road, South facing. I live in the Southeast of France and there will be a lot of sun, so I thought about shooting the scene during the golden hour at the morning to avoid over-exposure.

Is that a good idea? Because I don't have a ND filter.

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100D will tell the camera what filter to use or not use, which is what it did for you. The good thing about Ektachrome 100D is that it is a reversal stock, so you can get it transferred just about anywhere, at less cost vs. negative stock.

 

Do not overexpose reversal stock. Either get it right on the dime, or underexpose slightly. I do recommend the free Light Meter app for iPods and iPhones. Use it in conjunction with your camera's light meter.

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100D will tell the camera what filter to use or not use, which is what it did for you. The good thing about Ektachrome 100D is that it is a reversal stock, so you can get it transferred just about anywhere, at less cost vs. negative stock.

 

Do not overexpose reversal stock. Either get it right on the dime, or underexpose slightly. I do recommend the free Light Meter app for iPods and iPhones. Use it in conjunction with your camera's light meter.

 

Thank you, so I guess I'm fine.

What are the effects of overexposure on reversal stock?

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For shooting I recommend getting an average exposure reading, seeing what it will be throughout the shot, then locking it off somewhere safe. So, if you seem to see that it will be around 2.4, but goes above and below throughout the shot, lock it down in the middle for reversal stocks. That is a safe bet. For negative stocks and you go further and allow a bit more exposure, so if you range 1.4 t0 2.8, you can safely expose at 1.4.

 

Just remember that most super8 cameras get soft at 2.8 and below.

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You can't recover over-exposure on reversal as you might on neg. If the highlight detail is gone, it's gone, whereas it's still on the negative, just dense but correctable with luck. So more care is needed- maybe you need to fill deep shadows with a reflector.

An ordinary bulb really will be quite orange on daylight stock. Maybe try a high wattage- if you can still find one.

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Thank you for your reply and advice. I'll try to multiply shots to avoid this sync problem.

 

You could try slating head and tail instead, and doing a time stretch on the audio to get it to match up with whatever speed the camera is actually shooting at. A lot of Super8 cameras are fairly consistant in their speed it's just the speed they are consistant at can be a bit random. ;)

 

love

 

Freya

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You could try slating head and tail instead, and doing a time stretch on the audio to get it to match up with whatever speed the camera is actually shooting at. A lot of Super8 cameras are fairly consistant in their speed it's just the speed they are consistant at can be a bit random. ;)

 

love

 

Freya

Oh yes. My old Nikon ran about 10% slow.

Edited by Matt Stevens
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