A Super8 Filmmaker's Journal by FilmMaker8

A Super 8 Filmmaker’s Journal Table of Contents: 1. Introduction 2. The Micro Cinema Underground 3. The Case for Super 8 4. Choosing a Super 8 Camera in the Digital Age 5. Repairing and Servicing Super 8 Cameras 6. Super 8 Film and Processing 7. Double System Super 8 Sound Filmmaking 8. Creating a Super 8 Digital Intermediate 9. Analog Super 8 Filmmaking *Bonus Material: My collected writings from Super 8 Today magazine. Disclaimer: I have received NO paid advertisement. All Super 8 camera ads are VINTAGE and are very out of date! I am presenting all Super 8 ads strictly for educational purposes, historical reference and for artistic reasons. No known licensed photographs were used; I am in no way profiting from this publication. A Super 8 Filmmaker’s Journal is self published, completed to promote Super 8 filmmaking and the small community of artists that supports it! All sections and/ or articles from Super 8 Today magazine written by Filmmaker/ Artist Don Diego Ramirez. If you like this Super 8 resource guide; Please Blog about it! It is available on Amazon.com. Don Diego Ramirez is available for Super 8 Filmmaking Workshops, Super 8 consultation or as an exhibiting Filmmaker and/ or Fine Art Photographer; please contact me at dondiegoramirez@gmail.com or PO BOX 31, SHENANDOAH JUNCTION, WV, 25442 I am on MY SPACE, FACEBOOK, and YOUTUBE My artist web pag (currently under construction):

www.theglassgun.com

Word Processing: Kathy Rainey, Nicole Nobrege, Jennifer Smith Layout Design /Arrangement: Don Diego Ramirez Support and Feedback: Robert Slavin, Craig Smith, Chris Cottrill, Bernie O’ Daughtery, David Wanger, Grahm Boyle, Sixta & Maria Miranda, and The Film Group, Cover by John Stillwagon. Finished on July 30, 2009; all information in this publication is subject to change with out notice!

Super 8 Ad

Circa 1980

Introduction

Archives in New York City, the Minneapolis Underground Film Festival and the Sydney Underground Film Festival. We (myself, Film Editor David Wanger, and Ben Townsend who completed the sound score) have received great publicity for our humble MicroFilm. It has been an incredible experience, we shall never forget it. For me, my film was a radical departure from my Fine Art Photography which is largely abstract. My art photography has been reviewed twice in the Washington Post, where it was called “deconstructionist.” I cut up photographic negatives, grow mold on them, scratch them, soak them in altering chemicals, staple them to the side of my house for months, paint and dye photographic negatives. I then collage the negative remains into a composition using clear scotch tape. Then I photographically print them. First, I deconstruct, then I reconstruct! I think my fine art photographs are a true representation of reality, well at least as seen by me.

Section #1

“’Film will become an art only when its materials are as inexpensive as pencil and paper.” Super 8 is as close as we’ve come. - Lenny Lipton quoting Jean Cocteau The Super 8 Book, 1975

I would like to dedicate A Super 8 Filmmaker’s Journal to several people who have played important roles in my life in becoming a filmmaker. First: to Norwood Cheek (whom I have never met), editor of the Flicker- fanzine; Flicker: Guide to Super 8 (volume #1, published in 2003). Norwood Cheek has helped Flicker (a kind of Super 8 film club/group) spread around the world. The Flicker: Guide to Super 8 -Fanzine has served me well for 6 years. I hope I do you, and the super 8 film community justice. Second: to Chris Cottrill, editor of Super 8 Today magazine, who published my first few articles on Super 8. Third: to Skizz Cyzyk, Filmmaker and founder of Baltimore’s legendary MicroCineFest who introduced me to the Micro-Cinema movement in Baltimore in the early 1990’s. Lastly: to Craig Smith, (Filmmaker of Psychedelic Glue Sniffin’ Hillbillies) whointroduced me to Super 8 filmmaking. For whatever it is worth; thank you, guys! Who the hell am I ? Some crazy artist- obsessed with Super 8? Yea pretty much! My name is Don Diego Ramirez; I am an artist. I have been exhibiting artwork for more than 22 years in Frederick, Maryland and the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. region. I now live in the dark woods of West Virginia. For the past few years I have been screening my first feature length documentary nationally and have had some international screenings. My film, Trailer Trash: A Film Journal was named Best Documentary at the United States Super 8 Film Festival ( 2007 hosted by Rutgers University) and in the 2007 Rosebud Film Festival in Washington, D.C. my film received a prestigious Rosebud Award. My film has screened in over 20 film festivals including: In 2008 Trailer Trash: A Film Journal screened in NewFilmmakers at the prestigious Anthology Film

I have occasionally taught Super 8 filmmaking workshops in Frederick, Maryland. I have been an adjunct faculty member at Shepherd University in West Virginia. However, I am not really a great teacher; I am an artist. Things like “ how to...” information get filed away somewhere in my disturbed mind. I then have a difficult time simply pulling that technical information up- like one does with a computer file. That is one of the reasons I put A Super 8 filmmaker’s Journal together. It is an attempt to share what I have learned about using Super 8 filmmaking in the digital age with others. This is NOT meant to be the definitive book on Super 8, those books were written while I was in grade school and are avaiable on amazon.com. I suggest starting with Lenny Lipton’s THE SUPER 8 BOOK published in 1975. I am not writing this journal for some academic or intellectual reason, but simply out of my love of Super 8 filmmaking, my admiration of the Micro-Cinema business community which helps to keep the smallest film format (and thus a tool of Personal Cinema) alive nearly 20 years after the demise of Kodak’s corporate, commercially marketed, “amateur film” super 8 monopoly. As an artist, I truthfully consider myself a Fine Art Photographer (this Filmmaker title is very new). When you think of my photography, do not think of Ansel Adams, I am nothing like that. Here’s the recipe that has shaped my visionary photography and short films: take some raw Joel Peter Witkin (Fine Art Photographer), mix in Doug and Mike Starn (a.k.a. The Starn Twins ) add heaping amounts of William S. Burroughs (Writer of Naked Lunch), spaltter in some Alejandro Jodowsky (Filmmaker El Topo) and then -

finish with a dash of Stan Brakhage (Filmmaker, Dog Star Man). Many see me as a disturbed artist with a “Home Grown” vision. My art has been baked (to stay with our culinary theme), by a life lived in the harsh poverty of Appalachia West Virginia -- understand this, then you will see the aesthetics that have come to form my artwork. That is why Trailer Trash: A Film Journal was so hard for me to make. I am not a narrative filmmaker. I had to relearn and retrain my mind to create this award-winning Super 8 documentary. I am deeply proud of Trailer Trash: A Film Journal, and it could not have been made without Super 8 film, or without the two other artists who gave so much of their lives to help me realize my vision. Special thanks to David Wanger who edited my film and Ben Townsend who added his orginal music and audio tech talents. I am forever grateful. I have been messing around with Super 8 filmmaking since dropping out of University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s film program in 1994. I had already completed a Bachelor’s degree from Shepherd College (which is now Shepherd University). If I could’ve afforded both, another college degree and my art making at the same time, I would still be in school. I had never really taken my filmmaking as seriously as I had Fine Art Photography. That all changed in 2004 when I began working on my first feature film. Trailer Trash: A Film Journal is a very personal documentary. Much of it was shot on Super 8 film. The rest of it was shot with digital video. It was edited with Final Cut Pro on a Mac G-4 donated to me. When we began screening our first cut of the film, our budget for a 53 minute film festival-oriented documentary was a total of about $1,500. Yeah, that’s right, only $1,500 - that’s all. Now having screened at over 20 film festivals, we have recently began to edit a new ending. Truthfully, we did not expect the positive response we have received from our micro-budgeted, very personal piece of Underground Cinema. This journal is a guide to using Super 8 filmmaking as a viable competitive and affordable film format in the age of the internet and digital media making. I have based this journal on my recent personal experiences covering the past 5 years. I have given as much specific information about companies and individuals providing goods and services to the Super 8 film 3

community as I could give personal testimony for. I have focused on small MICRO cinema companies. Without their dedication, super 8 would have died decades ago. A Micro-Cinema company tends to one person’s passionate endeavor towards supporting Small Format filmmaking. Best example I can think of: SUPER 8 TODAY magazine. Published and edited by one person, Chris Cottrill. One person who has put together the first magazine dedicated to Super 8 filmmaking in over 20 years ! Working on the magazine part time and for no pay. (Just like my book!) Sadly Chris will be publishing the last issue of this very cool ‘ZINE’ late this year. Low subscritions and declining advertisers have sapped Chris’s will to continue. Super 8 filmmakers must support the LARGER Micro-Cinema community, or super 8 will eventually die. I have tried to meet the highest journalistic standards that I remember from my prestigious tenure as editor-in-chief of my Junior High School newspaper: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How! *Pictured below Don Diego Ramirez BLUE ELEPHANT ART CENTER Frederick, MD 1998.Ccurrently I look like a Psychiatric patient!

Don Diego Ramirez

Composition with Bumble Bee

1999

* This photograph was exhibited in 2001 at the newly opened Millennium Art Center in Washington D. C., an art center opened by Bill Wooby. The 2001 exhibition curated by the director of the Washington Project for the Arts, Annie Adjchavanich, this exhibition focused on artists considered part of the DC region, but who lived well out side the city. This exhibition was reviewed in The Washington Post where my art was called, â&#x20AC;&#x153;compellingâ&#x20AC;? on June 22, 2001. Bill Wooby and the Millennium Art Center became very controversial; the story was covered closely by the DC City Paper. Google it!

Don Diego Ramirez

Nude in Red

2003

In summer 2003, while a member of the artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s co-operative Blue Elephant Art Center in Frederick Maryland, my art was again reviewed by the Washington Post. Selected artists were asked to create art based on the stage plays being performed at the nationally recognized Contemporary American Theatre Festival. This photograph was inspired by the horrorificly surreal stage play WHORES written by Rutgers University professor Lee Blessing.

Super 8 Ad - Circa 1975 6

The Micro Cinema Underground Section #2

I am into what is now being

called the Micro-Cinema Revolution. Despite this name Micro-Cinema is an evolution of a film form, not a revolution. Today’s Micro-Cinema movement has had many names; it is as old as cinema itself. It has been called Underground Film, Experimental Film, Avant Garde Film, and the New American Cinema. The roots of today's American Micro-Cinema movement lay with Maya Deren and Alexander Hamid’s surreal, dream-like, homemade 16 mm amateur film completed in 1942; Meshes in the Afternoon. Maya Deren made Meshes in the Afternoon for personal reasons. Personal Film was already considered to be part of the art world in Europe, however in America this was considered to be a radical new form of cinema. Maya and her husband had no commercial interest when they collaborated on a work of art made on film. Maya was making a personal artistic statement. Working with borrowed film equipment and surplus movie film. Maya gave birth to the “No-budget? then D.I.Y (Do it yourself)!” ethos of personal cinema that remains to this day. A personal piece of art made with amateur home movie equipment on amateur film. This is the powerful simplicity that led to the underground film movement that exploded into the popular culture’s imagination by the late 1960’s. In this turbulant and much celebrated era in American art history; Underground Filmmaker’s such as: Stan Brakhage, Len Lye, Jonas Mekas, Stan Vanderbeek, Harry Smith and Andy Warhol received as much art world attention as main stream Hollywood Directors. Thanks largely to Maya Deren’s early vision of a truely independent and personal cinema taking root in America. Underground Film or Personal Cinema has become as important as any other American art form. Now its newest incarnation is called: Micro Cinema. Today’s Micro Cinema involves the use of computers and editing digital video. Since 1965, Super 8 filmmaking has played a vital role in the personal cinema movement. I put this journal together as a guide to the “Micro-Cinema” companies and individual professionals, who are helping to preserve Super 8 filmmaking by providing hard to

find goods and services. Today’s filmmakers/ mediamakers have unique powerful digital non-linear editing tools, often used in the making of personal media which is posted on-line. For the starving artist, many of these tools were once exspensive and far out of reach. Hardware and software, are today more affordable. Today, many film artists (in the age of digital computer media and the world wide web) are now looking to maintain a direct connection to the history of cinema. Super 8 gives many that unique film tool. My introduction to Underground Film and/or Micro-Cinema came when I moved to Baltimore, Maryland in 1993. At age 27, I began to establish a reputation as a serious exhibiting Fine Art Photographer and successful art gallery owner. I had always dreamt of becoming a filmmaker. In Baltimore, three filmmakers of profound vision came into my life. They altered my understanding of art in very complex ways. Let me try to recount those crazy and beautiful years of art as experience and education. I had managed to get into the Film 1 class at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) taught by Experimental Filmmaker and Animator, Allen Price. In our first class, Allen had changed my entire understanding of art and film. Allen Price managed to change my entire life and all I knew or had learned about art (over the past seven years) was gone in three short minutes! The agent of change was Mothlight, a 1963 short film by Stan Brakhage. I had been taken to the surreal doors of Underground Film — I ran through screaming and laughing in ecstasy! In Film 1 (at UMBC) I met Craig Smith, who had already completed Psychedelic Glue Sniffin’ Hillbillies, a meticulously crafted Super 8 sound film getting serious Underground Film Festival attention in 1993 and 1994. Craig Smith and I were “non-traditional” students on the UMBC campus (we were older than 18!). Craig’s film was selected for the original New York Underground Film Festival. The now famous Hollywood Director, Todd Phillips, had founded and produced the orginal NYUFF festival. To those of us in Film 1, for Craig Smith to be part of this Film Festival was very impressive. Hell, the rest of us had not even shot a roll of film! Craig Smith introduced me first to Super 8 filmmak8 ing and secondly to another filmmaker, Skizz Cyzyk. (continued pg. 9)

Skizz went on to become an important figure in the Micro-Cinema movement. Skizz is an amazing Animator/ Filmmaker. He is the one who introduced me to Micro-Cinema.

West Virginia to see a program in Baltimore’s MicroCineFest. Both Skizz and my students loved it! So really, what is Micro-Cinema? Change 'Underground Films' to 'Micro-Cinema' and I’ll let Sheldon Renan explain from his 1967 book, An Introduction to American Underground Film:

In 1993, Baltimore filmmaker Skizz Cyzyk took the viewing room of the former funeral home where he lived and converted it into a microcinema (a D.I.Y. movie theater). For several years, The Mansion Theater was home to regular screenings of underground, D.I.Y., and independent films from all over the world, and became an East Coast stopping point for touring filmmakers. By 1997, the screenings had spawned MicroCineFest (MCF), a full-fledged annual film festival, which quickly distinguished itself from the few other existing underground film festivals at the time by passing on the usual subversive, transgressive, shock value fare in favor of more off-beat, oddball, substream, psychotronic, and low budget works. The festival was mostly interested in entertaining an under-served audience, encouraging and inspiring more filmmakers, and providing a general good time for like-minded cultural outcasts interested in the type of material other festivals normally showed at midnight, if shown at all. As a result, MCF became a highly-anticipated, ground-breaking, important event, attracting filmmakers and audiences worldwide, inspiring numerous other festivals, and garnering great press from Variety, Film Threat, Filmmaker, indieWire, and Cashiers du Cinemart, just to name a few. The Baltimore Sun called MCF, “one of the pioneering and most respected underground film festivals in the country,” CityPaper called it “one of the most prominent and idiosyncratic underground film festivals in the country,” and Chris Gore’s Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide listed it as one of the ten best underground film festivals in the world. After ten steady years Skizz and crew decided to put an end to the annual festival – but not to its spirit. MCF lives on through occasional special screenings, retrospectives from festival alum, and Best Of programs. - From BEND FILM FESTIVAL Program Guide 2007

I was there in 1993 at the Baltimore funeral home known as the Mansion Theater. I attended nearly every year of the 10 year run of MicroCineFest. I even had my students attend the film festival as a “field trip,” whenever I found myself teaching Super 8 filmmaking or Avant Garde American film. I have been an adjunct faculty member, occasionally at Shepherd University. There, I taught a course called “Survey of Avant Garde American Film.” Two years in a row my students carpooled the nearly 2 hours from

There are underground films in which there is no movement, and films in which there is nothing but movement. There are films about people and films about light. There are short, short underground films and long, long underground films. There are some that have been banned, and there was one that was nominated for an Academy Award. There are sexy films and sexless films, political films and poetical films, film epigrams and film epics. Definitions are risky, for the underground film is nothing less than an explosion of cinematic styles, forms, and directions. If it can be called a genre, it is a genre that can be defined only by a cataloging of the individual works assigned to it. The film medium is rich with possibilities, and the underground film-maker has widely explored these possibilities, with the result that there are almost as many different kinds of underground films as there are underground film-makers. The underground film is a certain kind of film. It is a film conceived and made essentially by one person and is a personal statement by that person. It is a film that dissents radically in form, or in technique, or in content, or perhaps in all three. It is usually made for very little money, frequently under a thousand dollars, and its exhibition is outside commercial film channels.

The term “Underground Film” belongs to the sixties, the personal film is not a new phenomenon. Neither is Micro-Cinema. What will they call it next? Super 8 -Super Star!

Google: Guy Maddin This CanadIian Filmmaker is the most celebrated artist working in super 8 today. His 2006 Super 8 masterpiece,

Brand Upon The Brain is available through

The Criterion Collection. 9

www.branduponthebrain.com

MicroCineFest 2006

Filmmakers Don Diego Ramirez and David Wanger. To see MICROCINEFEST archives vist:

www.microcinefest.org

David Wanger is currently living in New York City, where he is pursing the dream of becoming a professional filmmaker. Dave is a graduate of Towson University in Baltimore, MD. Check out Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s web page: www.mambafever.com

MicroCineFest 2002

Artist Don Diego Ramirez (second person on left) speaks after screening a short super 8 film. Far right, Filmmaker Eric Dwyer, a Baltimore filmmaker. Five years later; Eric Dwyer and myself were receipents of the prestigious ROSEBUD AWARD in the 2007 Rosebud Film Festival hosted in Washington, DC. www.rosebud.org

SUPER 8 AD

CIRCA 1979

Super 8 Ad

Circa 1967 12

The Case for Section #3 Super 8

Between 1965 and 1985

Super 8 mm filmmaking dominated the home mediamaking market. Today, in 2009, despite no major corporate commercial support since the early 1980’s: Super 8 filmmaking is experiencing a renaissance of interest and finding brand new users more than 40 years its debut- why? Today’s modern digital media-making revolution driven by faster and faster computers has many pros and cons. Perhaps the main con is that anyone with a digital video camera and a laptop can call themselves a filmmaker. Just over a decade ago, film production took special knowledge, experience with cinema methods and film production tools. I would argue most importantly, ( at least when I was a Film student) it took a tremendous amount of patience( and money) to produce just a short film for the film festival circuit. There was no YouTube! I have always felt it is this loss of the craft of filmmaking that has helped ignite the Super 8 renaissance. Video ( no matter how many pixels it has) is NOT film. Simply, Super 8 mm movie film- is film! The swirling photographic grain of movie film, for over 100 years, has been the true essence of cinema- a moving picture. Super 8 film has a distinct; broadcast quality, photographic or cinema-graphic “look” that remains unsurpassed by any high-priced home DV (digital video) camera. In the height of super 8 production: over 60 million Super 8 film cameras (along with millions of Super 8 projectors, editors, splicer’s, and film stocks) were manufactured. Now high-end Super 8 equipment resells on eBay for a fraction of the cost of its HD digital video counterpart marketed for today’s media maker. Transferring camera original Super 8 movie film into a modern digital format will allow anyone to produce a computer-generated “film” with that distinct look of “cinema”. For any filmmaker or artist looking to produce a film (a film shot on movie film but distributed in a digital format: DVD, digital file, or posted online) Super 8 remains the single most viable and affordable way to achieve this goal. It is far less expensive in every aspect than that of 16 mm film production or even 13

modern HD video. Super 8 is still very easy to use and when done properly; Super 8 movie film exceeds the necessary resolution rate for HD-TV. Today a high definition mastering of Super 8 film by a process called Telecine or film scanning (a service provided by most serious media labs) will allow today’s media maker the ability to create a super 8 digital intermediate for editing on a computer with non-linear editing software. HD mastering of Super 8 film is enhanced by the new professional Super 8 film stocks that were never marketed before. If HD-TV is your final goal, many film labs offer uncompressed HD Telecine direct to a filmmaker’s hard drive. Personally, I think HD mastering of Super 8 film is overkill, but Super 8 film has a higher resolving power than Digital Beta cam! Even Kodak Inc. has gotten in on the new digital action. Kodak, once the kingpin of the Super 8 cartel has failed miserably to keep up with the digital filmmaking revolution. With the success of smaller (micro) companies like Pro 8 mm or Spectra Film and Video, Kodak Inc., has began to offer brand new professional grade Super 8 negative film stocks marketed for digital mastering. Recently, Kodak Inc. has moved Super 8 film to its Cinematography Division (after 40 years), so now those professionals responsible for 35 mm, 70 mm (IMAX), and 16 mm film production now handle Super 8 mm film. This move, despite countless mistakes and miscalculations, says Kodak, is able to see the interest and marketability of Super 8. What a shame, Super 8 is a Kodak patented product and invention. For the last 20 years, Kodak has treated Super 8 film like a homeless, psychotic, vagrant, drug addicted, bastard child. I often think Kodak now knows the future of super 8 film has little to do with Kodak! The Kodak Corporation appears to be run like Enron, A.I.G., or a bankrupt now defunct dot-com company. Kodak’s business model and recent stock history (once one of the largest, most stable corporations) is shameful. We can only hope Kodak rediscovers the principals and ideals of George Eastman, who wanted to make photography and cinematography accessible to everyone. Now over 30 different Super 8 film stocks are available globally by micro independent companies like: Pro 8 mm, GK- Film, Spectra Film and Video, Wittner-Cinetec, Kahl Media Art Film, and Cinevia. Kodak Inc. is attempting to adapt and overcome. It is about time! Now Kodak advocates a kind of hybrid filmmaking, combining analog film with digital non-linear editing software like Apple’s Final Cut Pro or ( continued-)

Avid. Totally abandoning their film-to-film methods, damn! Kodak is a Johnny-come-lately to the digital revolution. Today’s digital filmmaking/ media-making, as we all know, has been standard practice for almost 10 years. I want Kodak to continue to support BOTH ; film to film, older analog methods and the newer digital tools! Isn’t that what capitalism is suppposed to do? Offer choices to the consumer! Here’s what Kodak has to say about “Digital Workflow”: “A new paradigm is taking shape in filmmaking- a significant shift from the use of just film, or analog tools, to the use of digital tools- allowing filmmakers everywhere to explore creative options with great success and relative ease. The post-production phase of filmmaking has changed significantly with the advent of the digital intermediate (DI) process. The traditional workflow has been completely transformed through advancements in film scanning and computer technology. Digital processes in postproduction are replacing traditional photochemical steps such as negative cutting, color timing, printing, and optical effects. Here is an example of a simplified digital workflow: convert your film footage to video using the reverse telecine process to professional formats like 3/4, Beta SP, Digital Beta, HD, and DVCAM and store the video files on your computer. Convert telecine dailies from 29.97 to 24 fps using the reverse telecine feature. This allows the editor to edit at true 24 fps, establishing a one-to-one correspondence between the video frames and the film frames. You can edit your project quickly and easily using the real-time architecture and non-destructive editing features of a software program like Final Cut Pro.” - From Kodak’s Official web page. Personally, I wish Kodak and others would continue to support film-to-film, or ‘old school,’ filmmaking and give today’s film artists the option to choose from many different products and services, not just digital. Film prints for film festivals are rapidly becoming obsolete, but just like vinyl records. film prints just like Super 8 are slowly making a comeback. But for now, digital distribution and exhibition is here to stay. It is the hybrid filmmaking (combining analog Super 8 movie film with digital non-linear editing software) that has maintained today’s Super 8 renaissance. Super 8 allows digital media makers the ability to capture the unique aesthetic of film. Super 8 has been used heavily in MTV videos including: Jewel’s Goodbye Alice in Wonder Land, The White Stripes’ You Don’t

Know What Love Is, Beck’s Modern Guilt, Madonna’s iconic video Erotica, and Paula Abdul’s Straight Up; all made by combing analog super 8 film with digital non-linear editing. Super 8 filmmaking has been used recently by Billy Bob Thornton’s band, ‘The Box Masters,’ and The Suicide Girls use Super 8 heavily on their web page. Super 8 film is being used in countless independent film productions, as well as mainstream Hollywood productions like Nick Cassavetes film, My Sister’s Keeper featuring Cameron Diaz, and on Pam Anderson’s reality show, Pam: Girl On the Loose. Both Super 8 equipment and Super 8 film stocks remain affordable and accessible thanks to eBay and the MICRO Super 8 business community that has grown up in support of this new super 8 film renaissance. I have always felt the strongest arguments for using Super 8 film are: One: Super 8 is a stable film/ media format, for 44 years Super 8 filmmaking has essentially remained the same. Super 8 is easy to transfer to a new media like DV or HD. (In 1993 when I was introduced to small format filmmaking everything was changing. At the time these changes happened due to the advent of home video- we all remember VHS. In the past 16 years multiple home video formats have now become obsolete- Super 8 is still standing! Two: Super 8 movie film is archival. Despite constant changes in the new digital media technology, Super 8 mm and 16 mm movie film retains its photographic qualities (color, density, grain). When stored properly, movie films can last 50 years after it was shot without serious degradation. Original super 8 movie film can always be transferred to the digital format of your choice. No matter the future of home media making, analog film can be converted. Many home VHS video enthusiasts have watched their memories or video art work decay into nothingness. Three: Super 8 is easy to use. Super 8 was mass marketed for untrained film enthusiasts, and Super 8 equipment is unbelievably user friendly. Thanks to the internet, information related to super 8 is only a click away! onsuper8.org! Four: Super 8 cameras and film stocks are cheap. A high-end Super 8 film camera with a great lens can be purchased for as low as 100 dollars on ebay. Five: Super 8 requires a basic working knowledge of filmmaking, helping many to learn the craft of cin-

ema. Super 8 is very easy to use, but still requires an artist’s touch to learn the basic craft of filmmaking and cinema terminology. Is that such a bad thing? Six: Super 8 cameras are lightweight. Super 8 does not require the level of support gear needed for a film/ media production. The lightweight Super 8 movie camera is easily handheld and can truly capture intimate moments or scenes because it is so non obtrusive. I was recently listening to indie film director, Kelly Reichardt (2008 indie release, Wendy and Lucy) on NPR and she was speaking about her Super 8 film ODE, speaking about the intimate situations Super 8 film create and capture. It was shocking hearing an indie filmmaker elaborate about using Super 8 on NPR, very cool! Seven: Super 8 equipment has a resell market. After shooting a film production with a high end Super 8 film camera, it is safe to say you will be able to resell your equipment for what you paid for it. A high end DV camera is worth a fraction of it’s original cost, thanks to HD. Eight: Most late model super 8 cameras are XL, designed to shoot in existing low-light conditions, allowing tremendous freedom in a film production. When making Trailer Trash: A Film Journal, we had to work with the micro budget we had. Here’s my ‘work flow’. I am not some NYU film grad, so this is not in any text book; find what works for you! *First: Preparing to Collage. I collected all my raw material; I shot close to 40 rolls of Super 8 film of all different stocks. I shot all Kodak super 8 film products, mostly color Kodachrome 40, B/W Plus X, Tri X Kodak super 8 movie film, and during the last few years, Ectachrome 64, Kodak’s newest reversal film stock. I also collected a lot of photographs, audio tapes (standard cassette tapes), and hours of Mini DV tape. *Second: I “auto-magically digitized” all raw materials! I had my Super 8 films transferred (aka TELECINE) to Mini DV tape by Yale Film and Video. I used a low cost telecine called a film chain. It is not the standard Kodak advocates, but it worked. My photographs were scanned in to JPEGs at a local Wal-mart. I had photographic rolls of film processed with the negatives scanned to a photo CD giving me usable JPEGs for the “rough cut” which was edited using an older Mac G-4, with Final Cut Pro. Final editing was done on a Mac G-5 using Final Cut Pro 5.0. *Third: I imported my Super 8 film (now on Mini DV tape) and interviews conducted on Mini DV tape

via a camcorder and a Fire Wire. All audio tapes were imported in a similar way. Photographs (now digitized to JPEGs) were imported via a CD-ROM reader. All digital material was stored on an external hard drive due to the combined size of all the files. David Wanger, myself, and Ben Townsend spent nearly a year completing our “Collage” (aka editing) the digitalized material into a coherent personal film. TRAILER TRASH: A FILM JOURNAL is a straightforward narrative. *Fourth: Exporting: when our film was completed, we exported first to Mini DV tape using a Fire Wire and a standard Mini DV camcorder. Later, we burnt master DVD’s to be copied. I suggest www.globaldisc.com for cheap DVDs. Most of today’s digital filmmakers are very aware of Final Cut Pro and digital media. A Super 8 Filmmaker’s Journal is about Super 8 filmmaking in the age of the internet. I am under the assumption that you have a basic understanding of Final Cut Pro or another digital non-linear editing software program.

Choosing a Super 8 Camera Section #4 in the Digital Age.

In my personal experience

, the single most important tool an artist who is looking to use Super 8 film with today’s digital non-linear editing computer technology will be their choice of a Super 8 film camera. This section is only a guide to understanding some of the best and most reliable Super 8 cameras manufactured during the peak of Super 8 popularity, roughly 1975-1985. From the beginning of super 8 filmmaking of the early 1960s and its commercial demise by the mid 1980s; over 60 million Super 8 cameras were manufactured worldwide! Now many are being resold by micro-cinema companies and on eBay! Most of the high end Super 8 cameras produced during those last 10 years of super 8 production have the highest photographic qualities any contemporary filmmaker could ever dream of. It is this unique photographic quality that has helped Super 8 gain a new generation of digitally trained filmmaking enthusiasts. The high-end Super 8 cameras produced from the mid 1970’s and on can produce broadcast commercial quality film images for a fraction of the cost of today’s popular High Definition video cameras. Take the hot new Indie film favorite mega pixel digital movie camera of the moment: The Red One. The Hollywood studio endorsed production camera Peter Jackson used on ‘Crossing the Line’, the Red One camera’s body alone runs $17,500. Throw in another $10,000 for a decent lens, and another $10,000 for support gear. Can you afford that? The unbelievable part of Red One is not its staggering price tag but the manufacture’s claims it: “looks just like movie film!” So why not just shoot film? Seriously- replace EVERY thing with our new expensive FAD! Sometimes, I really think this is why I really hate the whole fucking indie film scene. No suck up want-to-be, pretentious, “I-have-never-shot-a-short-film-but-I’mworking-on-my-first-feature” idiot would be caught dead shooting real movie film with a second (or 5th) hand super 8 film camera. Want-to-be filmmakers never shoot super 8 film cameras or sadly not even a professional 16 mm film camera. A Digital Video camera and a laptop alone will never make you filmmaker. We

are losing the craft of filmmaking, caused by the mass marketing of corporations. Corporations are looking to constantly replace consistent film production equipment and methods with digital video equipment that rapidly becomes obsolete. Let me be clear, you can get the same high quality digital media image from a high end Super 8 movie camera off of eBay. A filmmaker who, by using good film stock and excellent telecine, can create a film image and digital intermediate, which is as good as today’s high end HD (high definition) video cameras. I do not know about you, but $17,500 might as well be $17,500,000! Let me make a crude attempt at a point: back in the day when I thought I was cool, trying to be all punk rock, myself and a little band of outsiders would drive the hour and a half every weekend from our little college in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, to Washington, D.C., to hang out at alternative punk rock clubs like the 9:30 Club and DC Space. I am an artist, so I tend to have this strange pushy personality (and at the time, a very hot girlfriend!). So I got to hang out with a lot of cool bands; Henry Rollins of Black Flag, Ian McKay of Minor Threat, Harley Flanagan of the CroMags, and Perry Ferell of Janes

“...trying to be all punk rock. ” 1988

Addiction. Now these guys made music history. They are alternative music and punk rock icons who have helped shape mainstream pop music in ways the average 18 year old could never comprehend! These guys did not play music on $20,000+ guitars! They made a mark on the “indie” music scene with sheer guts and talent playing on equipment most music stores would pitch in the garbage bin. If you don’t get my point, let me try again: In Washington, D.C., there is a music genre/ phenomenon called, “go-go”. Rap hit it big; “go-go” stayed a D.C. thing. In the 1980’s after cruising around Georgetown, we used to hang out on the corner of Wisconsin street. When the street corner wasn’t occupied by Hare Krishna’s, a group of teenagers would gather a crowd by playing incredible music on empty plastic buckets- they went on to become a go-go legend, The Junk Yard Band. Amazing music, art, or film is not created by expensive equipment. It is created by the talent, vision, and guts of the individual wielding the tools. No amount of money can make up for lack of passion and skill. “Cameras do not make films; filmmakers make films. Improve your films not by adding more equipment and personnel but by using what you have to the fullest capacity. The most important part of your equipment is yourself. Your mobile body, your imaginative mind, and your freedom to use both.” – Maya Deren, Film Culture Magazine 1965.

with the best reputation and with the highest resale value are Beaulieu, Canon, Nizo, and Bauer. If you are just beginning your filmmaking experience, my advice is to find and buy any affordable, working Super 8 camera and start shooting! If you can’t afford film school, pick a city with a great underground film and art scene and/or alternative music community and just hang out for about 10 years learning how to D. I. Y.- do it yourself. I would suggest either Baltimore (that’s where I did my tour of duty) or Pittsburg (home of Pittsburgh Filmmakers). Both cities are cheap and flooded by artists. Experience for an artist is an education. I have been told by those who repair and service Super 8 equipment, (yes there are a few companies who do!) that cameras made with a metal body have stood the test of time. Super 8 cameras made by plastic molding have proven to be less reliable. There are four super 8 cameras considered to be the best production cameras marketed; the Beaulieu 4008 ZM II, the Leitz Leicina Special, the Bauer A 512 and the Nizo Professional. All four are silent super 8 cameras, all of these major producers of super 8 cameras, manufactured variations of these models to meet the super 8 market needs of the era. A Super 8 camera model was sold by adding or subtracting, “special features” (incuding the quality of lens) allowing the user a little more control in super 8 film production. All of those special features are in ANY digital video editing soft ware. Someone looking to purchase a super 8 camera today should focus on selecting a great super 8 camera body (stay away from plastic camera bodies) with an excellent lens.

eBay Tips For Buying a Super 8 Camera An eBay tip when selling your grandfather’s Super 8 equipment online: try never using words like “vintage” or “retro”! Instead, use words like “well kept,” “working,” and “fully-tested” (make sure to put batteries in the camera and run it!). If it has sat in a camera case in some closet for the past 20 years, state “may need some lubrication- preserved under ideal conditions!” If the grandfather’s Super 8 is a Beaulieu, Canon, Nizo, Bauer say “Top of the line!” Who the hell wants to buy a vintage or retro camera? I am not going to wear it; I am going to shoot it! The famed Baltimore photographer, Stephen John Phillips, once quoted me, “It’s not about lens and light, but mind and sight.” I always liked that quote. In the Super 8 film community, the movie cameras

Leitz Leicina Special Some of the best Super 8 film cameras are being re-licensed and re-conditioned by Pro 8 mm in Burbank, California. Pro 8 mm (formerly Super 8 Sound), is considered to be the authority on Super 8 film today. So I will refer to Pro 8 mm multiple times while completing this journal. I must confess I have never used their products or services. However, they have always served as a bench mark or measuring stick for me. Pro means Professional- they can be expensive to a no-budget filmmaker like me.

I have deep respect for Phil Vigent, the owner of Pro 8 mm, for having kept Super 8 commercially viable and alive- when most had abandoned it. Pro 8 mm sells reconditioned Beaulieu 4008 ZM 2 super 8 movie cameras as their top of the line 1. Select a super 8 camera with a quality reputation, that you can afford! Remember a ‘High End’ Super 8 Sound movie camera sells for less than a ‘top of the line’ Silent Super 8 camera and still shoot’s today’s silent super 8 film cartridges. 2. Select a camera with a manual, if the one you purchase doesn’t have an instructional manual, many are available on line or try PACIFIC RIM CAMERA 1965 DAVCOR STREET, SALEM, OR. 97302. Online try www.super8arena.com. Read your camera’s manual! Try to find as much information about the model you bought. 3. I like to buy high end super 8 cameras that are not working and then have them repaired/ serviced by SUPER 16 INC., www.super16.com and then re-sell them! I think this is the true “GREEN” thing to do! Keeping once expensive equipment out of the land fill is rewarding. You can also get the best super 8 movie camera for less than normal.

The Beaulieu Brand of Super 8 Cameras

I love my Beaulieu 4008 ZM II.

This is a photographer’s camera, or should I say “cinematographer’s.” It is solid, well built, and incredibly simple. I am an idiot, so I like simple. You will need a basic understanding of photography to get the full benefit of this amazing cinema tool. Sometimes, the light meters in the Super 8 cameras that are sold on eBay can be unreliable due to their age. However, by using a simple hand-held photographer’s light meter- you will get great exposures with experience. To remember to always use a working light meter is a good rule-I prefer a working light meter in my super 8 camera. Only experience will tell you if you are getting correct exposures. Use what works best for you. I have even used two super 8 cameras, one to shoot and one to use as a light meter! Adapt to the situ-

ation and over come! A friend actually gave me my Beaulieu 4008 ZM II, and I had it totally reconditioned by Super 16 Inc. The total cost of cleaning, lubrication, and the addition of a external battery was less than $500.00

Here are some reasons why this camera is so respected in the Super 8 world: Just how good is the Beaulieu brand? Beaulieu movie cameras have become the stuff of legends. Beaulieu is a French company named after chief camera designer Marcel Beaulieu. Marcel Beaulieu truly believed in the Super 8-film format and pushed his Super 8 camera designs to exceed the highest standards of cinematic excellence. Shortly after Eastman Kodak introduced the prepackaged Super 8-film cartridge in 1965, Beaulieu introduced the 2008 Super 8- movie camera model. Ten years later, Beaulieu was making the 4008 ZM2. Each

Beaulieu Super 8-camera model improved on already revolutionary designs. As super 8 equipment production died, Beaulieu continued to produce super 8 cameras for about ten years longer than all other major super 8 brands.

More than 30 years after the original Beaulieu camera design was patented and marketed, PRO 8MM in Burbank, California purchased the rights to reproduce the legendary Beaulieu 4008 ZM II- Super 8 movie camera. It is currently sold as the ‘Classic Pro 8 MM Camera’. Pro 8 MM also licensed the rights to reproduce other high performance Super 8 cameras including the Canon 814 XL Super 8 movie camera. If Pro 8 MM trust these camera designs, I am very comfortable with my small investment.

The Beaulieu 4008 ZM II Super 8 movie camera is one of the few Super 8 movie cameras designed with an interchangeable C mount lens. Allowing it to take any professional 16mm or 35mm movie camera lens, which use the C type screw mount, giving this Super 8-movie camera, the true cinematographer’s love affair with lens and light. One of PRO 8 MM’s versions of the 4008 ZM II has been modified to the ASPECT RATIO of 1.85:1, established by 35mm movie film. This gives serious Super 8 filmmakers the ability to work in a format more compatible for

* 1975 Beaulieu Photograpgh for an advertisement. Pictured is the orginal 4008 ZM II, inserted a contempoary PRO 8 MM ad! Featuring a fully reconditioned Professional Super 8 camera. * Michael Lehnert completed a detailed 4 part series for Super 8 Today magazine titled TOP OF THE LINE CAMERAS, the Beaulieu 4008 ZM II is featured first in issue #11. Mr. Lehnert is a a complished Filmmaker and writer very much worth reading. What is old is new again!

HD (high definition DVD mastering) also known as wide screen format or letter box, there are cheap ways to create the wide screen look, which I will discuss later. For my needs, the Beaulieu’s original format and aspect ratio were just fine. There are easier Super 8 cameras (like the Canon 814 XL). XL stands for existing light or a camera designed to shoot in low light. A basic understanding of photography will get you through any automatic shortcomings with the Beaulieu. The camera itself is pretty primitive and very straightforward. Primitive? I mean easy to use. Primitive in art should never be a draw back; Michelangelo created his sculpture of David with a hammer and a chisel out of a block of marble, five hundred years ago! Now that is primitive.

Beaulieu Super 8 ad From PLAYBOY magazine, 1972

Pg.20

There are rare models with black body and comes with 80fps and an Angenieux f1.2 6-80mm lens. From Bjorn Andersson of Beaulieu Sweden, “This Black 4008ZMII with Angenieux 1,2/6-80 was only produced in a very limited number in 1975, and we called it “S8 10 years jubilee model”.

Beaulieu 4008 ZM II

Features: • Marketing Years: 1971-1977 • Lenses (interchangeable): Schneider Kreuznach Op tivaron 1,8/6-66 mm (Macro), Angenieux 1,9/8-64 mm (non-Macro) or other via C-Mount. • Auto/Manual Zoom with Variable Speed (Auto zoom depending on lens) • Ground Glass Focussing • Macro focussing (depending on lens) • Manual/Auto Exposure (Auto exposure depending on lens) • Frame rates: 2 - 70 fps (step-less with markings at 2,4,8,18,24 or 25,36,50,70 fps) + single frame • Shutter degree: Variable. • Fades via variable shutter • Lap dissolve (rewind is manual with accessory rewind knob) • Remote control socket (triggers main power only), cable release socket (starts exposure only when main power is on) • Flash contact • Power supply: proprietary accumulator or external supply • Weight: 900 g The later version of the model has a declutch button above the frame counter for lap dissolves and superimpositions.( continued next column)

* The Beaulieu super 8 brand is currently being rediscovered in the USA by PRO 8 MM and in Germany WITTNER CINETEC spare parts and super 8 cameras are available see: http://www.beaulieu.de and www.pro8mm.com

Beaulieu 4008 ZM 4

Features: • Marketing Years: 1976-1978 • Lens: Schneider Optivaron 1,4 / 6 - 70 mm (Lens interchangeable!) • Ground Glass Focusing • Macro focusing • Manual / Auto Exposure • Auto / Manual zoom with several speeds • Frame rates: 2 - 70 fps (steppless with markings at 2,4,8,18,24 or 25,36,50,70,80 fps) + single frame • Shutter degree: Variable • VARIABLE FILM SENSITIVITY (ASA) SETTING • Fades • Rewinding • Lap dissolve • Run lock • Remote control socket • Flash contact • Weight: 900 g • 700 NiMH rechargeable battery

Beaulieu 7008 S Pro Beaulieu 1018 S X8

First Marketed in 1979 Made in Japan by Bell & Howell / Chinon • no interchangeable C-mount lenses • designed dy Jacques Beaulieu

Sound and silent super 8 cartridge lens: Beaulieu Zoom Macro f: 1.8/ f: 7.5 - 60 mm * This Beaulieu model was produced in Japan by Chinon Inc., it was marketted for the general consumer, and does not have the same quality as the French manufactured super 8 cameras.

Beaulieu 6008 PRO

Features: • Marketing Years: 1979-1983 • Lens: Schneider 1,4/6-70 mm or • Angenieux 1.4/6-90mm • Auto / Manual Zoom with 3-10 s. • Ground Glass Focusing • Macro focusing • Manual / Auto Exposure • Frame rates: 4,9,18,24/25,36,80 + single frame • Shutter degree: Var. • Fades • Lap dissolve of 90 frames • Interval timer with 1,10,30 second intervals • Remote control socket • Flash contact • Weight: 1000 g • Optional quartz crystal synch module • No sound, but accepts the larger sound-cartridges • 6 X AA batteries

Features: • Introduction Year: 1981 • Lens: 1,4 / 6 - 90 mm • Manual / Auto Zoom with Variable speed • Manual / Auto Exposure • Frame rates: 4,9,18,24,25,36,80 • Interval timer with 1,1,30 second intervals • 6 X 1.5V batteries

Beaulieu 5008 S Multispeed

Features: • Marketing Years: 1976-1978 • Lens: Schneider Optivaron 1,4 / 6 - 80 mm • Auto / Manual Zoom with Variable Speed • Ground Glass Focusing • Macro focusing • Manual / Auto Exposure • Frame rates: 8, 18, 24, 45 + single frame • Shutter degree: Variable • Fades • Flash contact Weight: 2570 g

Auto / Manual Recording Level Control DOUBLE SYSTEM sound and DIRECT sound capabilities. * I consider the 5008-S and it’s cheaper little sister the 3008-S to be highly under rated. The 5008 is a solid well built camera with all of the capacity of a 4008 ZM II, it sells for much less!

The Canon Brand of Super 8 Cameras

Canon USA Inc. headquarters, located in Tokyo, Japan, was founded in 1933 as Seiki Kogaku Kenkyujo (Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory) by Yoshida Goro, Uchida Saburo, and Mitarai Takeshi. In 1934 they released their first photographic camera named the Kwanon. (Pronounced, “Cannon”). The camera was a simple rip-off of a Leica camera. Named after the Buddhist deity of Mercy, the camera was renamed Canon in 1935. In 1947, (Post World War II) the company renamed itself after its first camera and became, Canon Camera Inc. Concerned about patents, Canon began producing their own camera designs. They produced solid, well built photographic cameras and by the early 1970’s were producing simple high quality Super 8 mm movie cameras. Canon Inc. (dropping the word “camera” in 1969) is known for producing Work Horses in Super 8.Canon has a well-deserved reputation for reliability in all of their cinema products. My Canon 1014 XL-S is my all time favorite Super 8 camera. I can testify to its cinematic strengths and reliability. At the time it was manufactured, it was meant for the professional media maker- uncompromising in design and quality. This is no lie. I bought mine for $200 in 2004 from ex-filmmaker and ex-con who had just finished an 18

month sentence in a federal penitentiary. He had been busted growing something like 70 marijuana plants in his suburban home! A dangerous way of raising your next indie film’s budget. He was selling only top of the line gear in both Super 8 and 16mm. Unfortunately, I could only buy his Canon 1014 XL-S and Beaulieu 5008 M-S.

Canon 1014 XL S

The Canon 1014 XL-S My favorite Super 8 Camera !

Features: • Marketed in may 1979 • Sound and silent super 8 cartridge • Lens: Canon Zoom f : 1.4 \ F: 6.5-65 mm • zooming ratio: 10x • Focusing: manual, split image, 1.2 m to infinity • Macro focusing: 0.250 m from the film plane mark (field of view: 87 x 120) • Zooming: auto with 2 speeds (5 and 9 sec) and manual, rotation angle of 130 degrees • Filter size: 72 mm

*Canon Super 8 Ad from 1979. Pro 8 MM is now selling the Canon 814 XL BRAND NEW! Famed filmmaker Ingamar Bergmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Super 8 camera ( Canon 814) sold online this fall 2009. Bergman shoots super 8- So can you!

Canon Auto Zoom 814 Electronic

Features: • Marketed in march 1972 • Silent super 8 cartridge • Image size: 4.2 x 5.7 mm • Lens: Canon Zoom f : 1.4 \ F: 7.5-60 mm • Composition: 19 elements in 13 groups • Zooming ratio: 8x • Focusing: manual, microprism, 1.2 m to infinity • Macro focusing: 0.16 m (field of view: 33 x 45 mm) • Filter size: 58 mm • Zooming: auto (7 to 8 sec) and manual, rotation angle of 120 degrees • Viewfinder: single-lens reflex type with adjustable • Eyepiece: -3 to +2 diopter

Canon Auto Zoom 512 XL Electronic

Features: • Marketed in march 1975 • Silent super 8 cartridge • Image size: 4.2 x 5.7 mm • Lens: Canon Zoom Lens C8 Macro f : 1.2 \ F: 9.547.5 mm • Composition: 17 elements in 12 groups • Zooming ratio: 5x • Focusing: manual, split image, 1.2 m to infinity • Macro focusing: 0.052 m (field of view: 38.6 x 53.1 mm) • Filter size: 48 mm

Canon Auto Zoom 518 SV

Canon 310 XL

First marketed in august 1975, silent super 8 cartridge Features: • Image size: 4.2 x 5.7 mm • Lens: Canon Zoom Lens C8 Macro f : 1.0 \ F: 8.525.5 mm • Composition: 13 elements in 11 groups • Zooming ratio: 3x • Focusing: manual, 1.2 m to infinity • Rangefinder: aerial • Macro focusing: 0.215

Super 8 First marketed in march 1971 Features: • Silent super 8 cartridge • Image size: 4.2 x 5.7 mm • Lens: Canon Zoom Lens C8 f : 1.8 \ F: 9.5-47.5 mm (1) • Composition: 14 elements in 11 groups • Zooming ratio: 5x • Focusing: manual, 1.2 m to infinity • Rangefinder: microprism • Filter size: inner diameter: 48 mm, outer diameter: 50 mm • Zooming: auto (6 sec) and manual, rotation angle of 100 degrees • Viewfinder: single-lens reflex type with adjustable eyepiece: -3 to +1 diopter

Canon AF 310XL

Features: First introduced in 1982 • Lens Canon 3x zoom 1,0 / 8,5 - 25,5 mm • Autofocus • Auto / manual zoom • Frame rates of 18 • Shutter degree 217 • Auto exposure • Battery check • Powered by only 3 AA batteries

Canon 814 XL-S

Features: First introduced in 1979 • Canon Zoom Lens 1.4/7-56 mm MACRO with ZOOM (low/high power and manual) • Split image focusing • 9, 18, 24fps, slow motion(36fps) and single frame • Interval timer with 1, 5, 20 or 60 second intervals, self timer • Variable shutter: 150° and 220° • Auto/Manual Exposure • Manual fade in/fadeout • Connection for E-flash, mic, earphone, remote control, impulse cable... • powered by only 6 AA batteries 26

Canon 514XL-S AUTOFOCUS Features: Introduced in 1975 • Lens Canon 5x zoom 1,4 / 9 - 45 mm • Macro focusing • Split image focusing • Auto / manual zoom • Frame rates of 18, 24 + single frame • Shutter degree 220 • Auto exposure with EE LOCK • Auto / manual recording level control • Battery check • Powered by only 6 AA batteries

Canon Auto Zoom 1218 Super 8

Features: • Marketed in april 1968 • silent super 8 cartridge • image size: 4.2 x 5.7 mm • lens: Canon Zoom Lens C8 • f: 1.8 \ F: 7.5-90 mm • composition: 19 elements, 13 groups • zooming ratio: 12x • focusing: manual, split image, 1.8 m to infinity • zooming: auto with 2 speeds (3-6 and 10-12 sec) and manual • zooming rotation angle: 150 degrees • filter size: 82 mm (inner diameter), 85 mm (outer diameter)

The Bauer Brand of Super 8 Cameras Bauer International was

originally founded by famed German cinema projector designer, Eugen Bauer, born in Stuttgart, Germany in 1879. By 1910, Eugen Bauer was producing the first movie projectors to use the electric carbon arc lamp and automatic take up reel. By the late 1920’s, Bauer was producing some of the earliest sound sync projectors. Film projectors synchronized to gramophones. In 1932 Eugen Bauer entered into business with Robert Boscho. Bauer released their first 8mm film camera in 1938- just before WWII. Having survived the war, on November 4, 1958 Eugen Bauer died, having established the Bauer brand as one of the leaders in the home movie/media market.

By 1975, the Bauer Company had 10 cinema cameras and 8 different projectors on the market. The brand Eugen Bauer made from scratch was now a leader in the field Super 8 film technology. Bauer Inc. Produced the first Super 8 camera to utilize a micro computer in 1979. By 1984, Bauer released their last Super 8 film camera, the Bauer 360 XL-S, a sound camera that included a macro vario F 1.2 7-42 mm lens. Bauer’s production of cinema products died in 1985, like almost all major Super 8 brand names. The Bauer Super 8 brand represents advanced technology, superior camera and projector designs, with some of the best optics ever marketed.

Bauer A512

Features: Officially available from 1977 to 1980 • 2.97 lbs. • f/1.8, 6-70mm lens • Auto/manual zoom(2 speeds) • Macro focusing • TTL reflex viewing • Split image focusing 12, 18, 24, 54 fps • Single Frame *1984 • Time exposure The Bauer S360-XL • Interval timer The last Super 8 camera Bauer • Variable shutter made. Despite intrnet rumors • Auto/manual bauer’s will shoot Kodak’s 64 super 8 film, how ever I suggest • Auto/manual fades compensating 2/3 of a stop. Check • Silent Kodak’s web page for a exposure • PC/flash contact guide. Also Martin Baumgarten * See Micheal Lehnert’s four part series in SUPER pg.41Martin will adjust Super 8 8 TODAY magazine issue # 13 review of the Bauer camera meters. A512, Part 3 of his Top of the Line series.

Bauer S 715 XL Microcomputer Bauer S 407 XL

Features: • Marketing Years: 1981-1984 • Lens: Macro Neovaron 1,2 / 7 - 45 mm technical data see 408 XL, except lens • Like nearly all BAUERs: According to test and info of the instruction manual it can only meter 40 and 160 ASA in artificial light with the corresponding 25 and 100 ASA in daylight. • The original, unmodified camera can not run the Ektachrome 64T automatically.

Features: • Marketing Years: 1978-1982 • Lens: Angenieux Macro 1,4 / 6 - 90 mm • Sound or silent cartridges • Auto / Manual Zoom with 2 Speeds • Split Image Focusing • Macro focusing • Manual / Auto Exposure • ASA range: 25/40 ASA or 100/160 ASA (filter/no filter) • Frame rates: 9, 18, 24, 40 + single frame • Shutter degree: 200 • Backlight Control • Fades • Lap dissolve • Interval timer with 1/4-60 second intervals • Remote control socket • Flash contact • Weight: 2200 g • Auto / Manual Recording Level Control

C 107 XL Bauer

Features: • Marketing Years: 1979-1981 • Lens: Macro Neovaron 1,2 / 7 - 45 mm • Auto / Manual Zoom • Split Image Focusing • Macro focusing • Manual / Auto Exposure • Frame rates: 9, 18, 36 + single frame • Shutter degree: 225 • Backlight Control • Fades • Interval timer with 1/6 - 60 second intervals • Time exposure • Remote control socket • Flash contact • Weight: 1100 g

Bauer C 500 XL M

Features: • First marketed in 1982 • Production: 1982-1987 • Silent super 8 cartridge • Lens: Bauer Macro Neovaron f: 1.4 \ F: 8.5-40 mm • Zooming ratio: 4.7x • Focusing: manual, split image • Macro focusing: yes • Vzooming: auto and manual • Viewfinder: single-lens reflex with adjustable eye piece • Filming speed: 18, 36 fps, single frame

Bauer C 900 XLM

Features: • MarketingYears: 1982-1982 • Lens: Macro-Neovaron 1.2 / 6 - 51 mm • Manual / Auto Zoom • Macro focusing • Split image focusing • Frame rates: 9, 18, 24, 40 + single frame • Shutter degree: 220 • Fades • Interval timer with 10-60 second intervals • Remote control socket • Powered by 4 AA batteries • Accessories: Bauer Aquarius underwater housing

Bauer S 709 XL Microcomputer

Production Years: 1979-1982 Sound or silent super 8 cartridge Features: • Lens: Bauer Macro Neovaron f: 1.2 \ F: 6-51 mm • Zooming ratio: 8.5x • Focusing: manual, split image • Macro focusing: yes • Zooming: auto with 2 speeds and manual • Viewfinder: single-lens reflex with adjustable eye piece • Exposure: auto and manual exposure control; TTL • Electric Eye film speed: auto for 25/40 and 100/160 ASA only (daylight/tungsten). 29

Bauer S 360 XL

Features: • First marketed in 1984 • Sound and silent super 8 cartridge • Lens: Bauer Macro Vario f: 1.2 \ F: 7-42 mm • Zooming ratio: 6x • Focusing: manual, 1.5 m to infinity • Macro focusing: 0.0 m to 1.5 m • Zooming: auto and manual • Viewfinder: single-lens reflex with adjustable eyepiece: +/- 5diopters • Exposure: automatic exposure control; TTL EE • Film speed: auto for 25/40 and 100/160 ASA only (daylight/tungsten)

Bauer C Royal 10 E Macro

Marketed in 1973, Silent super 8 cartridge only. Features: • Lens: Bauer Neovaron f: 1.8 \ F: 7-70 mm • Zooming ratio: 10x • Focusing: manual, split image • Macro focusing: yes • Zooming: auto with variable speed and manual • Exposure: auto and manual exposure control; TTL Electric Eye • Film speed: auto for 25/40 and 100/160 ASA only (daylight/tungsten) • CCA filter: built-in 85A filter, with filter control switch • Filming speed: 12, 18, 24, 54 fps, single frame.

The Nizo Brand of Super 8 Cameras

Nizo Super 8 film cameras are a brand of Braun AG which purchased a small cinema supply company, Niezoldi and Kramer Gmblt in 1962. In 1980, Braun sold its film and photo section to Robert Bausch Gmblt. Bosch already owned the Bauer brand. Bosch Inc. ended all Nizo and Bauer Super 8 cameras/ equipment production in 1986. Braun Nizo produced some of the highest quality Super 8 cameras ever made on a mass market scale. Nizo Super 8 film cameras are made of the same composite metal as that used for airplanes! Braun produced a wide variety of Super 8 film cameras under the Nizo brand name (as well as editors, viewers, and splicerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s). All Braun/ Nizo products exceeded any mass-marketed Super 8 competitor. Mass marketed/ produced Super 8 products made by Kodak or Bell and Howell have ended up in landfills. Nizoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aerospace Super 8 camera bodies are being re-conditioned and sold online by Nizo Camera, with a full oneyear warranty! On the web at www.nizocamera.com.

NizoCamera.com There are many Nizo Super 8mm film cameras to choose from in our on line store. Every design and operational detail is typically Braun. All bodies are made from the same robust metal as an aero plane fuselage. From compact to universal, all are fully equipped with optimum features for creative filming. The official online store sells NIZO super 8 film cameras and high quality secondhand Braun Nizo equipment

o o o

in full working order with 90-day warranty and 14 days money back guarantee

NizoCamera.com; competitive prices and speedy service. Open 24 hours a day, no parking problems.

Nizo Professional

Features: Introduced in 1976 • Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon MACRO-MULTICOATED 1.8/7-80 mm with ZOOM (2x power and manual) • Split image focusing • 18, 25, 54 fps and single frame • interval timer - variable between 6fps and 1frame per minute • Autom.B • Auto/Manual Exposure, +1, fix, also possibility of over and under exposure control with 3 increments of 1/2 +/-. • Autom. lap dissolve • Connection for E-flash, remote control, cable release, pilot sync • Powered by only 6 AA batteries

Nizo 148 Macro

Features: • First marketed in 1976 • Silent super 8 cartridge • Lens: Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon f: 1.8 \ F: 8-48 mm • Zooming ratio: 6x • Focusing: manual, split image • Macro focusing: yes • Zooming: auto and manual

Braun Nizo 801 Macro

Features: Introduced in 1975 • Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon MACRO 1.8/7-80 mm with ZOOM (2x power and manual) • Split image focusing • 18, 24, 54 fps and single frame • interval timer - variable between 6fps and 1 frame per minute • Autom.B • Auto/Manual Exposure, +1, fix, also possibility of over and under exposure control with 3 increments of 1/2 +/-. • Autom. lap dissolve • Connection for E-flash, remote control, cable re lease • Powered by 6 AA batteries + 2x 1,3.5v for the lightmeter

Nizo 136 XL

Features: • First marketed in 1975 • Silent super 8 cartridge • Lens: Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon f: 1.8 \ F: 9-36 mm • Zooming ratio: 4x • Focusing: manual, double beam • Zooming: auto and manual • Viewfinder: single-lens reflex with adjustable eye piece

NIZO SUPER 8 AD FROM 1978

Nizo 6080 Sound Nizo 206 XL

Features: • First marketed in 1978 • Silent Super 8 cartridge • Lens: Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon f: 1.8 \ F: 8-48 mm • Zooming ratio: 6x • Focusing: manual • Zooming: auto and manual • Viewfinder: single-lens reflex with adjustable eye piece • Viewfinder information: exposure meter

Features: • First marketed in 1980 • Production: 1980-1985 • Sound and silent super 8 cartridge, 15 and 60 m (1) • Lens: Schneider-Kreuznach Macro Variogon F: 1.4 \ F: 7-80 mm • Zooming ratio: 11x • Focusing: manual, split image • Macro focusing: yes • Zooming: auto with variable speed and manual • Filter size: 67 mm • Viewfinder: single-lens reflex with adjustable eye piece • Viewfinder information: aperture scale • Exposure: auto and manual exposure control; TTL EE, Si photocell • Film speed: auto between 25/40 and 400/640 ASA (daylight/tungsten) (2) • ASA notching: 6-pin • Exposure compensation: +1 f/stop • CCA filter: built-in 85A, with filter control switch • Filming speed: 9, 16 2/3, 18, 24, 25, 54 fps, single frame

Nizo Integral 10

Features: • First marketed in 1981 • Production: 1981-1985 • Sound and silent super 8 cartridge • Lens: Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon f: 1.4 \ F: 7-70 mm • Zooming ratio: 10x • Focusing: manual, split image • Macro focusing: yes • Zooming: auto and manual *NIZO produced The Intergral Super 8 Sound cameras in many differn’t models including The Integral 5, 6, 6-S , 7. All have exceptional optics and that NIZO reliability! and sell for far less than a silent high end NIZO!

Nizo S 800 silver

Features: • First marketed in 1970 and STILL IN DEMAND!!!! • Silent super 8 cartridge • Lens: Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon f: 1.8 \ F: 7-80 mm • Zooming ratio: 11.4x • Focusing: manual, split image • Zooming: auto with 2 speeds and manual

Super 8 film has a strong

following in Europe. The best prices I have found on line are from the ‘Cheap Super 8 Camera Shop’ in Germany run by a super 8 fanatic named Klaus Wenger. His super 8 cameras and equipment are of excellent quality, sold for great prices. Klaus is friendly, informative and truly a worldwide member of the super 8 community. I have also had great dealing with Zeljko Uhmeyer who operates another internet super 8 business ‘Super 8 Camera-shop.’ He tends to have a large inventory of high quality super 8 equipment. For prompt courteous service form a professional, knowledgeable Super 8 dealer email Zeljko Uhmeyer at info@super8camerashop.com (see his listing in dealers.) If you do not want to purchase a Super 8 camera off of eBay, here is a list of the most reputable dealers of used Super 8 cameras and equipment, some offer warrenties. Super 8 film equipment is more available in Europe and it is worth your patience to learn about Euros.

Internet Super 8 Camera Guides and Super 8 Resources I used for this section:

www.super8data.com www.super8wiki.com www.mondophoto.com

* No licensed photographs were use for any personal gain!

WEB PAGES YOU SHOULD KNOW! www.super-8mm.com www.shootingpeople.org www.super8guy.com www.filmshooting.com www.onsuper8.org - the best Super 8 page.

Super 8 Camera Dealers Cheap Super 8 Camera Shop

C/O: Bigal Films ATTN: Klaus Wenger Sedanstr. 13 58507 Lundensched Deutschland/ Germany www.cs8cs.com * Deals quality used Super 8 cameras and equipment with a 90 day warranty!

Super 8 Camera Shop

Mr. Uhmeyer Untere Rottstr. 19 32547 Bad Oeynhausen Germany Phone: +49-172-5348053 Fax: +49-55731-300689 infor@super8camera-shop.com *Sells High-end Super 8 cameras and equipment. Excellent used products, good stock, Great prices!

Pro 8 MM

2805 W Magnolia Blvd. Burbank, CA. 91505 Phone: 818-848-5522 www.pro8mm.com *Sells reconditioned, professional Super 8 cameras with a warranty! Also repairs Super 8 equipment!

Spectra Film and Video

5626 Vineland Avenue North Hollywood, CA 91601 Phone: 818-762-4545 www.spectrafilmandvideo.com *Sells reconditioned Super 8 cameras and other Super 8 equipment. Also service/repair Super 8!

The Reel Image

Steve Osborne 2520 Blackhawk Rd. Kettering, OH. 45420 Phone: 937- 296-9036 www.thereelimage.com *Sells everything Super 8! Usually has a great selection of Super 8 cameras and projectors. Special shop for collectors of Super 8 movie/ film prints.

Chambless Cinema Supply

Jesse Chambless and family, owners 13368 Chatsworth Highway Ellijay, GA. 30540-0231 (Fax) 706-636-5211 bolexcce@ellijay.com *They have been around for a long time; often have a stock of high end Super 8 cameras and equipment. Recently they have been hard to reach, but they offer repair and service of Super 8 equipment.

Irv Higdon

P.O. Box 3413 Granada Hills, CA. 91394 818-365-0385 *Irv used to work for Beaulieu USA and Elmo Inc. He has a great stock of Super 8 equipment for sale. He also repairs and does service for Beaulieu and Elmo Super 8 equipment. I purchased Elmo projectors from Irv. Good deal on great projectors.

DU-ALL CAMERAS

231 West 29th Street. Suite 210. New York, NY 10001. www.duallcamera.com Phone: 212-643-1042 Fax: 212-643-9335 email: duall529@aol.com *Large inventory of Super 8 cameras. They are located in New York City and are somewhat expensive. They also repair/ service Super 8 equipment.

Online Shop

www.oosthout.biz Address: Tom Oosthout, Steenstraat 42, 5831JG Boxmeer NL -GERMANY Email is tom@exnl.de *Sells high end German made super 8 cameras at great prices!

Java Photo

215 Bryan Street Athens, Georgia 30801 Phone: 706-354-30601 www.javaphoto.com * Resells quality used super 8 equipment, offers limited repair services, sell Kodak super 8 film.

Seattle Motion Picture Services

4717 AURORA ave., north Seattle, Washington 98103 email: ron@ronnyt.com * Resells quality super 8 camera and equipment, provides some super 8 lab services.

Coles Camera

41807 Fawn Road Oaks, MN 56528 Phone: 218-205-0283 www.colescamera.com *Resells used super 8 cameras and equipment.

Craig Camera

PO Box 1637 Torrington, CT, 06 790 www.craigcamera.com or email: john@craigcamera.com *Largest inventory of super 8 camera manuals, super 8 repair guides and super 8 manufacturer sales brochures.

Repairing and Servicing Super 8 Cameras Section #5 Marvin Meister

Repairing Super 8 cameras and Projectors for 42 years! * This was submitted to SUPER 8 TODAY magazine for Issue # 16.

Marvin Meister has been repairing super 8 cameras and projectors at the Photo Center in Los Angeles, California since 1967. Super 8 Today interviewed the super 8 magician known for resurrecting the dead, as long as it is super 8! While working on his undergraduate college degree in RADIO TELEVISION FILM at Cal. State University in Los Angeles California, Marvin began working part time in the repair department at the Photo Center in 1967. Marvin remained the chief super 8 camera repairperson and eventually purchased the Photo Center business’ twenty years later. Marvin continues to offer his 42 years of experience and technical knowledge to members of the super 8-film community. Marvin has a genuine sence of admiration for the dedication of super 8 filmmakers, who continue working against the difficulties facing super 8 film in the video age, and dare we a love for the small format. Marvin remains a life long super 8-film enthusiast. In his younger days Marvin shot super 8 animation for his own films and filmed weddings in super 8 film, on the side for profit, when he was not repairing other peoples super 8 equipment. Marvin Meister’s The Photo Center is a full service, old-school neighbor photography shop, independently family owned, the kind of ‘we do it all’ one stop photo shop that has sadly become a thing of the past. Marvin continues adapting to the changes in the home media market, but remains committed to offering the hard-tofind and personalized service of having your super 8 and standard 8mm home movie equipment repaired. Marvin is an old-school super 8 repair technician in every sence of the word. Afforable and accessible, Mar-

vin has earned an excellent reputation only by word of mouth from the super 8 community. Marvin does not advertise his super 8 specialty services nationally or even locally, but when it comes to repairing super 8 cameras his workbench is always full. For Super 8 Filmmakers; Marvin offers free phone consultations and free estimates on super 8 equipment sent to his shop, he is perhaps most known for his reasonable rates and repair costs. Marvin says, “ I get about 25 to 30 super 8 movie cameras on a average month, sometimes less; I think there is really is a new interest in super 8 filmmaking. This seems hard to believe, Kodak doesn’t advertise super 8 film on television like they once did, but my personal experience is that the super 8 community is really growing. I subscribe to Super 8 Today magazine, I really enjoy it; I was flattered you wanted to mention the Photo Center. I do what I can to keep super 8 alive, I want to support the super 8 community. Super 8 is a great film medium; that is why I still love doing this after all these years.” Marvin says the number one thing super 8 filmmakers do to damage their movie cameras are leaving the batteries in their camera when not in use. He says after every shoot, “ just get in the habit of taking your batteries out of your camera and store them separate from your camera, what happens is most people plan on shooting tomorrow or next week, then that becomes 3 months later, by then the batteries corrosive acid has melted out in to your movie camera. It happens all the time.” Marvin says he will try to repair any make and model super 8 movie camera but admits it is more difficult with cheaper brand super 8 movie cameras. “Sometimes I can salvage a super 8 camera by using parts from another camera, some times I can’t repair a camera and I will let you know that may be it is time to invest in a different movie camera. Your really good super 8 movie camera brands are worth it, like: Canon, Beaulieu, Nikon, Elmo, or Nizo. Most of these are easier to repair. These super 8 cameras were all very well made, with amazing camera designs. Get an excellent super 8 camera and take good care of it. That is the key.” Marvin says, “ I can fix almost any super 8 projector. Most super 8 projectors are made with generic parts, which I have a good inventory of, especially the Elmo brand projectors. “ I can also convert Elmo super 8 projectors 180 and 600 models to telecine conversion projectors (film to-

digital video transfers). I can do this by setting a frame per second speed of 20 (FPS) to eliminate any flicker in your transfer or telecine. I can also convert old standard 8mm projectors for a telecine, as well.” Having problems with your super 8 camera or projector, want to do a home telecine set up? Send your broken super 8 equipment to Marvin Meister at the Photo Center, 7961 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, California ZIP 90048 or give him a call at 323-6536688. Tell him Don Ramirez sent you! Now that you have chosen and purchased a shiny new (to you!) Super 8 camera, what do you do if your Super 8 camera suddenly stops working? Besides THE PHOTO CENTER, I have had very positive experiences with the following Super 8 camera repair shops:

By far one of the best:

Super 16 Inc.

P.O. Box 313 Newark Valley, NY. 13811 607-642-3352 www.super16inc.com Contact: Julie or Bernie O’Doughtery tell them I sent you! This place has the highest caliber work for a reasonable price. The owner, Bernie, has worked on cameras for more than 30 years. He worked professionally for Nikon Inc, Éclair Inc, one of Hollywood’s industries of standard motion picture camera manufacturers, and as a professional motion picture technician on Blockbusters like, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Goodbye Mr. Chips, and The Battle of Britain. Bernie was also nominated for an Oscar in 1997 in the technical section for his invention of the Laserbrighten, which brightens the optical view finders of movie cameras. Bernie has been in business at Super 16 Inc since 2003. He will work work on any regular 8mm, Super 8mm, 16mm movie cameras, and 35mm movie cameras as well. Bernie’s advice to an artist new to Super 8 filmmaking is to remember the age of this equipmenta good camera needs maintenance just like a car. Bite the bullet and have your camera checked out to ensure the highest calibur performance by

your equipment. Your films will thank you for it! I was very surprised when I came across an internet site that stated Strauss Photo – Technical Services, Inc. in Washington D.C., was once again repairing and servicing movie cameras including Super 8 models like Canon, Nizo, and others. In the D.C. and Baltimore region, Mr. Strauss (who we referred to at times as Old Man Strauss) was a legend. In business since 1949, he had worked on cameras for NASA in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. There was not a camera on earth Mr. Strauss could not repair. He fixed two different 16mm Rex 5 Bolex cameras for me in the mid 1990’s. Most photographers in this region used Strauss, but after the death of Mr. Strauss, the shop kind of fell into disarray. I called them only 2 or 3 years ago to repair a Super 8 camera and I was told, “We only repair digital cameras.” And something like, “Why would you be shooting a Super 8 camera anyway?” I thought Mr. Strauss would be rolling in his grave. But alas, I called them in late March 2009 and yes, they are once again repairing reflex movie and still cameras of all makes and models. They also claim to work on older audio visual equipment as well. I am hoping to do a story about Strauss Photo – Technical Services, Inc. for onsuper8.org!

Strauss Photo-Technical Services, Inc

1240 Mount Olivet Rd, N.E. Washington, DC. 20002 Phone: 202-526-6465 Note:*I must admit what I have read online is not very encouraging. They were at one time the best.

Action Camera

1605 Taraval @ 26th Ave. San Francisco, CA 94116 http://www.actioncamerasf.com Phone: 415.564.0699 Email: info@actioncamerasf.com * Action Camera offers sales of Super 8 film, used super 8 cameras when in stock and quality repair serivce for Super 8 cameras. 37

PROOF OF THE SUPER 8 RENAISSANCE! After the international success of several small MICRO CINEMA Super 8 film companies, Fuji helped replace Kodakâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s discontinued Kodachrome 40 Super 8 film by creating a new brand of CINEVA Super 8 film in 2007. By the time of this writing, that Cineva batch is almost SOLD OUT! Ad from the now dead German SMALL FORMAT magazine.

Super 8 Film and Processing Section # 6

A Brief History of Film

Photographer and artist Edward Muybridge used a series of cameras set up to take photographs in repaid succession to photograph the running of a horse, the photographs were redrawn and viewed in a Zoetrope in rapid succession, this is one the earliest uses of the photographic ideas that would lead to modern cinema. Thomas Edison and William Kennedy Dickson invented the idea of the modern movie, in the late 1880’s. Photography of that age was made of glass plates covered with silver nitrate. Glass of course could not be used to create moving film. In 1888 Edison had determined the motion picture film should be a width of 35 mm which has remained the theatrical movie industry standard for 121 years! George Eastman introduced flexible movie film in 1889 and cinema was born. In the 1920’s George Eastman had 35mm film cut in half to create 16mm film as a less expensive choice for the amateur filmmaker. Now 16mm film is used in professional filmmaking as both films and cinema technology have improved with time. In 1932, 16mm film was cut in half and 8mm film was mass marketed. The main weakness with 8mm film was the sprocket holes, used to run the film through the camera and projector took a lot of usable space out of the film frame, Kodak repositioned and shrank the sprocket holes on 8mm film and introduced super 8 film in 1965. Now this new 8mm film had a larger film frame, and came pre-packaged in a light-tight film cartridge. Kodak Inc., named it’s new sensation: ‘Super 8mm film’. Due to the larger film frame Super 8 film produced a higher quality image for amateur filmmakers with little or no training. More than 40 years later Super 8mm film has found a new home in the digital media age. Able to produce a high quality photographic image, the once amateur Super 8 film format is being used extensively by serious filmmakers working with new digital computer technology. Super 8 film has some famous Hollywood friends, famed directors such as Spike Lee, Derek Jarman, Kevin Smith, John Waters, and Oliver Stone; they have all

used Super 8 film in big budget blockbusters. Steven Spielberg often reminisces about his early Super 8 film experiences with his mother in her jeep riding around the desert shooting “little movies.” John Lennon and Yoko Ono were involved in the early underground film scene in New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s; both used Super 8 filmmaking extensively as an art form and hosted Super 8 film screenings on the roof of the Dakota hotel overlooking central park. Andy Warhol enjoyed all new media making tools; Andy and other members of his legendary studio The Factory often shoot super 8 film documenting the debauchery of New York City’s underground art and music scene. My personal experience really convinced me that those who are into Super 8 filmmaking are part of a real community. Everyone I have spoken to has been friendly and very helpful. The need for information on Super 8 is the cohesive glue that holds everyone together.

Understanding Format

What the hell is format? Format is a term that simply refers to the width of a film stock and the size and shape of the film frame. Both standard 8mm film and Super 8 film are films of the same format or gauge. (i.e. width) but the size of the actual film frame is very different. In the 8mm film format, standard 8mm film and Super 8 film are separated by the aspect ratio of the film frame. The width of the individual film frame, divided by the height of the film frame, is used to determine a film’s aspect ratio. A film’s aspect ratio is the measurement of the film frame that is actually exposed to light during the filmmaking process. In Super 8mm film the ASPECT RATIO is 1.33:1 (Read as one-thirty three-one). This aspect ratio is the same as in 16mm film; the film frame is squarer, like an old TV set. Both Super 8 film and “R” 16mm (R for regular) film are often referred to as “small gauge” or “small format” in the film community. Most movie screenings at your local multiplex are a different theatrical 35mm film ASPECT RATIO of 1.85:1. This is similar to the new HD video format (HD video, which is 16:9 or about 1.78:1.). This film frame is more rectangular, like a new flat screen TV. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the people who hand out some award in filmmaking, called the “Oscar,” established the 35mm movie film ASPECT RATIO of 1.85:1 as the film industry standard. This aspect ratio is commonly referred to as “wide screen”.

Some Super 8mm movie cameras are being modified to a wide screen format (the 1.85:1 aspect ratio). When 16mm film cameras are modified to this aspect ratio they are called “S” or Super 16. Hmmm…so does this mean a modified Super 8 movie camera is then a Super Super 8 camera? Super 8 mm movie film is a strip of plastic or acetate covered with a light sensitive photographic emulsion. After being exposed to light, the film is chemically processed. This chemical process is sometimes referred to as “wet”. Traditional cinematography and photography are separated from their digital counterparts by the lack of a “wet” or chemical process. What makes movie film so unique aesthetically is its photographic grain. Black and white film emulsions, (both in cinema and photography) the photographic/ film image is composed of silver metal particles (i.e. film grain). The greater the silver content of a film is, the greater the density; the greater the density, the greater the amount of light needed to create an exposure. This denser or “fine grained” film is called a “slow” film. Slow Super 8 film requiring more light has a low ASA/EI rating, such as Kodak’s B/W Super 8 film stock PLUS-X. Faster B/W Super 8 film such as TRI-X requires less light. It is this swirling granular texture of movie film that most of us have come to associate with the cinema experience. The granular structure of Super 8 movie film is conveyed or transferred during a digital scan/ transfer or telecine. This allows a final computer generated/edited digital media product to have the “look” of movie film. It is the grain and color saturation that has helped to keep Super 8 a viable tool for today’s indie films. Color Super 8 movie film is composed of light sensitive grain in layers of dyed emulsions (the grain is similar to B/W film). This sandwich of 3 different emulsions of differing colored dyes (yellow, magenta, and cyan) are exposed, processed, and then projected together creating a color image. There are both fast and slow color Super 8 film stocks on the market. When choosing a Super 8 film stock, trust your eyes, like a painter choosing colors of pigmented paint off their palette, a Super 8 filmmaker has the greatest diversity of Super 8 film stocks available today than ever before. Here are the basics to understand the Super 8 film cartridge. One: Exposure of a Super 8 film cartridge: (ASA or EI) is set automatically in most super 8 cameras by a speed notch. Despite many internet ru-

mors, most super 8 cameras will make accectable exspoures for Kodak’s new Ecktachrome 64. Two: Only silent film stocks are being produced today, sound Super 8 cartridges still show up on eBay, they can still be processed. However you always take a risk with outdated film stocks. Lastly you should know there are more Super 8 film stocks available today than at the height of Super 8 film production! Kodak still offers 5 different film stocks for Super 8; Black and White Super 8 film in PLUS X (a slower high grain film) TRI X (a faster lower grain film) and a color Ecktachrome 64 (medium speed). These three are reversal film stock. A reversal film stock is simply a positive or photographic slide film like stocks. Kodak offers two newer negative Super 8 stocks marketed for the digital filmmaker. These negative Super 8 stocks are usually “printed”- converted into a positive image as a digital intermediate in post production with Final Cut Pro or Avid. I always encourage super 8 filmmaker’s to write a letter to Kodak telling them to continue to support super 8 film. Film stocks still manufactured by Kodak can be purchased and returned for processing (directly from Kodak). For easy ordering of Super 8 mm products worldwide contact your Kodak Representative. In the U. S. & Canada call 1-800-621-FILM(3456) Contact Kodak at: P.O Box 7000, Fair Lawn, NJ. 07410 http://motion.kodak.com

Now here’s the true revolution which has helped keep Super 8 filmmaking alive in the digital age; at least four other companies are producing and processing their own Super 8 film stocks! Purchasing professional 35mm movie film, then cutting it down to 8mm and then adding the Super 8 perforations. Today the Super 8 filmmaker has access to professional film stocks , I only dreamed of 10 years ago! Here are the companies offering custom Super 8 film stocks, processing and professional digital mastering:

Pro 8 MM

2805 W. Magnolia Blvd. Burbank, CA. 91505 (818) 848-5522 www.pro8mm.com *Custom Super 8 film stocks, full super 8 laboratory services, processing and professional digital mastering of super 8 film, Pro 8MM offers high quality TELECINE and film scanning.

Spectra Film and Video

5626 Vineland Avenue North Hollywood, CA. 91601 (818) 762-4545 www.spectrafilm.com *Custom Super 8 film stocks, full super 8 laboratory services, processing and professional digital mastering of super 8 film. Provides high quality TELECINE and film scanning.

Wittner Cinetec Gmblt & Co. KG

Ferdinand – Harten – Str 9 22949 Ammersbek/ Germany Fax- +494089727276 www.wittnercinetec.com *Custom Super 8 film stocks, full super 8 laboratory services, processing and professional digital mastering of super 8 film. High quality TELECINE and film scanning.

Andec Filmtechnik

Hasenheide 9D- 10967 Berlin +49-30-691-70 36 www.andecfilm.com *Andec offers a unique Super 8 service: they will “print” a Super 8 negative stock to super 8 positive/ reversal answer print (from Super 8 negative film, Kodak’s new VISION super 8 negative stocks). Full service super 8 film lab, sells newer custom super 8 film stocks such as Cineva’s new 40 ASA super 8 film made by Fuji. Best Prices on New Kodak Super 8 film stocks:

Pittsburgh Filmmakers 477 Melwood Ave Pittsburgh, PA. 15213 412-681-9500

*Pittsburgh filmmakers sells Kodak Super 8 film at discounted student prices (wholesale) to the general public. Trailer Trash: A Film Journal screened in 2007 at the Three Rivers Film Festival- I stocked up on film stock! Pittsburgh Filmmakers is truly an amazing place. I can see why my friend the artist, tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE, settled in Pittsburgh! http://www.hi-beam.net/mkr/tac/tENTHome.html

Super 8 Film Labs, for sales and processing:

Dwayne’s Photo

P.O. Box 274 Parsons, KS. 67357 800-522-3940 *Dwayne’s Photo is the last film lab in America that processes Kodak’s Super 8 Kodachrome 40 (aka K-40) which was for many Super 8 filmmakers the all time favorite film stock. K-40 is no longer produced by Kodak, replaced by Ecktachrome 64. Dwayne purchased Fuji’s movie processing equipment and to most Super 8 filmmakers it is a household name, thanks to their commitment to continue to process K-40 at least until next year!. Full digital media services including TELECINE.

PAC LAB

37 E 1st St. New York, NY. 10003 212-505-7797 *Customer friendly, a long time staple in providing full Super 8 laboratory processing services. Offer high quality TELECINE.

Martin Baumgarten

18 Elm St. Plattsburg, NY. 518-561-6312 *Mr. Baumgarten processes Super 8 film by hand. Guarantees no scratches! Besides film processing Martin is a wealth of personalized Super 8 expertise including servicing, repairing, and Super 8 cameras projectors and converting Super 8 cameras for sound sync. Martin is a Super 8 MM ‘Jack Of All Trades!’ He can be a little hard to get him off the phone! 41

COLORLAB

5708 Arundel Avenue Rockville, MD 20852 301-770-2128 www.colorlab.com *Colorlab will take care and meet all of your Super 8 needs- just ask for Jake Kreeger. Offers Optical printing of super 8 to larger film formats, complete digital services including TELECINE and film to digital video high definition film scans.

Cine Lab

315 Pleasant St. Bldg 1 Fall River, MA. 02721 508-672-1204 www.cinelab.com *Great prices on Super 8 film processing and on their commercial grade Rank Cintel Telecine or the cheaper â&#x20AC;&#x153;Film Chainâ&#x20AC;? style transfers.

Yale Film & Video

3906 West Burbank Blvd. Burbank, CA. 91505 (818) 558-3456 (800) 955-9253 info@yalefilmandvideo.com *Sells Super 8 film stocks, with full laboratory processing, great prices on telecine. Staff is knowledgeable on Super 8 filmmaking!

Alphacine

1001 Lenora Street Seattle, WA. 98121 206-682-8230 www.alphacine.com *Offering Super 8 filmmakers: film processing, telecine, optical printing, digital- release prints for commercial distribution.

PREP FILM SERVICES

21940 Cumberland Northville, MI. 48167 810-347-6610 *Full service Super 8 film lab and full telecine services.

Email: GaryFVS@aol.com * Great prices on several telecine methods! Great lab, Best Quality on low price chain stlye telecine!

Discontinued Super 8 Film can still be Salvaged by the following Specialty Film Laboratories:

Rocky Mountain Film Lab 560 Geneva St. Aurora, CO. 80010 303-364-6444 www.rockymountainfilm.com

Film Rescue International P.O. Box 44 Fortuna, ND. 58844-0044 800-829-8988

Super8 Reversal Lab Netherlands

Frank Bruinsma Hoge Zand 30a 2512 EM The Hague Netherlands *Considered the Best archival film lab in Europe for discontinued film stocks.

Specialist in Telecine, and Digital Film scanning:

Cinelicious

268 S Van Ness Ave. 3rd Street Entrance Los Angeles, CA 90004 email: info@cinelicious.tv Phone: 323.933.1700 fax: 323.692.0820 *One of the BEST digital media service companies on the West coast! Cool Name!

Brodsky & Treadway

att: Toni Treadway tel: 978-948-7985 (9-6 EST) 69 Warehouse Lane Film and Video Services Rowley, Massachusetts 01969 USA 2620 Central Ave. N.E. *The International Center for 8 mm Film, what a Minneapolis, Minnesota 55418 great web page! Contact us at: (612) 789-8622 or (612) 782-8554 42 www.littlefilm.org

Super 8 Ad

Circa 1980

Letterbox (widescreen) format for Digital mastering Super 8 film... The Cheap Way! In 1992; film director and special effects guru Steve Wang released Kung Fu Rascals, an epic adventure fantasy film, which featured Les Claypool of the Rock-n-roll band Primus. It was shot entirely on Super 8 film and showcased amazing old school visual cinematic special effects. Kung Fu Rascals was produced on a shoe-string budget of less than $50,000. To help its release, Steve Wang and crew presented this Super 8 epic feature film in the Widescreen or Letterbox format. Here is how they did it without spending a lot of money on a new film gate or a special super 8 movie camera. The following is from an interview with Steve Wang was the featured in my all time favorite underground film magazine FILM THREAT VIDEO GUIDE, issue number 6 published in 1992. FTVG: Did you know you were going to use the widescreen format from the very beginning? SW: “Oh, yes. That was completely planned because one thing I didn’t want was for people to judge Kung Fu Rascals on the basis that it was a Super 8 film. If I could fool them, then I would. And not only that, I have a soft spot in my heart for letterbox format. It’s just a way movies should be seen- you can do nicer shots composition-wise and you have a lot more freedom. So everything was done with the letterbox format in mind. Again, it was done in camera. We had these two little arrows in the viewfinder- that were actually part of the light meter- which worked as guides for our letterbox, marking our headroom. So we just had to train ourselves to look through and to compensate for that. It was all done by eye and the frame was later masked off with a video effect to create the final letterbox. To make sure that the action was staying within the boundaries of frame we transferred our dailies by projecting it on the wall and videotaping it. Then, we’d watch the footage again on TV- with the screen marked off with duct tape. We were very lucky that most of the stuff we shot actually came out really good. Mike Bustings, our DP, had only two Super 8 shorts before he did Kung Fu Rascals. I took him out on a trial run one day, just to see how he worked, and ended up using him for the entire movie. He did an incredible job for a guy who just decided, “Well, I don’t have much experience, but I love this stuff. I’m going to take this and run.” -Film Threat Video Guide issue #6 1992

They call it “film making” because they use FILM. http://www.zazzle.com/deepblueedit * check out some of this guy’s Super 8 Tee shirt designs and Bumper stickers!

Beaulieu Super 8 AD from 1978

HAND PROCESSING BLACK & WHITE SUPER 8mm MOTION PICTURE FILM Prepared by Christina Battle, updated July 2003 Along with various notes/tips by: Sarah Abbott, John Price, Lee Krist, Gary Popovich, Sebastjan Henrickson & other articles from Helen Hill’s book ‘Recipes for Disaster’ Everyone seems to process film differently, with different sets of rules – the following are some tips/techniques which I have found valuable. Super 8 (Kodak Stocks) Tri x · ASA = 200/160 (faster film to use w/ lower light levels) · Process as reversal · Don’t use a red safe light Plus X · ASA = 50/32 (slower film) · Process as reversal · Don’t use a red safe light 16mm (Kodak Stocks) 3374 (sound recording stock was 7378) · ASA = now rated at about 30 · A sound recording stock resulting in a hi contrast image (estar base) · Can be processed as negative or reversal · Don’t use a red safe light · Stock has no key code numbers (If you plan to neg cut your film & require edge codes you, unfortunately have few options, Numbers Film Supply used to edge code pos & neg for a nominal fee but last I checked they no longer provide the service. One option is to buy rolled down hi con stock with latent edge codes from Niagara Custom Lab – contact Sebastjan at the lab for details…or do your negative cut by eye!) · As this stock is now estar based you

must tape splice your negative (estar based stocks cannot be hot spliced) 7234 (internegative/dupe-negative) · ASA = 6 · Process as negative · Don’t use a red safe light 7231 (plus x) · ASA = 64/80 · Process as negative · Don’t use a red safe light 7222 (double x) · ASA = 250/200 · Process as negative · Don’t use a red safe light 7302 (print stock) · · ·

ASA = around 8 Process as Negative or Reversal Don’t use a red safe light

CHEMISTRY: Film development varies depending on whether you are processing as negative or reversal. Development times will also vary depending on camera exposure, chemistry temperature, and the film stock used. The need to do tests when processing motion picture film cannot be stressed enough! THE STEPS IN NEGATIVE PROCESSING: Developer: develops the camera exposed, light sensitive silver halide crystals into metallic silver (a negative) Wash: removes the developer & prepares for fix Fixer: Removes the undeveloped silver halide grains Wash: removes fixer Photo Flo: removes water streaks

DEVELOPER The developer reacts with the film to make the latent image visible. It binds together the exposed (in camera) silver crystals, converting them into clumps of dark metallic silver (thus, the higher the exposure, the denser the silver). Some general notes about developer: · When first mixed, the developer will appear clear or light yellow in colour (like apple juice) – this colour will darken over time & is a great indicator for a developer’s exhaustion · Developer can be re-used & will last longer when stored in an dark, airtight container · The older the developer the longer the development time (until exhaustion) · The higher the developer’s temperature, the faster the development time · The longer the development time, the denser the highlights (the greater the contrast of the film) (the shorter the development time, the lower the contrast) · With powdered developer: I usually mix a package and store it as my stock solution. From this I pull for my dilutions. This stock solution will usually last me a few weeks (althoughsome store developer up to 2 months) · With pre-mixed, wet developer: I leave the stock solution and pull smaller portions for dilution There are a number of different developers available for hand processing b&w films. I tend to use a custom-made developer of Sebastjan’s from Niagara Custom Lab. His developer is superstrong and great for handprocessing both hi-con and internegative stocks. Everyone has their favourite developer though, when starting out, I suggest finding one you are comfortable with and sticking with it. Results will vary with each developer depending on the

film stock itself, whether you are processing as negative or reversal, and what type of look you are aiming for (for example, the degree of contrast). Some different Developers: Sebastjan’s Custom-Made B/W Developer · Sebastjan makes this developer with hi contrast films in mind! · It is an already mixed working solution which generally needs to be diluted as it can be quite strong (for 3374 & 7234 dilute working solution 1:9, other stocks, example 7222, 7231, super 8 films dilute 1:3…be sure to do tests first!) · Working solution should be at room temperature · From my experience a little goes a long way….this dev also seems to last forever! Dektol · Can be used to process both negative & reversal · Follow mixing instructions on package for stock solution. Stock solution must then be diluted prior to development (for 3374 & 7234 dilute working solution 1:9, for other stocks, example 7222/7231/super 8 films dilute 1:3) · Working solution should be at room temperature D19 · Use to process negatives · Can give negative stocks (7222/7231) greater contrast · Follow mixing instructions on package for stock solution. Stock solution must then be diluted prior to development (for 3374 & other print & hi contrast stocks try a diluted working solution of 1:9, for other stocks, example 7222/7231/super 8 films dilute 1:3) · John P. suggests working solutions to be at 75-80 degrees F Other developers: D76, D11, Tmax, D96. FIXER

Fixer removes the unexposed (undeveloped) silver from the film. Fixing a negative will result in a crisper image. Some general notes about fixer: · Mix dry chemistry as directed on package for working solution · Fix can be reused and can last a long time – as fixer ages, film may require longer fixing times · Most fixers contain a hardner which helps to toughen the film’s emulsion. This hardner, however makes it difficult to tint & tone film once developed. If you plan to tint/tone a film use a fixer without hardner · Kodak rapid fix – this fix is in powder form & contains hardner (1 pkg makes about 1 litre). Illford carries a liquid fix without hardner · You can also purchase readymade fix (wet) from Niagara Custom Lab – this fixer is prepared without hardner REVERSAL BLEACH Reversal bleach dissolves the metallic silver (negative image) produced by the first developer without affecting the remaining silver halide. After bleaching you are left with a milky-white coating on the film’s surface which can be re-exposed & developed to create a positive image. Reversal bleach is available from Kodak in 5 gallon containers (lots-obleach!) – it can also be purchased in smaller quantities from LIFT. (reversal bleach = 9.5g potassium dichromate, 12mL sulphuric acid, 1L water …don’t forget to always add acid slowly to water, not the reverse). As bleach exhausts it will begin to separate. CLEAR BATH (HYPO CLEAR) Clear Bath acts as a ‘super wash’, removing any remaining bleach and preparing the film for re-exposure. This stage can be left out of the development process – just be sure to wash your film really well after bleaching.

PHOTO-FLO Photo Flo reduces the surface tension of the film & allows water to flow more rapidly from the film without clinging. A little of this goes a long way! DEVELOPMENT TIMES These are suggested times only – you will have to do your own tests. If you don’t know where to begin, start with the following suggested times on a small piece of film, and adjust after evaluating your negative. Be sure to note dilution ratios and type of developer used in each case! Wash: removes fixer Photo Flo: removes water streaks THE STEPS IN REVERSAL PROCESSING: 1st Developer: develops the camera exposed, light sensitive silver halide crystals into metallic silver (a negative) Wash: removes the developer Bleach: dissolves metallic silver negative image without affecting the remaining silver halide Wash: Removes the bleach and prepares film for re-development Clear Bath: Acts as a super wash & further removes bleach (aka hypo clear) Re-exposure: Exposes the silver halide crystals not exposed in camera 2nd Developer: Develops the remaining exposed silver halide to produce a positive image Wash: removes the developer & prepares for fix Fixer: removes the undeveloped silver halide grains Wash: removes fixer Photo Flo:

removes water streaks DEVELOPMENT TIMES These are suggested times only – you will have to do your own tests. If you don’t know where to begin, start with the following suggested times on a small piece of film, and adjust after evaluating your negative. Be sure to note dilution ratios and type of developer used in each case! Tri X Super 8 Reversal Seb’s Custom Dev: 1:3) Stage Time developer 6 minutes wash 2 minutes bleach 2 minutes wash 1 minute

Super 8 -Super Star!

Danny Plotnick roared into

the underground film world in the 1980s. Fueled by his love of punk and alternative culture and infected with d.i.y. spirit, he started making films that captured a similarly snarly attitude. His films were pegged as bawdy, bad-mouthed and beautiful, straddling the line between high-brow and low-brow art. It's no surprise that his work has screened from the MOMA in NYC to mortuaries in Baltimore to the Independent Film Channel.

www.dannyplotnick.com myspace: http://www.myspace. com/dannyplotnick youtube: http://www.youtube. com/user/plotbox

clear bath 2 minutes wash 2 minutes EXPOSE TO LIGHT developer 4 minutes wash 1 minute fix 2 minutes wash 1 minute photoflo 1 minute Plus X Super 8 Reversal Dektol: 1:3 Stage Time developer 4 minutes wash 2 minutes bleach 2 minutes wash 1 minute clear bath 2 minutes wash 2 minutes EXPOSE TO LIGHT developer 2 minutes wash 1 minute fix 2 minutes wash 30 seconds photoflo 30 seconds 7378/3374 as Negative Seb’s Custom Dev: 1:9 Stage Time developer 3 minutes wash 1 minute fix 2 minutes 48

wash 2 minutes photoflo 2 minutes 7378/3374 as Reversal Seb’s Custom Dev: 1:9 Stage Time developer 4 minutes wash 1 minute bleach 3 minutes wash 1 minute clear bath 1 minute wash 1 minute EXPOSE TO LIGHT developer 2 minutes wash 2 minutes fix 2 minutes wash 2 minutes photoflo 2 minutes 7231 (16mm Tri X) as Reversal Dektol: 1:3 Stage Time developer 6 minutes wash 2 minutes bleach 2 minutes wash 1 minute clear bath 2 minutes wash 2 minutes EXPOSE TO LIGHT developer 4 minutes wash 1 minute

fix 2 minutes wash 1 minute photoflo 1 minute 7222 (16mm Double X) as Reversal Dektol: 1:3 Stage Time developer 5 minutes wash 2 minutes bleach 1-2 minutes wash 1 minute clear bath 2 minutes wash 2 minutes EXPOSE TO LIGHT developer 5 minutes wash 1 minute fix 2 minutes wash 30 seconds photoflo 30 seconds SOME NOTES/TIPS ABOUT THE OVERALL PROCESS: · Always remember to wash well between stages. It is also a good idea to replenish wash water frequently (especially if they start to take on the colour of chemistry). Wash waters should be at room temperature (or close to that of other chemicals) · Dispose of used chemistry responsibly! If you are processing at LIFT take advantage of the bi-weekly (or monthly) disposal of chemistry via Toronto hazardous waste. Just make sure to label your chemistry appropriately(in a secure container, labelled appropriately). Remember – most chemicals can be reused a number of times before disposal! · If you accidentally pour chem-

istry down the drain – flush it with lots of water! · Fix can be recycled – again, if you’re at LIFT label it appropriately & securely and leave for the monthly exchange · Always work in an appropriately ventilated darkroom · Don’t forget to let your negs dry well before sending to make a print A BIT ABOUT NEGATIVES It is important to do tests when processing film – by processing a small amount of film you can evaluate the negative (or print) and determine if your development times need to be altered. Remember – development time will vary with the chemistry’s temperature (hotter the developer – the faster the development), the chemistry’s age the older the dev, the slower the development), camera exposure (faster development with over exposure), and film stock (generally – the older the stock, the slower the development). Here are a few tips when evaluating your negative: First off, remember that a negative is just that, the light areas will appear dark and the dark areas will look lighter once printed When first inspecting a negative, ignore the shadow areas and look at the highlights A well developed negative will be dense but not opaque If your highlights are thin the film may be underdeveloped and will lack contrast If your highlights are too dark the film may be overdeveloped and will have more contrast Contrast is the difference between the highlight and shadow densities Troubleshooting Negatives: If… high · The neg. has been overdeveloped · The developer is too hot · The developer is not thoroughly mixed 49

The overall density &/or contrast is The overall density and contrast are low · The neg. is underdeveloped · The developer is not hot enough · The film needs more agitation in chemistry If your neg. has: It is most likely: Low contrast with no shadow detail · Underdeveloped/Underexposed Low contrast with dense shadows · Underdeveloped/Well exposed Low contrast with dense shadows but little highlight density · Underdeveloped/Overexposed High contrast with no shadow detail and dense highlights · Overdeveloped/Underexposed High contrast with good shadow detail but dark highlights · Overdeveloped/Well exposed SOME OTHER STUFF: Reducers Reducers remove density from your developed film. They can be great (when used properly) to thin an overdeveloped image. Be careful though, in my experience they work really fast and can strip the entire image in no time. Here’s a suggested recipe: solution A (stock) = 52.5g potassium permanganate + 1 litre water, solution B (stock) = 1 litre water + 32mL sulphuric acid. Mix solutions A & B in the following ratio: 15mL of a + 30mL of b & 960mL of water (always add sulphuric acid slowly to water, not the reverse! From my experience – this mixture should be diluted lots before use – it’s powerful stuff!). Solarization This step takes place during the first developing stage (of both negative & reversal processing). During this stage the developing negative image is briefly exposed to light. The result is an image which flips between a negative & a positive.

Tinting & Toning Tinting is a fast and simple way to add colour to your overall film image. The film is dyed by placing it in different colour tints. Tinting mainly affects the clear areas, but the result is usually a layer of colour that seems to sit on the entire film image. The only tints I have tried can be found in the Berg Colour Toning System. Time will vary based on colour used, but be careful – it usually doesn’t take long! Colour toning a film will chemically transform the silver itself resulting in a colour change. For detailed notes on toning check out articles by Gary Popovich, Marty Bennett & Christina Zeidler in Helen Hill’s “Recipes for Disaster”. The Basic Toning Process: (Remember to use a fixer without hardner when developing film prior to toning!) Bleach (blacks will turn beige) – use ‘toning bleach’ Wash Tone Wash Repeat with other colours Reticulation Reticulation can be used to breakdown or alter the films emulsion. There are a number of ways to reticulate a film – it can occur on its own with extreme changes in chemistry & wash temperatures during processing. Sodium carbonate can also be used during the reticulation process. The amount needed, temperature of the solution & times needed for degradation depends a lot on the film stock itself. 3374 and other estar based films take a lot more time to alter in this manner. A FEW RESOURCES: There are a number of places to find information on handprocessing on the internet – try searching for 16mm film, hand processing film, super 8 film, etc. Also remember that the process of hand processing motion picture film is quite similar to processing 35mm stills from one can only help the other.

Soeciak thanks, Reprinted with permission of the artist invovled! Thank you!

Helen Hill was a successful artist/ Super 8 filmmaker, mother and wife; whose life ended in a act of brutalviolence Her tragic murder occured in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Her powerful story was profiled on AMERICA’S MOST WANTED. Her muder remains unsolved. As a family member who has survived the murder of a beloved family member, I know all to well the sorrow of such a loss. To her family and friends I can only offer my deep sympathy. Please visit Helen Hill’s memorial site an make a donation!

www.helenhill.org

Splendid new 16mm prints of 10 of Helen’s films are now available for screening from the Harvard Film Archive. Her super 8 films were optically enlarged and printed by my friend Julia Nicol at Colorlab in Rockville, MD, she was deeply moved by the assignment. Madame Winger Makes a Film Mouseholes Scratch and Crow Film for Rosie Vessel Tunnel of Love Bohemian Town Your New Pig Is Down the Road The World’s Smallest Fair Rain Dance Groups and Festivals interested in screening the films can contact: Mark Johnson, HFA Film Trafficker mhjohns@fas.harvard.edu Phone number: (617) 496-8438

To DOWNLOAD a copy of Recicpes for Disater vist: www.othercinema.com

About Recicpes for Disaters; a exploration of alternative and direct methods of super 8 film production, most commonly found in experimental film. Helen had sent out a ‘call for entry’ to experimental filmmakers she had meet over the years, recieving a large volume of respondes, she compiled and edited them to share with the film community.

Alternative Experimental Super 8 Filmmaking For those of you not familiar with EXPERIMENTAL FILM, I suggest ordering the Stan Brakage DVD By Brakage- Anthology available through the Criterion Collection released in 2001 (www.criterion.com). Stan Brakage is one of the most renowned experimental filmmakers in American cinema history. He combined many alternative forms of cinematic produc tion in developing one of the most unique personal film styles in the film as art community. To help you on your way, I used THE COMPLETE FILM DICTIONARY, by Ira Konigsberg. So first lets define experimental film:

Experimental Film is a term used synonymously with avant-garde to desribe any film of a noncommercial nature that avoids normal narrative lines and any realistic depiction of the world outside the cinema to present what is often a personal or subjective extession of the filmmaker’s psyche through an exploration of the film medium itself. Such films may deal with taboo subjects and images or may be abstract in nature, dealing with the rhythmic interplay of lines, shapes, or forms. Such films may use images of the real world, though in ways and contexts that change them; animated drawings or cuts outs; or images drawn direcrly on the film stock itself. Whatever the techniques, experimental film open up the medium to create new visions through highly personal and idiosyncratic techniques. See avant-garde cinema. Absolute Film is (1) the name given to abstract films made in Germany during the 1920’s. These films are composed of animated drawings of nonrepresentational lines, forms, shapes, or patterns, and emphasize the rhythmic relationship between the separate images. Well-known examples are Hans Richter’s Rhythmus 21 (1921) and Viking Eggeling’s Symphonie Diagonale (1924). With the advent of sound, Oscar Fischinger later in the decade began making “absolute” films that integrated rhythmic visual patterns with music. (2) a term sometimes used for any abstract film that presents nonrepresntational lines, forms, shapes, or colors in rhyhmic patterns. Such films are considered “absolute” cinematic performances because they emphasize the visual dimension of the image itself without any reference to external

reality and because their only action and meaning is in the rhythmic movement from one image to the other. These works explore the frame’s space and the film’s temporality. See pure cinema. (3) the name given by the film theoretician Bela Balazs to avant-garde films that feature the filmmaker’s subjective view of external reality. In The Theory of Film, Bela Balaz cites De Brug (The Bridge, 1928), by the Dutch filmmaker Joris Ivens, as an impressionistic “absolute” film , since the subjective vision can be retraced ino the external world; and Berlin, die Symphonie einer Grosstadt (1927), by the German filmmaker Walter Ruttmann, as an expresionistic “absolute” film, since inner consciousness totally distorts external reality. (4) a term used by P. Adams Sitney in Visionary Film to describe the ultimate film aspired to by experimental filmmakers who seek to achieve the pure “essence of cinema” in “giant, all-inclusive forms.” See abstract film.

For additional experimental film information:

Direct Film is an experimental or animated film that is made by directly painting, drawing, or etching on the film stock itself. This technique may be employed for either abstract or representational images. Len Lye was significant in developing this technique, using the term “direct film” for such works as Color Box (1953) and influencing such filmmakers as Norman McLaren with his abstract drawings on film. See noncamera film.

Next pages feature other outstandingsuper 8 cameras: The NAUTICA, a underwater super 8 camera produced by Eumig. The CHINON 200 XL-S ( sound). Also the EUMIG MINI 5. * The are nany excellent super 8 cameras not mentioned in my Journal. Including the ELMO 1012 XL-S. I hope I at least gave you a staring point! Do alittle research prior to buying.

The Complete Film Dicitionary can be found on Amazon. See my section Analog Super 8 Filmmaking for more details about this book.

Ken Paul Rosenthal

Ken a accomplished and prolific experimental/ super 8 filmmaker and great writer. Check out his web page :www.kenpaulrosenthal.com Ken also posts on filmshooting.com and is a frequent contributor to SUPER 8 TODAY magazine. His films are available through Canyon Cinema Cooperative.

The Handmade Film Institute Dedicated to exploring, extending, and supporting the use of motion picture film as an artisitc medium. Webpage:www.handmadefilm.org

Eumig Ad for the under water Super 8 Camera THE NAUTICA, 1980.

Super 8 -Super Star!

Google: Trailer Trash: A Film Journal To order a copy of Trailer Trash: A Film Journal as screened January, 2008 in NewFilmmakers at Anthology Film Archieves (our last cut): Please send $10.00 to: Don Ramirez, PO BOX 31 Shenandoah Junction, WV 25442 PS: My film’s web page sucks! A long story! A friend of a friend (of my cousin’s uncle) -will do your web page for free, kinda thing! * DVD copies by Globaldisc.com -very cheap! Phone# 212 234 8338

*Flyer for TRAILER TRASH: A FILM JOURNAL, next page Feature story Baltimore City Paper, Septemper archives 2007. Courtesy Violet Glaze check out: www.violetglaze.com

pg.54

The BEST Erotic Fine Art Photography on the East Coast! John Stillwagon

www.oldschoolwv.com 56

EUMIG SUPER 8 AD, 1975

pg.57

The 1976, NIZO Professional. The only Super 8 Camaera with a built-in Pilatone Sound Synch Pulse Generator, allowing this camera to be compatale with Professional audio recorders like the Nagra 4.2, standard in 16 mm film production. *

Double System Super 8 Sound Filmmaking

a synchronized sound movie film, a musical called, The Jazz Singer. An invention called the Vitaphone ran the movie projector which controlled the rate of a turntable. Primitive, but as the saying goes, “The rest is Hollywood history.” SECTION # 7 The “talkies” radically changed film; the films of today are narrative and dialogue driven. Personally, I am a voyeur. Frankly, I think a film should be first seen, and then heard. I can only ponder tion. In the 1970’s 16mm film production what films would be like today if diawas considered professional; super 8 was logue had remained a distant second in for amateurs. Today, times have changed. the cinema viewing experience. We see In 1976 Nizo marketed the NIZO PROwith our eyes, not ears. So does a good FESSIONAL Super 8 movie camera, to filmmaker. Legendary underground the best of my research, it is the only sufilmmaker, Stan Brakage, rarely proper 8 camera that came with a pilotone duced sound films. He made over 400 generator internally housed making it films in his life; only a handfull contains compatible with professional analog sound at all. audio recorders. Kodak Inc. Introduced the sound However super 8 filmmakers of the Super 8 film; a 50 foot Ektasound car70’s era advocated a variation of the tridge, and the 200 foot Ektasound film piloting tone or pilotone. Called sync magazine in 1973. However by 1980, pulse or digital pulse, Super 8 legend Kodachrome 40 Super 8 sound film was Lenny Lipton advocated a one sound/ Kodak’s most popular selling amateur tone pulse for one film frame or what is home movie product. Super 8 sound called sync pulse. film is still only 8mm wide. The side of By adapting and overcoming some movie film with the sprockets containing technical shortcomings, those interested a balance sound stripe, on the opposite in shooting a sound sync Super 8 film side of the film frame was the recordcan do so. You will need some perseing stripe- both were made of magnetic verance. While preparing to interview tape. One was called the balance stripe, Lenny Lipton, now known as the techthe other called the sound stripe. Both nological genius behind the current 3-D stripes could be used to record sound. movie phenomenon, Lenny Lipton in a This filming was called “direct sound.” prior life was a counter-culture hippy The 50 foot Super 8 film cartridge is and the leading authority on Super 8 slightly larger than the Super 8 silent and independent film production. While cartridge. ALL super 8 sound cameras preparing for a Super 8 Today magazine will shoot the silent cartridge, but silent story about the life and times of Lenny super 8 cameras will not take a sound Lipton, I re-read the 1975 book The cartridge. I am not sure why, but Super 8 Super 8 Book. Also, I rediscovered the sound cameras (even though they shoot secrets of double system sound Super the silent Super 8 film cartridge) sell for 8 filmmaking- and that’s where my rea lot less than a similar silent Super 8 search began. I can honestly say that cameras on eBay. I have put more leg work into this I rarely shoot Super 8 sound film “paper” than anything I ever wrote in (even when it was available) even college! though all of my cameras were sound The earliest known double system cameras! Until recently, I started ussound experiments with film were made ing some silent super 8 cameras. I had around 1889, when Thomas Edison proa Canon 514XL-S (which was my first jected a movie film in synchronization super 8 camera) and later a Chinon 200 with a phonograph inside Edison’s legXL-S. However, I always like to shoot endary film studio, Black Maria. silent film. I rarely worked with sound In 1927, the Hollywood film studio Warsuper 8 film. I finished sound in post ner Brothers Inc. was broke. Desperate production, now using Final Cut Pro 5.0 to get much needed attention (and monon a Macintosh G-5 computer. ey!), Warner Brothers rolled the dice on As a film student in 1993 at UMBC *Submitted to Super 8 Today Magazine, Issue #16

By Don Diego Ramirez

Kodak discontinued their Kodachrome 40 Super 8 sound film in late 1996. Kodak began marketing Super 8 film with magnetic tape already glued to it in the early 1970s, referred to as Single System Sound or direct sound. Kodak’s Super 8 Sound film does still appear on eBay, rarely in a large volume, super 8 sound film can be expensive and it is long out of date. Two of Kodak’s discontinued super 8 sound film stocks (Ektachrome 160 and Kodachrome 40) are being sold from $40 to $60 for a single super 8 sound cartridge. As a filmmaker, I think at that price it is hard to understand why no other company has not manufactured a replacement. Given the success of Fuji’s new Cineva 50 Super 8 film stock, (the market driven replacement for Kodak’s discontinued silent Kodachrome 40 super 8 film) the readers of Super 8 Today magazine know there is market for single system/ direct sound super 8 filmmaking. When the C.E.O.s of the major film manufacturers and corporations, are ignoring the growing Renaissance of super 8 filmmaking I think, no wonder our economy is a wreck! Who runs Kodak? Ken Lay? Now here’s the secret that for some reason most people don’t know: Super 8 cameras from the early 1970’s and on were designed to operate a double system sound technique. This system was somewhat similar to 16 mm film production which had long utilized double system filming, where a movie camera is running in sync with an external sound recorder. The film and television industry standard for 16mm filmmaking, was called the Pilotone method (a pilotone or sound is used to guide the placement of film frames and sound recordings in post production by a film lab). Most late model High End Super 8 cameras were designed to operate double system sound filmmaking very similar to that used in 16mm film produc-

in Baltimore, Maryland I worked with what was called “Wild Sound”, which is simply sound played with your film. Nothing was in perfect sync. Sound sync came in Film II-which I couldn’t afford! Otherwise, maybe my outlook would’ve changed! With the demise of Kodak’s Super 8 sound film, it is time to rediscover Double System Sound Super 8 filmmaking. For those filmmakers who need perfect sync or just relative sync, here are some ideas. “Double System, The Basic Idea Unlike single system shooting, where one machine records sound and image on one piece of film, double systems require two machines for lip sync movies- a camera and a tape recorder. What this produces then in any double system sound scheme- and there are many variations- is two separate pieces of film or tape, one for image, the other with sound. The trick in double system is getting and keeping the film and sound track in frame-for-frame sync, so that ultimately a length of image is exactly equal to a length of sound. If you attempt to use a camera and a tape recorder simultaneously- without a sync hookup- and then project the processed film and tape in sync, you’d discover you had problems.” - Lenny Lipton 1975 The Super 8 Book A lot of those problems can now be resolved using Final Cut Pro, in digital post- production. The most common method used in sound synchronization with Super 8 filmmaking is called the sync pulse or digital pulse: One film frame marked with one sync sound pulse. For double system sync pulse: a super 8 camera is directly connected to an audio recorder: synchronized via a pulse sync generator generally connected to the PC plug. Almost all Super 8 cameras listed on eBay can be adapted to use this double system method. Almost all Super 8 movie cameras made by 1975 had a built in electronic flash, a PC plug, which was to be used with the intermittent intervalometer for syncing an external electronic flash during possible animation or time lapse cinematography. This plug called a prontor contact or PC was designed to trigger an external flash in perfect sync with the camera’s shutter, a perfect synchroniza-

tion between camera shutter and flash. Super 8 camera designers started working in mass in the early 1970s on super 8 sound filmmaking. Most started by adapting the PC flash synchronization to be used with an audio device. Super 8 camera designers connected a pulse sync generator with a super 8 camera and audio device, by recording a sound “maker” or pulse for each film frame on an unused audio track. This is the foundation of sync pulse super 8 double system sound filmmaking. This universal PC/flash plug (common in still photography) can be used to sync sound. In the1978 Handbook of Super 8 Production, by Mark Mikolas and Gunther Hoos, they actually tell you how to D.I.Y. “Do it yourself sync using the PC socket of a Super 8 camera”. This book like Lenny Lipton’s The Super 8 Book previously mentioned, gives detailed information regarding double system sound. Both are excellent resources. By 1975, many different companies began producing electronic pulse sync equipment to utilize the single frame sync pulse for perfect sound sync that equipment still shows up on eBay. Today only a few are super 8 filmmaking enthusiast operate “Micro Cinema Companies” that offer this custom, specialized electronic audio equipment super 8 sound sync devices. Most double sound systems use the electronic pulse sent to the PC, to then produce a digital pulse or tone “marker”, each film frame, as it is being exposed, is sending a single pulse to the PC switch. Digital or Sync Pulse is: One film frame equals one tonal pulse, By importing all sound tracks in to Final Cut Pro by using the digital time code, you can use this sound marker to accurately create a sound sync super 8 digital intermediate. Today, most Super 8 professionals I have spoken to had little knowledge or even practical advice regarding the double system sound technology of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. A lot of would-be Super 8 converts are lost as soon as they think you can’t shoot a sound sync Super 8 film- so let’s spread the word: Super 8 sound filmmaking still lives! First, Spectra Film and Video, a lead-

ing manufacturer/ distributor of custom Super 8 film stocks, stated most Super 8 film professionals, like those who shoot weddings, skateboard promotional, and music videos etc simply shoot a mini DV tape with a DV camera to record sound. Then in post production using Final Cut Pro (or other non linear editing software) by cutting and pasting, insert their Super 8 film footage over

the appropriate sound tracks. I am

told in digital post-production, sound syncing film to audio recorded on a separate mini DV tape is not difficult. By using the sound from a mini DV tape (shoot at the same time as super 8 film) a filmmaker can use the digital video as a guide or “marker” replacing video with Super 8 film footage. I would like to go over some of the products marketed today and then those “old school” devices created by Legendary Super 8 camera designers in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. In my award-winning, (Best Documentary U.S. Super 8 Film Festival ’07) Trailer Trash: A Film Journal, I cheated by simply using digital video whenever I needed perfect sound synchronization. It was not what I wanted, but I had to work with what I had. Adapt and overcome- however, now I know Super 8 sound synchronization is possible and easy. My film screened twice in Australia. First in the 2007 Super 8 Day Film Festival organized by Rodney Bourke and the Moving Image Coalition. Rodney and I began an email correspondence largely about Super 8 filmmaking. In 2008, Trailer Trash: A Film Journal was then screened in the Sydney Underground Film Festival. (Awesome Poster!) Rodney Bourke sells a simple device built from what looks like Radio Shack parts that he calls “A Double Remote Control Synchronizer”. Rodney’s device works by putting a Super 8 movie camera and an audio recorder (i.e., mini disc, DAT, cassette tape, or even a newer digital video recorder) in remote mode, then activating them in tandem via cables and a handheld remote switch. His remote control synchronizer is very simple, cheap and effective. However it is not perfect. But by using proven sound filming methods (slating start and stop of each shot), it is- (continued pg. 63)

Super 8 -Super Star!

Albert Gabriel Nigrin is an award-winning experimental media artist whose work has been screened on all five continents. He is also a Cinema Studies Lecturer at Rutgers University, and the Executive Director/Curator of the Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center, Inc. -- a non-profit organization which screens and promotes independent, experimental and artistic cinema in New Jersey via the New Jersey Film Festivals, and the United States Super 8mm Film + DigitalVideo Festival. Ihe 22nd Annual United States Super 8mm Film + Digital Video Festival will be held February 19-21, 2010 at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. The Festival encourages any genre (animation, documentary, experimental, fiction, personal, etc.), but the work must have predominantly originated on Super 8mm/8mm film or Digital video or 8mm video formats. All works will be screened by a panel of judges who will award over $4000 in prizes. Last year’s festival audiences viewed 22 finalist works out of 160 entries from throughout the world over three evenings. The Festival takes as its mandate the spreading of the 8mm and Digital word. For more information go to www.njfilmfest.com or call us at 732-932-8482!

www.njfilmfest.com

*1995: Poster and tee-shirt by artist Stephen Blickenstaff, Stephen did the alblum cover BAD MUSIC FOR BAD PEOPLE by the Cramps. Filmmakers Craig Smith and Don Diego Ramirez taught Super 8 Filmmaking Workshops in Frederick, Maryland.

shamless plug!

shameless plug!

I love’d THE FILM KITHCEN, It is a must for any serious filmmaker, Submit your film NOW! Google Film-

Kitchen submissions on VHS or DVD to: Film

Kitchen c/o Pittsburgh Filmmakers 477 Melwood Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Include your name and daytime contact info and an SASE if you want the submission returned by mail. For info email Matt Day at mrdayfilm@yahoo.com

Check out my friend; Eric Cheevers, Film director | Scott Mueller, producer | of Parasite Films Las historias más sexy del mundo (2004) My freinds Eric Cheevers and Scott have started to make a splash in the Indie film world, which started with Eric’s Las historias mas sexy del mundo films. Eric’s Time Is Now is shoot on Super 8. “An obscurantist take on mid-70’s European softcore porn films, based on early memories of such films viewed on Super-8 as a child, pilfered from a friend’s father’s collection. The live music and actors were contributed by DC’s Scene Creamers, with other actors supplied from other DC music groups” Las historias mas sexy del mundo

www.parasitefilms.com

* Photographer Melissa Masters demonstrates the ERLSON CONTACT SWITH Beaulieu a sold the Erlson Contact Switch (Catalog #810513) which produced a sync pulse or one sound pulse per film frame. This was for sync sound filming on Beaulieu Super 8 cameras beginning with Beaulieu 4008 ZM 2. At the same time, Beaulieu produced their first direct sound super 8 camera the versatile 5008 Multi speed super 8 sound camera. The Erlson Contact Switch screws into a Beaulieu 4008ZMII’s or a 5008 M-S camera’s rewind socket (this is the cameras drive shaft. It rotates once per film frame). As the camera’s motor moves film forward, it moves the rewind screw forward. This contact switch produces a sync pulse at the exact moment the shutter opens. The Erlson Contact Switch has been modified by some serious Super 8 filmmakers who work with current state of the art digital recorders. Also pictured crystal Control Unit for a beaulieu 5008. Picture to right: Crystal

Sync for a beaulieu 5008.

the most cost efficient way of creating a good sound sync super 8 digital intermediate. Rodney Bourke sells his device for $25.00 plus an extra $6.00 which covers the cost of two 2.5 mm input plugs (common on most super 8 cameras and audio recorders), five meters of cord and a 10 minute DVD explaining how to connect the device. Send money to Rodney Bourke, P.O Box 1231 Albury, NSW, 2640 or call (02) 659-2963 or email rodneyawa@yahoo.com.au. Or simply check out www.innersense. com.au.-The double remote control synchronizer will operate a Super 8 camera and most audio recorders (even a DV camera) in tandem, recording both image and sound at the same time. It is not in perfect sync, but in post-production it works well for its very low price. The Film Group, (500-B Silas Deane Hwy, Wethersfield, CT, 06109 or 860-529-1877 or www.webtfg.com) currently offers a variety of products and services designed especially for the small gauge (Super 8 or 16mm filmmaker) to achieve perfect professional quality sync sound on a micro budget. Founded in a film student’s basement in 1975, a filmmaker put his knowledge of electronics to work. The Film Group has become a trusted name in the Super 8 community. The Film Group prides themselves on accessibility, quality, and afford ability and warranties! The Film Group has offered a Super 8 Crystal Control Unit since 1982. This device interlocks the running speed of a Super 8 camera to a precise quartz crystal reference at exactly 24 or 25 frames per second, providing a cable-free connection with a crystal sync recorder such as Nagra, and different brands of DAT and Mini Disc recorders. The Film Group’s Super 8 Camera Crystal Control Unit installed runs for roughly $500 depending on the Super 8 camera make and model. The Film Group sells several professional audio recorders adapted to utilize their crystal sync devices. The Film Group can adapt a customer’s recorder if they send it to The Film Group and they always offered to do that. The Film Group seems to be one of the last Micro companies left that provides goods and services described in Lenny Lipton’s The Super 8 Book. The Film Group also

The Film Group markets: a Pilotone to Digital converter, a Micro Resolver, and offers modifications to many Sony and Marantz analog cassette recorders for double system sound production. The Film Group sells products that utilize pulse sync sound, cable less crystal sync sound and the pilotone method. Pilotone to Digital Converter DESCRIPTION: Super-8 filmmakers who need to interface their camera with standard Nagra-type sync recorders via the pilotone input will find our Digital to Pilotone Converter of special interest. The unit is designed to accept 24fps* switch closures, such as is provided by the camera’s PC flash socket, and convert them into a steady 60hz. pilotone sync signal in perfect phase with the camera’s running speed. This will enable any Super-8 camera to be used in cable-sync mode with a Nagra, or even an unmodified stereo recorder using one of the tracks for the sync signal. Since the Converter does not require any modifications to the camera, in most cases, you can use 200’ cartridges if your camera allows them. The Converter supplies a dual output for driving a line level or mic level input. It runs on one 9v. Alkaline battery and incorporates a low-power standby mode. A phase-lock LED indicator is also provided.

As long as the camera is equipped with a PC flash contact, there are no modifications required to the camera at all. The Converter can be attached to the recorder with the velcro strip provided.

The Converter is normally supplied with a 10’ connecting cable for the camera and a short 18” cable to the recorder. Please specify your camera and recorder at the time of order. *The Converter is also available in a special version for 25fps/50hz. Use. This will enable filmmakers in those countries that require the 50hz. pilotone sync frequency to have the same flexibility. Price: $300 Film Sound Shooting by Wolfgang Peter Thuille, a German Super 8 enthusiast started a small Internet business in 2004. His web page: www.super8sync. com is linked to www.onsuper8.org; Wolfgang offers a variety of electronic devices to make double system sound super 8 filmmaking easy and affordable. Wolfgang Thuille’s super 8 double system sound pulse sync products are custom, hand built electronic devices. Wolfgang is a super 8 sound guru; he responds to emails and stresses this is a part time endeavor, but he is deeply committed to the super 8 community.

Film Sound Shooting

The R1008MD camera interface

1000 Hz interface for any recorders with Stereo MIC input (stereo tape decks, MD recorders, Dat recorders, computer sound card capturing…) The interface connects to the P.C. Connector of any camera and to the stereo microphone input of any audio recorder. It is powered by 4 cheap LR44 batteries. It provides a microphone plug to record the audio track to the right stereo track while writing the sync information to the left stereo track. The red record gain control knob enables the user to make sync recordings even with consumer models that do not have separate gain controls for the left (sync) and the right (audio) channel. When using the interface with such a recorder, the general gain must first be set in a way, that the audio is close to 0 dB. After setting the microphone gain- (continued pg.65)

FROM THE HANDBOOK OF SUPER 8 PRODUCTION

this way, you press the test button of the interface, watch the dB indicator of your recorder and turn the red knob until the dB value comes close to 0 dB, too. This camera interface is the best choice when having no special AV equipment for live sound recording, or when wanting to use modern technologies like MD, MP3, sound card capturing etc. Note that the audio signal will only be in mono; one of the stereo channels is used for the sync information! PRO 8MM, once the provider of all things Super 8 Sound, now offers a few viable double system sounds set ups for their high end, reconditioned Super 8 cameras. The Classic Pro (a Beaulieu 4008ZM II), with a crystal sync generator which can be internally housed sells about $750.00. A complete classic Pro Sync camera package sells for just under $3,000.00. Pro 8mm’s other options include crystal sync for other Super 8 cameras that will work with contemporary audio equipment. Pro 8 MM can also provide information on products marketed under the company’s original name Super 8 Sound Inc.

Super 8 Sound Recorder 1975 Chambless Cine Equipment also sells crystal sync equipment for Super 8 and 16mm equipment. They specialize in converting late model NIZOs and some other Super 8 cameras to use the pilotone or a crystal sync set up (prices vary) with audio recorders. Contact Jesse of CCE by emailing bolexcce@ ellijay.com or phone 706-636-52111 or write to 13368 Chatsworth Highway, Ellijay, Georgia, 30540-0231. For those who do not believe in the super 8 Renaissance, Check this out!

“Due to the growing interest in super 8mm cameras, we have started a line of sound Barneys for super 8 camera brands like Nizo, Beauliue, Canon and Bauer.” A sound Barney is a well padded movie camera “blimp”, it helps by reducing film camera noise during sound film production. Custom Upholstery Products Inc. has been producing a diverse line of American made custom sound Barneys for motion picture cameras for over 30 years. Now they start offering super 8 Barneys WOW! Someone must be shooting super 8 in sound sync! Custom Upholstery Products Inc., 17112 Strathern Street, Van Nuys California 91405; Phone: 818-342-0739; web page: www.customupholosteryproducts.com Double System Sound ‘Back in the Day’ By the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, Super 8 camera designers were feeling the economical pressures, of the now obsolete, VHS home video competition. Super 8 cameras and projectors improved by leaps and bounds in an effort to keep the interest of the home movie-maker. For reasons no filmmaker understands, they lost out to an inferior, over priced video fad. VHS are now long gone- along with countless ‘home movies’ shot on cheap VHS video tape. Back in the day, Super 8 camera designers pushed their products to the highest possible level. For example, by 1978 all high end Super 8 sound cameras now also included a double system sound jack or input plug. Marcel Beaulieu began with adding multiple ways of achieving double system sound with the Beaulieu 4008ZMII and the Beaulieu 5008 S “Multi-Speed” sound camera. In 1976 Nizo was the first major super 8 camera brand that began producing a built in pilotone sound sync pulse generator. The NIZO super 8 camera model P (Professional) was the first super 8 camera that came standard with a built in Pilot or pilotone generator making it compatible with professional 16mm audio equipment of the era like a Nagra. Beaulieu produced an external Pilotone sync generator in both a European

standard 50 HZ and an American standard 60 HZ. Beaulieu’s Pilotone sync generator (with the model numbers: 810511 and 810512) were designed to run in sync with portable magnetic tape recorders (i.e., Nagra, Stellavox, and Uher) just like a 16mm film production. By fitting these Beaulieu Super 8 cameras with the Pilotone sync generator, Beaulieu had created a lightweight portable super 8 “reporting outfit” marketed for news stations and independent filmmakers. The Piotone sync generator produces “a ‘pulse’ to ensure a perfect register between picture and sound input.” The Beaulieu sync generator (and Nizo’s built in pilotone generator) created a Pilotone or Pilot signal used by the motion picture industry as the standard it was called; AS 2000 system.

Beaulieu 4008 ZMII Sound Synchronization Sockets Beaulieu produced an external Pilotone sync generator in both a European standard 50 HZ and an American standard 60 HZ. Beaulieu’s Pilotone sync generator (with the model numbers: 810511 and 810512) were designed to run in sync with portable magnetic tape recorders (i.e., Nagra, Stellavox, and Uher) just like a 16mm film production. By fitting these Beaulieu Super 8 cameras with the Pilotone sync generator, Beaulieu had created a reporter’s outfit, marketed for news stations and independent filmmakers. According to The Film Group, the Pilotone sync generator produces; “the generator works much like the old generators we had on our bikes when we -(continued pg.66)

were kids, to light the headlamp when we road at night. The unit produces an AC sine wave signal. The AC sine wave is what comes out of your outlet at home. Exactly the same signal frequency only much lower voltage. The motion picture cameras and magnetic film recorders of the early years were run of of AC synchronous motors. The rotational speed of these motors is tired directly to the AC current they are running off of. Two sync motors with the same RMP rating will run at exactly the same speed off the same AC line current. You can have a hundred running at the same exact speed! When the small DC motor was applied to film cameras the cord to the AC line was cut... so to speak.” TFG In an effort to come up with the double sync sound system that was still compatible with the thousands of sound records in use around the world, the Pilotone generator system was created. I was told it was first used in a motor for the 16mm Eclair NPR.

The Beaulieu’s sync generator created a Professional quality Pilotone or Pilot signal used by the motion picture industry as the sound sync standard. Professional filmmmaker’s were using the AS 2000 system. Before the digital age, film images and sound were synchronized by the pulse signal in the film laboratory to produce sound sync film prints or professional video tape for television transmission The pilotone AC sine wave signal is different than pulse or digital sync. The Pilotone is recorded on a separate track of the magnetic tape in a analog audio recorder, with professional recorders like Nagra, Stellavox and the Uher 1000P. The signal was laid down 90 degrees out of phase in the middle of the full width audio track.

Today this signal can be used in Final Cut Pro or other digital non linear editing soft ware. Today’s digital Time code can assit in perfect sound sync. Today each individual film frame has to be placed over the AC signal. By creating a digital intermediate, this will allow’s your recorded audio to edited in sync with super 8 film images in post-production. Beaulieu also sold the Erlson Contact Switch (Catalog #810513) which produced a sync pulse or one sound pulse per film frame. This was for sync sound filming on Beaulieu Super 8 cameras beginning with Beaulieu 4008 ZM 2. At the same time, Beaulieu produced their first direct sound super 8 camera the versatile 5008 Multi speed super 8 sound camera. The Erlson Contact Switch screws into a Beaulieu 4008ZMII’s or a 5008 M-S camera’s rewind socket (this is the cameras drive shaft. It rotates once per film frame). As the camera’s motor moves film forward, it moves the rewind screw forward. This contact switch produces a sync pulse at the exact moment the shutter opens. The Erlson Contact Switch has been modified by some serious Super 8 filmmakers who work with current state of the art digital recorders. The Erlson was just a simple switch. This allows its audio connecting head to be changed to fit a pulse generator or to be used with a time code. (Erlson cord below)

In an effort to keep up with the Beaulieu Super 8 camera brands like Nizo, Bauer, and Canon began offering high end Super 8 film cameras that also utilized a double system sound offering a similar by way of having a external audio recorder running in sync with a super 8 camera. Many different sync cords produced by the decline of Super 8 beginning in 1985 (some sync cords only turned a audio recorder on and off).

Hoping the break into the 16mm -ominated market for commercial media and news production, major Super 8 brands produced super 8 direct sound cameras that came standard with a 8 PIN DIN output connector built directly into the cameras mechanics for double system sound set ups. High end Super 8 cameras (like the Canon 1014XL-S) came with the 8 PIN DIN connectors that could be connected to an external pulse sync generator. THE FILM GROUP came out with the Digital to Pilotone Converter. This is the only (and most affordable way) you can use a super 8 camera running at 24fps (connected by the PC contact for professional pilotone sync), in combination with a pro analog recorder like the Nagra, Stallavox or Uher 1000P. The only way! With out the expense of CRYSTAL SYNC! NOTE: The 8-pin connector offered several things depending on the particular camera model. On some it would offer a once per frame switch closure, a 1000hz tone pulse and even a start/stop trigger that could be connected to the tape recorders remote socket. This DIN PIN varied with camera models. Braun Inc., the owners of the Nizo Super 8 brand, sold the Braun/ Nizo Ph 1 pulse cable. The Ph 1 produces one pulse per frame. It was designed to work with a Phillips Recorder 2209 AV (pictured below). Braun/ Nizo also produced sync pulse cables; Nizo N Sound Pulse cable (article #7 690 957, code #Z STA N).

Phillips Recorder 2209 AV (pictured). I have only found these cords on line at The Super 8 Camera Shop, www. super8camera-shop.com. I have been told these sync cords are rare, however I bought them cheaply on eBay. I do not think many people know what they do! Many audio techs have adapted the Ph 1 and other sync cords to work with a variety of different brands.

S8/16mm Camera Crystal Control Unit from The Film Group PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:

When we introduced our Crystal Control Unit in 1982 it was with the intention of giving filmmakers the low-cost option of shooting double system sync sound with their existing Super-8 or 16mm camera. Our Crystal Control Unit is designed to interface seamlessly with a wide range of Super-8 and 16mm cameras including Beaulieu, Canon, Nizo, Elmo, Nikon, Chinon and Minolta. Over the years we have added many cameras to our list of available conversions to what is currently over 30 models. The small CCU device is the heart of the camera's crystal control system. The unit provides the means of locking the running speed of the camera to a precise, quartz crystal reference at exactly 24 or 25fps (specify when ordering). Cableless operation with a crystal sync recorder such as a Nagra, modified cassette deck, DAT or MiniDisc recorder is then possible. Our Blooper Slating Unit is the perfect companion device for your crystalized camera and sync recorder. The CCU is a separate package of electronics connected to the camera by a lightweight, coiled cable. The unit runs on its own power supply using a single 9v. alkaline battery. There is no power drain from the camera, itself. The CCU can be simply slipped into a shirt or hip pocket or even attached to the top of the camera with a strip of velcro. There is an LED lamp on the faceplate to indicate proper sync operation. Starting the camera activates the device and locking synchronization is obtained instantly. Crystalization of the camera does require certain modifications that must be provided by The Film Group. All original features of the camera are unaffected when the CCU is disconnected. The crystalization of single-system Super-8 sound cameras requires the use of standard 50' silent cartridges when shooting crystal sync. The CCU can also be supplied at 25fps for the same cost. NOTE: Over the years we have converted hundreds of cameras for our Crystal Control Unit with excellent results. In fact, it is our most popular product. The modification is completely safe and will not adversely affect the camera's normal operation in any way. The CCU is sold as a package, only, with a camera conversion. The Film Group, (500-B Silas Deane Hwy, Wethersfield,

CT, 06109 or 860-529-1877 or on line www.webtfg.com.

* I have only began to scratch the surface regarding Double System sound, I suggest reading Lenny Lipton’s THE SUPER 8 BOOK, and THE HANDBOOK OF SUPER 8 PRODUCTION then try speaking directly to George Oddell at The Film Group. I am sure I plucked his final nerve with my questions! He was kind enough to answer them all!

*Braun/ Nizo also produced sync pulse cables; Nizo N Sound Pulse cable (article #7 690 957, code #Z STA N).

Other Super 8 filmmakers have had new DIN sockets installed, replacing the older obsolete DIN input socket on Bauer or Nizo super 8 cameras, with newer sockets more compatible with today’s AV technology. Check out: www. filmconsultant.net From onsuper8.org: Sound Sync Solutions: “This new Sync product: The idea is that you shoot on film and use a camcorder to record sound. It doesn’t make the super-8 camera run in sync but it makes syncing the sound and the picture in post a lot easier. Since you always have the same action recorded both on video and film, and you don’t have hours and hours of more video footage than film footage, you don’t have to spend ages trying to locate the corresponding sound on video. You can build a simple rig where you can attach the super-8 camera and the camcorder side by side so that both cameras always shoot the same scene. Import the picture shot with the video camera and the picture shot with the film camera into a NLE software, and make the other picture track a half transparent. Now you have both pictures superimposed on each other, which makes syncing the sound easier, especially if you shot with a non synced super-8 camera and didn’t use a clapper board.” -Janne Pulkkila Contact Kinokone at Revontulentie 2 K 89, 02100 Espoo, FINLAND / Tel. +358 50 5846610 / VAT No. FI18207384 For more info: http://www.kinokone.fi/SBL_info.htm The front page: http:// www.kinokone.fi

Creating a Super 8 Digital Intermediate Section #8

Telecine or a “film to video transfer” is the most important step in getting raw Super 8 film into a digital format. What the hell is Telecine? Telecine is the combination of the words television and cinema. Telecine is the name of any process that converts movie film (cinema) into a video format (television), now most commonly digital video. Most telecine set-ups involve a digital video camera or digital scanner connected to a movie projector. Super 8 movie film is run through the projector and videotaped, scanned, or recorded into a new digital format. Here is what Kodak’s webpage has to say on this topic: “Digitization: Analog source material must be digitized. A film scanner digitizes information from the original camera negative by sampling it at regular intervals and then encoding it. When film is scanned, therefore, the resulting digital image is only a sampling of the image information found. Film scanning: selected scenes are converted from film to digital data with a film scanner. Film scanners sample and digitize image information from the original camera negative to create digital image files. Scan resolution refers to the amount of information sampled and digitized from each film frame. Higher resolution images offer better image quality and flexibility throughout the entire digital post-production process. Film scanners: today’s motion picture film scanners deliver excellent image quality. High-end film scanners digitize each frame at a high resolution. When the digital image files are written back to film, the result is not readily distinguishable from the original. Scanning is accomplished by illuminating the original camera negative with a bright light source. For each sample point along a scan line, a charged coupler device (CCD) measures the level of transmittance for red, green, and blue light. This process is repeated a line at a time until the complete film frame is scanned. A digital image file is created that stores color information in three separate channels for red, green, and blue. Each film frame yields a separate digital image file. Both devices convert analog film to a digital image, but there are major differences. A telecine is used to convert film images to video. They have continuous motion and operate at a high speed. Some telecine have the ability to emulate a film scanner and produce data files. A telecine may require images to be up sampled, depending on the workflow and demands of the project. While telecine machines output a video signal, a film

scanner outputs digital data files. High-resolution film scanning is for data-centric workflow. Film scanners are often pin-registered, intermittent, and slower than telecine. At the time of acquisition, few adjustments are made to the images. The image files are typically stored on a hard disk for manipulation and digital color grading later in post-production. Film scanners capture more resolution and make higher quality images” Some Super 8 filmmakers create a homemade Do It Your Self Film chain-style telecine setup with a Super 8 projector and a home mini digital video camera, cheap. Here are suggestions from Onsuper8.org: The quickest and easiest way to to get Super 8 images into a digital form for editing is to project it onto a wall and record the image. This video image can then be read into a computer for editing. While this sounds easy, it only really works for reversal film and needs some attention to detail to ensure the best quality image. Issues to consider include: • Image size and quality • Brightness and white balance • Eliminating ‘keystoning’ (when the image is skewed as the projector and camera can’t be in the same place) • Reducing film flicker • Ensuring focus Some high-end media companies offer Rank Cinetel Telecine: “Rank Cinetel (including Ursa) type machines using a ‘flying spot’ of light which horizontally traverses the film to determine the RGB information, whereas the Thomson Shadow uses Charged Coupled Devices (CCDs) to determine RGB data on a full line by line basis. Either way the optical clarity or control of image gives the best possible results from the information contained within the Super 8 frame. Professional telecine suites can process negative and reversal film stocks with equal ease. Some now provide outputs in High Definition as well as directly to Hard Drive (in a variety of formats) eliminating the need for tape in the workflow.” This quality and flexibility do come at a price, but there are various options to minimize expense depending on how much trust you place in the telecine operator.” - Onsuper8.org Here are some practical tips from members of the Super 8 community regarding telecine; use only the most reputable companies to have your film’s telecine or scan completed. I heard stories of pure horror by filmmakers who had to learn this valuable lesson the hard way. Filmmakers including me, have seen films damaged by broken projectors, received unusable transfers, and even had original super 8 films lost by so-called professional media companies! Another practical tip is: do not handle your film after it has been processed. Take a look at a few feet of your Super 8 film with a photographer’s loupe.Dust is not your friend!

During the past few years, the technology of today’s film scanners has improved by leaps and bounds. Frame by frame Super 8 film scanning produces an impeccable digital intermediate. I have only had one roll of Super 8 film complete the telecine process with a film scanner. Spectra Film and Video scanned a roll of Super 8 film for an experimental short film I am currently working on. The colors and clarity of the transfer simply blew me away! Spectra charged me $80.00 to have a single roll of Super 8 film scanned to mini DV tape (not HD). I could truly see where the extra money went. Film scanner technology is rapidly improving. It is this improving technology that is helping Super 8 filmmaking to be considered for professional media production in mainstream Hollywood. Super 8 continues to be a growing phenomenon in independent film production. Micro-cinema companies like Spectra Film and Video and Pro 8 MM have invested substantial money on improving frame-by-frame Super 8 film scanners. While my documentary, Trailer Trash: A Film Journal, was making its rounds on the film festival circuit, I completed a music video for the Avant-Garde electronic music group, Polyphasic. My music video Somnolence is to me, an experimental film; shot entirely on Super 8 film and edited with Final Cut Pro 5.0, it is the first film I posted on YouTube.com. Here is the step-by-step process Somnolence took to get it on YouTube.com: Polyphasic recruited filmmakers from around the world to create a piece of film art that was set to their musical compositions. Polyphasic’s Lars Wigen, Lincoln Miller and Music Producer Curt Siess selected and edited a compilation of the best submissions for a special, limited edition DVD. I made the cut! For this music video, Somnolence I had no budget. I used out of date Kodachrome 40 Super 8 film. I had it processed, costing roughly $10.00 per roll by Dewaynes Photo. I had my Super 8 film telecine’d onto a mini digital video tape, a.k.a. mini DV or simply DV, by Yale Film and Video. On two separate occasions, Yale Film and Video transferred 6 rolls of Super 8 film to a mini DV tape. I imported all 12 rolls of Super 8 film- now copied in a digital file in my computer. My original Super 8 film I plan on keeping. To preserve original Super 8 film, I stored it in a sealed plastic zip lock bag and put it in a black, sealed, dry plastic container in my refrigerator for possible use in the future. How much a filmmaker chooses to spend on telecine should be dictated by their personal filmmaking goals. By using Super 8 movie film combined with the telecine/ scanning process, it allows today’s filmmakers to digitize original Super 8 film, import it into a computer, edit with non-linear editing software and retain the aesthetic look of the original Super 8 film. Digitally transferred Super 8 movie film still shows grain, photographic color saturation- all the qualities we love about

seeing movie film. Super 8 movie film is another tool for today’s digitally trained filmmaker. Kodak’s web page states: “Rendering applies all changes made throughout image processing on a digital source master. Rendering all the frames in the digital intermediate taxes computer systems and requires a significant amount of computer processing. Rendering is often completed on a rendering farm, which divides the task among several systems networked together to expedite the process. The digital master is a final digital version with all changes applied. It is used to create all distribution formats, including: film for release printing, digital cinema, HD, SD, DVD, and content for the web.” I am a “no budget” filmmaker that tends to use a film chain style transfers. Spend what your film project truly needs; be reasonable. Scanning Super 8 can get expensive. For every indie film success story there are hundreds of filmmakers who have spent tens of thousands of dollars never making a dime of that money back. I hope to make more films after this experience. I now have the equipment, knowledge, and money to do a lot more, because I was practical. Truthfully, your first few films are just learning experiences where you should be a little humble, that way there is real encouragement in your filmmaking future. At least that is what I think. It is only my opinion- and you know what they say about opinions! Importing your digitized Super 8 film into a computer with non-linear video editing software: After the telecine process, your next step is importing your digitized Super 8 film into your computer, which will need to have a non-liner digital video editing program or software such as Final Cut Pro, Apple’s iMovie, or Windows Movie Maker. This is the second most important process or step in getting digitized super 8 film to an internet site like YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, or other social networking web pages- or creating a DVD or digital file. Here is how I imported my film, later I discuss the easiest ways to import Super 8 into a computer using mini DV tape and a Fire wire. I imported my film into my Mac G-5 computer that had Final Cut Pro 5.0. Over the years, as a filmmaker, I have put together a very nice digital video-editing suite in my home. This is not uncommon since prices for computers and digital editing software have come down tremendously. Let me stress that any low-end digital video editing software could have been used to make my final Super 8 digital film. With these two simple steps, telecine and importing, I had created a digital intermediate. In our cram session at the very end of little film school, I reviewed how to use less expensive digital editing programs and a PC (personal computer) to accomplish the same task of importing digitized- (continued)

-Super 8 film in a digital video format, editing digitized Super 8 film, and posting edited Super 8 film from a digital file to YouTube.com with Windows Movie Maker and Apple’s iMovie HD. I opened the digital files containing my raw Super 8 film now “auto-magically digitized” by YALE FILM AND VIDEO. I opened a new project file in Final Cut Pro, clicked on the displayed file and dragged it into the Clip Bin of Final Cut Pro. The clip or file is called whatever the film lab person names it- which in this case was Somnolence. In any new Final Cut Pro project, Sequence 1 is what the timeline is called. So in this case, I dragged the clip called Somnolence into a timeline called “Sequence 1.” Now in Final Cut Pro’s timeline, I could edit my digitized Super 8 film to make it exciting to watch. I worked on Somnolence for about 3 months. I edited with a very basic, simple approach thanks to my success with my in-camera edits. I created layers of images, a real psychedelic film, and added titles, then deleted areas that were out of focus or just sucked! I imported sound from Polyphasic in much the same way as my digitized Super 8 film. The above mentioned digital video editing software, and internet social networking sites have simple interfaces and “auto- magical” features, helping idiots like me, not to screw things up. Making film with Super 8 may seem daunting at first, but it is not. It is exciting, creative, and a blast! Following step-by-step instructions (add in some patience and an investment of a little time) allows anyone to produce excellent results with Super 8 filmmaking in the age of the internet. Your viral video is just an upload and click away. The last lesson for this session of A Super 8 Filmmaker’s Journal a.k.a Our D.I.Y. Super 8 Film School is Exporting: Uploading your film to YouTube.com. After I had edited my digital Super 8 film into a complete music video, I posted it on YouTube.com with Final Cut Pro. I rendered my edited digital film to create a final digital file on the Mac G-5. I followed the step-by-step instructions for signing up for a YouTube account. I did my best to describe Glass Gun Films. Shortly afterwards, I received an email from YouTube and followed the cut and paste instructions to activate my YouTube account. I named my channel, as it is referred to on YouTube, GlassGunFilms (Yes, all one word). To upload digitized Super 8 film, now a Final Cut Pro 5.0 project file, I followed these steps to upload. First, I selected EXPORT using QuickTime conversion on the file menu. Next I typed in the name of our file, and then clicked on the OPTIONS button. I changed the SETTINGS to CUSTOM for a small file- I used the setting of 480x360, next I clicked OK for SOUND SETTINGS. Changed it to a format of AAC, clicked OK, next selected FAST START COMPRESSED HEADER, clicked OK, next clicked SAVE. I made sure to save our file where it was easy to find, then opened my YouTube account then clicked BROWSE and found my film’s file in a new project

folder, selected that file and then clicked OPEN. Selected PUBLIC for broadcast option, and last but not least, I clicked UPLOAD. Then I waited and watched my film upload in progress. Depending on your file’s size, uploading can take a while. That is it in a nutshell. Next is Super 8 with and without a Mac! First, beg, borrow, or steal a Super 8 movie camera and some movie film, shoot your Super 8 movie film, and send it for processing. After it is returned, you must have it digitized by a telecine process a film to video transfer into a digital format compatible with your computer and software. I suggest mini DV tape, as it is compatible with most of today’s new computers. Then treat digitized super 8 film on mini DV tape, like any other mini DV tape you would have imported. Second, you will need to import your digitized Super 8 film now on mini DV tape by using a fire wire and a DV camera, set DV camera to VTR/PLAY mode, just like it was a digital video tape. A fire wire connects your digital video camera to your computer allowing them to “talk” to each other. Your computer will be able to control your DV camera once it is set to VTR or the Play/ VCR mode. Your computer needs to have some digital video editing software or program like Apple’s iMovie or Windows Movie Maker. The following is a stepby-step overview on how to import digital video from a DV camera to a PC or MAC. On a PC, set your mini DV camera or camcorder to VTR/ PLAY mode sometimes called VCR mode. Next, most people will use a fire wire (also called an IEEE 1394); plug the small MALE end into your DV camera, the other end plugs into your computer’s fire wire port. For the MAC user, connect your DV camera via a Fire wire 400 in much the same way. Next for the PC user, open Windows Movie Maker. In the MOVIE TASKS pane, select CAPTURE VIDEO, scroll down to CAPTURE FROM VIDEO DEVICE. PC users will then name the capture footage, and then click next. In Windows Movie Maker you will use WIZARD, which will allow your PC to “talk” to your DV camera. Import your digitized Super 8 film, now on mini DV tape, by rewinding your tape to the starting point of your raw footage, click CAPTURE and record all of your digitized Super 8 film off the mini DV tape, click STOP CAPTURE after all of your footage has ran through. Click FINISH, and your digitized Super 8 film should now appear in the COLLECTION PANE of Windows Movie Maker. Save as WMV. Edit your digital Super 8 film until it is ready for YouTube just as you would digital video. If you’re importing for MAC, go to iMovie HD, click CREATE A NEW PROJECT, name your project, and then choose MPEG-4 for your video format.

This is the easiest way to send your digitized Super 8 film now on mini DV tape to YouTube. In the iMovie work space choose the mode CAMERA SETTINGS then find the starting point of your digitized Super 8 Film, click IMPORT to allow all of your raw film footage to record, and then click STOP. You will now be able to edit your digital Super 8 film on I MOVIE HD. So now you have shot your Super 8 film, had it processed-, and completed the telecine process. You have then imported it into your computer, edited your digitized film, and are now ready for a YouTube account and upload. First, set your browser to http://www.youtube.com then click SIGN UP. Fill in all the fields in the SIGN UP area on YouTube’s webpage. When finish, click finished! Then YouTube will send you an email where you follow all instructions to complete the sign up process. Let’s go broadcast yourself! After you have completed YouTube’s sign up process, uploading an edited video is a simple two-step process. YouTube accepts video files such as WMV, AVI, MOV, and MPG. First, open your YouTube account and click UPLOAD. Then click BROWSE, find the file you have stored your edited digitized Super 8 film in, click OPEN, choose your BROADCAST OPTIONS, where I suggest PUBLIC second, and then click UPLOAD. Then begin to watch your film’s upload in progress. Super 8 filmmakers, welcome to the World Wide Web! Finding someone to telecine your Super 8 film is easy. Everyone from your local Photoshop to strangers on eBay, are offering “film transfers.” As I said before, use only the most reputable film labs for your transfers. All of the film labs mentioned before offer high quality film transfers. If you wish to complete a high quality film transfer at home, check out: Scan Stream www.moviestuff.tv *Sells a quality frame by frame rapid film scanner for home use. Tobin Cinema Systems, Inc www.tobincinemasystems.com 509-922-7841 17128 East Baldwin Ave, Spokane Valley, WA. 99016 *Tobin Cinema produces a high quality telecine for home use with absolutely zero flicker. Tobin also produces crystal motors for small format film cameras. MWA Nova GmbH Zillestrabe 7-11 D-10585 Berlin Phone +49-30-39 80 Web page: wwww.mwa-nova.com *Creators of the FLASH SCAN 8, a professional grade telecine/ film scanner that allows you to digitises super 8 film and other small format film.

To order

POLYPHASIC’s DVD Visit: www.polyphasicmusic.com

or contact Lars Wigen

email:polyphasic.music@gmail.com

* DVD contains 16 short film

by filmmakers from around the world who created a work of film art set to POLYPHASIC’s avant garde music. Check out Mike Mendez’s

PHOTOGRAM! WOW!!!!

shameless plug! From onsuper8.org; “Welcome to the wonderful

world of super 8mm film. "The technology of yesterday becomes the artform of today" Marshall McLuhan, 1911 - 1980 Super 8mm has experienced a renaissance in recent years with both professional and amateur filmmakers embracing this highly portable and unique film format producing incredible shorts, advertisements and even features.

If you've never shot on celluloid, now's your opportunity! Have a look around, see what others are doing and be inspired - your journey into film begins right here!” The BEST Super 8 web page on the net! To see what Super 8 is capable of check out; Daniel Henríquez-Ilic ambitious Halogenuros project, conceived to demonstrate the capacity of the Super 8 image when coupled with 2k scanning technology and a workflow resulting a 35mm theatrical print. The full 9 minute 14 second version of this remarkable film in both Standard and High Definition versions are online see; onsuper8.org for links. Shot entirely on Super 8 using Vision2 100T (Pro8/12), Vision2 200T (Kodak 7217), Vision2 50D (Pro8/01) and Vision2 250D (Pro8/05) - Spirit Datacine 2K telecine (10 bit data) at the world famous Park Road Post, New Zealand - editing, colour grading and cropping - grading for the film-out on Quantel eQ using a Look Up Table and mantaining the LUT for the internet delivery (so this version has similarities with the look of the 35mm print) which was undertaken in Chile - for internet delivery output to H.264 with Rec 709 colourspace- From onsuper8.org

www.onsuper8.org 71

Canon Super 8 ad

Circa 1980

pg.72

Super 8 Ad

Circa 1980 73

TRAILER TRASH: A FILM JOURNAL screened in the 2008 Sydney Underground Film Festival. Also included in the International Film Festival were the films of my Super 8 hero Martha Colburn, she has been a iconic inspiration! Her films are amazing, if you are interested in the ultimate mind blowing super 8 films visit her web page:

A SUPER 8- SUPER STAR!

www.marthacolburn.com

Analog Super 8 Filmmaking. Section #9

As the digital media maker’s interest

shot at 18 frames per second). Using only in camera edits (when you stop pulling the camera’s trigger that is an edit... Basic film 101 stuff), and using wild sound (playing an audio music with your film, not in perfect sync), participants create a 3 minute short film. For many, the Flicker Attack of the 50 Foot Reels is their first filmmaking experience. Trust me, you will be hooked. After presenting their personal 3 minute cinematic statement at a Flicker screening, non-filmmakers become avid Micro Cinema devotees. Flicker has had a tremendous influence in helping to spread the enthusiasm of Super 8 filmmaking- old school style! For those of you who are truly interested in old school Super 8 and small gauge filmmaking, here is as much information and resources that I can offer:

in Super 8 cameras reached critical mass, a new interest in Analog filmmaking or as I call it; old school or reel to reel Super 8 editing and Super 8 film projection and film to film optical printing has begun on the Micro Cinema level. With the popularity and international reach of Norwood Cheek’s Flicker film groups/ chapters, new generations of filmmakers have rediscovered the quality of projected camera original Super 8 film and Festival ready optical blow ups. I can only hope this movement grows until it can no longer be silenced. Filmmaker’s should have all tools available! Projecting Super 8 film or 16mm film print is nothing like video projection. An optical film print projection always blows video projection away. Slowly, film festivals are once again encouraging filmmakers to present a optical print as opposed to a digital media file, rare but really growing. Only a committed and growing community of filmmakers supported by dedicated film enthusiast can make this renaissance of analog film a successful rival. Remember when vinyl records were all but dead, the record companies finally began listening to those hard core audio fanatics who had advocated vinyl records over digital down loads long ago, now over 50,000 records are sold daily. Thanks to MICRO companies who struggled through the dark ages! Film has the same potential and passion of its supporters. The cinema experience is truly a film projected Order your copy of the Flicker Guide to the World through a movie projector, lens and light. Many film of Super 8 Filmmaking. Articles and listings on how, artists feel that computers have devastated the craft who, what and where for today’s Super 8 filmmaker. of filmmaking. Many yearn to return to an era when a “film” couldn’t be put together in a few hours on a laptop. Editing small format film in the old school way requires patience and skill. Today, anyone with a DV camera and Windows Media Maker calls themselves a filmmaker. Flicker’s most popular program is called Attack of the 50 foot Reels. The idea is beautiful and simple: anyone who wants to participate takes a Super 8 camera and shoots a single roll of Super 8 film (a Super 8 roll of film is 50 feet running about 3 minutes when 75

Flicker Guide to the World of Super 8 Filmmaking $4.00 or send $12 per shirt, check or money order to:

Norwood Cheek

C/O:flicker 6310 1/2 Primrose Ave. Hollywood, CA 90068 www.norwoodcheeks.com www.flickerla.com *All Flicker clubs are linked!

Books: .

The Super 8 Book

By Lenny Lipton Published in 1975 by Straight Arrow Books ISBN: 0-87932-091-5 *This is the most comprehensive book on Super 8 filmmaking of the 1970’s. Ideal for those interested in Super 8 filmmaking for personal cinema. Lenny Lipton’s Super 8 films are available through Canyon Cinema Cooperative.

Lipton on Filmmaking By Lenny Lipton

Published in 1979 by Simon and Shuster ISBN: 0-671-2447-2 *A compilation of Super 8 articles written for Super 8 filmmaker magazine. Very fun to read. Also, ‘how to make your own 3-D Super 8 movies!

Independent Filmmaking

By Lenny Lipton Copyrighted in 1972, published by Simon and Shuster ISBN: 0-671-02017-1 *Includes a forward by Stan Brakhage. This book remained in print for 20 years! It was used by many film programs as a text book. One of the best books written on analog filmmaking methods.

The Filmmaker’s Handbook

Handbook of Super 8 Production

By Mark Mikolas and Gunther Hoos Copyrghted/ Published in 1976 by Media Horizons Books. Edited by Ronnie Telzer ISBN: 0-915616-03-3 *This is an amazing publication. Detailed, large photographs of hard to find Super 8 filmmaking equipment. The Handbook of Super 8 Production is very different than The Super 8 Book. Both should be in any Super 8 filmmaker’s library. The Handbook is ideal for those looking to shoot a feature length film in Super 8.

The Complete Film Dictionary

By Ira konigsberg The Complete Film Dictionary was copy righted in 1987( published 1989) in the United States by New American Library, a division of Penguin books U.S.A.; ISBN:0-452-00980-4 (pbk). *I bought this book off ebay, great resource for any filmmaker. Over 3,500 entries on all aspects of analog film, considered the most comprehensive source book on filmmaking. Covering all forms of cinema and the technical aspects of film production, are defined in easy to understand definitions.

Film-maker’s Guide to Super-8

The “How To Do IT” book for beginning and advanced filmmakers. Compiled by the editors of SUPER-8 FILMAKER magazine. Published by Sheptow Publishing in 1980 Paperback ISBN:0-442-23319-1 *This book contains many important articles that had been originally published in SUPER 8 FILMAKER magazine, very informative. Now my disappointment with the book: it contains very few photographs! Very disappointing, it is illustrations that get me to buy the vintage magazine off ebay!

CHRIS GORE’S Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide, 3rd Edition. Published in 2004 by LONE EAGLE PUB-

By Edward Pincus and Steven Ascher LISHING COMPANY 1024 N. Orange Dr. HolPublished in 1984 by The Penguin Group lywood, CA 90038 Phone 800-815-0503 ISBN: 0-452-25526-0 WEB PAGE:www.hcdonline.com *This was my textbook during Film 1 at UMBC- a ISBN:1-58065-057-0 great resource for 16mm film production- not so much *Chris Gore has been around for a very pong time on Super 8. 76 working hard for indie film, him self

a accomplished indie filmmaker and the founder of FilmThreat.com. Chris Gore gained my respect with his involvement in Film Threat Video Guide a magazine and film distribution company that made a impact on the 1990’s Underground film scene. Chris also hosted Ultimate Film Fanatic on IFC. His book is a must for any filmmaker who hopes to do more than a YOUTUBE post!

Weird, transghessive,subversive, FTVG provided an outlet for a new generation of filmmakers coming of age in video age. FTVG helped to launch the career of Hollywood’s director, Todd Phillips. FTVG also had their own VHS distribution company. The films they released are untouchable in originality. I am sure FTVG shows up on eBay and Amazon.

Magazines:

Super 8 Projectors Sales and Services:

Super 8 Today Magazine

www.super8today.net Editor/ Publisher Chris Cottrill Omni-Prints Publishing 1427 Eagle Mountain Drive Miamisburg, OH. 45342 USA *As of July 30th, 2009, Chris has decided to cease publishing this magazine. A total of 16 different issues were published. Collect them all! Please note: Super 8 Today web page changed on Sept. 1, 2009 to .net! Spread the word!

Super 8 Filmaker Magazine

Super 8 Filmaker magazine was published from 1973 to 1981. During its last few years it was edited by Bruce F. W. Anderson. Based in San Francisco, California. Published and distributed by Sheptow Publishing Inc. *I have been slowly collecting issues of it off of eBay. Super 8 Filmaker was a well put together magazine with tons of in depth “how to” Super 8 articles. This magazine has great advertisement from the major producers of Super 8 equipment. Informative and pretty to look at! Lenny Lipton was a frequent contributor.

Film Threat Video Guide

Published by Chris Gore, Editor-in-chief The Executive Publisher was none other than, Phil Vigeant (The current owner of PRO 8 MM and long time Super 8 entrepreneur! Betcha didn’t know that! *It ceased publishing over 10 years ago. This guide was a bastard child of Film Threat Magazine. FTVG was the only magazine dedicated to Underground Films of the 1990’s that I really got into. 77

Pat’s Projectors

7712 Oak Park Ave Van Nuys, CA. 91406 Fax/ Phone: 818-996-9238 Cell: 818-359-0945 Email: patsown@socal.rr.com *Specialty hard to find projector bulbs and parts, sells and repairs Super 8 mm, Regular 8 mm, 16 mm, and slide projectors.

The Reel Image

2520 Blackhawk Rd. Kettering, OH. 45420 Phone: 937-296-9036 Email: thereelimage_043@yahoo.com *As of July 2009, Steve has a large quantity of Elmo 1200 series Super 8 projectors, practically brand new! Steve sells all things super8! If he does not have it, he knows who does!

Leon Norris

315 W. Fornance Street Norristown, PA. 19401 Phone: 610-275-1225 *Leon has a large inventory of spare parts for Elmo Super 8 sound projectors. Reasonable repair rates and speedy service.

Optical Printing

(aka a Super 8 “Blow up”) There are currently only a handful of film labs that offer optical printing of Super 8 film to a larger film format.

Colorlab

www.colorlab.com 5708 Arundel Avenue Rockville, MD. 20852 Phone: 301-770-2128 *Colorlab’s optical printing is done by Julia Nicol. Julia is an UMBC graduate, an amazing film artist, and a great friend. Julia has earned an International reputation as one of the best Film Archiviest and Optical Printers working today.

Cineric

www.cineric.com 630 Ninth Avenue, Suite 508 New York, NY 10036 Phone: 212-586-4822 *Cineric claims to be the first film lab in New York to establish a digital motion picture film service department. They offer a variety of specialty services to Super 8 filmmakers including optical printing, titles, post production, special effects, telecine, and High Definition film scanning. Wait a minute; isn’t Kodak based in New York? Oh right, Kodak is a dinosaur!

Interformat

234 Ninth Street San Francisco, CA. 94103 ATTN: Michael Hinton Email: guyanimal@mac.com Phone: 415-626-1100 *Offering Super 8 blowups, film restoration and full Super 8 digital media services, have been around along time!In the 1970’s and 80’s INTERFORMAT advertised in SUPER 8 FILMAKER magazine! DAMN cool!

Super 8 Film Supplies: Tayloreel Corporation

PO Box 476 Oakwood, Georgia 30566 Phone: 770-503-1612 Fax: 770-503-9614 Email: service@tayloreel.com *Full catalog of super 8 and small format editing suppiles; reels, splicing tape, storage cans/ boxes. 78

Super 8 Stuff

9797 National Blvd #8 Los Angeles, CA. 90034 www.super8stuff.com Email: super8stuff@netzero.net *Super 8 Stuff provides spare parts through recycling damaged Super 8 cameras and Super 8 projectors. Also offer quality Super 8 repair services, copies of manuals, and much more.

Urbanski Film

www.Moviecraft.tripod.com P.O. Box 428 Orlando Park, IL. 60462 Phone: 708-460-9082 *Complete catalog of small format film supplies, editing supplies, projector bulbs, Rare high-quality Super 8 sound films for sale. If you plan to hand edit a Super 8 Film, you will need Urbanksi!

Sound Stripping:

In the US, can any one provide quality sound stripping? If so contact onsuper8.org! unfortunately, .I was only able to find Super 8 sound stripping services in Europe and Brazil.

AGF Film Lab

Rua 24 de Maio 35-10 andar sala 1008 Centro CEP 01041-001 Sao Paulo – SP Brasil (55) (11) 3451-4145 or 9408-2096 www.agflaboratories.com agflaboratories@uol.com.br * Full sound stripping services!

Fritz Jager of Film Be Spurung De www.filmbespurung.de aeger@filmbespurung.de Phone: 06058-8785 *He does high quality Sound stipping!

Books on Personal Cinema:

Personal Cinema:

National Art Centers dedicated to the preservation of “ Personal Film as a Art Form” and who desperately need your support!

Canyon Cinema: The Life and Time of an Independent Film Distributor

Canyon Cinema Co-operative

145 Ninth St #260 SF, CA 94103 Phone: 415-626-2255 www.canyoncinema.com *Canyon Cinema operates as a “non-profit” filmmakers co-operative completely dedicated to the preservation and distribution center for personal cinema. Canyon Cinema rents films to the general public, that means you!. Canyon Cinema has a catalog of over 3,500 films. Most are analog or reel to reel film prints including many RARE Super 8 film prints. Save Personal Cinema- rent films from Canyon Cinema!

By Scott MacDonald Pubilshed in 2008 ISBN: 978-0-520-25087-1 Available through Canyon Cinema www.canyoncinema.com *Gives a colorful history of a truly “Grass roots” artist organization. A great, fun book. It is truly amazing that Canyon Cinema has survived this long- this book lets you know why!

Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde 1943-2000

By P. Adams Sitney ISBN: 0-19-514-886-X (paperback, 3rd edition) Published by Oxford University Press *Visionary Film is a very scholarly book. Provides a complete history of the moments that have lead to the “Micro Cinema Revolution”. It is very fucking dry to read. I use it as a textbook whenever I teach.

Anthology Film Archives

32 2nd Avenue New York, NY. 10003 Phone: 212-505-5181 www.anthologyfilmarchives.org *Founded in the late 1960’s by Jonas Mekas, Anthology Film Archives was the first museum and art center dedicated to personal cinema. Anthology offers a wide variety of services to the film community including film screenings, film rentals from their vast archive of avant-garde, experimental, underground and personal cinema. My film, Trailer Trash: A Film Journal, screened at Anthology in the NEWFILMMAKERS screening series early 2008. It was for me, the most important event in my art life. NewFilmmakers is the oldest continous film screening series in Amewrican history.

An Introduction to the American Underground Film

A UNIQUE FULLY ILLUSTRATED HANDBOOK TO THE ART OF UNDERGROUNG FILMS AND THIER MAKERS. By Sheldon Renan Forward by William Vandyke. Published in 1967 in paperback by Dutton Publishing. Find it on amazon: ASIN: B001TQBFKS * I love this book! I was first given a copy in 1993 by Craig Smith ( Psychedlic Glue Sniffin’ Hillbillies). It is written like any other cheap paper back of the era, full of sex! then some film and art It is written to exploit the Underground Film scene as full of free sex, awesome drugs and early rock -N- roll! As a actual Underground filmmmaker- I got left out! I never got invited to celluloid orgies! Very informative and fun to read even with the distortions of the art world!

Echo Park Film Center

1200 N. Alvarado Street (@ Sunset Blvd) Los Angeles, CA 90026 Phone: 213-484-8846 info@echoparkfilmcenter.org * Community microcinema, comprehensive small format film equipment and service department, a green-energy mobile cinema/film school an international touring festival.

FLICKER in America:

Athens, Georgia Angie Grass 263 West Washington St. Athens, GA (706) 546-0039 flickertheatre@hotmail.com www.flickertheatre.com

Asheville, North Carolina Gavra Lynn 62 1/2 N. Lexington Ave. Asheville, NC 28801 gavralynn@yahoo.com www.flickerasheville.com

New York City, New York David Teague 535 Clinton Street 4B New York, NY 11231 flickernyc@mindspring.com

Austin, Texas Cory Ryan 7907 Doncaster Drive Austin, TX 78745 flicker@flickeraustin.com www.flickeraustin.com

My favorite Super 8 Friendly Art Center in Baltimore, my adopted home town, please vistit the Creative Alliance at The Patterson, www.creativealliance.org 3134 Eastern Ave., Baltimore, MD 21224 Phone 410 276 1651 *Creative Alliance Media Makers provide much needed access to eqipment for reasonable rates!

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Jen Ashlock P.O. Box 141 Chapel Hill, NC 27514 flicker@ipass.net www.flickerfestival.com

New Orleans, Louisiana Jeremy Campbell 2421 Decatur St New Orleans, LA 70117 or jeremy@ten18.org www.ten18.org/flicker EXCEPTIONAL SUPER jeremy@ten18.org

www.ten18.org/flicker www.flickernyc.com

Cleveland, Ohio PO BOX 14897 Cleveland, OH 44114-0897 info@flickercleveland.com www.flickercleveland.com Richmond, Virginia James Parrish 2706 E. Franklin St. Richmond, VA 23223 phone 804 644 4084 flicker@vcu.org Los Angeles, California Norwood Cheek 6310 1/2 Primrose Ave. Hollywood, CA 90068 flicker@mekons.com www.flickerla.com

8 REPAIR SERVICE IN GERMANY, WHERE MOST CAMERAS WERE MADE!

* Many U.S. Camera Shops cannot get replacement parts for super 8 equipment, many facilities in Europe have a stock of hard to find parts.

RITTER-MEDIA SERVICE

BELICHTUNGSZEIT

Fahrlachstraße 14 FILM- & FOTOTECHNIK 68165 Mannheim matthias weikamm Gewerbegebiet Fahrlach, an der Autobahnzufahrt Mhm-Zentrum landsbergstraße 18 Tel.: 0621-401 40 70 www.ritterfilm.de 50678 köln fon 02 21 - 47 18 68 2 BAVARIA PRODUCTION fax 02 21 - 47 18 68 3 www.belichtungszeit.de

SERVICES GMBH

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Catching up with Lenny Lipton,

the Super 8 Living Legend! This was proof by Lenny Lipton! Posted onsuper8.org and sumitted to SUPER 8 TODAY!

On December 18, 2009, James Cameron’s new SciFi epic Avatar will hit theatres worldwide. This long awaited 3-D animated film with its huge multimillion dollar Hollywood budget, completely made with computer generated images has been all the Hollywood buzz since James Cameron inked the deal several years ago. The director of Titanic does not do anything “small.” Little do most people know the technology behind the creation of Avatar started with super 8! The smallest film format and one of its greatest advocates has become a Hollywood player! Sort of! Lenny Lipton has had success in very different careers; he has been a song writer, technical writer, filmmaker and most notably inventor! In January of 2004, NASA successfully landed two twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, on the surface of Mars. For five years these twin exploration rovers have been beaming back to Earth more than 100,000 spectacular, high resolution, full color and 3D images of the bleakly beautiful landscape of an alien planet. Lenny Lipton, author of the 1975 book The Super 8 Book, took a deep sigh of relief upon hearing of the successful landings that January. After the stress of contributing to this difficult mission, it was time to celebrate. He was relaxing with the mission’s success and public popularity. The Martian rovers and orbiters have been a monumental success for both NASA and a once obscure super 8 filmmaker named Lenny Lipton. Lenny Lipton had designed and invented CrystalEyes, which NASA had selected to pilot the Martian rovers and Mars orbiter. The 3D panoramic images so many of us have seen of Mars are a direct result of Lenny Lipton’s Super 8 filmmaking 3-D experiments/ inventions. By the late 1970’s and early 80’s Lenny Lipton had radically revolutionized 3D technology by

meticulous experimentation with Super 8 filmmaking, detailed in Lipton on Filmmaking published by Simon and Shuster. The success of CrystalEyes and the work he has done with the company, REAL-D as Chief Technology Officer for four years, has thrust Lenny Lipton on to the international stage. He has been recognized by the Smithsonian Institution for the “first practical electronic stereoscopic product for computer graphics and video applications.” CrystalEyes technology is being used in medicine, molecular modeling, and detailed 3D aerial mapping, and it all began within Super 8 filmmaking. Lenny Lipton is known for perfecting the current state of the art 3D cinema technology used in such Hollywood blockbusters such as: Caroline, U2-3D Live, Beowulf, Monster House, Chicken Little and The Nightmare before Christmas. He is currently involved with James Cameron’s science fiction animated film Avatar.

Lenny on the cover of SUPER 8 FILMAKER magazine in 1977. Perfecting 3D film with SUPER 8!

Lenny Lipton today! Pictured with a state of the art 3D motion picture camera. From lennylipton.com Despite all his 3D technological and Hollywood success, he still remains, to many in the super 8 community, the colorful counter culture figure who wrote the The Super 8 Book, Lipton on Filmmaking, and Independent Filmmaking. Lenny Lipton was frequent contributor to the magazine Super 8 Filmaker. Despite being long out of print, all of Lipton’s books are highly sought after on EBay and Amazon. Independent Filmaking was in print for more than 20 years and was used nationwide as a textbook in many university and college film programs. His most sought-after book is Foundations of the Steresocpic Cinema published in 1982 by Van Nostrand. Lenny Lipton graduated with a degree in physics from Cornell University in 1962. Lenny expressed an interest in understanding how things “work” from early childhood. As a youth he used to make his own projectors and was kind of a tech geek in high school where he discovered photography. In 1964 Lenny landed a job with Popular Photography. He was assigned the job of editing the part of the magazine devoted to home movie equipment and independent film. Little did Lipton’s boss realize, the young technical writer was already developing an interest in the burgeoning underground film movement gaining popularity and momentum in New York City,

largely due to the work of artist Jonas Mekas. Through Popular Photography Lenny Lipton helped bring much needed national attention to filmmakers like Stan Brakhage, the Kuchar brothers, Stan Vanderbeek and Jonas Mekas. Jonas Mekas later founded Anthology Film Archives, where he remains to this day in the position of Artistic Director. “Through the endurance that can only come with clear vision,” says Lipton of his colleague, “Jonas Mekas influenced me and, as if this isn’t enough, I believe the entire course of the history of film. A person with clear vision is a rare and wonderful thing.” In the mid 1960’s, Lenny Lipton went further than just writing about underground, experimental film. He became a projectionist with his friend, the music critic Bob Christgau, organizing underground film screenings at the Eventorium in New York City. He met and befriended many amateur filmmakers, who, like traditional artists such as painters and sculptors, devoted their lives to individual artistic expression in film. Lenny and his friends were pioneers of personal cinema that would go on to be called “The New American Avant-Garde Film.” The films Lenny was showing were pure art, films made by artists with no interest in commercial success. Lenny wanted in and was soon shooting and screening his own pieces of film art. Lenny had become a filmmaker. Like many of his generation, Lenny Lipton was hearing the psychedelic siren song and soon left New York City for California. Lenny Lipton was on the corner of Haight Ashbury by the summer of love. Afriend of many of the 1960’s counterculture leading figures like Harvard psychologist and LSD guru Tim Leary, and Ken Kesey, novelist of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and founder of the Merry Pranksters, Lenny bore witness to the turbulent times of his generation. Much of this experience would become the drive behind his first serious full-length super 8 documentary, Children of the Golden West. Lenny Lipton’s next s16mm documentary film, Far Our, Star Route, was shot documenting the alternative lifestyle of a hippy commune in Oregon. In September of 1975 (just after the release of The Super 8 Book) Lenny Lipton spent about a month or so living with the famed surrealist painter Salvador Dali. Lenny had been asked to be the sound man on Lawrence Halprin’s Le Pink Grapefruit, a documentary film about Dali. Lenny often reminisces of his meet90 ings with Dali and has even blogged about it!

Lenny Lipton’s first sound sync super 8 film, Revelation of the Foundation, was begun in 1974. Lenny was using the earliest super 8 sound film equipment available to the consumer market. While writing The Super 8 Book, Lenny received a $10,000 grant from the American Film Institute to complete Revelation of the Foundation. His approach to editing super 8 sound film described in The Super 8 Book remains the standard for those not using computers. Like many of the unsung filmmaking heroes of Lenny’s generation, other more commercially available, i.e. “Hollywood” filmmakers would eventually take credit for independent filmmakers’ pioneering cinematic styling. While every artist is a thief, those who fail to give credit to their influences are little more than frauds. Lenny Lipton’s documentaries, seen mostly by film students in distant university film programs, possess a paradoxical presence and intellectual disengagement. The documentaries present themselves both as unbiased documents of persons, times and places as well as social commentary. Lipton’s most famous super 8 documentary, Revelation of the Foundation, like Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man, is shot P.O.V., point of view style, a style of cinéma vérité that recognizes the “invisible camera.” Lenny Lipton’s films are available to rent on super 8 prints through Canyon Cinema Co-Op in California. In the 1960’s, Lenny Lipton was one of the earliest San Francisco Bay area filmmakers to get actively involved with the fledgling independent film distributor. Canyon Cinema is now considered one of the two most important personal cinema, independent film distributors in the country, the other being Anthology Film Archives in New York City. Lenny’s films are also preserved by Anthology. As passionate about filmmaking as he was, Lenny was just as passionate about the person behind the camera. His tireless work helped to found, promote and preserve The New American Cinema. Super 8 living legend Lenny Lipton says, “It’s been a hell of a trip, my life has been strange and wonderful. I’ve been really fortunate to have been in the right places as the right times. I was really taken by the underground film scene when I was young. “In the early 60’s while at Cornell University I got turned on to experimental films. You know, just really great experimental film, really pure art. Seeing Mothlight and Dog Star Man by Brakhage, at first I hated 91

this stuff, I didn’t get it. It was too choppy. I was at this private screening of Brakhages’s Prelude to Dog Star Man. My head opened up, my field of vision expanded, I got it. This film experience began a new transcendent insight into film as art. My perception of film, like it or not, had been forever altered.” Today Lenny Lipton’s technology can be seen in todays 3D movies, as he was primary camera designer for REAL D, the Hollywood based company behind today’s wildly popular 3-D pop culture sensations showing at your local multi-plex cinema. Lenny Lipton still makes art work, not in super 8 film sadly, but in oil paintings. Lenny Lipton’s paintings can be viewed at LennyLipton.com. He is also on Facebook and frequently blogs about his early counter culture experiences and today’s rapidly expanding computer technology. Incredibly busy with his much deserved success, Lipton was pleasantly surprised to get a phone call from Super 8 Today magazine. He is still as passionate about super 8 filmmaking today, as he was 34 years ago when he authored The Super 8 Book! By Don Diego Ramirez * This articule was written for SUPER 8 TODAY magazine issue # 16 and was posted online in late September ‘09. Go to onsuper8.org. Every Super 8 filmmaker’s libary should start with THE SUPER 8 BOOK!

order a DVD copy of Psychedelic Glue Sniffin Hillbillies, contact Craig Smith at craigsmith2003@yahoo. com or send $15 to 301 Paddington Rd., Baltimore, MD 21212

Author by Don Diego Ramirez , 1997 Thanks for reading. I hope I helped! My art life is dedicated to my friends and family and to all those who have supported me over the past few (very hard) years. PS: If you get this on line for FREE at least email me!

JOIN THE SUPER 8 RENNIASANCE! BUY THIS BOOK- NOW ON CREATESPACE.COM OR AMAZON.COM! Title ID: 3403152 A Super 8 Filmmaker's Journal, A Guide to Super 8 Filmmaking in the Age of the Internet In FULL COLOR! Price$25.00 ISBN: 1449539890 EAN-13 9781449539894 EStore URL: https://www.createspace.com/3403152 Compiled in 2009 by Don Diego Ramirez; A Super 8 Filmmaker's Journal offers a comprehensive guide to the Micro Cinema business community providing products/services to small gauge filmmakers in the digital media age. Based on personal experience, this book will assist ANY ONE to become a Super 8 filmmaker in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Internet age The Black and White Edition: A Super 8 Filmmaker's Journal, A Guide to Super 8 Filmmaking in the Age of the Internet Title ID: 3404616 Price: $10.00 ISBN 1449551491 EAN-13 9781449551490 Author's Biography: Don Diego Ramirez is an often controversial and outspoken art figure. He is a critically acclaimed Fine Art Photographer, contributing writer to SUPER 8 TODAY magazine and award winning Super 8 Filmmaker (Trailer Trash: A Film Journal; Best Documentary, U.S. Super 8 Film Festival 2007) He currently lives in the dark woods of West Virginia.