8mm film
Moderator: Aesthetics
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sevenELIXIR
- Dayvan Cowboy
- Posts: 1090
- Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2005 3:29 pm
8mm film
anyone hear still record video with 8/ super 8 film?? how expensive of a hobby is this (if it's still possible) and where could you buy/develop/transfer film in the US? I've already got access to a camera.
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zeitgeist
- Dayvan Cowboy
- Posts: 1416
- Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2007 9:51 pm
- Location: where teh wild things are
i shot 16mm in film school, but the overall costs are comparable. where did you find the camera?
anyway, i get rolls for my 16mm bolex through the local university's film department. it costs me $25 per 100ft roll, but that's with a slight student discount. i also am pretty sure the length of the roll differs between sizes. we did all our developing in-house, but you can still send them off to kodak (for example) who will process my entire roll for around $20 in two weeks.
there are other options for non-branded processing/film purchasing:
-http://www.spectrafilmandvideo.com/Film.html is selling Ecktachrome super 8 rolls (50ft) for around $30 with processing, or ~$20 for just the cartridge.
-http://www.filmrescue.com/old-movie-film-services.html. they can process a roll in 6 weeks or less for $30 and will even transfer it to dvd for an extra 10. that's an extremely good deal.
also, do you need a quality chop block/splicer? they aren't cheap either.
that's all i've got for now, it's been years, but i could probably help with more specifics if you're interested. curious to see anything you come up with! shooting film seems to be a lost art these days...
anyway, i get rolls for my 16mm bolex through the local university's film department. it costs me $25 per 100ft roll, but that's with a slight student discount. i also am pretty sure the length of the roll differs between sizes. we did all our developing in-house, but you can still send them off to kodak (for example) who will process my entire roll for around $20 in two weeks.
there are other options for non-branded processing/film purchasing:
-http://www.spectrafilmandvideo.com/Film.html is selling Ecktachrome super 8 rolls (50ft) for around $30 with processing, or ~$20 for just the cartridge.
-http://www.filmrescue.com/old-movie-film-services.html. they can process a roll in 6 weeks or less for $30 and will even transfer it to dvd for an extra 10. that's an extremely good deal.
also, do you need a quality chop block/splicer? they aren't cheap either.
that's all i've got for now, it's been years, but i could probably help with more specifics if you're interested. curious to see anything you come up with! shooting film seems to be a lost art these days...
You can still buy 8mm films (super8) for around $ 40 per cartridge, and some hobbyists and small companies still develop them. I reckon you want to edit them, so the most cheap way would be to have them go through a telecine, or even cheaper, to have them put directly on dvd. I've seen ads from stores that put 'old 8mm films' on dvd.
I figure you could send in your newly developed film, get a negative print on dvd and then import that in your favourite video editor, invert the colours and go editing.
I figure you could send in your newly developed film, get a negative print on dvd and then import that in your favourite video editor, invert the colours and go editing.
A couple of places I use in the US--
http://www.spectrafilmandvideo.com (as mentioned already)
http://www.pro8mm.com/
For Pro 8mm it's a good idea to get on their mailing list--they occasionally send out special deals/packages than just buying direct, which make shooting more affordable.
For Spectra (and in general) you want to order with processing, unless you know how to process your own film.
I prefer shooting on Reversal film because you can project it and do the DIY telecine. If you're shooting on Negative film, I've not had much luck getting the colors exactly right when inverting in post (it may depend on the film stock you're using though). If you're using a telecine service, I would suggest a DV tape transfer instead of DVD, that way you can import it via Firewire onto your computer to edit. With DVD the video is encoded into Groups of Pictures instead of full frames, and the quality is much worse when editing. The other option is HD-scanning which is more pricey and will give the best results (the files are mailed to you on an external hard drive) because there's more data per frame.
Also you want to know what type of film to get for what shooting situation - daylight for outdoors/tungsten for indoor use with movie lights. Your camera should have a switch between both modes. The higher the ASA on the film stock, the better in low light it is--but don't let that fool you--I captured some nice sunsets using film that was rated at 50 (Daylight). It's generally better to underexpose reversal film (richer blacks) ande overexpose negative film (richer highlights).
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
http://www.spectrafilmandvideo.com (as mentioned already)
http://www.pro8mm.com/
For Pro 8mm it's a good idea to get on their mailing list--they occasionally send out special deals/packages than just buying direct, which make shooting more affordable.
For Spectra (and in general) you want to order with processing, unless you know how to process your own film.
I prefer shooting on Reversal film because you can project it and do the DIY telecine. If you're shooting on Negative film, I've not had much luck getting the colors exactly right when inverting in post (it may depend on the film stock you're using though). If you're using a telecine service, I would suggest a DV tape transfer instead of DVD, that way you can import it via Firewire onto your computer to edit. With DVD the video is encoded into Groups of Pictures instead of full frames, and the quality is much worse when editing. The other option is HD-scanning which is more pricey and will give the best results (the files are mailed to you on an external hard drive) because there's more data per frame.
Also you want to know what type of film to get for what shooting situation - daylight for outdoors/tungsten for indoor use with movie lights. Your camera should have a switch between both modes. The higher the ASA on the film stock, the better in low light it is--but don't let that fool you--I captured some nice sunsets using film that was rated at 50 (Daylight). It's generally better to underexpose reversal film (richer blacks) ande overexpose negative film (richer highlights).
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
hey rick, you could probably submit something for this. they will digitize your footage, too. myself and a friend are shooting something at the moment.
http://festival.super8ireland.com/
http://festival.super8ireland.com/