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Topic: I don't remember consitency being this bad...
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oldasdirt
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posted May 06, 2008 12:08 PM
It's been a while since I shot MP film of any format,last time I did anything serious was around the mid 1990's.I got the "bug" to shoot film again a couple of years ago,figuring I would start with checking out my old friend,super 8.I was excited to discover that I could find Beaulieu's on ebay for about 1/10 of what they cost in the 70's,but then with today's cost of film and lab work,the excitement was somewhat short lived.Kind of like buying a ****** for 5 grand when gas is up to 12 bucks a gallon.
I was very impressed with the format and what well a shot piece of super 8 film looks like when transferred on a decent telecine system.I was very disappointed though,in the lack of consistency in quality control with respect to film stocks and lab services.I expected cameras to **** out and having to jerry rig them to keep them running,so I was able to figure in a percentage of lost film due to camera malfunction and came out with an acceptible figure for a labor of love project.Never for anyone I would be expected to be paid for.Calculate the inconsistency I've experienced with tolerance levels on steadiness (think Fuji 50D.Lovely film stock,but hops like a kangaroo in my Canon 814AZ)and film damaged due to something wrong in the cart or bad lab handling and you come up with about 60% success.That is the way I figure it,out of a 50 foot cartridge of whatever stock,I might get 30 useable feet.Yet it doesn't work like that with every cartridge.The first stock I shot out of my 814 was T200 Vision neg.It was old stuff I had kept in my freezer for several years and it was grainy,but that cart was 100% and gorgeous.Then I shot some Fuji Velvia 50D and I posted my dissapointment on this forum.Stunning colors,like Kodachrome on mescaline,but I couldn't live with the unsteadiness.Just recently I gave Ektachrome 100D a try.Here again,awesome colors,love the grain and contrast.Good detail in shadow areas and stable....On about 60% of the cartridge.Toward the end the focus shifted in and out and jumped in the projector gate because somehow the film got BENT and CREASED.Like it had been projected in an auto load projecter and it buckled in one of the feed chambers.Upon examining the film,it looked more like the film had bent during EXPOSURE,leading me to think it had buckled in the cart (bad factory loading?)or during processing.The latter I've ruled out because if it had happened in processing,I would suspect that there would be color shifts at the bend points,but colors are stable through the roll.
I'm about to give up on film alltogether.16mm is out of the question from a financial point of view unless I get funded projects but that's a whole different issue.Recently I played with a tutorial on Magic Bullet and was pretty pleased.My next independent project is going to be on HDV with one of the Canon's (I don't remember which one now)at 24F mode.
I don't remember this nightmare of consistency when we shot film professionally.None of my super 8 projects in the 70's experienced any of the problems associated with the cartridges or lab problems.Back then I shot two industrials,several commercials and a ton of sports analysis films,shot hundreds of cartridges and never once had a bad cart.I've had some film strecth problems and cinch marks from labs,but we all kind of expected that back then with the format.Never had a single problem with 16mm from that perspective either.I've had bad cameras that jammed film and such,but with about the same percentage rate as video cameras I've used failing in the field.
I'm still gonna tinker with film as long as it's being made somewhere and processed,but I seriously doubt I'll be shooting any more than a few rolls here and there.I'm thinking of resurrecting my old Canon Scoopic 16mm and burning a couple of hundred feet.
Some of you folks shooting feature films with super 8,do you experience this much of a footage waste problem?I would be seriously pissed if I had spent several days on a shoot and have 40% lost because the cart was bad.That could kill a whole project.
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posted May 13, 2008 07:20 AM