Super-8 Filmmaking Tips for Kodachrome 40...

[Alex]

Here is my tip. Kodachrome 40 and blue sky backgrounds produce amazing images. Kodachrome with a white sky are much harder to make look good, unless the shots are facial close-ups and the sky is not an issue.

[reg8mm]

Good tip. I guess this would apply to K25 as well?
Going to shoot some K25 (first time) this weekend of people at an anti-war rally downtown.

Here is my tip. When shooting busy street scenes of events or people from a distance, try and keep your other eye open so you can monitor what may enter the frame unexpectedly. Some of you may already do this, but I find it helps on longer scenes.

[Alex]

Yes to the K-25 question, and bravo on using the other eye on what "might come into the frame" concept.

I once did a video shoot with someone who fancies himself an expert on all things technical. When he set up my TV monitor for the shoot, he set it up so that I had to look to the side to see it.

I found this completely inefficient for the exact reason you give. After the shoot I told him I would never use a monitor that didn't keep my eyeline toward what I was supposed to be videotaping.

He thought I was making a bid deal out nothing. But now I will make a copy of this topic post and
show it to him! [img]tongue.gif[/img] (well, if the right situation comes up I might [img]redface.gif[/img] )

[Mike Buckles]

Here's my tip for Kodachrome 40...when shooting scenery and/or blue sky, try shooting some footage with a polarizing filter, and some without. I've found with Kodachrome the polarizing filter punches up the colors nicely, if it is bright enough outside. Also, as the moderator has mentioned at times, take your exposure reading, and then lock the exposure if you can...people/cars/animals entering the shot can change your reading, causing the aperature to change if you don't lock it down, resulting in a sudden lightening/darkening of the scene which looks amaturish.

[Greg Crawford]

Remember the old adage of keep the sun at your back or something like that when taking snapshots?

I personally disagree with that, some of the nicest things you can do in a people picture is back light your subject. Having said that, I would like to caution you to use some kind of fill light on the faces.

Perhaps some of you have heard about using a silver reflector but have not used the technics. I would also like you to consider using a foam core "White Shining Board," in its place.

If you get it close enough to your subject you will get a more natural fill ...Less harsh and defiantly easier on the eyes.

Also consider if you are going to use a silver reflector to soften it with a silk between it and the subject. It can make all the differences in the world.

The differences in look of theses two technic is say you are photography a person on bright snow with lots of unnatural sharp angular light striking the face, and causing wrinkles.

Using the white shinny board or silk with reflector would give you a more gentle molding on the face.

I have recently seen some terrible stuff shot on Kodachrome like this. When the faces are about 1/4 to 1/8 the size of the screen and photograph very dark compared to the rest of the scene.

The high contrast ratio causes faces to go a texture less mush.

[Alex]

It does depend on what you are featuring. Blue skys (which usually, or would that be always?) are usually found when the sun is at your back.

I agree that when the sun is at your front, you can get good facial shots, but if you are in a close-up mode to take advantage of the close-up, then the blue-sky is less relevant an issue.

[Greg Crawford]

In the final annalists, it comes down to personal taste.