Accidents and Close Calls Involving Your Super-8 C

[Alex]

I'm sure I must have supressed the memory of my own Super-8 pratfalls, cause I really can't come up with anything but one relatively small incident.

My friend was filming a Public Service Announcement (this was back in the mid 80's)
about "Locking Your Doors" at night.

I was the nighttime prowler.

He sets up a telephoto shot down a really long alleyway.

He walks toward me to give me instructions for a final rehearsal, and is now a good 60-90 feet away from his camera.

He turns around after telling me what he wants me to do, and at that exact split second a car has come from the adjoining street and is barrelling onto the alley, the driver appears to be completely oblivious to the tripod mounted Beaulieu 4008 Camera in the Middle of the Alley.

The Super-8 Camera was between the oncoming car, and where we were, there was no way to get back to the camera in time, about the only thing we could do was run toward the camera and yell to the driver to look out or stop.

What impressed me the most about my friends run to save his camera was his yelling at the top of his lungs and his flailing arms.

He looked kind of like when you cast a really big shadows on the side of a building.

He got close enough to the camera, screaming at the top of his lungs, arms flailing like a butterfly on speed, for the person driving to slow down, realize something was in the alley, and swerve around the camera.

We arrived to the camera a couple seconds later. The shoot was saved.

Although he got really mad at me for shaving my beard a couple days later but before he finished shooting his PSA.

I wonder why?



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Alex

[chas_ucla]

Well...the last day of filming the final scenes for my re-edited movie, "Ennui" (which I hope to show the L.A. S8 shooters once it is finally done), my wife -- the cinematographer -- and our "star", Stephanie, were driving around the real crappy area of Pico/Crenshaw. There used to be this all-ages club around there, Jabberjaw, which was central to the story.
So we did some shots of Stephanie walking around Pico, holding a mannequin against her chest, and talking to it, like a crazy eccentric. No problems there. Then I thought we'd shoot some shots while driving in the car. I make a wrong turn and find myself on Washington which is a few blocks South of Pico. At the corner of Washington and Crenshaw we stop at a light. A bunch of gang banger types are hanging around, doing god knows what. Laura has the back window down and is playing with the Bell&Howell 1238 I had just bought off of e-bay. Without thinking, she starts focusing on a chain link fence outside the car -- AND WHERE THESE BLACK DUDES ARE HANGING OUT, WONDERING WHAT THE HELL WE ARE DOING! I'm totally unaware but I notice Stephanie rolling up her window. Then I hear this guy, saying, 'what the f--k are you doing, motherf----r?!" And he starts moving towards the car, trying to grab the camera! I turn the corner and get the hell out of Dodge.
And that's the last time we filmed in that neighborhood.

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[This message has been edited by chas_ucla (edited October 12, 2001).]

[Scott Spears]

While shooting a project for my first filmmaking class in college, I almost backed off a 40 drop while framing a shot. It was the classic, the actors won't fit in the shot, so I keep backing while framing them up. My foot hits the edge and I'm pinwheeling my arms to keep my balance and to keep gravity from yanking off the edge. This lasted (an eternity to me)a few seconds. I regained my balance and a minute later got the shot. The show must go on.

Scott

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[Alex]

Scott, I don't know how to break this to you, but you actually did fall. The rest has been a dream...er, nightmare, er...dream.

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Alex

[Scott Spears]

Ahhh, but what a dream. The nightmare part was editing in your room at 3am on projects for Dave S., super producer.

Scott

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[Alex]

And of course, only making the vilm 83 minutes when the BetaCam Stock clearly says 90 minutes on it completely freaked out the producer.

Sheesh!

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Alex

[This message has been edited by Alex (edited October 14, 2001).]

[Alex]

Well, this story involved a friends 16mm Bolex Rex Camera. I wasn't there when it happened.

He was lifting the camera up the side of a mountain by rope. First the rope frayed against the rocks as it lifted the camera by a Rube Goldberg type design, and then broke.

So did the camera, upon impact with the ground.

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Alex

[technicolour]

I nearly dropped mine on some guys head!

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Jim

[Alex]

Well, if you had a choice, either it fell on the actors head, or the ground, which would you choose!

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Alex