Where's the BEST place to tranfer S8 film...

[HowieG]

I have been an avid 8mm and Super8mm filmmaker for many, many years. I have about 3200' of Super8 that NEEDS to be transferred to DV in a high quality way.

I used to use a group known as Brodsky and Treadway out of Boston. They had a special Sony telecine projector that did great work, but alas I think they are gone.

I really would like liquid gate to remove scratches that may have accummulated. However, the image is still pristine on these pieces and worthy of a GOOD transfer.

Also, Some are single track magnetic sound at 18-fps. I want to preserve the sound on these too.

Well?

[rollemfilm]

Broadsky & Treadway: 978-948-7985 www.namac.org/Directory/org_data/icfv.html

Cine Post: www.posthouse.com

Yale: www.yalefilmandvideo.com

Super8 Sound: www.super8sound.com

[HowieG]

Thanks! Very informative...

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Diversity is essential to life. - Zeek

[Nigel]

I use CinePost in Atlanta. I think that they are good guys. Good Luck--I only use RANK transfers, never go with cheap transfers thay will get you in the end.

[mattias]

rollemfilm,

not trying to dis you for trying to help, but are you actually recommending yale or are you just giving their address out of ignorance? have you read their "subject material policy" lately? while i think they have the right to choose whatever policies thay want, i think they deserve to go out of business for it. take your business elsewhere everybody!

[Alex]

I was at Yale once when this customer came in to pick up his film.

The guy behind the counter mentioned to the customer that his stuff was "dicey"...

the customer didn't understand...

"well you had a naked woman carry a fish with no head across a stage...and it's almost pornographic"....

The customer was flabbergasted...apparently he had filmed some theatre art performance piece and was understandably freaked that his film was almost "confiscated".

The Yale employee mentioned that he had just happened to notice the image because it was at the front of the film.

The customer finished his transaction in a stunned state and quickly left.

I've always found it ironic how much "censors" tend to be voyeuristic in nature.
(the Rep versus Clinton a perfect example)

I also can understand a film processing place not wanting to develop "pornographic" type of material...especially if it relates to children.....

But how do you tell what an image is really about just by looking at it as a still frame?

Alex

[pcg]

Alex's story reminds me of an incident that happened in Boston, my area, about 2-3 years ago. A schoolteacher had a well known film lab called Zona develop photos of her child splashing around in a little plastic outdoor pool. The girl was naked & about 4 or 5 years old. Zona processed the film, noticed the nudity, called the police & the woman was actually arrested for creating child pornography. Local officials actually started to prosecute her, until the uproar became too much for them to justify. The photos were simply a little girl splashing around in the water, god forbid.

Zona had been used by a large portion of the photo community & after the incident, many, many of us simply stopped going to them for anything. The woman was exonerated, but Zona never apologized, & as far as I know, their policies remain in place. Most of us w/ young children have taken pictures of them bathing, etc. Open up any of our childhood photo albums, & the embarassing photos our parents took pop out. I quickly found an alternate lab.

The zero tolerance police have the mentality of lower level functionaries & when film labs begin to enforce arbitrary moral policies, our ability to create art or to freely express ourselves is thwarted in the worst of ways. I completely concur w/ Alex regarding Yale, & strongly encourage everyone to avoid them. Period. How they stay in business is itself a comment on our current culture.

/Pat

[rollemfilm]

I am aware of Yale's policy. However, they are
a great lab. I always get my film back for processing
in 7 days from when I send it; and it's always
finished to very high standards. I shoot educational
documentaries so content is not an issue. I do recomend
that if you make films that have "questionable" content,
then you should shop elsewhere. Yale provides
some very good services, maybe you should start
a lab an process what you desire.

[Alex]

I think "questionable content" is an inappropriate phrase to use related to this issue.

Simply put, a frame of film does not always reveal what the content is meant for, so denying someone access to their footage after the film is developed is a scary notion.

Plus, isn't it possible the quality of the processing may ultimately suffer if suspicion and judgement saps part of a developers manpower.

Likewise, Yale or some other lab may not want to be an accessory to some act that may be truly distasteful or inappropriate.

I personally don't believe in beer commercials or cigarette commercials simply because of all the drunk driving deaths and lung cancers that are caused by these products.

And yet, many promising directing and cinematography careers have been launched via commercials for these products.

When Panasonic first came out with the MX-12, and then the MX-50 digital switcher, it marked a remarkable increase in what the low-end video house could offer it's clients.

I purchased the Digital Switcher for my edit suite and thought to myself, I bet if not for the 100's of millions of dollars spent on special effects for beer commercials, the trickle down effect to this affordable digital switcher might not have happened...or taken years more to occur.

This is an issue with shades of grey to it, yet most people feel strongly one way or the other.

I don't agree with a boycott of Yale, BUT I'm concerned with their enforcement of their policy....

......frankly, I don't know the wording of it.

Anybody know the wording to their "Subject Material Content" ?

Alex



[This message has been edited by Alex (edited January 15, 2001).]

[rollemfilm]

You have a choice. Use this lab or that.
Yale has a policy for whatever reason.
You or I may not agree, but we have a choice.
If I decided to shoot a project that included
content that might be a problem, I would find the
right lab to do the work. I listed those labs
that I have experience with that do good work. Any filmmaker
should always call before send out work and make sure
that both parties are on the same page.