PLEASE HELP

[huba777]

Hello there,
Please can you help me?
A freind of mine would like me to put some super 8 together and play it on a loop for his club nights.
I've thought about how to do it and haven't a clue.
If you have any suggestions i would be very gratefull.
If you know please give me a shout, you can mail me at [email protected].
I would love to hear from you.
thanks

[Alex]

I would create this project from video based masters that originated on Super-8.

This is a situation where an Idea comes before the Horse.

Do you really want the responsibility of Projecting original Super-8 film...???

100% guaranteed the film will get damaged, or lost, and splices will come apart.

...and you probably won't have the correct audio interface to go from the film projector to the audio board and into the speakers.

If you have a $500-1,000.00 Budget...you could ask for everyone to submit their Super-8 Projects on BetaCam SP...and make a loop tape of the films by editing BetaCam SP to BetaCam SP.

Plan B would be to ask for everything on Mini-DV, Edit on a Final Cut Pro...and make a mini-DV master.

Although you are much better off with DV-CAM over Mini-DV

What does the $500-1,000 buy you if you choose Plan A?

It buys you knowledge and experience about the professional way to do something.

Plan B is the semi-professional "throw it against the wall and hope it sticks" method.

Which frankly is a little bit unfair to those who you have solicited copies of their film from.

Alex

[pcg]

Hey Alex,

Geez, you sure read a lot into that query!

/Pat

[Alex]

Guilty as charged!

[tom hardwick]

You don't say how long the loop will be Hubba, and this is pretty important. For a very short passage I've simply run the film through the Super 8 projector and spliced one end to the other, as I wanted a shot of cowboys at full gallop charging towards the camera to continue throughout the party.

This worked well. There was a small jump cut as the splice came through the gate, but the tape held all evening with ease and the film was undamaged as it was in free air from the back of the projector to the front.

tom.

[Mikko]

Alex what the f**k are you talking about??

I have done it like this: cut a piece of film you want to loop. (75cm or something, depends what kind of projector is used)
Run it thru the projector (well, half of it) and glue the end and the begining together with tape. Loop ready. And before spliceing you can scratch the film with knifes etc. and you can also draw on to film. I have made exelent loops like this.
M

[Alex]

What am I talking about?

I'm talking about a three-way situation.

The worst type of business deal imagineable.

Person A makes a request...Person B agrees to help Person A and asks Person C for Super-8 film footage.....

Person A is clueless as to the "Value" of the material he or she receives from C Via B, probably assuming it is a copy and not the original.

Person B sees an opportunity to try something new and probably isn't being paid

...so any effort they make seems heroic to themselves....

Person C assumes A & B will take great care of their Super-8 film.....

HA!

Person C will somehow get blamed for a poor show...even though all they did was just supply movie footage.

Even though C has done nothing wrong...C may be blamed for a....bad projector...bad projector angle....dim picture...Poor Audio....horrible screen....."ruining" the projector if it suddenly eats the film....the list is endless.

Even though it is Person C who will probably recieve their film back in no where near the condition they generously gave it to B in the first place....they will be blamed for a bad show...

...and get no credit for a good show.

If the use of Super-8 film has not been scripted for the club setting it is to be used in...

.....the filmmaker (C) will get burned.

These are the type of projects that give Super-8 a bad name...and delegate it to "home-move" status.

That's why I say project the transferred to Video Super-8's........

.....on video.

Seems to me....BEFORE ANY EFFORT IS MADE TO SEE THIS PROJECT TO FRUITION....YOU SHOULD TAKE A PRE-EXISTING SUPER-8 FILM PRINT...the kind of prints that were made in the 70's from existing Major Motion Picture releases...

....and go through all the necessary steps for showing it in a club setting...(of course, you cannot charge for this screening because it is a print of copyrighted material!).

...if this "test" Super-8 Screening goes over well....meaning you did every step correctly in putting on a Super-8 show...then consider doing a show for real...

However, I still think showing someones original Super-8 film without them being present is ill-advised.

Especially the first night out on a venture such as this.

If you successfully show a "Super-8 print" and you overcome all the technical issues....

and decide you still want to show Super-8 originals.....I strongly recommend you invite the filmmakers to be present.

Alex


[This message has been edited by Alex (edited February 05, 2001).]

[mjeanes]

i've made lots of these loops. they break often and get scratched up over time, but generally, if you have a decent projector and some splicing tape you just do what the others have mentioned.

the only addition i would make is that you may need to erect some sort of path for the loop to follow--this is easily done with coat hangers bent in shapes that the film can drape over. you don't want the loop tangling on the machine or falling in front of the lens.

alex- i think you've got the wrong idea of what hubba is after.

[Alex]

Yes, I have hyper-extended the purpose of Huba's involvement simply because not enough info was given.

If you analyze Huba's post....it sounds like he or she does not want to even check back to this site...simply e-mail him or her with an answer and they'll be merrily on their way.

What I see is a curious person with enthusiasm and energy...who will learn by their own mistakes at the expense of other peoples films....

If they make it back to this site perhaps they will learn a lot more than they bargained for...what's wrong with that?

Alex

[Nigel]

Whoa, Whoa. Hey Alex I know where you are coming from. However, it seems to me that you are a bit hot under the collar. I have agreed with what you have said all along. If I am wrong in my observation then I am sorry.