PLEASE HELP

[Alex]

Actually, I was responding to Mikko...with my second to last post...my last post was a response to m. jeanes.

I'm passionate more than hot under the collar.

Alex

[Nigel]

I agree with Alex if the footage is of "value". I have doen this for a party that my friend was having in a warehouse--I shot some film--Nothing that I knew I would cherish or really use for any other purpose. Then I just played it over and over again. I did not loop it because I didn't want my projector to overheat and blow-up. Good Luck

[huba777]

Thank you all so much for your help.

By the sound of your advice, i think i may forget about my idea.

It sounds as though i would ruin my film which i definately would not want to do. Instead i'm going to compile all my films onto DV.

A freind of mines has a desktop video thing and were going to edit the best parts and wap it toghether. It wont be ready for this friday but should be on the go soon after. Thanks again for all you help espacially Jeanes for your tips on BIG loops and Alex for your caution and advice on transferring to DV.

Thanks very much guys
love from
Hubba

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[Alex]

Congratulations...You've graduated to learning how to preserve your Super-8 Films!

Now you will need to research the best way to transfer your movies to DV...and I strongly recommend DV-Cam over Mini-Dv.

Unfortunately, most DV editors use their Mini-DV cameras to load in their material for desktop editing...then record back to the same camera when they are done.

Mini-DV is a tiny format that I frankly don't trust. Tape Path Misalignment is an inevitability that can be masked by both recording and playing back on the same unit.

The standalone Full-Size DV-CAM decks start at approximately $ 1,000-1,500 and go way up from their.

See if you can get a DV-CAM deck, if not for the inital transfer....then as a back-up DV format when you are ready to copy your edited version from the computer back to Videotape....make a master to Mini-DV, make another master to DV-CAM...consider the DV-CAM as your Archive Master.

I recommend you look at the other discussions that have dropped down to pages 2-4 on this site about the different ways to transfer your Super-8 footage to Video.

Is a video projector against a wall really going to be good enough?

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Oh, I was wrong about you stopping back on this site...you did!....glad you came back.

Alex

[This message has been edited by Alex (edited February 06, 2001).]

[mjeanes]

alex- nothing's wrong with wanting to help someone out... and you have a good point. my problem is that sometimes "the best" way to do something isn't nearly possible, and it sucks to kill someone's enthusiasm by telling them that they will be making a mistake by doing a certain thing another way.

the same kind of thing happened to me when i asked here some time ago about making duplicate super 8 prints. people kept telling me just to bump it up to 16 mm. i don't have any 16 mm projectors, and i mentioned that, so for my purpose, that suggestion was futile, but it popped up more than once.

the point was, i realize projecting 16 mm or video would be BETTER but that's like telling me i should be driving a porsche instead of my geo metro. the video transfer or 16 mm projection would do me no good... i've got 5 super 8 projectors but nothing else.

i saw this post as something like that, cause i do the exact same kind of thing-- loops to play in a club for ambience. sure, it'd be nice to have 3 digital projectors rated at X number of lumens a piece to show my loops in a club but...

the fact remains that super 8 is the poor man's film and that doesn't give it a bad name, it just gives broke people with an idea a way to execute. if it means cutting up your only copy of a print and looping it with coat hangers-- more power to you.

you know?

matt

[Alex]

Actually, I have regret at the Time-Lapse shots that were beautiful as just one long piece, that I was forced to cut-up with my movie-viewer and splicer before the days of video editing....

Time-lapse Shots that were beautiful as just one long piece....

I look at most Super-8 I have shot as liquid gold...it has a value because I took the time to go to a location, shoot, develop the footage, transfer to video, and edit.

The beauty of film is that as video improves...so does the look of film on video.

I believe it is "worth it" to show your Super-8 originals ONLY if you are there, you know the projector that is to be used, the projector has been cleaned and checked...and that whoever is running the projector truly understands the importance of "monitoring" the projector and the film to make sure the projector is not damaging the film.

......And hopefully, your film is the center of attention instead of a side-show background mural type thing.

Alex



[This message has been edited by Alex (edited February 06, 2001).]

[mjeanes]

hey, i'm all for perserving that which should be preserved... and if a person has a distinct attachment to their film stock, then they ought not to farm it out for people to make loops from.

but a piece of film, super8 or otherwise, isn't necessarily a keepsake or a rare commodity. instead, it may be a very fleeting, ephemeral, physical manifestation of someone's creative moment, and we should respect people who want to use it as such.

i loved watching negativeland destroy their 16mm film fame by frame by pausing it long enough for the projector to burn it because it reminded me how much importance people put on the object and how little they attach to the idea.

and for god's sake, if someone wants a film to be the flickering background visual wallpaper in a club, then let them do it. every piece of film isn't worthy of being the center of attention, in fact MOST aren't. most developed film is crap, which is why no one ever sees it. (and as movie-goers we get to see lots of crap on top of that!)

let's remove the notion of the ego of the creator from the equation and let the work speak for itself. if it's a really amazing film, it'll draw attention to itself; if not, and it blends nicely with the music and other ambience, then it's served a noble purpose.

diy is the essence of super8. i've got tons of 2-5 ft scraps if anyone wants some for loops. mostly b&w, just nice grainy traintracks and such.

huba, if you're still reading this, good luck with your project.

[Alex]

Bonfire of the Vanities! Now I understand what that means.

Ephermeral...I'm adding that to my vocabulary...I heard it, said it (maybe) but I have never used it for writing.

I still think part of what you are saying gives super-8 a bad name. Running the super-8 in film loops reminds of grating cheese.

DYI....Destroy it Yourself.

A video image of the super-8 original isn't such a bad thing...although it does add expense if done properly.

But ultimately...your philosophy of just letting it go is important,....otherwise you become a pack rat like me.

-Alex


[This message has been edited by Alex (edited February 09, 2001).]

[#Pedro]

Back to the initial question:

There is a loop projection unit for 50 ft S8-film at ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.de/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI....tem=1408932925

Pedro