Film Processed, Film Transferred, and More

Saturday morning I received my developed film from Dwaynes. The old roll of K40 film which, as I noted before was probably 20-30 years old was blank. On close inspection I could see the outlines of some figures but there was no way to make them out. It's really too bad - a great film lost. And it gives me reason to believe that I shouldn't go to the time and expensive of processing the two rolls of Ektachrome Type G film as I will probably get the same results and it will be money down the tubes. This just reminds me how important it is to get your films processed quickly - don't leave them sitting around. The three rolls that I discovered probably went through many summers of sitting in a hot garage or attic and no telling how much other abuse.

The good news is that the 2 rolls of 64T film that I shot last weekend at the State Fair look great. The color is beautiful and everything appears to be in focus (based on my somewhat glitchy projector). So I am going to get these films transferred to digital, along with some footage I shot from last year's State Fair and put together a short film. The only thing is, I wish I had sound from the fair.

On that note, I recently purchase and received an Edirol R-09 that I am going to be using specifically for sound for my Super 8 films. Of course it will not be synch sound in the strictest sense but it should do well enough and through a little editing magic I think I can make it work. I haven't had a lot of time to play around with it yet but when I do I will post some stuff here.

Yesterday I got an email from Jen at Lost In Light telling me that my films have been telecined and are on their way back. That was way faster than I thought. I can't wait to see the finished product. They will be posting some of the footage on their website and have requested a short write up from me about the footage - so I will post it here when that happens.

And finally - I wanted to report on yet another failed ebay bid. This time on a Nizo Professional. I have no excuse this time as I simply forgot about the auction ending time and missed the final chance to bid. I feel certain that I would have won this one because I would have bid at least $50 more than what the camera sold for. Oh well. I'm going to keep looking and surely one will go my way.

Film Report and More

We went to the Oklahoma State Fair this weekend and I brought the Zeiss S8 movie camera to shoot some footage. I shot two rolls of stuff like the big slide that you ride down in a burlap potato sack. Also got some footage of my friend Chris eating a fried Twinkie. Then some clips of various fair booths, the exterior of a "freak show," and other fair stuff. I sent the rolls off to Dwayne's today so I should have them back early next week - maybe even later this week - they're pretty fast.

I also sent them a roll of old Kodachrome 40 film. Who knows how old it is and if there will be any pricture left on it after so many years. The film was broken on the outside of the cartridge so I don't have any idea if they will be able to do anything with it.

I've also got 2 rolls of Ektachrome Type G film that my Mom handed over to me. Again, the film is probably a couple of decades old - who knows what's on it or how degraded it is. Most places no longer develop this kind of film and the places that do charge about $35 per roll. Not cheap compared to the $9 per roll for Ektachrome 64T film. So I have to ask myself if it is worth the $70 to see about 5 minutes of film. It probably is - the curosity might kill me.

I have been searching for a reasonably priced Nizo 801 Macro camera in good condition and the other day I almost had one. It was a typical ebay moment. I had the highest bid with a mere 30 seconds to go. Then someone sitting in wait dashed in with a bid that was $50 higher than mine. The rug swept from beneath my feet. My dreams shattered. The camera sold for $250. Looking back I should have made a last ditch effort and threw in $275 - it was well worth it. This model of camera regularly goes for $350 - 400 and sometimes higher depending on the accessories and condition.

This camera has everything I want in a Super 8 camera so I'm going to keep up the quest. I know there's one out there just for me.

S8 Films Being Transferred to Digital

Yesterday I sent off 9 rolls of S8 film to Lost In Light for digital transfer. The footage has all been captured once before by me using a DV camera and projecting the image on a small 2' x 2' white posterboard. I used the footage to put together a collection of home videos on DVD - a project that took me months to create. I was very happy with the end result. I did the editing, soundtrack, DVD authoring, and cover art for the box and disc.

The advantage to having the footage captured professionally is that you get much clearer colors and a greatly reduced amount of flicker. Not to mention that it is a great way to preserve the footage.

Lost In Light is a great resource if you have S8 family films that you want captured. The service they provide is free. The only catch is that they encourage you to make your films Creative Commons and allow other artists to download and use footage from them. You maintain all rights to your work, you get the original films back, and you have the option of maintaining copyright if you choose that route over Creative Commons. But I like the idea of the films being out there. I think it encourages others to do the same, it broadens confidence in the artistic community, and it provides an online resource for preserving the films. What good are films anyway if they sit on a shelf for no one to see?

On that note, I want to share another film that I found on the LIL page. This by one of the founders of the project, Jen Proctor. It's called Alternative Forms of Energy. It's very unique in that it uses interview audio of a man talking about biodiesel, along with organic images from hand-processed S8 film, painted with india ink and manipulated with clorox. Talk about the physical act of film making! You just don't get that with digital. The images have the effect of playfulness on screen - contrasting blacks, whites and greys and bubbling supersaturated colors. Many times the film is like watching a dancing painting. The central images are natural ones - water, birds, islands of rock in the ocean - but these are flooded with the chaotic shapes of ink specs, lines, chemicals, and broken up by abrupt cuts. The narration keeps the whole thing linear and the edits take the pace and progress of the speaker. Overall, it's an intriguing short film to watch.