8mm Film

DEDFX · Post by **DEDFX** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 2:33 am

Hope you guys have an idea on this. I'm getting an 8 mm film camera on ebay then later I'm getting 16mm, do they still make 8mm film and when you shoot it do you have to develop the film or can you just put it in a projector and watch it. ty

Epsilon · Post by **Epsilon** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 9:13 am

Oh my, oh my...

Haven't you ever used a 35mm film photo camera? You buy the film, shoot the pictures, get it processed and exposed, then prints are made. Film moviemaking is exactly the same, except the final prints are back onto film. There are a number of places to still sell 8mm and 16mm film.

Prices for 16mm film ranges around $20-60 for a 100 foot roll. 8mm is the same as 16mm cut in half. 16mm film is pretty close to cinema resolution and many past filmmkers have used it for their productions, however, film can get expensive very fast! You will be shocked at how quickly 100 feet of film is used up. 8mm film shooting will last about 4 times longer, but the quality difference is quite apparent. Quite a lot resides in the quality of the camera you are filming with as well.

There is a LOT in choosing the right film type. You want the right ISO and color correction for a particular shooting environment. There is a lot more preparation involved. You be absolutely sure the exposure will be correct by check light meters through the lens. There is no LCD screen to look at! Once you've used the film, there is no back up and try it again. Film is also less forgiving under poor lighting, you have to have well placed lights and lots of it!

Don't forget! You must get it processed as well before you can use it! Many film and photo places can do this, but it's quite much more pricey.

Now comes the hard part: EDITING. No no no nooo you can't just double click on Premiere Pro and select import. You have to do it the old fashioned method. Whch means you need an splicer editing deck!!! This will be expensive... Although there are alternatives; you could have all your film transferred to digital... but WAIT! God dammit you're back to DV resolution again, what we want to avoid in using film!!!

Okay, PHEW got through the editing process. You made a negative master, processed that. Made a postivie viewable film, processed that too. Now several thousand dollars and a couple months later, you are FINALLY ready for showing! Now you need a projector. Whooptie do...

This is why I like sticking to Digital Video!

Shooting and working with film is a major pain in the butt... and in the check book.

DEDFX · Post by **DEDFX** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 2:27 pm

thanks a lot! I knew a lot what you were talking about too. Would you have any idea what stores in the US would carry/ develop 8mm film?

naflish · Post by **naflish** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 2:42 pm

why on earth u guys want to use film anyway? digital is much more easier to handle and cheaper. u can get pretty good quality with a decent 3ccd cams. alot of feature film nowadays use digital (if you're making a feature film) and the quality is on-par with film. its not quality that matters, its the story. btw this is an amateur filmmaking forum. we are low-budget ppl and less-likely can get our hands on film (what else the experience) .so your questions might be more suitable on professional filmmaking forums.

Clarence · Post by **Clarence** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 3:19 pm

Also, 8mm film isn't going to be very high quality. Some people get their film blown up to 35mm to show on a screen with a projector.

DEDFX · Post by **DEDFX** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 10:01 pm

Yeah i know its not that great quality, its just I wanted to have a little experience for film so I would know what I'm doing when I get my 16mm camera.

Clarence · Post by **Clarence** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 10:16 pm

Is it a Super8 Camera? I think we used to have one of those.

DEDFX · Post by **DEDFX** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 10:30 pm

ya, they were very pop in the 60's-80's

Epsilon · Post by **Epsilon** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 12:51 am

The problem with all the personal film cameras is that they are very hard to keep dust free. Normally, a lot of junk gets stuck inside and on the film and you get all the fuzz and scratches when you play it back.

Also remember that film won't record audio.

Raptor · Post by **Raptor** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 5:41 am

One word, or lack of- audio...

bangoker · Post by **bangoker** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 8:23 am

how about getting a camera with 24p? it (of course) not the same, but that could be turned into 35mm pretty easily, since it has full 24 frames per second (i dont know about the prices though..)

Epsilon · Post by **Epsilon** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 10:57 pm

If you really want to start putting that kind of effort into it, why not just go flat out 35mm to start?

thewarmovie · Post by **thewarmovie** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 5:19 pm

I have an old 8mm camera, It is pretty nice, of course, the quality is no where even close to 16mm. Though, I think it is a good investment, it is mostly fun, it would probably cost even more then $100 to shoot a short film though. It is really fun though, but just remember, 8mm is an old format, so it will look old, so it is really only good for that "old film look."

This is the only place so far that I found so far that sells 8mm:http://members.aol.com/Super8mm/JohnSchwind2.html/

I hope that helps.

inf3ct · Post by **inf3ct** » Thu May 25, 2006 2:33 am

I was thinking about getttingan 8 mm also, because I love the older look to the picture qaulity. I was wondering how I would get audio though? I have never even touched a film camera before so excuse me for maybe asking such a stupid question.

rhys · Post by **rhys** » Thu May 25, 2006 6:42 am

You get a seperate person or tripod that holds a boom mic that is attached to a tape recorder thing.

inf3ct · Post by **inf3ct** » Thu May 25, 2006 2:05 pm

Ok thanx. I found a good site where I was reading up on 8mm film. http://lavender.fortunecity.com/lavender/569/#

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