SUPER 8 FILM: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 27 мар 2021
- A fairly comprehensive guide to the Super 8 film gauge starting with its origins as a home movie making format. The cameras, the projectors and some examples of family home movies. Also, the growth of Super 8 into the leading format of choice for serious home cinema use with some of Hollywood's biggest titles made available by Derann Film Services and others.
Two Super 8 suppliers/dealears still trading and featured in this video are:
Classic Home Cinema - www.classichomecinema.co.uk/
Independent 8 - www.bfcc.biz (and click on the Independent 8 option)
Stuart Hilliker allowed me to use his shots of the British Film Collectors Convention when we screened the Super 8 'Scope extract from 'Supergirl' on the 24 foot wide screen. His complete BFCC video can be seen here: • BFCC 2016 1080p 
Кино
![Eminem - The Death of Slim Shady [Album Trailer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/X0HIrS6kUYI/mqdefault.jpg)
Don’t worry about responding to every comment, sir...unless you really want to! That’s a hard precedence to live up to, and you’re already doing us a great service with the content itself.
Thank you Timothy. I think if people take the time to pass comment then I should do all I can to do the right thing and reply. Somehow I doubt I'm going to find myself back in the situation I was a few weeks ago when things went mad but even if I do it seems that things do calm down eventually and I should get to everyone in the end.
John.
New sub - enjoying the trip down memory lane!
Thank you. Good to have you with me.
John.
I watched this presentation and I could not help but smile all the way throughout. It has awakened so many memories from my childhood and I do feel the itch to go out and start a new Super 8 habit all over again. Again, thank you for the presentation.
Thank you for letting me know Coolcogroup. Super 8 has been a wonderful hobby for me and I hope it will remain so for quite a few years yet.
John.
A fascinating and nostalgic look at the movie/video hobby in the early days John! Super 8 sound was a part of my youth! After years from (1965- 1974) standard 8 silent was what I had! Made the leap to Super 8 sound in 1975 with the Elmo projector series! WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! Enjoyed it immensely, and in 1978, ventured into the 16mm market!
Beta, VHS, RCA CED disc, Laserdisc, DVD, Blu Ray, and now 4K! Love it!!!
I will be blind buying Ten Commandments, but I am anticipating your review!👍🏻
Sounds like you have a worse habit than I there Charles! I've had just about every format too including CD-I. The recent introduction of 4K discs (must be five years now though) has been quite an exceptional addition but I think The Ten Commandments is going to be one of the most special so far.
Fantastic video John! Your knowledge on the format is amazing! I've being using Super 8 as a home movie format for the last 15 years. When Kodak re-released Ektachrome color reversal (7294) in 2018 I was so happy! Recently I've been documenting my son from birth until this month as he turned 14 months old. I'm a purist so I project only! The colors, contrast, and sharpness of this new color reversal and Ektachrome from 2010-12 is amazing on the big screen! I hope one day to pass these films down to my son, who will hopefully enjoy watching them as he moves through life. The power of Super 8 film is truly amazing! The images captured are remarkable!
Super 8 home movies are simply MAGIC. Video came along and so many people thought it was superior when in fact it was a downgrade. Hardly anything good was shot on home video but Super 8 plodded on and it's survived to this day. Fortunately some of us kept shooting and some historic events have been captured that will be discovered down the ages. I even have some of my own but besides that I've transferred home movies for people who were involved in international rallying and included the more exciting and historically important clips in some of my British motoring history documentaries released on disc.
Super 8 and 8mm before it have been treasures that were not fully appreciated in their hiatus. What you are doing to film your son grow is perfect. My father filmed my brother and I from that first film you saw in this video and we have our whole lives recorded over the years. I didn't appreciate it at the time but I certainly do now. John.
Always a pleasure to watch your videos. Thank you very much!
Always a pleasure to read your comments twistedxb.
John.
For some reason, this has come up on my subscription feed this morning even though it's some two years old - and still a valuable overview of the Super 8 film format. It was nice to see a few glimpses of your own home films! I had my great grandfather's films professionally scanned on a Lasergraphics scanner a couple years ago, and having them digitized in such high quality really is priceless (most of them are on my own RUclips Channel). I am afraid to think of all the home films that will never receive the same treatment and simply be tossed. And as an interesting development regarding the brand new Super 8 camera you discussed: apparently it has finally seen release just last month after 8 years of waiting... and for a mind boggling price of $5,500 USD. Can't imagine many young filmmakers will be making that investment.
I think it was September in Switzerland the new Kodak Super 8 was finally launched Jason. I don't know much about it any longer but it sounds like they went a bit daft if there's only a £4K (ish) model on sale. Just as well Noel Pratt was able to repair my Canon 814 recently as that will cost nothing to put a film in it and get back into shooting. I've transferred a lot of films for people over the past 17 or 18 years but I know of a lot more that were transferred to VHS and then the films were deposited in the landfill. It's hearbreaking.
John.
Hi John, I've been a movie buff all my life, I'm 55.
I remember in the infants in class 3, when the blinds were down on a certain afternoon we used to have a movie /short etc.
It fuelled my interest, I loved the local ABC, And Odeon.
Queing up, the wait.. Smell of popcorn, hotdogs, the excitement of going in and picking up little free booklet.. Trailers then movie, was fabulous.
I've got 4k tv, 4k Firestick, but I really miss the cinemas that have sadly long gone.
Brilliant channel.
I'm a big Alien fan to.
Regards
Martin
Nothing can ever replace those old, local cinemas but times change and sadly there is no longer much of a market for them. But we can keep the memory alive in our homes to a small extent and I suppose my little home theatre does just that. We never really had decent cine screenings in school (boring, out of date 16mm educationals occasionally but they did little but send the class to sleep) but one teacher did arrange the odd 16mm feature for rare after school screenings. One he hired was Zulu but it was a flat print and lost a lot of the film's impact. Shame he didn't think to hire Alien because the hall would have been packed for that... suppose he might have lost his job though!
John.
As a child my first brush with 'owning' a film was a little plastic box you held up to one eye, holding it towards the light, cranking the little lever on the side and seeing, in black and white, an animated genie appearing from a lamp in a puff of smoke loop over and over as you kept turning it. It was magical. Super 8 in South Africa was extremely limited and expensive but to have 5 minutes of B/W highlights of "Bridge on the River Kwai" (silent) was miraculous. What joyous memories this video brought back and look where we are now, but one will never forget the absolute thrill of being able to project a film in your own home . Thank you. Michael - SA.
Your memories and thoughts are similar to my own. Children today will not understand the thrill of being able to watch something in your own home that was not broadcast on television. The aspiration to somehow have sound movies seemed out of reach but look at where we are now and it is so taken for granted.
John.
Who on earth would troll you?! This channel is a godsend! Would love a video discussing your favourite foreign films in the future.
There are unfortunately some people out there driven by hatred and they can't help themselves. The best thing to do is simply remove their vile posts and then they should get bored trying to start a hate campaign. Seems to have worked so far.
As for my favourite foreign films that is a good question. The best I can think of right now is 'Tell No One'. If you haven't seen that fabulous thriller, look it up. Kristin Scott Thomas is a big name in that one.
John.
Greetings from Canada......By the way....My wife and I really enjoy your channel. This particular video took me way back some 50 years to my first Super 8 set up: Sankyo camera, Eumig projector and Baia editor. I inherited my love of film from my Dad who took Regular 8 movies, some of which are now 65 years old! I still film (video), but nothing was like film. It was so expensive back in the day....you had to really think about your shots and get it just right. Thank you again for your wonderful content and keep up the good work.
Thank you very much Bentley. We clearly both share a love for that bootlace gauge of film known as Super 8. Those were the days but I hope to enjoy shooting Super 8 again one of these days. I still run Super 8 extracts, features and home movies regularly. I plan to include a snipped of The Ten Commandments on Super 8 in the next video, I've just got to find it!
John.
Every time I watch one of your videos I come away knowing something new. Really enjoying these.👍🏻 Those old family videos are something special. Love the filmic quality of those old Super 8 home movies. The Kodachrome looks incredible.
Kodak gave something special to the world when it introduced Kodachrome Super 8. They'd already had it for years with standard 8mm but Super 8 was idiot proof and you simply inserted the cartridge thereby bringing home movie shooting to the masses. My father was one who took it up and it's been a part of my life ever since. The peak for Kodachrome was probably during the 60s and 70s but it was always very good until the very end when my last reels were processed in 2010/2011 I think.
A Dark Knight trilogy review is going up right now so assuming it is acceptable to all the RUclips checks will be live today. Another little video that's taken days to produce but I think it's worth it because I hope it will be around for years. John.
Really loving your channel. This is my favorite video so far. I just ordered my first super 8 projector!
Now that's exciting Steven. What have you ordered and where is it coming from? Got any films coming with it?
John.
Another EPIC Feature for film lovers! Thank you John for doing this Great Upload. It made my NJ Rainy Sunday Bright and Cheerful. More power to your Channel. Can't wait on the next RUclips feature! Cheers!
Thank you as ever Noel. Good to know I cheered you up over there.
John.
I learn so much from your fascinating videos! Thanks for taking the time to share your love for cinema
Thank you for taking the time to let me know you enjoy them Dominic.
John.
Great super 8 tutorial! Home video memories is the spoke on the wheel that keeps us young! The quality of that home video with you as a kid with your dad is amazing! Truly amazing!
That 50 foot reel of Kodachrome from 1967 (I think) is far, far better when you actually see it for real as it were. Video transfers just do not do Super 8 justice at all. Kodachrome was a black and white film but had a process that coded which colours went where during development. It went through over 20 baths which is why it was discontinued in 2006 as it was too expensive by then. Last processing was 2010. It was also a very fine grain film stock and I miss it greatly. Still, video has improved significantly so it's not all bad. John.
I think i just found my new favorite channel. This is priceless info! Thank you so much for sharing. As a filmaker in formation it has peaked my interest for this vintage technology, and now I want to find out more.
Thank you Rafa. It was Super 8 that was responsible for my early interest in all things moving image. I hope the new Kodak camera finally goes on the market and Super 8 enjoys a great renaissance. John.
I imagined that you would have made at some time a video discussing the difference between Super 8 and Standard 8mm. I was right. 5mm vs 6mm. awesome, riddle solved.
My mom was a shutter bug before I was born in 1952, She bought a 16mm projector and her high-school friend bought a 16mm camera. I never saw any 16mm film, but there may be one or two in storage. Also, I hope we might find our old 8mm family movies from the late 50's thru early 70's in the same storage.
I do believe my mom's 8mm Keystone projector is also in storage. About 20 years ago she had the 8mm tapes transferred to standard VHS tapes. I hope to redo that transfer to DVDs. Meanwhile, watching your video, I wish I could have taken as great an interest in Super 8 as you have. I admire your devotion to the hobby.
Watching this video suddenly dragged up from my rusty memory that I did indeed once buy an 8mm film - of Popeye, I believe. This was some 55 years ago. I remember being disappointed that there was no sound when we played it on our projector. Amazing how such an old, obscure memory, forgotten for half a century, could come to mind because of your work. Thanks!
Super 8 has been a big part of my life Jim and it was a reason for starting this channel because I couldn't find anyone talking about home video discs who had any knowledge of film. I didn't think it was likely any of us could judge a movie made on film transferred to a 4K disc accurately without that knowledge. It's been fun looking at so many of them over the past three years (almost). Another reason was to see if we could resurrect the British Film Collectors Convention as we haven't held one since 2016. The next one is booked for 29th April 2023 and I plan to include something in a future video soon. www.bfcc.biz is the convention web site but I need to put some more information on the 'Next Event' web site sometime as I've been a little remiss in that regard lately.
John.
Another great insight. I remember a shop in Frimley, in the late 70’s that used to sell 8mm movies. I remember seeing the shortened version of Star Wars displayed in the window and fantasising about what it would be like to own Star Wars! I was about 11 or 12 at the time and the price of it was eye watering. Skip forward 40 odd years and I now own all the Star Wars films on 4K. My 12 year old self would be amazed!
Ah, but those 4K films are not the Star Wars we all saw and loved Ian. I find it all a bit upsetting what has been done to them but thankfully they did all find their way onto Super 8 full length so I have all three of them as they were originally screened. I enjoyed the Death Star battle on the re-hash in 1997 but that was the only sequence I thought really did work. Whatever though, film making is a business and I'm sure it's kept the films in the public eye and more importantly it's been bringing the money in. I expect the 4K image is better than the Super 8 though.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 I understand peoples objections to the “tinkering” and “upgrades” to the original versions of these wonderful films but, and I am in the minority, I quite like the “improvements”. Each to their own I suppose. I’m just about to watch your Ten Commandments video, sadly without an updated CGI parting of the sea. Oh well 😉
@@ianclark4643 I've just discussed the possibility of 'fixing' the blue screen shots in Ten Commandments with another subscriber and I just don't think it's possible. If the separate elements all still exist then they've all got to be salvageable (unlikely) and then made to look like the Technicolor of the rest of the film (unlikely). But that would benefit from being sorted as far as I'm concerned. Star Wars would have benefited from minor tweaks to the effects shots but adding superfluous creatures all over the screen just spoils it as far as I'm concerned. I'd better not mention the Jabba The Hutt sequence!!!
Another great video. As a child I did not live far from the derran film shop in dudley and just assumed there was one in every town. I still have all the super8 movies I bought from there.
That is amazing Paul. I suppose many of us could see package movies in branches of Dixons but even the biggest Dixons outlets were hardly Derann. I too still have every film I ever purchased from Derann.
John.
since I have a super 8 projector and a super 8 movie coming, I will be watching this video on repeat for 3 hours. thanks. Clark.
Just watched your little Super 8 video Clark. I'm always excited to see a Super 8 projector running, particularly when there's a nice looking 400ft reel being threaded up. John.
@@moviecollector5920 thank you so much! I have replied to that comment with a question I hope you will be able to answer, thank you
Wow... so informative! I am happy to say I have pre-ordered Super-8 in 4K! Never seen it. My favorite Super-8 piece you have in your catalog that brought my interest was Rollerball!
Keep your videos coming! Very enjoyable. Hello from San Diego 👋 Lyle
Cor, Rollerball really does have quite a history on Super 8. Derann Film Services put out two 400ft reels and also Marketing Film International with an almost completely different 2x400ft cut. Marketing were only licensed for Germany though so I had to re-record my copy into stereo English. Great fun to do it even if it was a little time consuming.
John.
Up until i came across your channel, i had never even heard about actual Hollywood films released on this format. My knowledge was kinda limited to blu rays, but i enjoy learning about the early days of home cinema :)
Yes, Super 8 was the top dog when it came to real home cinema for a very long time. Maybe that should be 'reel' home cinema! Super 8 is still very good today although modern disc technology has finally taken over in more recent years.
John.
Don't worry about trolls they are useless. You make good content. Love hearing about older movies.
Thank you Matt. There have been a few trolls but you have to feel sympathy for such people because they have nothing better to do with their lives.
John.
Super 8 is fantastic. With minor modifications it could have been even more viable (in regards to stability), but Kodak didn't really see the need to make improvements. I shot about a dozen short films on Super8 right around the time HD scans became possible. How I miss those days. Because I lived in NYC at the time I had access to a lab and prices had not yet gotten overly expensive. My camera of choice was the Nikon R10, which was built like a tank and gave me amazing sharpness, even at lower light levels. I also had a Canon 1014XL, which was quieter than the Nikon and excelled when there was a lot of light.
Typing this out really brings me back. I wish I was still shooting in the format. What a shame Kodak's plans to release a new camera to rejuvenate the format fell apart. I was 100% on board and ready to invest. I am thinking it simply came down to dollars. The camera would have cost thousands and lab costs would have been through the roof.
Actually it looks like the new camera proposal is still ongoing and it's not going to cost thousands. Processing costs aren't going to be cheap though so that could be the stumbling block but hopefully not. There may well be life in the old dog yet. John.
Fascinating video! Really enjoy your channel. I was a big Super 8 fan in the early 80’s, and enjoyed the trip down memory lane.
Time to get another Elmo projector then Dave!
Very informative and interesting I think your videos are great keep it up
Thank you. I'll try to keep the standard up but they do take at least a couple of days to film and produce.
John.
Thank you John for the reply. The super 8 projector would be used just for watching the old excerpts.
Classic home cinema are doing bell & Howell projectors from £99 upwards.
I like yourself was a super 8 collector back in the day and I have got the bug again.
To start me of again I've ordered Frankenstein's New brain extract to start me off again.
Anyway love your channel and just keep up the great work. Andrew.
Many of the older cut down releases are faded now Andrew so try to be a little selective and ask for confirmation of the state of the colour. Walton releases seem to have fared best which is ironic as I never liked their cold look back in the 1970's and early 80's. Universal 8 all seem to be turning salmon pink but Ken Films vary as do Derann cut downs prior to about 1982/83 when the new anti-fade stocks came in.
John.
Really glad i went back into ur archive for this one! 👍Came here after our chat thread on your Basic Instinct video… great stuff and so informative about super 8. I knew nothing about it so found it a great intro. Awesome u’ve got that old footage ur dad shot! I’ll definitely be going back to check out ‘Super 8’ from J.J. Abrams. I think it was lost on me before and found it an average, retro sci-fi flick. Now i understand more why it was made and who for… i’m sure i’ll have a new appreciation for it. Great video John 👍👌
J.J. Abrams 'Super 8' is a wonderful movie but I like it mainly for the children, their interaction and the Super 8 they're shooting and watching on a projector. If you watch the extras on the Blu-ray you'll learn that this was how J.J. Abrams got into film and one of the reasons he still has such a great appreciation for film today. It's just a shame that the end product of 'Super 8' on 4K didn't end up looking better than it did but who cares when a movie is that good?!?
Now we've moved house I have a lot of the Super 8 equipment out on the shelves with all the DVD's, Blu-rays, 4K's, VHS tapes and LaserDiscs. Other Super 8 equipment is with all the Super 8 and 35mm films downstairs as real film couldn't be stored upstairs here owing to the weight which might have brought the ceiling down. That's not a problem with discs and video tapes.
John.
What a gentleman! You'll get used with those trollers or clowns... Many will be jealous by seeing such a legendary content provided by you. I'm becoming used to get my popcorn every time I watch one of your videos! 🍿 And as a bonus, I can train my ears with brittish accent which I love 😁🙌
Cheers from a brazilian living in Australia 😀👍
Aha, you're in the land of Oz Marcos. I hope you've not lost your Brazilian accent for the Aussie one so keep listerning and see if you can get my North London accent adopted over there. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Hey John, thanks for the reply, I am still trying to improve the language every single day lol Keep the good work up!
Great video. Its interesting to hear about old home video formats.
This one's a film format and it's still current Ankka... just. But a few enthusiasts are still using it despite the prohibitive cost of doing so. In the main it seems to be people who are newer to the gauge and feel there is more kudos to shooting on a film gauge than there is to a video camera or mobile phone. One day I hope to get back into shooting Super 8 but sadly I can't afford it at the moment. John.
Really interesting video your content is brilliant 👍
Thank you very much!
John.
John, what can I say absolutely fantastic to see your energy and enthusiasm for this wonderful medium. Derann was not only a personal loss to me, after working there for over 36 years, but a loss to the 8mm collector as well. I put all my old energy into my group on Facebook and try to give the members all that Derek attempted in order to keep them entertained. Didn't realise that you had all those mags and catalogues.
I didn't know I had so many old magazines either Ged. I know I didn't keep any of the newletters except for some of the last ones. Having found all the Film For The Collector magazines though I hope to find the time to go through them and refresh my memory on what happened when.
It looks like the new Kodak Super 8 camera is not a completely dead duck yet so there is still hope for the medium in the longer term.
From the little I 've heard, I believe it very expensive!
Wow, so in depth and your experience with the format is far more than I even thought based on your previous videos, John. No doubt I would have been collecting Super 8 had I been around in the 80s. It's a shame that the new camera and transfer service idea supported by the big directors fell through. Also, if comments are getting too much to respond to, don't feel bad if you can't respond to every single one. Your channel is growing fast and most viewers will understand. It would be a shame if that became a source of stress with your channel. Looking forward to Ten Commandments!
Thank you GuitarGuy. It was only about a week or so when I was struggling to respond but I wanted to do so because I did expect that things would calm down again which they have. I never got this many comments on my original channel which is largely about classic British cars so it's been quite surprising. I suppose there's just so much enthusiasm for film but very few of us posting videos who know much about reel to reel film in all its different incarnations.
The new Kodak Super 8 camera may still be an ongoing project. It's possible Kodak are having to be careful with funding which is holding things up. Initially it was intended to be ultra-cheap but it doesn't look like that was viable so the engineering required has taken far longer than expected. We'll have to wait and see what happens.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thanks for the additional info on the Kodak project. Indeed, the pandemic could be taking it's toll there too. It's true, film is hugely popular and you're coming at it from a unique angle, which works hugely in a creator's favour. Best - Andrew.
You have such a lovely Super 8 collection, John! Always a pleasure to revisit your episodes old or new.
I've slowly added on to my S8 collection with a couple titles this year: Alien (Scope) and ET. I'm hoping one day to find a print of Halloween on Super 8 like you have.
Wishing you all the best.
Lincoln
Alien was a pretty good print. I have two copies but my original print is better than the later one so they all vary. I didn't intend to end up with two copies it just happened when a couple of spare second hand reels came up for sale and then the other two at different times. I was living in two places at the time so it sort of made sense. The same thing happened with Aliens and then Star Wars but that second copy of Star Wars was a complete feature right from the outset. Not a patch on my original print though which itself is not as good as the original check print Keith had for the BFCC. Halloween isn't the best of Super 8 but it's very nice to own on film. I enjoy it every single year.
John.
Hi John
Subscribed to the channel around a month or so ago and I'm absolutely loving your content. My knowledge on the super 8 format is very limited but I've always enjoyed hearing about it and in your case seeing it projected and hearing your thoughts on it.
Would you ever consider doing a collection video where you run through your entire collection and tell us about each release? I understand it may take a while haha but after seeing what's on your shelves at the beginning of the video I can only imagine how brilliant it would be.
Thanks again and keep the great content coming
Ben
Thank you Ben. I don't exactly plan to cover the whole collection but I do have plans to feature the Super 8 releases when I do a review of the same film on 4K or whatever format I'm covering. 'Spider-Man' for example for which I'd like to get all three of the Sam Raimi films as I have the first two on film so that would make for an interesting video.
John.
I have been unofficially chosen as the family archivist. I graduated from film school ages ago, so it is in my blood.
We have a giaint pile of regular 8 split-reel and super 8 from the 40s through the 70s. Looking forward to digitizing.
That is going to be quite a project. Are you going to do them all yourself? Aerial image is the best way but it all depends on having the right video camera to capture that image. A three chip DLP is the way to go and Sony did do a professional HD camera called the HVR-Z1 I think. I should have got one of those years ago but they probably come up second hand on eBay these days. A firewire connection to a PC is also required from these older MiniDV cameras butmaybe modern Windows 10 can handle a firewire to USB adapter. John.
Awesome and very passionate channel, you got my suscription with the Alien 4k video, greetings from Spain.
Greetings from sunny Cornwall. Good to hear from you over there in Espana and glad to have you with me. That Alien video had to be right after my history with the film. Actually, that goes for a lot of them! John.
My dad had a cine camera standard 8mm he was a big fan of animation , stop motion so me as a kid loved all the movies he had. There was a shop in Glasgow called 20th century movies where he got some of the classic silent films from and the day he came home with Star Wars bought from Dixons it lasted around 15mins i think that was Super 8 he borrowed a sound projector so we could watch it. I couldn't help notice Buck Rogers in the 25th Century i bought that from a market in 1990 box and everything turned out just to be trailers. You have a fantastic collection cheers for that. big thumbs up from Colin
I don't think I ever knew the cine shop in Glasgow but perhaps there will be old adverts I can spot for it in those Movie Maker magazines I have. But that Star Wars reel is actually 17 or 18 minutes and it was a darned fine edit. Later on the second 400ft reel came out that included the attack on the death star and it was possible to make a rather successful 34 minute mini feature of it and perhaps even longer if you purchased the 200ft reel too as that had an extra minute or two not in the longer editions. Then Marketing Film in Germany put out their own 400ft reel and a separate 200ft but I think you needed to be able to re-record those reels because they had German sound. Not all the footage on them was different either. But what an adventure it all was back then and youngsters today just have no idea what it was like which is possibly why cinema and the home video market is taken for granted today.
The Buck Rogers 200ft you saw was actually an official studio promo release and not a reel of trailers. That's assuming it's the Universal 8 reel of course. There was a 2x400ft too and you won't be surprised to know I've got the 200ft and the 2x400ft. Great fun.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Its was on Queen Margaret Drive next to the old BBC Scotland studios my dad would buy cine film there and i would look at the small section of films begging him to buy some.
@@Colinmck16 I have a similar story because that branch of Dixons in Wood Green (north London) had a whole wall displaying package movies and my brother and I would love to look at all the boxes and dream. In 1978 (I think it was 1978 anyway but might have been 1979) we went to Photo World at Olympia and Derann Film Services, Disney and a whole lot of other Super 8 distributors had displays with package movies running on their stands. It was a life changing moment for me really that has led to this day. I think it was Derann running the 400ft of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' through a television style, daylight viewer projector with a 14 inch diagonal screen that really did it for me.
John.
Great video!! Brings back a lot of great memories. I'm just now getting into super 8(a little late I know lol) and just purchased a Bell and Howell autoload model 357B and I'm looking for a place that sells full length movie reels. Or just any good super 8 reels. Keep up the great work, I've seen every video on your channel and always can't wait for the next one. Have a great day.
Thank you Matthew. You need to get on Classic Home Cinema's mailing list if you're not already or check their web site regularly if there is no longer a mailing list. I don't know the Bell and Howell 3578 but I'm sure it's a good model as it's a B&H. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thank you very much for your time I'm just trying to get my feet wet so fingers crossed and thank you also for the Classic Home Cinema recommendation I will definitely check them out.👍
Super 8 is definately JJ Abrams' best movie to date. Im thinking of upgrading my bluray copy of the film for the UHD that has just been released. Great video John really enjoyed it.
I agree entirely! John.
Well spoken and super informative. I could hear you go on even longer about all these past video formats. Excited for the vista vision video. Do you plan on covering Bram Stroker’s Dracula (1993) on 4K. It’s the only one 4K I own and am curious how it compares to past 4Ks you’ve reviewed.
Thank you Jorge. I didn't think the 4K of Bram Stoker's Dracula was particularly good but it never really looked that good on 35mm so it's probably not the greatest example to have as your only 4K disc. If you can, get a copy of Kenneth Branagh's 'Murder on the Orient Express' which makes everything else look a bit ordinary. It was shot on modern 65mm film so that's why it looks so good. 'The Ten Commandments' was in the VistaVision process which is horizontal 35mm that is 8 sprockets wide and that is why that release should look exceptional too.
John.
I absolutely love jj Abrams SUPER 8.
That makes two of us then!
The 4K release is coming on 24th May :)
Very interesting video, thoroughly enjoyed!
Thank you Chad.
This is a really great video!, thanks John.
Thank you Danny. I hope you're getting on alright with your BenQ.
John.
It’s going great thanks John. Only thing is I’m using a coffee table to house the projector, really need to ceiling mount it at some point , might need to hire someone as I’m awful with diy
Very nice video. It’s a pleasure to watch.
Thank you very much!
Love your channel!
Thank you Reuben. I think I've succeeded in introducing the delights (and the expense!) of Super 8 film to quite a few people. John.
Very informational. Thank you
Glad to know you found it worthwhile U 8.
@@moviecollector5920 I've been watching your videos for while and always find them excellent. I really do love the feel of your videos, it kind of takes me back to Barry Norman back in the 80's. Anyway, please keep up the good work. Was very glad to see another video from you today. Thanks again. Top work!
Great video... really enjoyed it......very interesting.👌👌👌👌
Thank you as ever Roy.
Very impressive video John. Your passion is a credit to you. Really look forward to your uploads, always interesting and informative. Cant believe some sad individual trolled you,some people really need to get a life or go back to nursery school and be taught some manners and etiquette. I personally missed the super 8 boom and got my first hired vcr in 1982 when I left school. Move on nearly 40 yrs and still absolute love movies but its dvd,blu ray and 4k for me. Home cinema is an addictive and expensive hobby but I wouldnt change it for anything. Would love to look into super 8 but I think it will have to be from a distance or I will be heading to the divorce courts 😆.....keep up the fantastic work and great to see your subs getting higher and higher
There's been a few nutters John - even this morning I've had to remove a scammer who was trying to get us to look at a pornography web site. Pathetic really.
Super 8 has been a wonderful hobby and I don't think I'll ever tire of it. I invested in it more heavily than I would have because of the film collector conventions which convinced me to purchase some of the releases I wouldn't have such as Jurassic Park. But I'm glad I did now because some of the films I didn't particularly like but bought so we could screen extracts as conventions I really like now. I suppose it helps that some of them proved to be good investments and a couple of hundred pounds back then is now sometimes around a thousand pounds in value today. It's funny how things turn out but I'll never part with any of them.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 I certainly don't blame you for not wanting to part with them,its a lifetimes collection and no doubt years of happy memories for you. I have quite an extensive dvd and blu ray collection that really started with my first imported dvd player in 1998 . Used to always buy region 1 films from America as originally they were released months and months ahead of us. Thankfully, times have changed and generally its a simultaneous release now. Think my collection stands at around 2000 dvds and blu rays now but its continually growing. Its a great hobby and watching inspirational videos like yours only make it more enjoyable. Look forward to your next upload. Best regards John
@@johnmccann5104 Funnily enough my first DVD player was an import with a multi-region hack via the remote control. And a lot of my early DVD purchases were USA releases for the same reason as you. Nowadays though there is no need for staggered releases between the countries as the distributors are no longer using 35mm prints which means they don't have to wait until they can ship the prints across the Atlantic once they've done the rounds in the Americas.
John.
Brilliant stuff John. Would love to get into super 8 collecting but don't know how the missus would take it! I just about get away with my digital projection set up. Think it maybe time for me to clear the garage out and create my own little cinema. Will be checking out the websites you mentioned. Keep up the good work!
Thank you Lee. I'm clearing all the work up so I can get on with the Spider-Man review and you can expect more Super 8 in that one. John.
It'd be great if you could do a video at some point giving a closer look at the films you have in your collection on film. Its really fascinating to see for somebody who's big into home cinema and movie collecting in the modern age. I'd love to get into film but a lot of the features (derran etc.)appear to be pretty expensive and hard to find. There seems to be very little information about them online. Love your videos by the way!
I will be including the films as they come up for 4K review so you can expect to see the Classic Home Cinema feature of Spider-Man in the next video. Quite a few of them will appear over time. Getting into Super 8 and how to do it I'd recommend keeping an eye on what Classic Home Cinema have on their web site and if you do decide to make a start ask Phil Sheard for his guidance on a suitable starter Super 8 projector rather than going to something expensive. As I said in the video, a few trailers and some older cut downs and shorts and you should get a good idea if it's something you want to pursue. The Derann features can be very expensive now so you'd have to be very careful there. The sound stripes can sometimes not be what they should be which can mean the best stereo sound is not always possible but much of the time the stripes are good and Dolby Stereo can be successfully decoded. However, this is all for the future when I can tell you all about re-recording a feature in synch with a video as it's more something to aspire to. Sound as it comes is usually good enough it's just people like me wanted for more, so we got it. This was all long before video became viable as a home cinema option. Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray may be the king of home cinema now but before them it was Super 8.
Here's a list of some of the Super 8 features though:
The Terminator
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Alien
Aliens
Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
Highlander
2001 A Space Odyssey
2010 The Year We Make Contact
Spider-Man
The Abyss
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Jurassic Park
Die Hard 1, 2 and 3
Halloween
The Fugitive
The Fall of the Roman Empire
and a few others.
I started with that Halina Super 8 camera too. I believe it was the first non-Kodak one to hit the market, at least in Britain. Made in Hong Kong if I remember correctly. I have also heard that the reason for cutting features was also down to the fear that it would hit 16mm film hires from the distributor if independant libraries could buy and hire out at a reduced fee. When those 16mm libraries closed (and VHS hire was cheap) Super 8 features appeared uncut.
I'd not heard that about 16mm libraries Brian but it certainly makes sense. What an interesting period of film history we've lived through. It's just a shame the present ease and availability of home entertainment and home movies is so taken for granted. It all felt so much more special when I was able to purchase a new package movie on Super 8 and I do miss those days.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 I think I read it in one of Ged's Facebook posts and he'd know if anyone would.
@@brianfretwell3886 That's good enough for me Brian. John.
Another beauty John. I enjoy seeing the films you have on 8mm, could you do a video or videos taking us through your collection?
I do have plans to include a few of them as I go through some of the 4K releases because I have some of the same titles in some form on Super 8 and/or 35mm. Spider-Man is a good example (and Spider-Man 2), The Fifth Element and even Batman. How about that for starters?
@@moviecollector5920 Sounds good to me John, looking forward to seeing them.
The Kodak Super 8 camera has been announced for release recently, it seems to have gotten a lot more expensive, so it is sadly out of the reach for hobbyists, but also exciting to see that they are now pushing it to the market and it would be exciting if it got popular for rentals, schools, etc!
Apparently it was launched in Switzerland in September but it's a shame it got out of control and now stands little chance of achieving anything. However, if professionals do take it up then it's possible it will lead to budget models that the average person could afford. I won't hold my breath though but you never know. John.
What a great history of Super 8, John. Totally enviable collection. Good to see the projectors and that Kodak camera 'newbie' and even the Technicolor cartridge reels too that I once tried in 1979. I shot all my family holidays over eleven years till around 1987, yet again & again, ever since Betamax over the decades I've been firing up the original film projector to get some kind of transfer quality to match with the ever evolving improving video formats over the years. Film certainly takes a bit of beating. Today as 'AV1' codec is being introduced (a new open, royalty-free video standard with improved compression system allowing huge data efficiency savings without reducing video quality) - the key for streaming going forward into the world of higher frame rates, 8K resolution, even better HDR standards and audio demands. AV1 codec can go as far as 8K at up to 120fps, with bitrates at up to 800mbps. What with gigabit internet only just being deployed here, a bit depth for colour at 8-, 10- and 12-bit varieties and colour sampling up to a 4:4:4 full pixel level, just by streaming, could (soon) be possible exceeding playback quality of a blu-ray 4k HDR disc. The time will come around again as transfers from superb original film quality gets put across with the newer technologies as they kind of play catch up! We're just going to need bigger screens I guess!
It's funny though because whatever digital process comes along nothing ever seems to match the look of a real film. There's just something alive in the image of a polyester print. Maybe it's imperfections rather than perfections but there certainly seems to be something there that makes it more real and tangible. If it were up to me we'd be using 65mm camera stock for all major film productions and screening them at cinemas with 70mm projectors.
Funny to think that if it hadn't have been for all the Super 8 I shot at TR Drivers Club events over the years I'd never have actually thought to make 'Code Name: Bullet'. And look at the long process that's ended up taking me on. How one thing leads to another eh?
John.
Totally agree John, and such as with many 'legacy' formats, even with classic cars things tend to coexist alongside new technologies in the long run for such unique reasons. Keep up the show, it's great to have been able to learn something from every one of your reviews so far.
Great work. A good promo for the great hobby. Phil chcinema
I hope it works as a little bit of an advert for your great home cinema business over there Phil. Some have told me they've now purchased Super 8 projectors as a result of my videos over the past ten months so it looks like the word is getting out there in a small way.
John.
I wish I knew this existed way back when! This is amazing to see with the 4K Bluray market booming as it is; this is probably overkill now, but part of me still wants to add this to my home theater rig.
It's a lot of fun Thomas but a cheapie starter projector and some knackered old cut downs (probably mostly faded a bit now) is the way to get to know if you think you'd enjoy it. If it's fun then a better projector can follow and some of the better releases such as theatrical trailers. I have loads of 400ft (up to 20 minutes) and 600ft (up to 30 minutes) reels of trailers, daysets and adverts all spliced together. I think those reels are the closest thing to reproducing the cinema in the home. Take a look at my recent Last Action Hero review and you'll see one of those trailer reels on the Elmo GS1200 projector and then an Odeon dayset on screen. It's magic to be able to enjoy that sort of thing at home. John.
i'm just lucky that i didn't have very good transportation when i was caught up in super 8 film making or i would have ended up wasting a lot more money than i did.
we had several magazines state-side as well for the hobbyist film maker that filled kids with waaaaaay too little pocket money with ideas of things like "make your own aerial image optical printer!" or "how to create your own latex covered stop motion armatures!" or "create your own front projection studio with just $150 worth of 3M translite screen and a slide projector!"...
my one big accomplishment was procuring a cable release so i could do stop motion on my camera (a canon with a nice zoom lens) and ended up using it for school projects. it was so easy to wow people back then... : )
I got more into collecting sell-through package movies Jin but I did do quite a bit of experimenting with the Canon 814 camera I showed in the video. One time I spent about half an hour at the main crossroads in Breckenridge shooting stop motion of life going by. These days I dare say the police would arrive but back then nobody cared about such things. I hope to be able to get back into shooting Super 8 one day and the new Kodak camera would certainly help if only to make film stock and processing more available.
John.
I have recently discovered your channel and have been soaking up all the videos. My friend and I shot at of Super-8 when we were kids in the 1970s/80s and made several 'movies'. Kodachrome 40, Fuji, Agfa and (I think) even Boots brand. This video brought back some memories. We had limited resources and did not have the luxury of sound so had to rely on visual storytelling...and sub-titles!. Audio was later supplied via an audio cassette play alongside the projector... and sometimes it was even in synch :)
One question I had is was there ever 'super 8 negative. Another limitation was that you had only the one original 'positive' and as such you had to be very, very careful and do your best to keep it clean. But moreover editing was a massive commitment with that raw footage. It did force you to be very creative... which was fun of course. Was there a negative format for super-8 where you get multiple prints made?
Negative stock was available and is still available today Matthew. It's all much more expensive these days though. Subscriber TrueFilm put me onto Gauge Film earlier today and they are resellers of Kodak Super 8 film stock and processors too: www.gaugefilm.co.uk/
My brother shot a few reels of Boots own brand Super 8 but I think that was prone to fade so it probably hasn't held up like Kodachrome. Fuji had their own version of Super 8 that was called Single 8. This was because anyone producing a Super 8 cartridge of film had to pay royalties to Kodak as they invented the format and owned the patents.
It was and still is a wonderful hobby and as you can see from the video, I still enjoy playing around with it all.
John.
Thank You for the additional information. You have rekindled my interest and I will be 'dusting off' my Super 8 projector and films. Thanks again for creating and maintaining this channel.
Great video. I'm going to be getting a sound projector (donated by a friend) because I'm going to be filming on some expired sound AGFA Moviechrome cartridges. But I would love to watch some movies on there too.
I've just looked at your channel and as I'd like to know how you'll get on with this I've subscribed but given how many notifications I get due to my own channel I'll probably miss your uploads so please give me a poke on here somewhere. Make sure you test any projector with a film you don't particularly value (leader is often good for this) just in case there is a worn guide hiding in there with a propensity for putting a scratch down a film.
I think you're in Belfast judging by what I've seen on your uploads so far. Shame you're not closer and we could run your films here on the brightest Super 8 projector in the UK... that's the Elmo GS1200 with the HTI lamp conversion I showed in the video that we use at the BFCC.
John.
Very informative, I had no idea growing up that any of this existed. In the pre internet days I wonder how any of sort of information was distributed outside of very niche local film clubs and the like? Atleast I still have my father's box of super 8 home films, which I ought to get digitized before they degrade further.
If your father's films are Kodachrome and stored well away from damp and excessive changes of temperature then they won't degrade at all. Best advice is to find a decent projector and enjoy them all over again. But ensure that any projector is not a scratching best that will stick dirty great lines down your irreplaceable films.
John.
Hi John, very informative video (as ever). My only dalliance with super 8 was a cheap mail order projector and a silent Star Wars, ( two scenes, Ben gives Luke lightsaber and escape from the Deathstar). and The flying Scotsman. Now that's super 8 sorted out can we please, please, please have a video on laserdiscs.
I too had that black and white silent 200ft reel of Star Wars. It was on sale in the UK before Star Wars was on release to cinemas. Quite amazing really. I'll continue to include laser discs and all the other home video formats in future videos. Sadly I never purchased the laser disc of The Ten Commandments but I can imagine how good it would have looked. It was actually released full length on Super 8 back in 1979 or 1980 by Marketing Film International. Somehow I think the 4K release will be somewhat better though.
Hi. I have a very old cine reel that I would love to see again. Do you offer this service to the general public?
Not really but only because I just get the time. The process is rather time consuming and that's why it tends to be so expensive. Others do offer the service but you have to be careful not to find it's just someone filming off the wall.
John.
so interesting!
And it's been a great hobby for just about all my life too. Such a shame that post-1980s youngsters never knew anything about the magic that small gauge film could bring. Video put paid to it but who watches home videos from prior to the introduction on MiniDV? No one, cos' they quality is utter crap! Not so with Super 8.
I remember Movie Maker I liked Ivan Watson I started with a Soligar Regular 8 mm I got it for £6 I was really excited I so long for it all to come back
It seems that the Kodak new Super 8 camera is not a dead duck yet Paul so we just may see a bit of a resurgence if it does finally come to market. If they get that out and it sells surely a new projector model will follow.
as a person with only 1 super 8 film (selected scenes). your collection is beyond amazing, how long have you been collecting super 8 films may I ask? I am extremely jealous of your exorcist and halloween on super 8. great collection! my close encounters arrived in the mail and seems to be in great condition, the projector will be here soon so I cant wait to make a video on it. Thanks! Clark.
I suppose I've been collecting Super 8 films for about 50 years Clark. 50ft and 200ft reels were the mainstay back in the 1960s and most of the 1970s but the 400ft editions started to take precedence in the latter part of the 70s. Then Marketing Film International got a deal with Paramount to issue top titles full length just as the video market came along and killed it all a few years later. Derann Film Services re-launched Super 8 in the mid-1980s and nothing was able to touch it until about 15 years ago and even then it took big money to match the best of Super 8. The difference was that video discs cost little and equipment cost a fortune but with Super 8 equipment cost little but the films cost a fortune.
I'll have to take another look at The Exorcist. I cut a stereo soundtrack to match those three reels and re-recorded it a few years ago. I plan to do the same with the 2x400ft of Carrie but I never seem to have the time to do it. I did the German 2x400ft of Phantasm though and that turned out really well. Had to do that one though because it was dubbed into German and I couldn't put up with that!
Close Encounters came out just after the film had been in cinemas over here and I remember watching the last 12 or 13 minutes of that 400ft reel at Photo World 78. I was amazed that something so modern was available to purchase and screen in a private home in such a long version. It was like a dream come true at the time but how times have changed.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 I plan to purchase another super 8 film if I can find one on ebay, usually every 1 - 2 weeks a really good film will appear, such as the exorcist. a clockwork orange is something I really want to get on super 8 and I'm sure it will pop up one day, thanks!
Love your videos, really interesting watch thank you. I started out at 10 years old and was given my grandads old standard 8 cine camera which I used to make films with my friends until I was older and could afford to get a video camera. I also had a little Hanimex projector. I’ve got a few requests for you to do videos on... could you show some clips of the Exorcist reels, could you show how you re-record the sound strip on them and also how sync the DVD audio with a super 8 film. All the best.
Copyright is the issue I have to work with Richard so that is why I only tend to show the publicly available trailers to films. There are permissible exemptions though but showing a section from a film is a little risky. Basically to re-record a Super 8 film all that is required is a projector with a record function but the projection has to have a speed adjuster on it so that tiny adjustments can be made. I did just this for years with my Chinon SS1200 stereo machine but then got sync' pulse functionality with the Elmo GS1200. A video pulse has to be input to the ESS DIN connection on the GS1200 and then once it's all set up the projector and PAL sourced video will run in synch all day long.
The Exorcist is not brilliant quality - turned a little brown over the years - but it wasn't bad in its day and still looks pretty good on my HTI (extremely bright) GS1200. I re-recorded it into stereo about 18 months ago. That was something I'd been wanting to do for a long time but never had the time.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 thanks for the reply John. I of course wouldn’t ask you to show the film itself not too much that you wold get a copyright strike from RUclips but maybe you could do an Exorcist review and talk about the different formats you have like you have done with Halloween and Phantasm? Keep up the good work thank you.
@@rkashby78 I'm more concerned about the wrath of a major film distributor than a RUclips copyright strike but what I hope to do with The Exorcist one day soon is a 4K review which will also include the Super 8 releases. The original trailer was issued on Super 8 in America back in the late 1970s but I've sadly never come across a copy. That would have been ideal.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 thanks John, yes I am eagerly awaiting a 4K release of The Exorcist myself! I hope they put both versions out like they did with the 40th anniversary Blu Ray, I think the theatrical version was better than the extended one or “The Version You’ve Never Seen”
@@rkashby78 I'll probably only ever watch the theatrical version. I'm not sure I've ever seen a re-hash that has been better and I do include 'Aliens' and 'The Abyss' in that statement. The extra scenes are interesting as outtakes but it always seems obvious why they took them out to me.
John.
I find it fascinating that I've been collecting movies in various formats since the 80s but I've never come across Super 8 films like this, just the older short reels of cut down films and shows (usually without sound). If you don't mind, what did a set like Alien or The Exorcist cost at the time? Thank you for the great videos.
The Exorcist is a cut down and came on three 400 foot reels that run for about 16 minutes each. I can't recall what we paid for that but usually each 400ft reel of big releases was £29.95 so it was probably just short of £90. The 400ft cut down of Alien was £29.95 but when the feature was released in 1991 it was £299. The Exorcist also had a cut down of 18 minutes on a 400ft reel and that reel had about five minutes of the film that wasn't in the 3x400ft version so it was possible to make a more complete version of the film and that added a lot of interest to the film collecting hobby. Today we take it for granted that complete films can be purchased for projection in the home on disc for very little outlay but back in the 1970s and the 1980s there really wasn't any alternative to Super 8. VHS and LaserDisc were great but the image quality couldn't compare and you were restricted to the telly to watch them on. We projected Super 8 as big as we could and still do to this day.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thank you, John. I appreciate the detailed info. You have a fantastic collection. I think the longest reel I've ever projected was of my own 8 minute film that I shot in the 90s and edited on a plastic Kodak tape splicer. It was cool to see it on a large screen. Cheers!
@@damianp564 I'm still doing all that sort of thing Damian and there really isn't anything else quite like it. I've just ordered the 4K discs for Predator and Star Wars so should make for a couple of fun review videos in the near future. Well, a good excuse to tell a few people about the best way to have been viewing movies at home until Blu-ray came along and video projection was finally good enough.
oh - any david lean films on deck? am curious to see how well his films have been transferred to hdr bluray... and maybe some akira kurosawa films? RAN would be the no-brainer along with DREAMS. although i would be interested if older black and white films like rashomon gain anything from a 4k transfer.
I suppose a lot depends on the quality of the film stock they used back then Jin. Super 8 also had part of the gate formed by the cartridge which means it was plastic so not the best solution they could have come up with. Standard 8mm had the advantage there so if either of these chaps (Lean and Kurosawa) were shooting 8mm then their films may actually look better owing to the superior gate and in spite of the smaller picture area.
Wonderful video! Another Super 8/16mm film fan here. As I mentioned in an earlier comment, I owned several of the Derann package movies. Definitely the very best ever made. I also have seen a lot of 16mm prints - and owned a few - and most were of mediorce image quality since they were made from 35mm prints (through a 16mm negative), whereas the top Derann fims were made from the original intermediate, two generations lower (also through a 16mm negative). I would LOVE to know what happened to the Derann 16mm negatives. If you strike 16mm contact prints from these, it will be of fantastic quality.
Nowadays I am into shooting on Super 16, which is somehow affordable with old modified all-mechanical cameras. It needs a lot of love and dedication, but the final result is absolutely stunning, even more so with modern film stocks. Thanks for sharing!
(Edited for typing errors).
As far as I know, all the Derann negatives were kept at Film Lab North which means they no longer survive. A lot of the Kempski negatives were there too as Derann bought Kempski out about 1991. Lone Wolf too now that I think about it. It's terribly sad but all that magic has been destroyed by now. But Super 8 is surviving thanks to Andec Lab in Germany and people like Phil and Denise Sheard at Classic Home Cinema. If Kodak finally make progress with their new camera we may see a bit of a resurgence.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thanks for the reply. I agree: Andec Lab does impeccable work. I had rolls of Super 16 processed there and the results are top notch. I would also like to point out Gauge Film, located at Dudley, West Midlands (no coincidence at all BTW). They do fantastic, affordable hand processing and scanning of 8mm, Super 8 and 16mm. Unfortunately now only inside the UK. No affiliation with any of the above.
@@truefilm6991 Well, well - I knew nothing of Gauge Film so just maybe I'll be able to use them for Super 8 one day soon.
@@moviecollector5920 Very happy I was able to point you to Gauge Film. Kevin Timmins is a great guy. You also might want to join the wonderful folks an the Facebook Group "8mm and 16mm filmmakers group: For Filmmakers who Shoot on Film".
Lots of great information there and people willing to share everything they know about the easiest and most affordable way to shooting on film, both as a hobby and on a pro level.
I am have no affiliation to any of the above, just trying to inspire fellow film enthusiasts.
You have a mirror ball in your cinema, by any chance did you visit the Odeon Bradford in early 1978 to see Star Wars?
Star Wars and the mirror ball effect have become etched in the memory’s of tens of thousands of Bradfordians who visited the Odeon to see that film.... in fact it has now achieved legendary status in these parts, all down to projectionist extraordinaire Tony Cutts. I immediately thought wow you could re create Tony’s effect in your home cinema If you show the Derann scope Star Wars.
Sounds interesting. I suppose he created a star field around the cinema with a spotlight or the beam of the projector? I think my mirror ball is a little too high for something similar from the Super 8 projector but yes, I do have a couple of prints of the Derann Star Wars feature.
I remember when that new super 8 camera was announced I tried hard to get one but couldn’t get one down in Texas easily for a reasonable price. Never saw one again in person shortly after seeing the one. Shame these aren’t more widely produced.
Most people just gave up due to the price point and with how films like Unsane are shot completely on iPhones they became the new super 8.
If I could buy one film on actual film I would want 2001. It is easily my most watched film from when I was baby to now.
If that new camera does finally get produced I think I'll be taking the plunge if it's at all viable. I would dearly love to get back into filming true film for important family events.
I do have 2001 A Space Odyssey on Super 8 but I expect you've already seen that in my 2001 4K review. It's the CineaVision full length release and it was never particularly good. But I have watched it probably more times than any other feature simply because you just look at it, you don't really watch 2001.
John.
Some of you will know that name...
Happy childhood memories, thanx!
J.J. Abrams. All the best film makers started with Super 8.... snort!
Very interesting video as always John. Loved the sneak peak into some of the equipment you have. Do you think it'll be long before all movies become digital only? In terms of filming and release (streaming)
I bloody well hope not Darren! Movies used to look so much better but I suppose I was living in the West End of London so I saw all the premiere prints. To me they largely look fake these days but a lot of that is down to 2K projection in cinemas I suppose.
@@moviecollector5920 I'm sure this is a stupid question... but are you saying they essentially use blu ray quality media at cinema's? It's a really interesting journey seeing your passion for film
@@KeepYaHeadUpTS Cinemas download a master file from the distributor and it goes on a RAID, or at least that's how it was being done back in 2005/6 when it was first being introduced. It is not a Blu-ray but it must still be compressed to a certain degree. As most of the videos screened in cinemas are 2K they are essentially Blu-ray quality but for those with 4K projectors (about half the cinemas I believe) then the films that are genuine 4K will benefit and those that aren't will be upscaled. Essentially it's what we do at home but our home video projectors aren't as expensive (i.e. single chip DLP unless you've got a D-ILA I suppose) and therefore not quite as good.
Bring back film to cinemas so we can all enjoy the best quality available - and most notably, 70mm.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 that's genuinely really interesting. I'd just assume due to the quality and expense of their projectors, cinema's had a much better quality than what's available to us ordinary folk. I love the idea of bringing back film. I wish sometimes we could go back in time and experience cinema like they did when Star Wars etc started hitting screens
@@KeepYaHeadUpTS The 1950s saw the giant screen extravaganzas (The Ten Commandments in VistaVision for example) due to the new competition in the form of television. Cinema survived the onslaught but I fear for it now. Star Wars at the Odeon Marble Arch would have been the ultimate experience because that great cinema (now demolished!) had D150 projection which meant a big curved screen similar to Cinerama and Star Wars was projected that way. Must have looked amazing.
John.
Love you 8mm Collecshon
Thank you Matthew. It's quite unique in today's world.
@@moviecollector5920 yes really cool. Gutted TV just brock only had 1y
Ah perfect!
Glad you like it.
John.
Lovely presentation. Do you have The Terminator in Super 8 and if so could you please do a review. I would like to see you also do a review of the blu ray. Thank you.
I did mention The Terminator on Super 8 in the Dark Fate review Gurdip so if you haven't stumbled across that one I think you might enjoy it. Also Terminator 2: Judgment Day which I think we see a bit more of in that video. Both films had 35mm prints as the original source rather than a studio negative but even so, they are both pretty darned good. I haven't seen either of them on Blu-ray as a result of having them in such great quality on Super 8 film. Somehow, video just doesn't have quite the same appeal as a film print.
John.
All Agfa Super 8 (as I am sure you know) was really more like Kodak's Ektachrome, with al the color in one strip, while sadly discontinued Kodachrome (love your excellent description) was superior to both. Though different, I like the color on both. Early Agfa Super 8 used exclusive Agfa chemicals (including possibly that Technicolor Super 8 cartridge in your great Canon camera,) then when they switched to Kodak E6 chemicals after 1980, they had a mold issue for many years until 1986. E6 is still used for slide and projected reversal color film today. Too bad Agfa got out of the business by the mid-1990s. Love their color too and as much as Kodak and Fuji.
My brother and I shot eight reels of Agfa in 1980 on a road trip to the South of France. It had wonderful image quality but the last time I saw it, which was many years ago as my brother purchased all the film and so has kept it (I hope!), it had started to fade. I'm going through quite a few of my old Universal 8 and Ken Films cut downs at the moment and most of them are fading now. Marketing Films and Walton Films seem to be holding up the best from the old days but post 1982, they're all on low fade so very few problems. Kodachrome reels I shot all still look like they were filmed yesterday.
The Canon camera should be going in for a bit of repair work and then hopefully I'll get it back into action. It's expensive to shoot and then process Super 8 now though so I won't be shooting ten or twelve reels of anything like I used to.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Since that Agfa was from the late 1970s, maybe that is why they switched to Kodak chemicals, but there was a test of movie film sticks and how well they held up. When it came to color negative, Fuji held up best, then Kodak and despite those amazing colors, Agfa lasted the least. I wonder if it is because they used more organic (vegetable) dyes? Though the new German plant was torn down by the later 1990s, they still make film in their Belgian Gevaert plant. Canon Super 8 cameras are considered some of the best ever built and most sought after and, unlike all-plastic Kodak models, at least they can be fixed. So many Super 8 and even Single 8 cameras were not built to last and I have several now that hold up and a few that eventually broke and died beyond repair. Hope you get to shoot the new Ektachrome 100 daylight stock, as it looks good. I shot a cartridge of Fuji T64 cut for a Single 8 cartridge. It got stuck, but the images that did take looked outstanding and companies like Pro8mm did cut some other acetate Fuji for Super 8 cartridges, which sold out quickly.
very informative i own an elmo st180 m super 8 projector but sadly the motor has given up the ghost can you please point me in the direction of possible repair?
Are you in the UK Derek?
@@moviecollector5920 yes ime in Doncaster.i have the ten commandments on 4k for this weekend .will be watching on my benq onto an 8x6ft screen . ime a huge Alien fan too having seen it back in 79.
@@dereklowndes5818 You'll find my email on the contact page of bfcc.biz Derek. I'll then see if Bill Parsons is still doing a few projector repairs. John White may also still be around but whatever, we'll find someone to get it sorted.
You're going to love the quality of The Ten Commandments. The Technicolor is the best I've seen so far. Spartacus is slightly sharper but not quite such rich colour. Murder on the Orient Express is still in a league of its own though.
many thanks will do
Can you please show the film of brooklands ant Leman's in 1935? I'm a massive car enthusiast, cars where and still are my first love.
Those 16mm films are actually 1930 William. I have never seen such a comprehensive film of the Brooklands track so it's really quite interesting. They belong to a colleague in the Standard-Triumph car clubs and we're probably going to get together soon whereupon we'll hopefully discuss and decide what to do with them. We had plans 18 months ago but that all went to hell. Take a look at www.triumphdvd.co.uk and you'll see what I've been doing for the past 15 years. John.
5:16
"...In mid air..."?
How does that work? Mackenzie Rough has a channel where he shows in detail how he captures his home movies. and he has some great British Cinema and TV adverts on show too.
I still have a Canon Super 8 silent camera and projector that a work collegue who was emigrating to Austrailia gave me about 30 years ago, as he knew I am a film buff.
They still work!
The projected image is focused to a point in mid-air thanks to the lenses in the multiplexer unit. The video camera then focuses on that mid-air projected image and voila, a beautiful transfer... providing everything is aligned completely flat that is. Many people and companies who claim to transfer home movies professionally just project the films onto a wall and point a camera at the image. The results are rarely very good but as long as they've locked the speed at 16.66 frames per second there shouldn't be any visible flicker to the finished product.
Canon produced some of the finest Super 8 cameras. If yours is an 814 or 1014 then you have one of the best ever produced. John.
@@moviecollector5920
I have the 318 model. The ones you mentioned look very professional in comparison! But the 318 was / is a good starter camera, with auto and manual zoom, and a socket for a cable remote. So I used to have fun making some animated movies, waiting the 3 weeks for Kodak to return the processed film, then watching it.
@@bobrew461 That's a good camera. Kodak used to get the processed films back in about four days when the lab was still running at Hemel Hempstead. Those were exciting times waiting for your films to come back. Can't imagine people being patient enough these days though.
John could I ask a question, before London after Midnight 1927 was destroyed in the fire in 1965 or 67 not quite sure on the year, would it have been on 16mm or 8mm. Would be great if you could get back to me, thanks John. 👍
I'm not sure 8mm was around then but even if it was, the quality of film back then would not have been what it was in later years so 16mm is much more likely anyway. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thanks John, appreciate that, I'll go with that. 👍
Hi John what super 8 projector do you recommend
It depends what you want to do with Super 8 really Andrew. Probably the best workhorse is an Elmo ST1200 and if you get an ST1200HD (I think that's the correct model name) then it has twin track sound which can be run out to an amplifier then you'll have stereo sound capability. See what Barry at Independent 8 currently has in stock (you'll find the latest Independent 8 sales lists on www.bfcc.biz) and also take a look at Classic Home Cinema at www.classichomecinema.co.uk/miscellaneous-equipment which will take you straight to their equipment page with plenty of Super 8 projectors on offer.
John.
Hi. Many years ago I had some extremely valuable to me super 8 graded and transferred to DV tapes by the BBC. They were kind enough to let me into the telecine studio and fell over themselves to look after me once the realised what the film meant to me. I cannot speak too highly of the care I had. BobUK
By contrast, I have only had trouble with the BBC but I won't go into details and it was nothing to do with anything Super 8. I did help them with a couple of home movie productions over the years but I never volunteered any of my own material. They do have the best possible cine transfer equipment so I expect you got top-notch transfers from them.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Hi John, they were films of my late wife and dated from very early 1980's. After I mentioned that in passing the guy grading knocked 10% off his booked time and then his boss wandered in and knocked another 10% off the hourly cost. There were films from Goa and Mombassa. The Beeb made her walk for me again. It was fascinating sitting there and watching the grading being done. I could provide some recollection of the colours for what were sadly very faded film. Occasionally I'd even remembered to turn the sound recording on ....Still got the camera, it is/was a Canon XL 1014 XL-S. The film price was a killer back then, now of course I wish I had filmed more. There's a lesson there. Keep up the good work, this is a really interesting channel. BobUK.
@@bobuk5722 My own camera is a Canon 814 Robert. I have another later version of that camera but it wasn't as good. Sound on Super 8 really needed a microphone well away from the camera to make it good but nowadays when you see anything sound from Super 8 it really doesn't matter if you can hear the noise of the camera because it's just so magical. It's wonderful that you've got film of your wife in Goa and Mombassa - absolutely priceless. Great to have had them transferred by the BBC too. It seems that you didn't shoot on Kodachrome though otherwise it would not have faded so let that be a lesson to you!!! Today, all the film stock available for Super 8 cameras is low fade so although it's a shame Kodachrome no longer exists the new Vision T stocks are supposed to be almost as good.
A lovely story Bob. I'd like to see those films myself one day because I love those unique, happy, family home movies.
John.
How much did super 8's and 35mm films even cost?
Super 8 camera stock was quite affordable when it was mass-market but package home movies were always expensive. 35mm was never a home movie format so big studios handled all the costs and distribution of the prints to cinemas. Fortunately we still have a few cinemas here in the UK that screen real film so there is hope that things will get better again. Kenneth Branagh's Death on the Nile will be out in 70mm this October so that should pique a bit of interest in how good film really is.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Much appreciated John!
I have the same camera as from your friend (second hand buy). But I don't use it.
I hope to get mine back into use soon Pero. Haven't used it in any productions since 2010 I think so I hope it's still going to be okay. These cameras are great for stop motion but it might work out a little too expensive for the Apollo 11 effects shots you still need to get. One thing is for sure though, the film image would suit the project.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Yes it would. For the movie i use one very good Sony RX10 II, digital "bridge" camera.
@@moviecollector5920 They are great!
Another great video, love your channel and sorry some idiot trolled you 👍
Thank you Stu. The trolls are quite regular but I just remove the comments which makes them rather pointless really.
John.
Don't worry about the trolls. I have a nostalgia channel where I share things recorded from TV in the 80's . Some people ask if I recorded them with a " toaster " , I just laugh. Last year i bought the infamous Bell & Howell Zoomatic 8mm "Director's Series camera. Sadly it doesn't work. Cleaned it up and now displaying with my dvds.
I don't let trolls bother me. Sometimes I embarrass them with a reply that makes them look the idiots they are but most of the time I just delete the comment. Shame about that 8mm camera but they're largely just ornaments now anyway owing to the cost of film stock and processing. I'd like to be able to use my Canon 814 again but I've got to wait and see if Kodak get something available that's more affordable before that will ever happen. John.
@@moviecollector5920 I know I wont give up tough. I will try to find someone who can fix it. John, I know it is a bit cheeky to ask but any plans to review Basic Instinct and the Wizard of Oz? I ordered Basic Instinct steelbook from Germany but they cant dispatch it due to availability. read some mix reviews of the Wizard of Oz so hesitating to get it on 4K. I was wondering your thought on them. Regards , Mutlu.
@@nasilgezdim I don't think I'll be looking at Basic Instinct for a while as I'm not really that keen on all the sex even though I do like the film. When it's a little cheaper I think I'll give it a go. But Wizard of Oz should be a top quality 4K release because the CAV NTSC LaserDisc was so good. They went back to the Technicolor masters for that and they'll have done the same for the 4K. It should be vibrant and a joy to behold but if not, someone's cocked-up!!!
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thank you very much John.
First here, I think. Thank you for the new video!
Have a gold star for being first Lenny!
Castle films were good too.
Agreed. Some of the work Castle did was unthinkable today; their own productions issued and selling well on 8mm... incredible. They lost something in the change to Universal 8 but things had moved on by then as they always do. Still plenty of great titles, just perhaps not such good picture quality or film stock though. John.
Your lucky that your childhood memories where recorded to film by your father, mine are all on VHS, yuck...
Super 8 was the only option when I was that age William otherwise I expect my dad would have used video too. I hope you've had the tapes transferred onto something else by now but if not, now is the time before they no longer work at all. John.
@@moviecollector5920 I really need to get them transferred, I have tons of them.
@@Edward135i A device that translates a video output or S-VHS output to USB into a PC should do the trick.
John.