50 years ago we were more adventurous?

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AN

50 years ago we were more adventurous?

Post by AN »

As an Ex film bod, I always read the magazine ACE (film only) just to know
what is going on in the amateur 'film' world.
All the Ten Films this year were documentaries and a judge said it was a
pity there were no story films, altho they were more difficult to make.


So I've just looked back to the Ten Best winners of 50 years
ago! There were only 4 documentaries. 2 animation(by the Grasshopper Group).
One comedy. One spine chiller! One story and one drama.
So are film makers these days (video too?) getting less adventurous than
their counterparts of 50 years ago?
Albert....
Cinema For Thurso Group

Re: 50 years ago we were more adventurous?

Post by Cinema For Thurso Group »

Well Albert, you are very right. We at CFT do believe amateur film and video
makers are far less adventurous these days. Although one must commend groups
such as Channel 7 who really pull out the stops on their projects.
Cinema For Thurso are very adventurous and we are having a ball with our
current work even though it is subject to schedule delays. The team are dedicated
and are anxious to see the final production because we have broken ground
on this one (see our iac web-page). There were things required for the film
that just couldn't be done until recently- little things like the 20ft Troll,
Fairy lights flying around our locations and a Sprite firing lightning bolts
not to mention a raging inferno blasting through a forrest.
We are producing all these things on super 8mm in cinemascope as well, understandably
we are very excited by what CFT is achieving in amateur film.
One of our members has written a piece on the process we are using and you
might be excited to here that you all probly have the means to do the same.
It's not technically perfect but we aren't worried about that because the
effects are amazing as amateur film goes.
Anyway CFT will let you all know about it soon and in spite of its imperfections
we are sure you will be pleasantly surprised.
AN

Re: 50 years ago we were more adventurous?

Post by AN »

"Cinema For Thurso Group" <canuimagine@btopenworld.com> wrote:
Well Albert, you are very right.
I'm glad we agree on something Maya. :-)

There were things required for the film
that just couldn't be done until recently- little things like the 20ft Troll,
Fairy lights flying around our locations and a Sprite firing lightning bolts
not to mention a raging inferno blasting through a forrest.
We are producing all these things on super 8mm in cinemascope as well
Now without wishing to upset you in any way Mayo, dare I suggest that as
video gives one easy Montages/colour changes,balance/Travelling Mattes/Superimpositions/easy
transitions etc etc that your type of work be better done on that medium
instead of the restrictive super 8 medium.....as you said yourself, one chooses
the medium to suite, so how come the choice of film for this adventure rather
than wider ranging video? I am not trying to start a film/video war, which
is pointless, (something else we both agree on!), but just wondering why
film is still used by amateurs, especially for the unusual productions you
are engaged in.
Maybe you can enlighten me/us.
Albert....in the dark.
Cinema For Thurso Group

Re: 50 years ago we were more adventurous?

Post by Cinema For Thurso Group »

Well Albert we don't actually find super 8 restrictive in any way since our
recent effects developemnt and as is, we have always been inovators at CFT
and the film we are currently making is really a cinema subject. CFT finds
itself in a position where "no" is NO LONGER the answer to "can it be done?"
We are working with film because it enables more expanded color depth and
handles harsh lightning contrasts far better than video which tends to over
energise light areas of picture. Caithness has an astounding light range
which many artists and photographers have found to be inspirational to their
work, indeed in film terms we are served with virtually zero flat light.
The film format also has the huge bonus of being universally compatable for
transfer to other film stocks or to video. We do use video to produce our
films where, generally, it is used for prelimenary edits as stock arrives
back from the labs. Other projects in planning may be done entirely on video
depending, as I said before, on the story content.
We find presenting film far more suitable for large screen where video projection
can loose a bit and it is also cheaper to run the Elmo GS1200 at £25-ish
per lamp as oposed to £250 per lamp for the video projector. I know which
I'd prefer to replace!
Sometimes it can be hard to explain why film is the preffered choice but
it is more than likely subconcious asthetics related to the filmed image
as oposed to an electronic one.
With our effects work we are wanting to learn and in some ways what we do
may be easier on video (traveling mattes) but not impossible on film. There
is an interesting and educational challenge before us and our viewpoint is
that this learning curve could present other inovative ideas in the future.
After all we are simply using a system which was made for something eles
but CFT thought to use it on super 8 with surprising end results. In fact
we spent a lot of our energy on film to such an extent that we have very
little video provision save to say that we have some facilities to cover
this area.
We have 14 super 8 cameras and will be adding more in the near future whilst
video is covered by 2 very old VHS machines and a nice new mini-DV camera.
There is also provision for 35mm stills with 3 cameras one which has a Vivitar
Q-dos 3D lens. We are also served in imaging with 6 anamorphic lenses and
between all of these in conjuction with PC facilities we can produce a fascinting
and very creative range of images. We have variuos means to synch sound to
super 8 such as the ELMO GS machine and we also have video projection and
are on the hunt for a Yashica Samuri half-frame 35mm camera. This small range
of equipment is very versitile for movie production on super 8mm. We certainly
have an adventure in mind.
Maya
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