Cinemagic
Moderator: Andreas Wideroe
-
Super8rules
- Posts: 184
- Joined: Fri May 23, 2003 9:40 am
- Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Contact:
I subscribed to Cinemagic when it first came out and I still have every copy. It is still the best Super-8 how-to mag ever published. To this day, 25 years later, I can read those issues over and over and still get excited like I did when I was a teenager. I even have copies of Don Dohlers original Cinemagic (before it was taken over by Starlog).
What a great find on Ebay.
What a great find on Ebay.
-
super8man
- Senior member
- Posts: 3980
- Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2003 11:51 pm
- Real name: Michael Nyberg
- Location: The Golden State
- Contact:
I own all but four issues of SUPER8FILMAKER magazine...Like you have said, if you are into film and small format movie making, these are the best mags out there. Now, if only I could find issue 1,2,3 and 5 of the first volume I would be set. By the way, I also have the first 7 issues of MOVING IMAGES, however they are a very poor substitute of a magazine that the super8filmaker mag turned into once it caved in to video...
The few copies I have seen of cinemagic looked great by comparison.
The few copies I have seen of cinemagic looked great by comparison.
My website - check it out...
http://super8man.filmshooting.com/
http://super8man.filmshooting.com/
Cinemagic was a great part of my early teenage years when I got my first Super-8 camera. My favorite section was called "Producers Bulletin Board" where they listed films made by the readers. They would describe what the film was about, the special effects it had, the format. It was inspiring.
I wanted to have a film in there (and also in a festival) but I just didn't have enough experience. I had no crew. I didn't know how to write a script. I had NO money...
But worst of all I had my aspirations set too high. I wanted to make a film called "Metamorphasis" which would basically be time lapse images of clouds going by and flowers opening, etc. But my camera didn't have an intervalometer (I didn't even know they existed), so I just positioned my Canon 310XL on a tripod next to a potted plant my mom had, and I took a single frame every hour or so, even throughout a weekend night!........ What I ended up with was NOT the beautiful, smooth transition of a flower opening.....but instead a clunky, jarred image of a flower opening and CLOSING (I had no ideas flowers closed as well).....it was certainly not acceptable by anyone's standards!......(at least I knew that though! - thank goodness)..
I think what Cinemagic readers needed was a little advice about what the difference was between their DREAMS and the REALITY of what they could create with the resources and the knowledge they had (sort of like the panel of judges on American Idol).
But this DID eventually happen...... I remember reading in one of the issues after a recent Cinemagic Film contest.....it was the Editor page I think......well, the editor was also one of the judges of the film contest. He came down pretty hard on many of the filmmakers....he said stuff like "we don't need to see any more 13 year old actors portraying rocket scientists" and such. It was pretty brutal for any wanna be 13 year old George Lucas's, but it was a necessary evil I think......
Ah, those were the days...........
Tod
I wanted to have a film in there (and also in a festival) but I just didn't have enough experience. I had no crew. I didn't know how to write a script. I had NO money...
But worst of all I had my aspirations set too high. I wanted to make a film called "Metamorphasis" which would basically be time lapse images of clouds going by and flowers opening, etc. But my camera didn't have an intervalometer (I didn't even know they existed), so I just positioned my Canon 310XL on a tripod next to a potted plant my mom had, and I took a single frame every hour or so, even throughout a weekend night!........ What I ended up with was NOT the beautiful, smooth transition of a flower opening.....but instead a clunky, jarred image of a flower opening and CLOSING (I had no ideas flowers closed as well).....it was certainly not acceptable by anyone's standards!......(at least I knew that though! - thank goodness)..
I think what Cinemagic readers needed was a little advice about what the difference was between their DREAMS and the REALITY of what they could create with the resources and the knowledge they had (sort of like the panel of judges on American Idol).
But this DID eventually happen...... I remember reading in one of the issues after a recent Cinemagic Film contest.....it was the Editor page I think......well, the editor was also one of the judges of the film contest. He came down pretty hard on many of the filmmakers....he said stuff like "we don't need to see any more 13 year old actors portraying rocket scientists" and such. It was pretty brutal for any wanna be 13 year old George Lucas's, but it was a necessary evil I think......
Ah, those were the days...........
Tod
-
Super8rules
- Posts: 184
- Joined: Fri May 23, 2003 9:40 am
- Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Contact:
Tod,
Sounds like we lived parallel lives! I remember that editorial you mention.
A lot of the people who were featured in Cinemagic can be found over at stopmotionanimation.com
I remember in issue 3, a fellow by the name of Justin Kohn wrote a letter describing his new Allosaurus armature. They even posted a pic of it. Animation was my love so I wrote a letter too him asking how me made his armature. Not long after I receive a handwritten indepth how-to manual by Justin, complete with eloborate handdrawn pics!! I was floored! I used that for many years making my own armatures.
Well, when I stumbled upon stopmotionanimation.com, I asked the animators if Justin Kohn was in the business and low and behold, he did make it as an animator!! He even posted on the site! So after 25 years, I was able to thank him!
Ahh....the memories!
Sounds like we lived parallel lives! I remember that editorial you mention.
A lot of the people who were featured in Cinemagic can be found over at stopmotionanimation.com
I remember in issue 3, a fellow by the name of Justin Kohn wrote a letter describing his new Allosaurus armature. They even posted a pic of it. Animation was my love so I wrote a letter too him asking how me made his armature. Not long after I receive a handwritten indepth how-to manual by Justin, complete with eloborate handdrawn pics!! I was floored! I used that for many years making my own armatures.
Well, when I stumbled upon stopmotionanimation.com, I asked the animators if Justin Kohn was in the business and low and behold, he did make it as an animator!! He even posted on the site! So after 25 years, I was able to thank him!
Ahh....the memories!
Ha, this is so weird! It's really fun to see people remembering this magazine! I also still have a lot of my original Cinemagic magazines, and it did and still does get me revved up about super 8! this was a wonderful magazine to have around when I was young, to fire up the imaginations of budding filmmakers! So much fun, and yes, ah, those were the days!