What major theatrical feature would YOU have shot on S8?

Post by **mattias** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 11:21 pm

sunrise wrote:Did you guys notice that Anthony Dod Mantle is on the credits of most of the films you have mentioned?

i did actually. interesting indeed.

/matt

Post by **gliptitude** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 11:37 pm

this is an interesting recreational question, which films could/should be super8. personally, i'm more into regular 8mm because (1) i adore the clockwork camera and (2) i prefer film on rolls to film in cartridges. before i "blah blah", here are my submissions:

1. testament of dr. mabuse

2. ingmar bergman's PERSONA (the reduction in resolution will be directly proportional to an increase in relevence for today's hyperactive ironical teen/corporate culture. if you think about it, you could maybe project it super8 with subtitles at a party, but it would be way too imposing in a larger format)

3. all televised boxing matches and wrestling matches (i realize this is technologically impossable in the live broadcast)

4. every televised appearance of george w. (particularly his recent state of the union, which i did not watch but did listen to on the radio. without the visuals, the sound evoked a scene straight out of david lynch's DUNE.)

5. the ten commandments

6. the oscars

7. law and order

if you're still reading my post at this point maybe you are interested or bored, so...

i have to disagree with everybody about festen/the celebration, on two counts. (1) it is not ugly, it is visually revolutionary (the savage video medium only improves the presentation) and (2) it could/should not possably have been filmed in super8 without sacrificing the pace and some of the fundamental aspects of the film (naturalistic feeling, indoor shooting w/only natural light, complete mobility subject to light and intimate low-action scenes, etc.) this is a very un-romantic film. super8 color stocks are often cherished for their saturated colors which evoke memories of endless summers, johnny's first haircut, "kodak moments" etc., but festen so appropriately uses corpse-like video images and would be a completely different film if saturated. i think dogme 95 has rules forbidding post production sound also?

realistically it's probably pretty impractical to film a contemporary commercial film in super8, for projection in a cineplex. but tons and tons of movies would look good in small format projected in some kind of mini cinema or parlor cinema or motion picture arcade. i think visually dramatic subjects like westerns, horror, sci-fi, adventure, musicals and epic films would be best. how 'bout LORD OF THE RINGS? huge landscapes like these lend themselves to grandiose, detailed pictures; but the contrasty, dynamic compositions are as accessable to small format filming as any other subject.

on planet earth such monumental, special effects laden films will always only be shot on the most sophisticated equipment.

Post by **mattias** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 12:55 am

gliptitude wrote:i have to disagree with everybody about festen/the celebration, on two counts. (1) it is not ugly, it is visually revolutionary (the savage video medium only improves the presentation)

it would have been just as revolutionary had it been shot in the same style but on super 8, which is what i/we meant. it wouldn't have looked romantic or "nice", but pretty much the same but "better". it's a fact that it is ugly, and i don't mean that it looks like video or that it's not sharp, that's part of the beauty, but that some scenes have horrible digital artifacts that take you out of the story. if you think we're suggesting kodachrome colors and good exposure, you're so mistaken, at least as far as what i had in mind is concerned. i was suggesting this movie because it almost looks like super 8 already, not because i don't like the look.

and (2) it could/should not possably have been filmed in super8 without sacrificing the pace and some of the fundamental aspects of the film

sure it could. switching carts takes no time, and there are film stocks that work just as well as video in available light situations. and remember that they *were* actually planning on shooting it in super 8.

/matt

Post by **beatnik326** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 2:10 am

paul wrote:
maybe he should have shot "coffee and cigarettes" on super8. then i'd have something to say about it besides "hated it".
He did shoot some of the films on super 8. I didn't like all of them either. although I found some of them quite good.

I did find some of the shorts on the larger formats quite a relief in terms of image quality.

Paul

Jarmusch didn't shoot any of "Coffee and Cigarettes" on Super 8. It was all 16mm and 35mm. He did work with Super 8 on his Neil Young film, "Year of the Horse."

As for the merits of C&C, I loved it, but I'm a deep admirer of Jarmusch's work. He's also a damn nice guy, as I've had the chance to meet him twice (once in Chicago after a Q&A and last year at SxSW in Austin). Anyway, if you're interested, Jonathan Rosenbaum's review of C&C is quite insightful.

Post by **ccortez** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 4:19 am

beatnik326 wrote:
paul wrote:
maybe he should have shot "coffee and cigarettes" on super8. then i'd have something to say about it besides "hated it".
He did shoot some of the films on super 8. I didn't like all of them either. although I found some of them quite good.

I did find some of the shorts on the larger formats quite a relief in terms of image quality.

Paul
Jarmusch didn't shoot any of "Coffee and Cigarettes" on Super 8. It was all 16mm and 35mm. He did work with Super 8 on his Neil Young film, "Year of the Horse."

As for the merits of C&C, I loved it, but I'm a deep admirer of Jarmusch's work. He's also a damn nice guy, as I've had the chance to meet him twice (once in Chicago after a Q&A and last year at SxSW in Austin). Anyway, if you're interested, Jonathan Rosenbaum's review of C&C is quite insightful.

Nice guy, yes. And lots of his earlier work I do like.

SxSW last year he passed out on my studio neighbor Billy's couch after a very long night of events. Billy has Obsolete Industries (http://www.obsolete-inc.com), which does screen printing for all the punk celebs here in Austin. And they have pretty great parties. So JJ is one of the primary motivations for our plans for "24 Hour Billy" -- our doco following Billy and his screen-printing droogies 24x7 during all of SxSW. B/c we all kick ourselves for not having cameras rolling that night for some very strange and hilarious interactions. We'll see if we actually get around to filming that this year; I'm not sure I have the stamina for that kind of thing anymore... ;)

(Yes, this has been another installment of "name-dropping moments" with your host, ccortez.)

c.

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 7:35 am

Clerks.

Post by **Actor** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 1:39 am

Hamlet

Either Mel Gibson or Kenneth Branaugh, As You Like It.

Post by **MovieStuff** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 1:53 am

"Mean Streets" in Ektachrome

"Paper Moon" in Plus-X

"China Town" in Super 8 color neg

"Apocalypse Now" in regular 8mm Kodachrome

"Rocky" in Tri-X

-----------------------------

Roger

Post by **timdrage** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 2:09 am

"Apocalypse Now" in regular 8mm Kodachrome

That would be beautiful! I'd love to see crazily epic stuff shot on super or standard 8...

Post by **marc** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 5:45 am

None. But thanks for asking.

Post by **thebrowniecameraguy** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 6:37 am

Moonstruck In 16mm Ektachrome including the night shots. With a crap load Amber,Green,Blue gelled light. But, I would have to have the sun in each shot to do it in Kodachrome 40.

You've Got Mail In Regular 8mm Kodachrome and some Ektachrome.

Last Action Hero In Super 8 and Regular 8mm Kodachrome.

JFK In Kodachrome II regular 8mm, its just self explanatory.

Singin' In The Rain In regular 8mm Ektachrome with the very well lit Kodachrome 40 for the actual Gene Kelly 'Singing in the Rain' scene. I want the rain drops to sparkle with rainbows in the grainy saturated Kodachrome style.

Was it supposed to be just 1, in only Super 8? :roll:

Jordan

Post by **onsuper8** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 9:44 am

If anyone gets the chance check out Derek Jarman's masterpiece 'The Garden', shot largely on Super8. Really shows what can be done with the medium from an artistic rather than technical point of view, the subject matter may not be to most/many people's sensibilities but its beautiful nonetheless.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099634/

YouTube · Post by **wahiba** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 9:24 am

I have just watched the War Game a BBC TV film shot in b&w, probably 16mm. It could have been shot in regular 8mm and still have been good.

Only 45 min,it was made for TV and then banned so ended up on the big screen. Years since I watched it, but it must be still the best 'what happens if the bomb drops' film ever made.

What actually makes it even worse was the fact that I lived in the target zone depicted.

Post by **Alastair** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:03 am

Well, if I were Aleksandr Sokurov, I'd have chosen super-8 for Russian Ark: now that would have been a challenge.

Alastair

Post by **beatnik326** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:36 am

I just saw the newish Danish film "Reconstruction" by Christoffer Boe. It definitely could have been shot on Super 8. Much of it is really grainy with saturated color. Doesn't look like 35mm at all. I didn't care much for the film, but it is quite nice to look at in parts.