SUPER-8 Filmmaking: The
Original Do-It-Yourself Format
by Aubrey Singer (Jan-01-1998)
What was once considered a format for the '60s "home-movie" craze is enjoying a sudden resurgence in the professional film community. Super-8 is back and carving a new niche at the forefront of cinematic photography. The reason is simple: because it's film.
Texture -- the single most defining characteristic of film -- is epitomized in Super-8. The grain structure, color saturation, and the sometimes total lack of control over exposure and film latitude can altogether result in serendipitous moments of cinematic brilliance that would cost thousands to consciously attempt with an Arri 535, DaVinci color correction and Power Windows. Regress to double-8, and you can achieve surreal moments that ride the fine line between beautiful and bewildering.
Not only is Super-8 a great cinematic format unto itself, it's the best way to learn and respect the process of filmmaking because it's filmmaking in its purest form. It's a great learning format not because it's easy, but because it isn't. It just looks easy. The equipment is easy to use but unlike video, isn't idiot-proof. To get a great exposure, you have to think on your feet. The film stock isn't tolerant of laziness or a bad eye, and the margin for error is much greater than shooting on 35mm. By choosing your subject matter carefully, the finished, edited product, though more expensive than video, will be something to cherish and hang onto. You could even enter it in film festivals if you so desire. Then, once you're making great-looking Super-8 films, you'll make great-looking 16 and 35mm films out of instinct. In fact, on every 35mm shoot, I bring a Super-8 camera and experiment, learning every time.
Probably nothing new but nice reading anyway.