Shooting in reverse? how?

[sufian]

I searched for forums but couldn't find anything on this. So my question is if anyone would be kind enough to give me an answer :

I just watched the film 'Evol' at straight8.net and have to say it's awesome.

Any idea how it was shot? (for those that havne't seen it, it shows a guy walking like normal, but everyone else around him is walking backwards)I doubt they would have ran the film backwards through the projector since that would be against straight8.net's rules. They must have done it while shooting it. Is there a camera that does that? Or did the open up the film and reversed it and then shot it?

Any info on this would be helpful.

Cheers!

[sunrise]

I don't know excatly how they did it in this film. They did a wonderful job.

But several cameras can shoot in reverse. Some cameras can only do reverse with sound cartridges.

michael

[reedsturtevant]

Nikon R8 and R10 can run in reverse for short shots or maybe he yanked the cartridge and rewound it before each shot w. an EWA or Craven backwinder. I saw only one flash frame and no overlaps so that would be an amazing job of frame counting. Sure would be easier in Single 8

Doesn't look like the trick where you hold the camera upside down then flip the film when you project because I didn't see any mirror image letters on the shop signs...

Anyway, a cute movie! I like the reversed title too

[timdrage]

Yeah, the easiest way (the standard way before digital editing) was to simply film with the camera upside-down and then turn the film around when you edit.

This works for super-8, I've done it several times, but it has drawbacks. With 35mm (or any film with symmetrical perfs, std 16mm, 9.5) you can of course turn the film upside down without flipping it over. But since 8mm has perfs on one side, you have to flip it over, thus everything is mirrored, and also the emulsion is on the other side to the rest of the film which could cause it to be a bit out of focus I suppose.

I guess you could shoot upside down in a mirror! Could be fiddly + mind boggling!

[Taliesin]

In 1968 I used a Honeywell Elmo Dual-Filmatic in single 8 mode and ran the film forward with the lens cap on ( single 8 can do this, Super 8 can not) - then ran the camera in reverse and filmed my friend walking through town backward, the result when projected was everyone and everything else was backward except him. This was done in the spirit of the anti-establisment '60's - 'evol' is a 'get the chick flick' using this same technique.

[kentbulza]

The Fujica ZC1000 also shoots in reverse. The Single-8 cartridge makes it technically easy to run a whole roll in reverse, but most the other cameras have no option of leaving the shutter open during the reversing (even though some, like the 518 SV have power reverse).

[Taqi]

Yeah, the easiest way (the standard way before digital editing) was to simply film with the camera upside-down and then turn the film around when you edit.

This works for super-8, I've done it several times, but it has drawbacks. With 35mm (or any film with symmetrical perfs, std 16mm, 9.5) you can of course turn the film upside down without flipping it over. But since 8mm has perfs on one side, you have to flip it over, thus everything is mirrored, and also the emulsion is on the other side to the rest of the film which could cause it to be a bit out of focus I suppose.

I guess you could shoot upside down in a mirror! Could be fiddly + mind boggling!

Oldest trick in the book..

This is exactly how the guy shot his straight 8 film: you'll see there's one sequence which is upside down - presumably for that shot they forgot to to turn the camera upside down. And if you look carefully you'll see some of the shop signs are reversed....

Now I thought straight 8 was supposed to be projected straight off the reel as it was shot in camera. For this film they must have respooled the film the other way up / reversed. Looks like they bent the rules for him....

[jukkasil]

Canon DS8 has full reverse option, I just tested it and exposure meter works also normal way in reverse mode, so you'd shoot even 30,5 meter in reverse mode same time!

Bauer A508/512 and Royal 6/8/10 E-models has also reverse mode you can shoot 90 frames in that way.

[mathis]

This is exactly how the guy shot his straight 8 film: you'll see there's one sequence which is upside down - presumably for that shot they forgot to to turn the camera upside down. And if you look carefully you'll see some of the shop signs are reversed....

Well, look again to the last 30 seconds of the film, big letters say "Shakespeare", not reversed at all.

[Taqi]

Well when I saw it on TV, that pub sign was reversed....... I commented on it to someone watching it with me at the time.... I'll see if I can dig out the video.

Is it possible to flip it in post?

[S8 Booster]

Is it possible to flip it in post?

In DV; Yes.

But, you can do all the reverse stuff as well from ordinary shoots.

R

[Lunar07]

I searched for forums but couldn't find anything on this. So my question is if anyone would be kind enough to give me an answer :

I just watched the film 'Evol' at straight8.net and have to say it's awesome.

Any idea how it was shot? (for those that havne't seen it, it shows a guy walking like normal, but everyone else around him is walking backwards)I doubt they would have ran the film backwards through the projector since that would be against straight8.net's rules. They must have done it while shooting it. Is there a camera that does that? Or did the open up the film and reversed it and then shot it?

Any info on this would be helpful.

Cheers!

Is it possible that the two main actors are the ones who were walking in reverse, then you reverse everything in DV editing.

[MovieStuff]

Is it possible that the two main actors are the ones who were walking in reverse, then you reverse everything in DV editing.

Well, quite obviously the two main actors are walking in reverse. But the issue is that the straight8 rules dictate (I believe) that no digital enhancement or alteration or editing is allowed. So the reversal effect has to be "in camera" during filming. Turning the camera upside down is the easiest way with a super 8 camera but since the resulting type would be reversed, a mirror would need to be employed to correct. The "Shakespear" sign near the end is not reversed, meaning that either a mirror was used during the shoot (very clever) or that single 8 was used and the camera ran in reverse during the filming. In any event, it's a fun video.

Roger

[sufian]

Is it possible that the two main actors are the ones who were walking in reverse, then you reverse everything in DV editing.

Well, quite obviously the two main actors are walking in reverse. But the issue is that the straight8 rules dictate (I believe) that no digital enhancement or alteration or editing is allowed. So the reversal effect has to be "in camera" during filming. Turning the camera upside down is the easiest way with a super 8 camera but since the resulting type would be reversed, a mirror would need to be employed to correct. The "Shakespear" sign near the end is not reversed, meaning that either a mirror was used during the shoot (very clever) or that single 8 was used and the camera ran in reverse during the filming. In any event, it's a fun video.

Roger

That's a good post MovieStuff (do you have a name or do we just call you 'moviestuff'? )

But I still don't understand how a mirror would make the whole film go backwards. Where do you put the mirror? I'm not quite sure what you all mean by that. I might try this with my role of K40 if only I knew where to start.

[MovieStuff]

That's a good post MovieStuff (do you have a name or do we just call you 'moviestuff'?

Actually, "Mr. MovieStuff" is preferred. Just kidding. My name is Roger.

But I still don't understand how a mirror would make the whole film go backwards. Where do you put the mirror?

Okay, if you want to make things project so that the action is going backwards, then you need to thread the film into your projector with the tail of the film threaded first so that it plays from the end of the film to the beginning. But, since that will mean theading the film upside down, the resulting image would be upside down on the screen. To compensate, you have to flip the camera upside down during shooting. However, while that will correct the image vertically, everything will be reversed left to right horizontally. So, if you flip the camera and attach a mirror in front of it during shooting, then you will end up with an image that looks correct when you flip the film end to end in your projector to achieve backwards motion. The only side effect is the emulsion will be on the back side of the film. If you try to splice this footage into other "normal" footage with the emulsion facing the lens, the image may go out of focus when it hits the reversed footage.

Roger
http://www.moviestuff.tv