16mm time-lapse star trails

[deVere]

I've just purchased the Tobin TTL for the Bolex Rex5, I'm interesting in a star trail sequence for a film I'm working on and am looking for some advice as to camera settings and possible film stocks (currently thinking of KODAK VISION3 500T). One reference point is a film by Emily Richardson titled Redshift, some images here:

http://homepage.mac.com/emily.rich/films/redshift.html

I highly recommend her films, it's some of the most interesting time-lapse work I've seen - the DVD is available from LUX who are based in the UK.

Thanks.

[carllooper]

Why not use a slower filmstock (better quality) with longer exposure?
Carl

[woods01]

I've done a tiny bit of night time lapse and you really need to do long exposures to get anything interesting like star trails or a decent exposure of the night sky. You'll need to research on the Kodak site the reciprocity of the film stock as after a certain point the film will fail. The intravalometer that I rented came with a decent manual that explained this and had a guide for various film stocks.

That filmmaker's work looks interesting I'd like to check it out some day but the price of that DVD is really steep, is that what you guys pay in the UK or is it just another case of a high priced artist dvd?

I recommend the documentary Picture of Light by Peter Mettler. Its about a film crew attempting to record the first moving pictures of the Northern Lights (aka Aurora). It has some stunning time-lapses and the film is as much about filming Aurora as it is about the act of filmmaking and the boredom of a film set.

[deVere]

Thanks for the replies. Price for the DVD is the norm here, I don't mind though as LUX DVD's are always very well put together and feature work that is altogether difficult to see. I've just ordered the Mettler doc. looks very interesting indeed!

In regards the 16mm star-shots - we're essentially after two shots and to confuse matters we'll be on a boat. 1st is the front of the boat at the bottom of the frame with the night sky behind. We want the gentle movement of the boat, combined with the extended exposure time, to give the stars a streaky 'side-to-side' movement. The 2nd shot is simply the night sky but without the boat in frame.

Film-wise I was going for the 500T as it's the fastest stock Kodak do. The spec sheet says it's fine between 1/1000th and 1 second - exposure compensation needed thereafter....will I have problems then with exposure times of potentially around 45 seconds? Has anyone experience of film failing in this respect? Is there a better Kodak stock for reciprocity?

[woods01]

Glad you ordered that documentary. One of my favorites and a great example of the old art of Super 16mm documentaries.

I havn't done longer that 1 second long exposures myself. I could only advise extensive tests before doing anything important.

[robbie]

the stock you are considering , Vision3 500T will have no problems. i use it all the time for same purpose as long as five minutes without any issues.