I'm Back

[Nigel]

Hi Everyone.

It's been a awhile. I've been working on other things the last couple of years thankfully film and photography related.

Hopefully the Super8'ers are still hard at work.

Good Luck

[MovieStuff]

Haven't you heard? There is no more super 8.

Welcome back!

[Nigel]

Roger, I have heard.

Actually. I'm shooting a feature in August on S16 and it has been really hard to find all of the needed infrastructure to make it work. Last year was the tipping point. 2011 started with 35 being the standard to the end of the year having to really look for services. It is very much like Super8 in the 90's. Local Xfer is dead in practical terms. The tide has turned and it snuck up and caught me by surprise.

It was hard to get the producers on board with film. "Why don't we shoot on an Alexa? It would be cheaper."

Good Luck

[MovieStuff]

Roger, I have heard.

Actually. I'm shooting a feature in August on S16 and it has been really hard to find all of the needed infrastructure to make it work.

That was a related point I tried to make several years ago when 24p and then 24p HD came out. People on this forum would insist that film was still preferred by the industry because television and theatrical production was still film based even though digital was abundantly available; as if the preference for film was based on quality only. But what many did not understand was that quality wasn't as big an issues as the fact that the infrastructure for film was sooooooo pervasive that switching over to digital meant more than just getting a digital camera instead of a film camera. Lab contracts, unions, equipment rental and servicing contracts, etc were all part of a larger, interconnecting mosaic of considerations that have, one by one, been dealt with over the years. Now, the infrastructure is pretty much all digital with a very, very small percentage of hold outs still using film for acquisition, post and release.

Knowing that this was going to happen, I actually admired the fact that Red and Panavision and some of the other digi-film camera producers even bothered to try and emulate the look of film because, let's face it, they certainly didn't have to. It has become apparent that audiences will accept pretty much any kind of crappola you put in front of them. So, from my standpoint, I say hat's off to any company that tries to keep the look of film a constant in story telling because it could be so, so much worse.

[Nigel]

A friend at Panavision said that in ~February 2011 about 20% of their rentals were digital. By ~February of 2012 20% of their rentals were film.

I also picked up the grapevine and heard that Arri is making 200 Alexa's a month. I haven't seen an Aaton new anything in years. Hopefully Penelope is renting in Europe. I don't know if Abel is even keeping one.

It is crazy as to how everything has just seemingly been sucked in to a black hole within a year.

Hopefully, Super8 will stick around.

Good Luck

[Andreas Wideroe]

We sell almost no Super8 film anymore (or 16 or 35mm for that matter). Our filmstock sales has gone down with about 50% each year for the past 2-3 years and this year so far we've hardly sold any film. I think we've only processed about 10-20 rolls so far.

I'm quite amazed about how fast this shift has come and Kodak's financial troubles does not help AT ALL. It's like people have lost confidence in film (or film services).

I wish it was different. I will keep offering filmstocks for as long as I can here in Norway. I think we're the only dealer left now. Atleast for Kodak film.

http://shop.filmtek.no

[aj]

Hi Everyone.

It's been a awhile. I've been working on other things the last couple of years thankfully film and photography related.

Hopefully the Super8'ers are still hard at work.

Good Luck

Glad to see you back, makes up for a few hunderd of these one-time spamlink posters
See who is next? Mattias, Jarvies etc?

Seems the usage of Super-8 is still steady in Europe. Labs are all still there. Wittner doing fine.
Keep fingers crossed that the Kodak reinventing-themselves includes ciné and Super-8

[aj]

We sell almost no Super8 film anymore (or 16 or 35mm for that matter). Our filmstock sales has gone down with about 50% each year for the past 2-3 years and this year so far we've hardly sold any film. I think we've only processed about 10-20 rolls so far.

I'm quite amazed about how fast this shift has come and Kodak's financial troubles does not help AT ALL. It's like people have lost confidence in film (or film services).

I wish it was different. I will keep offering filmstocks for as long as I can here in Norway. I think we're the only dealer left now. Atleast for Kodak film.

http://shop.filmtek.no

Well, what do you expect? The only news you list on the frontpage is negative news. And it isn't about the new negative version from Kodak.

You had better syndicated the news section from a more optimistic source.
The Schmalfilm issues are thicker then ever.

[Will2]

Local Xfer is dead in practical terms. The tide has turned and it snuck up and caught me by surprise.

Down to one lab in Dallas now, two transfer houses. They make most of their money coloring Red and Alexa footage now however. But at least they keep the Spirits around...also means I'm getting inexpensive transfers now.

[Nigel]

Yeah. I'm getting cheap transfers when I can but it's more about the perceived cost of transfer overall.

Working on a low budget feature this August and with a $200,000 production budget the line producer is giving me push back every time I turn in my department budget. Yet, if that same line producer looks at the numbers our Alexa budget could easily go to $20,000+ for the three weeks.

Good Luck

[Scotness]

This situation is pretty much mirrored in Australia as well. I think what will happen is most of the commercial facilities will wither away and there'll be enough left around for the enthusiasts like us. I can't see film or the infrastructure for it disappearing altogether, and we still should be able to make our low budget indie features on Super 8 or 16mm if we want to.

And it won't be too much of a shock - after all when I made In My Image I was still sending the K40 to Switzerland for processing, so it won't be much different to that - the resources will be there in one place or another worldwide. It will mean though added cost and less chance of recoupment I suppose

Scot

[Will2]

Get your 16mm prints while you can! They'll be the first to go.

[Nigel]

16mm prints??

What are those??

I haven't had a 16mm print made since 1998. FYI. Those already are gone.

Good Luck

[MovieMaker]

Hi guys,
it´s been also a while for me since I´ve logged into this great forum. And yes, quite a few things have changed - film wise.

But despite the fact that digital is getting stronger and stronger there will always be a few companies that provide enthusiasts of every kind with their needed stuff. Like Wittner in Germany, where I still can buy quite a few emulsions for my film cameras.

Who would have thought that Vinyl is still available after the rise of the CD? And how often has film - and Super-8 especially - called "the dead format"? Look at serveral video formats (as well as the CD) now...

Just the best...
Christian

[Nigel]

MovieMaker.

Sadly, I think Super8 will outlast 16mm. It would not surprise me if Fuji and Kodak stop 16mm in the next three years. 35mm will hang on for a long time but will be relegated to 'Visual Artists' and directors that insist on the look of film.

Good Luck