My First Super8 Wedding Film

[Jason Magbanua]

cross-posting from another forum ...

www.jmagbanua.com/vids/hannah_rob_super8.wmv

So I got the package from Pro8 through Fedex yesterday and wasted no time putting this video together. I was THAT excited.

I shot this on an Canon 814XLS, I had ten rolls during that wedding and used a total of eight. The first half was mostly ASA500 tungsten balanced (Fuji Eterna) and the remainder was asa 250. It is going to be fun and challenging learning what kind of film gives what kind of look.

I had a lot of fun shooting that day, perhaps primarily because I wasn't shooting in the capacity of an official videographer. The noise from the camera was not at all loud. Of course the first roll elicited laughs and smiles from my colleagues but they got used to it pretty soon.

This was shot on auto exposure. Looking at my footage, I started to figure out where I may use manual iris control (strong llight sources during the first dance).

The most difficult thing was focusing. I have yet to perfect the diopter setting. After a while, the viewfinder would dig in to my eyes (hurts!). I hope somebody can suggest a solution for this.

My camera is a LOT more expensive than what can usually be found on ebay. I was a first timer and I didn't want to gamble. I needed to know that my camera was in pristine condition. If the footage screwed up, I would know I was the one who screwed up. The cam came with a Tiffen owarming filter, a sparse manual, and foam all shipped in a nice pelican case. The cam also came from Pro8. It runs with 4 AAs and a small dry cell for the meter.

Although I have no basis for comparison, I found the transfer very very clean.

I just wanted to share how stoked I am for being able to actually shoot a product with the kind of grain, saturation, mood that I take pains to achieve with video. The "film clutter" wasn't even added, it was there in the first place.

Thanks for watching.

[Vladimir Chaloupka]

Hi Jason, I really enjoyed your video, it has some great emotion and a really nice feel to it--I especially like the footage about 1/4 into it, looks like you're shooting into a beveled mirror or something like that--very cool!

[Raphael Jamil Pranga]

nice one sir jays! where the rotating shots used with a glide or you just walked around them? It clip really has a nice feel to it! ^_^

[Yang Wen]

Hey great clip!

However, I wonder whether the Super 8 look can be simulated easily in post?

Perhaps it's due to the fact that the wmv is so tiny, I didn't really get a sense of a special image quality due to the super 8 film stock. Maybe it looks very different @ full res on a TV?

[Ian Lim]

Amazing!

Yang Wen, I doubt that 'feel' can be simulated in post =)

[Jason Magbanua]

Originally Posted by Yang Wen

Hey great clip!

However, I wonder whether the Super 8 look can be simulated easily in post?

Perhaps it's due to the fact that the wmv is so tiny, I didn't really get a sense of a special image quality due to the super 8 film stock. Maybe it looks very different @ full res on a TV?

You are correct. It's a totally different immersive experience when I watched it through a projector on a 106 inch screen.

I'm trying out different encode settings now for a better reproduction. Thanks for watching.

[Jason Magbanua]

No glide Fiel, just ran around the couple. Thanks for commenting.

[Timothy D. Allen]

Nice clip!

Were those transition flashes actually done using the film stock, or is that a piece from iStock?

[John Moon]

Jmag:

Very nice...I have the same camera. Will be shooting a wedding with it in a couple weeks. There is something about Super8 that makes it more intimate and obviously vintage looking. I know what you mean about the little eyepiece.

-John

[Richard Alvarez]

Some advice on setting the diopter.

Aim the camera at the sky (preferably on a cloudy overcast day.) Set the lens to infinity. Rotate the diopter until you see the grain on the focusing screen pop into and out of focus, then back. You want the diopter set so that your eyes are focusson ON the screen - since that is where the image is focused. If the camera has a splt screen center point you will see that pop into focus.

Then it's set.

Super 8 look can be simulated in post by adding those qualities that make film look TERRIBLE. IE: Too much grain, jitter, scratches, dust etc. This usually creates the mental impression of "Oh, I remember how bad those old films looked in the garrage..." hence the nostagia factors.

The film latitude, color balance and gamma response are MUCH trickier to emmulate, (even if it's super 8) that's why there are whole forums dedicated to getting 'the film look' ;)

(Yeah I own a half dozen nice super 8 cams, projectors and editor/viewers... I can't bring myself to part with them.)


By the way,, I thought you did an EXCELLENT job cutting this piece together. Made me want to go out and shoot some film today.

[Chris Harris]

Jason, as usual, your work was brilliant. On top of that, the film looked great.

A few questions for you, keeping in mind that I don't know anything about film.
Is Super8 recorded at 15fps or is that just the WMV compression? When the transfer house sent you the footage, was it SD or HD? Can Super8 even be transferred to HD or is there not enough resolution?

Thanks for sharing, Jason.

[Richard Alvarez]

Super 8 is typically shot at 24 though most cameras will also have the option of shooting at 18, and then some form of 'slow mo' which can be anywhere from 48, 50 to 64 fps on some models.

EDIT: I see that Pro8 has just taken possesion of a new scanner and will be offering HD transfers for Super 8 and Max8 film. Way cool.

[Justin Ferar]

I've been using Pro8mm for 2 years now. The transfers are fine but I've been a bit disappointed with seeing the footage (transfered to DV) on my HD editing monitor. So I'm REALLY interested in seeing how their HD transfer is going to look.

If you think about it it's amazing that the little 8mm film can hold up well at 1920 x 1080 - or not. We'll see. I've got some footage in the can (same camera as Jason) that will be transferred to HD shortly.

Jason- great footage. That's pretty sick for a first timer (meaning good).

[Richard Alvarez]

I think much will depend on which filmstock you shoot - regarding the HD transfer.

I don't know the EXACT dimensions, but I see to recall that the Super 8 Frame was roughly the same size as the standard 1/4 chip in most MiniDv cams. The new MAX 8 format, recuts the gate, so the frame is larger still.

Definitely keep us posted regarding the HD transfers.

[Jim OBrien]

Turned out very nice. How was the film transferred to video, did you do that yourself? Looked very clean.