READING AND RESEARCH
I’m really regretting that blog post ‘2020 The Year of Film’. How was I to know that the world would change? Luckily enough I had shot some Super 8 just before the Lockdown. You can view it on the YouTube channel here. Not to mention some stuff I shot at the end of 2019 which can also be found on the channel. When you visit, don’t forget to subscribe. The plan is to produce some information videos on YouTube relating to Super 8 and the blog, in addition to adding any actual Super 8 footage along the way. On top of that, I have been planning test animation to try and create some new graphics for the channel. If these turn out well I will use them but even if they don’t, I’ll still update you. I have been buying some extras for my Braun Nizo Integral 7 and will be talking about that in future articles and videos. I’m not one of those people who wallows in being idle. I took this as an opportunity to flesh out ideas and work on story boarding for upcoming projects. In addition, I was craving knowledge and on a search for books that were written during the heyday of Super 8. I don’t know about you but given the niche aspect of Super 8 in 2020, I found that there are very few resources that cover day to day filming. Even my local library during one of my last trips before lockdown, had no books relating to the subject. I presume they binned them in favour of video and digital. I am constantly scouring the charity book shops for any treasure. I have been lucky enough to strike gold a few times and have been thumbing through the various reference books and tracking down obscure films they mention as reference points. This is a more general article to say that there is some great reading material out there.
OLD SCHOOL EDITING
One aspect of yesteryear I am not enthusiastic about is linear editing. Having strips of film sticking to washing line style devices and storing physical cuts in actual bins (see above image). I have big hands and fingers and fiddling about would be a nightmare. Before the digital age I would edit in-camera as a standard practice as editing was not an option. Having a digital intermediate workflow is much more efficient. I do have a Super 8 editing viewer (similar to that pictured below) but using Adobe Premiere or similar software keeps the original film pristine.
