Recent Super8 feature

[grainy]

Here is another feature shot on Super 8, production was just this year.
Not my kind of film, but the quality of the footage looks great.
http://motion.kodak.com/motion/Publicat ... AmZoZo.htm

[carllooper]

Trailer:

http://www.iamzozomovie.com/

[Tommy]

It would be interesting to see how it holds up on a theater size screen.

[oneworldstudios]

Hey Guys,
We noticed a lot of traffic coming from this great site so we signed up and thought we'd join the conversation. Firstly, thanks for the kind words about our upcoming Ouija movie "I Am ZoZo", it was our first narrative and first film shot on film. If anyone needs advice on shooting 18,000ft of Super8mm we're happy to give it. (If you don't mind getting advice from two guys that are obviously insane...)

We'll post some more footage soon and keep you updated on screenings, we played it off a Blu-ray in Santa Monica at the Laemmle and were very happy how it looked scanned at full HD.

Anyway, cheers and thanks for the support, here's an exclusive screenshot that we haven't posted on our site yet.
Stay independent,
Zack and Scott



I Am ZoZo screencap. Reduced to 640x360 for posting.

[Lunar07]

Very nice looking footage. I'd love to see the whole thing. I like that you shot with aspect 4:3 and footage was blown up to 16:9. I take it that you framed for 16:9 while shooting? Was this a crystal synched Canon 1014XL? Was the whole thing shot with Vision3 200T?

Hey Guys,
We noticed a lot of traffic coming from this great site so we signed up and thought we'd join the conversation........

[oneworldstudios]

[quote="Lunar07"]Very nice looking footage. I'd love to see the whole thing. I like that you shot with aspect 4:3 and footage was blown up to 16:9. I take it that you framed for 16:9 while shooting? Was this a crystal synched <a href="http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... _sacat=625" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Link added by VigLink" class="vglnk">Canon</a> 1014XL? Was the whole thing shot with Vision3 200T?


Thanks Lunar07! Yes we framed everything for 16:9 and were really happy with the quality even when it was enlarged due to the fine grain of the Vision3 200T. As I understand it, we got the very first box cut down to S8 for our tests and it blew away the Vision2 so we moved forward right away. We even did a 500 speed test but it was too grainy to work for our feature length production.

We used Alpha in Seattle for the processing, Lightpress studios in Seattle for the scanning and Eric Rosen (also of Lightpress) did the color on his DaVinci system.

The camera was crystal synced by the guys at Film Group in Connecticut and their little box worked to a T!

[Lunar07]

Thanks for the info. It is always good to see a complete feature in Super8 - shorts or long ones.
Let us know how we can get a copy of the whole thing.
My ambition was always to make a Jean Rollin type film in Super 8. Vampirism on a shoe string budget! So, that horror-type experience in Super 8 interests me

Thanks Lunar07! Yes we framed everything for 16:9 and were really happy with the quality even when it was enlarged due to the fine grain of the Vision3 200T. As I understand it, we got the very first box cut down to S8 for our tests and it blew away the Vision2 so we moved forward right away. We even did a 500 speed test but it was too grainy to work for our feature length production.

We used Alpha in Seattle for the processing, Lightpress studios in Seattle for the scanning and Eric Rosen (also of Lightpress) did the color on his DaVinci system.

The camera was crystal synced by the guys at Film Group in Connecticut and their little box worked to a T!

[grainy]

I'm amazed you guys cropped and blew up a 4:3 original, assumed you shot in superduper 8 or whatever Pro8 calls it.

What did you do for your night shoots, just go heavy on the lighting?

What did you do about camera noise for your synch work?

Different question: did you get any negative attitude for shooting on Super 8 from your cast/crew, or was it the opposite? I did a short a while back and it was totally positive but it was diff't scale than your work.

regards
G

[Lunar07]

I am also interested in reading your comments to grainy's questions.

[carllooper]

I am also interested in reading your comments to grainy's questions.

Me too.

[oneworldstudios]

Sorry about taking a few days to get back to you guys, I wanted to do some screencaps for you and things have been super hectic around here! Have a couple festivals in the works now and we'll definitely keep you informed on screening and release plans. Also the writer/director/DP Scott DiLalla is giving a live interview online this coming Monday at 7pm EST at: Tenacity Radio via Skype and chat so I think you can write in with questions during the interview. (Please help get the word out!)

Here's some answers to your excellent questions:

I'm amazed you guys cropped and blew up a 4:3 original, assumed you shot in superduper 8 or whatever Pro8 calls it.
>We looked into SD8 and didn't feel it was right for us.

What did you do for your night shoots, just go heavy on the lighting?
>Seattle Grip and Lighting gave us an amazing deal on a basic indoor/outdoor kit (they even let us grab a couple of extra C-stands for free for a week when we were in a pinch.) SUPER NICE GUYS.

>We also used a lot of ambient lighting with these powerful flashlights we found on eBay as well as battery-powered lanterns from REI. (All screencaps reduced to 600px for posting)


To create the effect of moonlight.


Seen here.


And here.

>We rented a house with a loft so a spotlight could also be shined down on the scene. By establishing through visuals and dialogue that the characters were only using candles and lanterns, fireplace and moonlight, "reality" was suspended for effect.


Example.


Flashlight ONLY shot. The Vision3 200T stock picked up the light fantastically well.


Afternoon lighting was done with some simple daylight rigs.


Resulting in this.

What did you do about camera noise for your synch work?
>Ah yes, the sound. This turned out to be a way bigger challenge than we expected (so naive!) and very different than the documentary sound that we were used to. We rigged up a camera blimp that cut maybe 75% of the sound, but it was still WAY louder than acceptable when we heard it later. Some friends introduced us to an amazing sound engineer Mike Fox who was dialogue editor for The Grudge. He used a combination of background sounds, ProTools plugins, "heavy air", BC Smith's chilling musical score, and our own on-set BG audio to clean it up and create a really cool vintage 70s horror audio track. Mike's best quote of the project, "I had to get forensic on the sh-t."

>After going over it for a couple weeks we finally decided to run a very light camera sound under the entire film and ADDED IT BACK IN - but very lightly and with our own pre-recorded Super8mm camera sound. (We discovered that people like it and treat it as ambient noise, so even though the film is projected digitally it feels more visceral and filmlike.)

>We were really glad we sent the sound guys out to do BG pick ups when there was time. Also Sound Recordist Dustin Bath was Johnny-on-the-spot and reminded us to do full takes WITHOUT CAMERA immediately following each actual take so we could collect clean "wild" dialogue. I highly recommend every indie crew do this in addition to getting GOOD ROOM TONE in every room, every corner of the location.



Canon 1014-xls Super 8mm camera with crazy blimp.


In action.

Different question: did you get any negative attitude for shooting on Super 8 from your cast/crew, or was it the opposite? I did a short a while back and it was totally positive but it was diff't scale than your work.

>We did a lot of prep work with our casting director though so she would warn the talent ahead of time the exact indie nature of the film. Honestly though, once they saw that we were operating professionally they became very enthused about being part of a truly unique film. Same for the crew, they really busted their asses for the film.

Sorry for the long post!

Cheers,
Zack

I Am ZoZo - the Super8mm Ouija Movie
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[Lunar07]

On the contrary, this was enjoyable reading. Much thanks for taking the time to answer the questions in such details.
One can only gain from reading about experiences of other film makers in Super8 (and other formats).
Great stills! Looking forward to seeing the full feature.

[........]Sorry for the long post![.........]

[grainy]

Hi Zack, thanks for the answers, and the additional screen caps - they look great.
A couple more nuts/bolts questions if you don't mind!

1. You mention a "flashlight" was it something you mean one of these new lanterns that are getting buzz?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TS71NG/

2. RE: the sound, did you consider using all wild tracks to sync, sort of like Robert Rodriquez did for El Mariachi?

3. you said "After going over it for a couple weeks we finally decided to run a very light camera sound under the entire film and ADDED IT BACK IN - but very lightly and with our own pre-recorded Super8mm camera sound."
Is this sound in the trailer? I gave it another spin and didn't hear anything like that. You wouldn't happen to have an example you could post?

[oneworldstudios]

[quote="grainy"]Hi Zack, thanks for the answers, and the additional screen caps - they look great.
A couple more nuts/bolts questions if you don't mind! {/quote]

>@Grainy, Thanks. I don't mind at all! I love sharing knowledge amongst filmmakers. If people didn't help us we never could have made I Am ZoZo.

1. You mention a "flashlight" was it something you mean one of these new lanterns that are getting buzz?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TS71NG/

>We used several of those lanterns for effect, but they didn't provide too much really usable light. We used something like this for the scary scenes.

2. RE: the sound, did you consider using all wild tracks to sync, sort of like Robert Rodriquez did for El Mariachi?

>The opening monologue of the teaser clip was done with wild sound, but it was impractical for the entire film because the performances are too uneven from scene to scene when done that way. A few scenes or sequences could be done that way, but overall it's not really possible to sync up every line.

3. you said "After going over it for a couple weeks we finally decided to run a very light camera sound under the entire film and ADDED IT BACK IN - but very lightly and with our own pre-recorded Super8mm camera sound."
Is this sound in the trailer? I gave it another spin and didn't hear anything like that. You wouldn't happen to have an example you could post?

>As you detected, the sound in the teaser clip was done with a wild take immediately following the "live" take. We liked the performance and it was close enough to be synced up nicely. The added camera bed is very soft but it is there (probably won't show up on laptop speakers though!) If I can find an example of that stem and output a little .wav file I'll post a link to it!

[oneworldstudios]

Hey Guys!
Thought you might like to know that I Am ZoZo was awarded both the Jury Prize for Best Feature and the Audience Choice award at the United States Super 8 Film Festival this past weekend. Full story here:
http://www.iamzozomovie.com/ouija-movie ... -festival/


Stay independent,
Zack