Flicker #8
Scope of Cinema, by Norwood
Cinemascope brings out the camera
in my mind. The 2.35:1 ratio is something you feel like you can dive into,
like the movies at the Air and Space Museum, you are in the front seat of
a roller coaster, and that first drop off is real enough to make you want
to throw your arms up in the air screaming. What is so attractive about
movies? Why is going to the theater, sitting in the dark, the most theraputic
event invented? Even in a most depressed state, going to the movies, seeing
a film, even just an o.k. film, can completely recharge my mind, and heart,
like lightning charging the air full of ions producing so much oxygen that
kids go crazy, everyone's excited, and my sister Susan is scared.
Filmmaker William Farley from San Francisco, related the cinematic experience to that of late night story telling. You're in total darkness except for the flickering light of a candle or a campfire. I love William Farley for that.
In the dark, there's so much more left to the imagination, you're all of a sudden not sure about the surrounding land, you start guessing and making things up, your subconscious becomes more involved.
As much information that a film
can give you, there is still so much room for interpretation, every image
is not so cut and dry, there is the constant moving and changing grain of
the film, giving life to even the most static and inanimate objects and
subjects. And in between these 
evolving images, there is the flicker of the film seeming unapparent because
of persistence of vision, but this has to be a factor in the almost hypnotizing
effect of watching a film on the big screen. This "unnoticed" flicker is
the ionization for the brain, forging a pass, connecting different levels
of consciousness with imagination and the outcome is possibly a step further
towards understanding who we are.
I just read what i wrote and it seems quite lofty and makes watching movies out to be a key ingredient to unlocking the mysteries and meaning of life,... and actually... I think that's completely true.
Love at first sight
My experience with this medium has been limited, but each time I get a roll back, I can't wait to see it. When you're shooting with video, what you see is what you get. It's more of a challenge working with film, but it's worth it. The quality of the image is so much better. Ever since I was turned on to this I haven't used my video camera. If you want to record events to look at in the next millenium, film is the only answer. It's also interesting how people react when they see you with a film camera, younger people don't know what it is and are full of questions, older people tell you of their old home movies which they had transferred and that are now deteriorating.
I've also found that when you're shooting strangers they may get offended.
Sometimes I ask, but it usually depends if I think I can make a quick getaway.
That's one way to make your way through a crowd, run your camera without
film, people will hear it and move out of the way. Stop, or I'll shoot!
It's nice to be able to have a place to show films. Someone told me of some footage they had of Greece, but they thought that was no big deal. Since it didn't have a structured scenario, they theought it wasn't good enough for a FLICKER showing. Au contraire! I haven't been to Greece.
Thanks to Norwood Cheek for
being stubborn and believing. It takes strength to swim upstream. His determination
to keep Super 8 alive and thriving is inspiring. Thanks for informing us.
- Kay Bee
At Flicker #8, Super 8 films by these folks:
| Chris Rogers | Lisa Cates | Will Taylor |
| Jane Allen Wilson | Nicole Gehweiler | Matt Andronica |
| Pari Ghorbani | KayBeeman | Rob Buckheit |
| Lesley McClintock | Cami Kinahan | Will Atwater |
| James Parrish | Mohan Bala |
If you're looking for Flicker on the Internet, well, you've found it, but if you forget the address, just type in "Flicker" or "Super 8" under one of the search engines like Yahoo or Webcrawler. I'll be posting lots of the articles from previous Flicker Festivals, and general Super 8 news and propaganda. Thanks again to Mar-X and Chuck from catalogue.com for mapping out this web page, they are indeed most valuable heros of #8. remember... http://www.chapel-hill.nc.us/flicker/