Flicker #5
June 8, 1995 Regular 8 Revival
For several years now, John Schwind has been importing B&W Regular 8 film
from an Agfa company in Germany. In 1991, Kodak discontinued their last
Regular 8 stock. Now Mr. Schwind and several secret European film enthusiasts
are taking over where Kodak left off. Through Yale Lab in L.A., John is
selling B&W, and now Color Regular 8! What is Regular 8? It is simply 16mm
film with an extra perferation. So for every 8 perfs on 16mm film, there
are 16 perfs on Regular 8. Usually the film comes in 25ft. spools. You shoot
all 25 feet, turn it over, rethread it and then shoot the other side of
the 25 feet. Think of it like driving down a 2 lane highway. You drive for
25 feet in one lane, turn around and drive back 25 feet in the other lane.
After the film is processed, the lab splits the 16mm right down the middle,
tapes the two 25 ft. sections together, so you end up with 50 feet of Regular
8mm film. 
Why use Regular 8?
1. Most people think Regular 8 cameras are obsolete, so they are plentiful
and cheap!
2. The color film is actually make from Kodak 16mm stock, so the quality
is thumbs up.
3. You can do lots of special effects you can't do with Super 8! Since the
film is on a spool and not in a cartridge, you can run it through your camera
as many times as you want - enabling you to have multiple images on your
film.
4. You can also tell the lab not to split the film, and you can project
the unsplit film with a 16mm projector, this will give you 4 images on the
screen, though one side will be upsidedown unless you've turned the camera
upsidedown while filming the second side.
The Manipulation of Film, by Greg Barbera
When making an experimental
film there are a few things to consider doing that may enhance the outcome
of your piece. The following are some tips for all those who have a yearning
to venture into the non-narrative aspects of filmmaking.
You can manipulate your film stock to emphasize a point that you may want
to make. View experimental filmmaking in terms of writing poetry. From scratching
the eyes of a character to signify blindness or coloring the stock for transitions,
manipulation of the film is a cheap, easy, and a very effective way to achieve
"special effects" for those budding filmmakers who are tight on cash.
The biggest problem here is the size of the film. Super 8 is obviously much
harder to work with in circumstances like this because of its 8mm width,
but it still can be done. Film is very pliable. some tools that help are
Exacto blades, or a needle for scratching the surface, Sharpies for drawing,
or color, and acrylic paints. When scratching the surface of film, be sure
and scratch the emulsion side. Don't be afraid to paste, poke, stipple,
or scratch the film. Get in there and get your hands dirty.
Wanted: a Super 8 backwinder
allowing you to rewind up to 270 frames with a 50 ft. cartridge, and
unlimited backwinding with a 200 ft. cartridge. Leave
me a note if you can help,
