> ingvald.bergsagel @ MEDIA.UIO.NO wrote:
>
> >What other directors uses super 8 in their work? Found footage or
> otherwise. I have a feeling >that the format is getting a formidable
> revival, and not only in a nostalgic way.
 
There's a gay porno film called "Super 8 and a Half" which Plymouth City
Council (whose religious sensibilities would make David Koresh seem agnostic)
are trying to ban the local arts centre from showing. According to their
programme, the director, a Canadian called Bruce LaBruce, has used Super 8
extensively throughout his career.
 
> I'm also curious about films made in 16mm that were then transferred to
> 35mm and shown in major theaters -- THE BROTHERS MCMULLEN, for instance,
> and THE LIVING END.  Critics don't usually seem to mention that in their
> reviews, which surprises me because the picture quality is so obviously
> lower, though personally I think that's appealing.
 
I'm not sure the quality is inevitably a lot lower in 16mm-35mm blowups as it
once was. The granularity of film stocks is improving all the time, and the
advent of Super 16 has enabled a larger picture area.  This works by getting
rid of the soundtrack and exposing a widescreen picture across the whole width
of the film from the perforations to the other edge.  If the stuff needs to be
projected as is, sound comes from a sepmag. By optical printing from a Super 16
neg to a 35mm widescreen frame, the enlargement factor isn't actually that
much.  A lot of TV features which have subsequently been released theatrically
were originated on Super 16.  Recent examples include "Cold Comfort Farm" and
"Intimate Relations" - the 35mm prints look perfectly acceptable, and in the
case of the latter, was one of the sharpest copies I have seen for a long
time.  Of course quality lab work is critical in making the 35mm dupe neg and
f/g.
 
__________________________________
Leo Enticknap
Univ. of Exeter, UK
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