Pro8mm's Blog on The Power of Super 8 Film

Will Kodak’s Filing for Chapter 11 have an effect on Super 8 film?

2012-01-23T16:53:00.000-08:00

-A personal statement from Phil Vigeant, President of Pro8mm

When I first worked at Super 8 Sound in the early 1980‘s the problems were the same for Super 8 film as problems Kodak faces with 35mm film today. The market for super 8 film in the early 80’s had dropped so dramatically due to the overwhelming success of VHS that everything crashed. We are not talking about a little dip in sales. We are talking about a crash in sales that resulted in a 90% drop in business. http://www.dtvgroup.com/Super8Sound/

At that time all companies involved in the super 8 industry either went out of business, filed for bankruptcy, or were part of a larger company that could absorb their losses. In this predicament, you have to make a decision: Do you believe in the future of your product or it is just time to call it quits?

I believed that there was a future for Super 8 film and so I went through the pain of taking the company through bankruptcy so that I could re-start the business. If there was no Chapter 11 then Super 8 Sound ™ could not have been reorganized. There would be no Pro8mm, and at the risk of sounding boastful, there probably would be no Super 8 film today. This is the point of bankruptcy. It gives you a chance at life; a new beginning for those that believe in their product for future generations. For us, it gave us the opportunity to invent super 8 negative film, Max 8, and complete workflows so that Super 8 film could be used as a professional production medium.

There are risks to all this and there will not doubt be lots of changes at Kodak. Sometimes the people that take over are not interested in the future of the company and are only interested in disposing of the valuable parts of a business. If you have watched the movie Wall Street (the original) you know what I mean.

We are already feeling some of these changes, which we must intern, adjust to.

As for Super 8 film, Pro8mm has its own Super 8 film manufacturing process, and we have been making Super 8 film since 1992. Although Kodak is our premier supplier and we work very close together, we have other vendors. We have successfully been making super 8 films from Fuji film stocks as well as Kodak film stocks for 20 years now.

Since the big crash in the use of Super 8 film in the early 1980’s as a format for home movies and intro film classes, super 8 film has enjoyed a steady growth in other applications. Super 8 is not part of the crash of current 35mm film sales. It is in fact “it’s own thing.” We hope the leadership at Kodak has the right intentions for the future and will re-start the business, as we did at Pro8mm so generations in the future can enjoy their products.

Variety Reviews - It's About You - Film Reviews - - Review by Ronnie Scheib

2012-01-10T10:47:00.000-08:00

Variety Reviews - It's About You - Film Reviews - - Review by Ronnie Scheib

Mellencamp Super 8 doc called "It's About You"... on Twitpic

2011-12-28T09:55:00.000-08:00

Mellencamp Super 8 doc called "It's About You"... on Twitpic

Shot entirely on Pro8mm film with two Beaulieu cameras that we modified for MAX 8 and Crystal Sync, scanned in native 1080 HD to Pro Res. Looks amazing!

MPI Media Group Presents

JOHN MELLENCAMP: IT’S ABOUT YOU (source Mellencamp.com News)

Directed by renowned photographer Kurt Markus and his son, Ian Markus

Opens January 4th in NY at the IFC Center
Opens January 6th in LA at the Music Hall

It's About You is a new musical documentary that offers a rare and intimate look at the life and music of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Mellencamp. The film premiered at this year’s SXSW festival and follows Mellencamp on his summer 2009 concert tour and during the recording of his most recent album, 2010’s universally acclaimed No Better Than This, the sessions for which took place at American musical and historical landmarks, including Sun Studios in Memphis and the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, GA. We see Mellencamp recording – with a single mike and mono tape recorder more than half a century old – in the same hotel room where legendary bluesman Robert Johnson created some of his most memorable work. Along the way, Mellencamp reveals a side not often seen by the public, in a film that becomes a soulful, highly personal meditation on small-town America.

Kurt Markus’ photography has appeared in such leading publications as Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, GQ and The New York Times Magazine, and he has shot cutting-edge ad campaigns for BMW, Armani, Nike and other companies. His unique vision has been brought to bear on It's About You, which was shot on Super 8 and whose vintage Americana look is the cinematic equivalent of a well-worn pair of jeans.
RT: 80 Minutes
Rated: NR

Tags: Its About You

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Life is Super Gr8

2011-12-15T12:25:00.000-08:00

Last month Phil and Rhonda attended the second annual Super Gr8 Film Festival in Harrisonburg, Virginia, a charming little town in the Shenandoah Valley, and home to James Madison University.

Organized by two local residents and incredibly wonderful guys, Paul Somers (artist, poet, filmmaker and educator) and Tim Estep, (TimeStepFilms), The Super Gr8 Film Festival is a community-organized event that featured 48 super 8 short films (shown over two nights) made by local filmmakers. Many of the filmmakers had never made a short film before this event.

In August of this year, Tim and Paul asked Pro8mm if we could sponsor the event and attend the festival. We were thrilled and honored to do so, as this festival is one of the first to used Pro8mm workflows entirely. Paul and Tim bought 48 rolls of film ½ Super8/66 Tri-X and ½ Pro8/13 Tungsten for the festival participants, all processed and scanned on the M2 at Pro8. As a sponsor we also added The Power of Super 8 Film Seminar to the agenda the day before the festival. This pre- event was held on campus at J.M.U. where we were joined by award winning wedding super 8 filmmaker and photographer Kate Headley who drove down from Washington D.C. to speak to an enthusiastic and engaging audience.

All the short films, approximately 3.5 minutes in length were edited in-camera, with-out sound. Each filmmaker then created an original soundtrack for his or her short film. This in some cases included live performances during the screening. This festival is unique in that none of the filmmakers get to see their finished films until the night of the festival screenings.

The screening was held over two nights at the Court Square Theatre to a packed, sold-out house. The topics covered in the films were as diverse as you could possibly imagine and they were absolutely fantastic! The panel of judges voted, and then the audience also voted for an audience favorite. The first night featured the black and white films and the second evening color negative super 8 film. An after party and awards ceremony will follow the screenings each night.

Super Gr8’s mission is to bring the community together through film. It was amazing to me how in this small Shenandoah Valley college town, everyone, everywhere we went stepped right in and got totally behind Super Gr8. Actors, filmmakers, crew and fan club were all a part of the festival is some way. This was a community labor of love unlike I have seen before. Tim and Paul spent endless hours finding cameras, getting them repaired, lending them out to contestants, and training them how to use them. They contacted local merchants to sponsor the event and local artists to raffle off their work as a fund raising effort. Even the trophies were unique, one of kind objects of art hand made out of old super 8 cameras, mounted on a stand. It was clear to us that Tim and Paul were very well respected King Pins of the community.

For me, I have to say with absolutely honest, this Super Gr8 festival was the high light of my year. Never have I met people more appreciative, warm, and friendly as I did in Harrisonburg. It affirms what I have always believed. Give people a creative opportunity, make it affordable, accessible, and add in a chance to collaborate with others without competing for anything other than a chance to totally immerse themselves in something enjoyable and enhance a sense of community pride, and you have the perfect recipe for a life that is Super Gr8!

http://www.supergr8.com/
Photos by Josh Gooden
Festival Organized by Tim Estep and Paul Somers

Kate Headley speaking at The Power of Super 8

The Super Gr8 Film Festival 2011 in Harrisonburg, VA

Phil Vigeant talking about the tiny Super 8 format

Tim Estep and Paul Somers, Super Gr8 Festival organizers

James Chressanthis uses Max 8 in TNT's Mystery Movie Night: HIDE

2011-12-07T16:17:00.000-08:00

Last night I watched in awe the remarkable use of Super 8 film in the TNT made for TV movie HIDE. Based on a thriller mystery novel by Lisa Gardner, the film was directed by James Gray and beautifully shot by cinematographer James Chressanthis, ASC. Hide marks their reunion, as they have collaborated on other projects such as Ghost Whispers and Brian’s Song.

The deliberate choice by Chressanthis to shoot full Max 8 to punctuate the numerous flashback scenes by different characters in the story had a strong aesthetic punch. Never did you feel as if you were watching a home movie, but rather a vivid porthole into the memory of painful events that these characters were being asked to retell investigators.

Chressanthis chose our MAX 8 1014 XLS camera with crystal for the Super 8 sequences. Shooting was done with Pro8/19, a Kodak Vision 3 200T film stock that is highly versatile for both bright and low light conditions. The film has 13 stops of latitude, extremely fine grain, and an ultra wide exposure range. It captured both the shadows and highlight details so well that in some shots you could actually see the skeletons of the mummified bodies inside the hanging body bags down in a low lit underground pit.

We scanned the film in native 1080 to ProRes 4:4:4 HQ with 3 separate passes at different frame rates. "We shot mostly at 9FPS on the Max 8 camera. Editorially they used all the frame rate transfers: 24, 12, 6 fps.

I shot the various frame rates to speed up, slow down and blur the image and also to increase the grain.

That's because normal Super 8 is so clean that it can look like good 16mm but we wanted an edgy, grittier

look in representing the deep memories of the characters. It looks fantastic! " says Chressanthis.

Plot Summary: Carla Gugino (Californication, Entourage) plays Boston Police Detective D.D. Warren, who is called to the grounds of an abandoned mental hospital where a buried chamber is discovered. Inside are the mummified remains of six young women, who have all been missing for years. The case leads D.D. to Annabelle, played by Bridget Regan (Legend of the Seeker). Annabelle is a young woman who spent her childhood moving from city to city, from identity to identity, hiding from someone or something totally unknown to her. D.D. uses clues from Annabelle's secret past to unravel the mystery behind her twisted family history. Mark-Paul Gosselaar (TNT's Franklin & Bash, NYPD Blue) and Kevin Alejandro (True Blood, TNT's Southland) also star. Hide is written by Janet Brownell (Eloise at the Plaza), directed by John Gray (Ghost Whisperer, Helter Skelter) and executive-produced by Stephanie Germain (The Day After Tomorrow) (summary from TNT website)

Chressanthis has used Pro8mm workflows is such projects as No Subtitles Necessary (2008)and Brian's Song (2001). He is a three time Emmy Award Nominee, and has been a member of the ASC since 2002.

If you missed last nights premier, check for an opportunity to stream it directly from TNT’s website http://www.tnt.tv.

The Master vs. The Playout: Archiving and Playing your Film the RIGHT Way

2011-10-28T09:31:00.001-07:00

While digital has presented itself as great way to watch and edit film, it has also caused lots of confusion for home movie archiving. Having worked on thousands of home movie archiving projects over the past 3 years in high definition, the colorists at Pro8mm have had a few solid revelations about this process.

One revelation is that there has not been a solid solution to the quest to find one universal digital HD format that works well for both playing movies and for archiving them. Unfortunately, what is good for archiving is not the best format for easy playback. This means that in order to have the best access to your home movies you need to see it as two formats: one for preserving your movies and one for watching them. For name sake lets call one the “The Master” and the other the “The Playout.”

Rhonda with home movies on her iPad

A master digital file is going to be the best in terms of future protection of your images because a true master is going to provide you with data in the highest quality you might require and give you the flexibility of creating different playout versions. The best digital master must serve your needs today, tomorrow and even to generate playouts for past systems. By having a master, you will always have a way of creating the highest quality playout file to a format that is most convenient for that times. For example, today it is ‘cool’ to watch your movies on your iPad or stream them to something like Facebook, but it was not that long ago we were using DVD’s and not that long before that we had VHS. Playouts will continue to change, but the great evolution towards HD mastering has stabilized. Hard drives may get faster and cheaper, but the fundamentals of HD are now securely planted.

The master is great as a film preservation medium but having the capacity to use it as a good playout is often very frustrating. Many things must be in sync, coded correctly and you have to have the capacity to play large file types to use a master as a playout. Computer files can be easily be down converted to what you need for a specific playout application. This can be done while scanning or after you do some editing to the mater files. The cost to create these specific playouts is small. So the best system is to have both a master and playout files for the various ways you want to watch your films. At Pro8mm, we can create a specific playout file for DVD viewing, Blu-Ray, your iPad or even a format to stream your home movies on YouTube or Facebook. These Playout files are specifically formatted for these devices so that you can have correct playback speed and framing for a playout that is different from the master.

SD Masters & Playouts

For almost 20 years we used Digi Beta Tape as the masters format for storing home movies. Over the past 3 years we have experienced the evolution to HD mastering and have seen first hand the great improvement HD mastering offers for Home Movie Archiving.

There are three areas of tremendous improvement with an HD File master over Digital Beta.

1) You no longer need Ghost Frames: Whenever you create SD video from film, you have to have 30 frames per second. This is how video works and there is no changing it in a Standard Definition NTSC system. If you shot film at 18 or 24fps, you needed to create the additional frames to make a 30 frames system work. These extra created frames where often referred to a ghost frames because the where created out of two frames of the original film. In SD, they were rarely noticed because of the low resolution of the system. The only time you could see these frames is if you played back the video frame by frame. You would then see these added frames that often blurred part of the images in the frame. However in high definition, because of the increased resolution the ghost frames are noticeable and can be seen when you playback the video. These extra frames did nothing but take up space, create unwanted artifacts, and reduce the quality of your master. But they where needed to make the system work. Today, with HD scanning we can store the images frame-by-frame in the digital mastering. We no longer need these extra ghost frames to make the system work.

2) You now have more digital to define your film: The second improvement of HD digital mastering is having more digits to describe your frames. Typically in HD we use a 1920 X1080 standard 16x9 Mastering format. In SD, NTSC we used (640 X 480). With HD, there is 4 times more digital to describe the detail in every frame of film from SD. This gives you the opportunity to store more color space and finer details about every frame. A lot of detail and color can fit in 4x more space.

Lacie Rugged Hard Drive

3) The Hard Drive: The last improvement is the storage of your images. The hard drive provides you with unprecedented access at very little cost. There is no longer a need to have those very expensive tape decks to maintain masters. With SD you needed multiple tape decks because different kinds of digit was put on different kinds of tape. If you wanted to have your data in both Digital Beta NTSC and for Europe Digital Beta Pal you would need two $40,000.00 tape machines to have access to your masters. Today with hard drives, you can store both files on a single drive. Oh and by the way, you no longer need to have two masters because you can create both a Pal and NTSC payout from a single HD Master. Second, you can compress the data, copy the data and manipulate the data with a simple consumer computer and the right software. You can make 2 copies of the master for preservation, you can compress some files for theI internet to stream on Youtube, and you can make the grandparents a DVD. You now have access to all your materials, both master and playout without the cost of expensive, multiple format tape decks. Hard drives will keep getting faster and cheaper, so you can migrate your data to what ever new system of storage presents itself.

To learn more about home movie preservation and digital asset management, we are hosting a free live event and teleseminar the second week of November called “Don’t Delete My Memories: The Home Movie Conundrum Made Simple.” Learn best practices for preserving and protecting your home movie digitally and understand the ways of using your home movie archive in modern applications. We will also be announce some amazing holiday promotions just for home movie preservation. Learn how to create great holiday gifts and memorable holiday events with your home movie archive.

Click here to Register for the LIVE event in Burbank, CA - Tuesday, November 8 from 7pm - 9pm

Click here to Register for the VIRTUAL event - Wednesday, November 9 from 4:30pm to 5:30pm pacific

Shooting National Brands with Super 8 Teleseminar

2011-07-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

Today more than ever big national brands are forced to recreate their image and reconnect with their customers in more intimate, engaging and organic ways. Modern society tends to be very isolated and spread out as the internet makes it easy to connect facelessness through sites like Facebook and apps like Twitter.

Many companies are now focusing on personal story telling to re-focus on individual contributors as opposed to corporate culture. What better way to do this than with Super 8 film?

On Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011 at 4:30pm pacific, Phil Vigeant, super 8 expert and author, along with special guest, Laura Merians, who tells personal stories about Whole Foods products through Super 8 film, will be taking an in-depth look at Shooting National Brands with Super 8.

Laura and Phil will be talking about how and why some very hip campaigns for companies such as Roxy, Billabong, Whole Foods, Swiffer, Ford Automobiles and hundreds of other national brands for food, beverage, clothing, sports teams, fast food resturants and more use Super 8 in their campaigns.

Laura Merians is a cinematographer and director based in Los Angeles and New York City. She started her career in lighting after receiving a degree in Philosophy from UC Berkeley. Laura has worked on projects for Discovery, MTV, VH1, Fox and Sony well as shooting music videos and short films. Her work has been featured in American Cinematographer, Studio Monthly Magazine, Videography Magazine and Digital Cinematography. She recently finished shooting and directing a series of shorts for Whole foods on urban farming called GROW and a new series for the Style Network titled Tia and Tamera; she used Super 8 on both projects.

http://www.lauramerians.com

Laura's Whole Food's Campaign: GROW

Register Now for this FREE teleseminar! Wednesday, August 3, 2011 4:30pm to 5:30pm pacific (7:30pm to 8:30pm eastern)

Click Here to Register!

Why People Use Super 8 Film To Create Hip Campaigns for National Brands

2011-07-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

Recently, various members of the press who have been curious about who uses Super 8 in 2011 have interviewed me. Their curiosity has been sparked by the release of the recent J.J. Abrams Film, Super 8. The press usually starts their inquiry about Super 8 with people at Kodak, or some college professors who may have taught a super 8 class “in the day.” They may have spoken to an archivist who works with home movies and historical collections that represent a fabulous montage of our history and culture from the 40’s, 50’s 60’s and 70’s. But then, invariably, the get referred to me, a director of marketing for a company that has specialized in Super 8 film for over 35 years and who has had the privilege of knowing first hand that thousands of projects of all kinds, from various industries, are shot on Super 8 film every year.

A few days after the Super 8 movie came out, I was called by MSNBC who wanted to do a segment at a real Super 8 camera store. They were hoping to see an enormous collection of vintage camera models, both obscure and common. When I told the person that called that we didn’t have any cameras like that or any projectors– she said, ok then, we will have to get back to you. Which they didn’t. They didn’t get it.

Unless the interview is being done by one of the film industry trade magazines, (which has a little more understanding for the desire to work with a variety of mediums), the conversation usually goes something like this.

Interviewer: “So, is Super 8 back?”

Me: “Back? Where did it go?”

Interviewer: “Well, who shoots this stuff? A few people who want to create a sense of nostalgia, right?”

Me: “Well no, actually it is being used in some very hip campaigns for companies such as Roxy, Billabong, Whole Foods, Swiffer, Ford Automobiles and hundreds of other national brands for food, beverage, clothing, sports teams, fast food restaurants, and more. You can see it in TV shows such as American Idol and True Blood, and Music Videos for some of today’s hottest artists such as Katy Perry and Beyonce, as well industrials, independent projects and political campaigns.”

Interviewer: To create a sense of nostalgia, right?

So instead of feeling frustrated and defensive for the umpteenth time that “they just don’t get it” or offended that no matter how much time I spend explaining about how we upgrade the cameras with things that modern filmmakers would want, state of the art negative film stocks which we reformat, 16 x 9 aspect ratios, native 1080 scanning and Pro Res files off our state of the art scanner, I started thinking about it. What is nostalgia from more if an intellectual perspective? And I decided, maybe these interviewers are more intuitive then I thought.

Nostalgia is by definition as a sense of longing. I decided to embrace this possibility. What is it that makes me nostalgic? What is it that I long for? For me it is a wish or desire to connect with people in a way that is engaging, organic, and intimate. To get away from the Facelessness of Facebook and the 500 people in my network, many who I really don’t know that well, or in some cases, at all.

I think that purveyors of National Brands get this. Modern society tends to be very isolated and spread out. Many people are looking for a simple way to communicate their product or brand. This perhaps may be the fall out from all the corruption we have seen in recent years in the finance industry, bailouts, and sex scandals among the politicians.

I think there is a movement happening. A shift toward taking back our power in small ways individually. It’s an awakening that does make us feel nostalgic for the corner store or a place like “Cheers Bar,” where everybody knows your name. The needs and wants that have been created by a corporate-driven culture that feed our egos are being replaced with a need to feed our souls.  

Community. Connectivity. Individuality.

Big brands are caught up in this, and now have to re-brand themselves to fit in with this movement and economic cycle. They want to embrace the local farmer; small bank and many in the face of unemployment are themselves cultivating entrepreneurship. They want people to see them as committed to sustainability and protectors of the environment.

So how does a company like Wal-Mart portray themselves as the local hardware store? Personal story telling. Focusing on individual contributors as opposed to corporate culture. What better way to do this then with Super 8 film?

So yes, bring on the nostalgia. Everyone loves a good story and that “feel good” feeling especially shot on Super 8 film!

Super 8 Filmmaking is Alive, Well and Remains a Hot Production Medium at the One-Stop Burbank Shop - Pro8mmSuper 8 Filmmaking is Alive, Well and Remains a Hot Production Medium at the One-Stop Burbank Shop - Pro8mm

2011-06-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

The release of the J.J. Abrams film Super 8 is bringing renewed attention to the popular film format which millions of families captured their home movies on during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. The format gave a vehicle for today’s most beloved filmmakers to experiment with a home movie camera that proved to be the gateway to some of the most prolific careers in filmmaking. Directors such as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Oliver Stone, Sam Rami, Tim Burton, Francis Ford Coppola, and Ron Howard, among many others, have all launched careers that have roots in Super 8 film. As kids, they picked up the family Super 8 camera and saw it as much more than a tool to make home movies. They used Super 8 as a production tool to experiment with a craft. This is the theme that runs through J.J. Abrams film Super 8 - a group of kids who were making a real independent movie for a film festival with a Super 8 camera.

While the general belief is that the Super 8 format died an honorable death with the advent of consumer and prosumer video, Hollywood insiders and savvy independent filmmakers know that the power of super 8 film is alive and well in Burbank, CA!

The company Pro8mm (formerly called Super8 Sound) has been working on over 1,000 professional projects every year since the mid 1980’s. Pro8mm hit its heyday in the 1990’s, working on every episode of VH-1 Behind The Music, Where Are They Now, and numerous MTV shows and specials. This love of super 8 continues, with recent music videos shot on Super 8 film for such artists as Katy Perry, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Harper Simon, McFly, and John Mellencamp. Commercials for consumer products such as Whole Foods, Ford cars and trucks, Swiffer, Home Depot, Billabong and Roxy, as well as inserts in TV shows such as American Idol, 48 Hours, The Grammy’s, and My Name Is Earl have all embraced the Super 8 format. Additionally, 35mm theatrical releases such as Super 8, 8mm, My Sister’s Keeper, and Factory Girl have incorporated Super 8 inserts to create the sense of flashback scenes and vintage moments throughout their feature films. This list is just the tip of the iceberg for professional applications that the Super 8 format has worked particularly well for.

Additionally, Pro8mm specializes in the HD archival transfers of homes movies and historical films for use in museums, documentaries or the personal archives of the worlds most famous faces. Pro8mm’s projects include the Hewlett-Packard Family and The Estee Lauder Family, The Richard Nixon Library, and tour footage from The Eagles “Hell Freezes Over” tour. Pro8mm has also transferred the first films of many famous directors and cinematographers.

Pro8mm focuses on a hybrid of products and services that make it possible for filmmakers to do professional production work with the Super 8 format. Pro8mm turns its work around very quickly, even the same day if needed. All services are on-site, including a retail store for purchasing or renting cameras and film, the processing lab, camera technicians, and the scanners, which digitize the film in 1080 high definition to a hard drive for ease of editing.

Pro8mm rebuilds classic Super 8 cameras with modifications that a modern filmmaker would want, such as 16:9 aspect ratios and sync sound. Pro8mm also reformats over 20 different Super 8 film stocks, cutting down Kodak and Fuji 35mm film. This gives cost effective access to the same film stocks being used to make Hollywood blockbusters. Recently, Pro8mm invested over one million dollars in a Millennium II, 4K scanner, with daVinci 2K color correction, custom modified for Super 8, regular 8 and Max 8 formats. This is the same type of scanner you would see at a high-end 35mm post-production facility.

Over the past two years, Pro8mm has made a monumental commitment to educating the next generation about the benefits of shooting on Super 8 film. In 2010, Phil Vigeant, President of Pro8mm, wrote a book titled, “The Power of Super 8 Film – Insider Secrets Every Filmmaker Should Know.” The book focuses on why the pros use it, love it and keep it a secret. Phil gives his expertise on the format and explains why he invented products that change the way filmmakers and the entertainment industry use Super 8 film. Additionally, Pro8mm has launched a series of free teleseminars that focus of Super 8 applications and technical information about the process. Pro8mm has expanded their educational products by offering free hands-on film workshops at schools, major industry events and even private workshops at their shop. Pro8mm also hosts their own 2 day Super 8 training workshop, where Phil Vigeant gives in-depth technical sessions on Super 8 filmmaking, and guest speakers talk about and show samples shot on Super 8 film of the many applications of Super 8 such as weddings, commercials and music videos.

COMPANY HISTORY:

Founded in 1971 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company, which was originally called Super8 Sound ™, pioneered the belief that the Super 8mm film format had tremendous potential as a production medium. History Of Super 8 Sound . A small group of inventors and entrepreneurs designed a line of specialty sync-sound full coat (audio tape that has sprocket holes) and cassette recorders, editing benches and crystal sync modifications to Super 8 Cameras and other production accessories. The idea was that you could replicate 35mm filmmaking using Super 8 equipment. This indeed made the Super 8mm film format and Super8 Sound ™ an integral part of hundreds of university film programs worldwide. Film programs could teach in double system filmmaking on cost efficient super 8. It became widely used by individuals with a desire to make independent films.

In 1982, Super8 Sound employee and staff accountant Philip Vigeant had the opportunity to buy the company. In the years that followed, Vigeant bought out other small companies in the Boston area including a film lab and a camera repair shop adding their services to Super8 Sound™.

A film chain telecine which transferred film to videotape was also added that year with the firm belief that the future of small format film laid in the ability to integrate it into the video arena. An in-house publication called The Independent Producer was launched which focused on the success of the independent film scene, focusing on people who were shooting on super 8. The magazine highlighted the stories of individuals making low-budget super 8 music videos and film for video distribution.

In 1987 Super8 Sound expanded the business by opening a second office in Hollywood, California. This expansion was driven by the amount of clients the company had on the west coast who were involved in producing MTV style music videos for their bands.

In 1989, another expansion was implemented to a larger Burbank location, adding a technical camera repair room, on-site processing lab, and film to videotape transfer services. Now a complete turnkey, one-stop shop, the company redirected it’s focus to meet the demands of there growing list of studio and industry mainstream clients. The Boston office was eventually closed in 1995. The Rank Cintel telecine suites with daVinci color correction were added, permanently eliminating film chain consumer quality transfers.

One of the biggest innovations for the company came in 1993 with the development of a line of Pro8mm negative film. Prior to this, only reversal super 8 film stocks were available from major film manufactures such as Fuji and Kodak. The idea was that a line of professional film stocks in the familiar easy to use 50-foot preloaded cartridges would offer a palette to filmmakers allowing for greater creative options for the cost efficient, highly portable super 8 format.

The company developed a manufacturing operation on-site to cut and reformat professional 35mm film stocks, loading it into super8 cartridges. All-inclusive packages were offered so that film, processing, and telecine could be prepaid, allowing for better targeting of the production budget. The industry, students, and independents embraced this concept with huge enthusiasm. Today Pro8mm has an expansive line of over 20 reformatted film stocks that range from 50-500 ASA and 3 different scanning systems, including high definition. In addition, they repackage Kodak Super 8 film stocks to include their award winning processing and HD scanning services.

Over the next 10 years thousands of projects were shot on Pro8mm film including dozens of episodes of VH-1 Behind the Music, hundreds of commercials, segways for prime time television shows, and scenes in theatrical releases.

The name of the company was changed to Pro8mm in 1998, which was more in line with the company’s mission statement and goals. Professional Super 8 and

Pro (in favor of) 8mm. The days of sound on film and mag full coat recorders were gone and the new direction of the company would be to integrate the small format film into the digital world. Profound changes were to follow to bring Super 8 into the HD world.

In 2003 Pro8mm expanded the small format product line to include Pro16mm, loading 16mm film onto 100’ daylight spools, rebuilding classic 16mm cameras and expanding our processing and telecine services.

Aligning with prosumer and industry trends, 2005 brought Pro8mm into the widescreen era with the introduction of Max 8, a 16 X 9 widescreen super 8 camera and scanning system. Pro8mm began building classic cameras with a new expanded gate, allowing for 20% more image to be captured where the old sound stripe used to be on the film. The development of modern aspect ratio products and scanning committed Pro8mm to be on board for the world of high definition and the future.

In late 2007, Pro8mm began purchasing HD Scanning Equipment and set up an HD Scanning Suite. Their Millennium II HD Scanner and 2K daVinci Color corrector gave Pro8mm the capability to move forward by both preserving archival material in HD or by directing scanning in native 1080 off the frame, and accommodating our production clients as all broadcast moves to digital.

As a generation of filmmakers began to finish film school without ever shooting a frame of real film, 2010 brought the company to the realization that they needed to make a hefty commitment to educate people on how to shoot on Super 8 film. Company president Phil Vigeant wrote a book called “The Power of Super 8 Film – Insider Secrets Every Filmmaker Should Know” and the company began running free shooting events, teleseminars, workshops, and two day Boot Camps for a nominal fee.

Pro8mm is applauded for being a one-stop shop where Super 8 cameras, film, processing, digital mastering, hands on training and treasured family archival home movies can all be handled by a dedicated staff with decades of experience. The company has enjoyed continuous growth for over 40 years in a niche market that in our opinion continues to thrive because of the dedicated hard work and entrepreneurial spirit to continuously move forward in alignment with the media industry.

Check out Pro8mm at www.pro8mm.com or call 818-848-5522

By Rhonda Vigeant, Director of Marketing Rhonda@pro8mm.com

Something Old & Something New: The Advantage of Shooting Weddings on Super 8 Film

2011-05-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

The saying “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue” is a good luck saying which dates back to the Victorian era and many brides will ensure that they have something of each on their wedding day. While “something old” is meant to connect the wedding to something in the past, and “something new” is meant to represent good luck and success, somehow the saying seems to apply extremely well to wedding videos. Weddings shot on Super 8 film bring that vintage look that connects you to past, yet still maintain the timeless and fresh impression of the modern bride.

While the brides of the 80’s and 90’s were all about being shot on video, the past 10 years have shown a huge resurgence toward creating montage wedding footage on Super 8 film. Maybe nostalgia is the driving force in this new twist. Or maybe part of the reason for this resurgence comes from the greatly expanded repertoire of film stock in the market. But with tough competition from digital choices, super 8 wedding films today have definitely gone boutique.

I remember exhibiting at WEVA about 7 years ago (Wedding and Event Videographers Association.) At that time there were only a tiny handful of attendees who had any interest in adding a Super 8 package to their weddings. The idea seemed daunting and counter intuitive to the masses, and many had just invested heavily in the newest technology at the time, the digital video camera. There were laundry lists of concerns coming from the filmmakers when I tried to explain to them why they should shoot on Super 8 film instead of digital. I would hear questions like: How do I price it? How will I know if I got the shots? What about sound? How do I edit it? What’s the turn around time? What’s the point?

Like all great ideas, sometimes it takes a little notoriety for an idea to catch on. A number of wedding filmmakers who shot on Super 8 film are now regularly featured in The Knot, Martha Stewart Weddings, Elle, Brides Magazine, The Wedding Channel, and the wedding forums and blogs for their gorgeous, timeless work shot on Super 8 film.

There are many reasons why these popular wedding photographers and “videographers” are choosing to shoot on film vs. digital. First of all, film is the only proven archival medium. We know the image will still be here for future generations to enjoy. Next, the film stocks are remarkable. Since Pro8mm invented Super 8 negative film over 15 years ago, the expanded latitude allows even a new filmmaker to achieve gorgeous shots. We especially recommend the Pro8/19. This is a 500 tungsten Vision 3 stocks that is so versatile. You can go from indoors to outdoors without a filter and still get clear, amazing images. For those who braved shooting weddings years ago on old film stocks like Kodachrome 40, the challenge was difficult. You would have to use an 85A filter outdoors if you were shooting the ceremony in full sun. You would then have to set up lights if the reception was indoors, and the low-lit dance floor was always a problem. Combine that with about 1 stop of latitude and you had to be pretty good with a camera to get good images. Today Super 8 film ranges from 50 to 500 ASA with stocks that have up to 19 stop of latitude and 3 uniquely different film processes: color negative, color E-6, black and white reversal. Because today’s Super 8 film has greater latitude, expanded ASA’s, a variety of original stock to pick from, and you can even scan Super 8 film to HD directly, shooting Super 8 film is easier and more aesthetically beautiful than ever. There are also some special lab techniques such as cross processing, skip beach, pushes, and pulls that create tremendous variety in origination.

On average a good shot lasts for about 10 seconds so even on a budget, you have lots of shots to work with. Although that may sound intimidating to the hours of video that could be shot for a similar amount of money, the uniqueness of having real film adds a great artistic addition in quality that no plug-in can match. It is almost impossible to replicate a films unique way of capturing light therefore no plug-ins or app can replicate the look of real film.

Pro8mm has been crusading for the momentum of this growth in the wedding market by making pricing easy. Our all-inclusive fixed price packages (film, processing, prep and clean and scanning to a Pro Res file) allow for easy calculation to add a Super 8 option. For example, a 4-roll package (10 min of film) is just $336. An 8-roll package (20 min of film) is just $558 That’s for everything except the hard drive.
Weddings are a great format to experiment with because they personify originality and nostalgia. This generation was raised on MTV and nothing makes a young couple happier then to look at their wedding more like a music video rather than hours of footage that captured every second of the day. It is the highlights we remember, and Super 8 is the perfect format to capture a medley of moments.

Phil Vigeant is the President/Senior Colorist at Pro8mm. He is the author of ”The Power of Super 8 Film – Insider Secrets Every Filmmaker Should Know.” He was worked on thousand of Super 8 projects for production and archiving including Music Video’s for client such as Madonna, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Paula Abdul, Mariah Carey, Neil Young, Aerosmith, Black Eye Peas: Commercials for Nike, Billabong, Volcom, Fossil, Blue Cross, Truth in Advertising, and Television for shows like, American Idol, 48 Hours, Mad About You, National Geographic, Histories Mysteries and over 50 Feature Films that have used Super 8 film such as Super 8, 8mm, JFK, Factory Girl, My Sisters Keeper Lords of Dogtown , Red Corner, Armageddon and Pearl Harbor.

Join Us for the Super 8 Weddings Teleseminar!

2011-05-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

Please join us for our next teleseminar, Super 8 Weddings on Wednesday, June 8th!

No where do we see the love of Super 8 Lifestyle filmmaking so prevalent as we do in weddings. While brides of the 80’s and 90’s were all about being shot on video, the past 10 years have shown a huge resurgence toward creating montage wedding footage on Super 8 film.

From simple low-budget weddings to Hollywood Celebrity Extravaganza Weddings, brides, grooms, and even the guests want to get in on the act.

June is traditionally considered the start of "Wedding Season," so we thought what better time to have a teleseminar on shooting Super 8 weddings! This event will feature wedding filmmakers Steve Moses of Vantage Point Productions www.vppvideo.com and David Savinski of Capture Forever www.captureforever.com

These two wedding filmmakers have made a HUGE commitment to their craft, and will talk about what it is like taking a risk at someone’s wedding, that the footage being captured on 30-year-old cameras will do the job they were hired to do. These wedding filmmakers personify the Super 8 lifestyle!

Steve and David, along with Phil Vigeant, super 8 expert and author of "The Power of Super 8 FIlm", will be sharing their Super 8 wedding sucess tips, a nd will teach you:

The best film stocks for shooting weddings
The backup debate: whether or not to have backup cameras
The pros vs. cons of having a video assistant
How to make a movie clip of your wedding footage, and how to get music rights
Beyond the wedding- what other "wedding" footage adds-on you could provide to make your wedding services stand out and expand your business

STEVE MOSES of Vantage Point Productions has been in business since 1982, and has shot over 2,100 weddings. Steve has been offering Super 8 wedding to clients since 2009. Along with his wife and partner, Laura, they have run a highly successful boutique studio since 1988. Their work has been featured in: EventDV magazine Top 25 Studio in the world 5 years in a row 2006 - 2010, 11 WEVA CEA’s - Gold (Demo 2008) Gold (Pre-Ceremony 2007), 2009 WEVA Hall of Fame Inductees, 6-time WEVA presenters, Presenters, IN[FOCUS] 2010, Reaching the Next Level instructional DVD series, Educational topics: Sound design, shooting techniques, marketing & artistry, stylized filming & editing.

DAVID SAVINSKI of Capture Forever comes from a lifetime of art, growing up with a paint brush and camera in his hand. Through his love of the moving image, David formerly studied directing and cinematorgraphy. David runs Capture forever with his wife, Angela, and dogs Monster and Bouvier. David has recently added Super 8mm wedding films to his business, and he will be talking about how it gave him new opportunites in his already established wedding photography business.

Please join us for our Super 8 Weddings Teleseminar!

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011, 4:30pm to 5:30pm Pacific (7:30pm to 8:30pm Eastern).

Click Here to Register: http://tinyurl.com/43p7fjt

My Super 8 Movie! A Contest Celebrating Super 8 Filmmaking

2011-05-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

MY SUPER 8 MOVIE!
A Contest Celebrating Super 8 Filmmaking

The highly anticipated summer blockbuster film "Super 8" is set in the summer of 1979. "A group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth - something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined."(source: imdb.com)

Does this bring you back to the making of one of your first Super 8 movies? Most of the film industry greats started out this way, making movies on Super 8 film. Wouldn't it be remarkable to share your early film as part of our "Super 8" the movie celebration?

In celebration of J.J. Abrams movie "Super 8", we want to see your Super 8 movie! Pro8mm will be giving away prizes for 8 lucky super 8 filmmaker's original super 8 films. Prizes include a 4 roll film package or get your original SD Super 8 film scanned for free to native 1080 HD with a free digital HD version of your film!

How To Enter MY SUPER 8 MOVIE CONTEST:

Upload your Super 8 movie or trailer to YOUTUBE
Email your YouTube link to Jaclyn@pro8mm.com, and she will send you a contest entry form.
Once your link and entry form are received, our "preview committee" will watch your film and review your form to make sure your film meets are entry requirements
If your film is approved, we will post a link to your video under our "FAVORITES" on the "My Super 8 Movie Contest" channel on You Tube, (Pro8mm's Contest Channel),http://www.youtube.com/pro8mmcontest
Votes will be solicited from the public. Voting will be done via the YouTube
"Likes and Comments" feature.
The winners will be announced via the YouTube Channel, our Facebook page (www.thefacebook.com/pro8mm), and our monthly newsletter.
The top "8" winners will win either a 4 roll film package, or get their original SD Super 8 film scanned for free to native 1080 HD to Pro Res!

CONTEST RULES AND REGULATIONS:

Your entry must be an actual film that is at least one roll of Super 8 film, but does not exceed 30 minutes. Test footage is excluded.
All entries must be uploaded to YouTube, and emailed to us in that format. We will not accept films mailed to our office, or posted on other Internet sites as contest entries.
All entries must be submitted by June 30th, 2011 so we have time to review and pick the winners.

Any questions, pleased email Jaclyn@pro8mm.com

Below is a SAMPLE CONTEST ENTRY, "Ms. Marvel's Day Off," directed by Ruckus Skye, D.P. by Pete Wages.

SAMPLE SUPER 8 MOVIE CONTEST ENTRY

Join Us for the Super 8 Lifestyle Filmmaking Teleseminar

2011-05-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

More and more we hear filmmakers we work with say that one of the things they like best about shooting on super 8 film is the “lifestyle behind it.” So we started asking, what do you mean? What is the super 8 lifestyle? Do you mean the lifestyle of the filmmaker who chooses super 8 or “Lifestyle Filmmaking shot on super 8 film”?

After giving this some thought, we decided it is both. There is a certain type of filmmaker who defines the super 8 life style, and clearly chooses to tell stories on this medium. There are also certain life style events, that work extremly well with the 8mm format.

Our next teleseminar series will focus on lifestyle filmmaking, and the qualities, attributes, skills and applications that a filmmaker must know in order to be successful at one or all of these different lifestyle applications.

We will have a number of guest speakers throughout this series who are working in different genere's of life style filmmaking every day, such as weddings, fashion, and national brands, and have become experts in their particular field.

Our first teleseminar in this series will feature Phil Vigeant, Super 8 expert and author of "The Power of Super 8 Film, Insider Secrets Every Filmmaker Should Know," who will talk at length about the applications for Super 8 lifestyle films, and how you can take advantage of your skill and love of filmmaking to tell stories through Super 8 lifestyle images.

Please join us as we kick off this new series of teleseminars on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 from 4:30pm to 5:30pm Pacific (7:30pm to 8:30pm Eastern).

Register Now for this FREE teleseminar!

Call in lines are limited so make sure you reserve your spot today!

Click Here to Register: http://tinyurl.com/3k6vp32

Is There a Super 8 Life Style?

2011-04-29T06:08:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia defines lifestyle in its simplest terms as “the way people
live”

Some lifestyles are easy to define. Just watch an episode of “Lifestyles
of the Rich and Famous” or a National Geographic show that has a segment on some indigenous culture. We see the lifestyle of the people pretty clearly.

In the 21^st Century, particularly here in the West, there are more lifestyle options than ever before, and they are not all defined by socio-economics. Our choices for health and wellness, sexual orientation, products we use, how we transport ourselves, the way we socialize, are choices that reflect our life style. The essence of our being.

To me, lifestyle is every day life. What we wear. What music we listen too. How we celebrate. I love to watch the everyday life of people’s home movies from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s shot on 8mm or super 8mm film. I can walk into our scanning suite any day of the week and get a nostalgia fix when I catch a glance of a birthday party, Christmas gathering, family BBQ, beach day or Disney outing. There is something so calming about the footage. Parts of it are always predictable. I identify with it. It slows me down from the constant pounding on my computer, ipad, or smart phone. It takes me back. It makes me feel good. It reminds me – I’m ok.

I like seeing the woman dress the way my mother dressed in that era. The shape of the eyeglasses, the dishes on the table, the cars. I get really excited when I see a lamp that is the same style of one I grew up with, or a fabric pattern that was iconic in its day.

More and more I hear filmmakers I work with say that one of the things they like best about shooting on super 8 film is the “lifestyle behind it”. When I first heard people talking in this way, I thought they meant the surf culture or the skateboard culture, or even the adult film culture of which so much has been captured on 8mm film over the decades. So I started asking, what do you mean? What is the super 8 lifestyle? Do you mean the lifestyle of the filmmaker who chooses super 8 as the way they want to tell a story or “Lifestyle Filmmaking shot on super 8 film”?

After giving this some thought, I think I have decided it is both. There is a certain type of filmmaker who defines the super 8 life style, and clearly chooses to tell stories on this medium. They are Independent. Hands On. Above average intelligence. They like counter-culture. They are a Risk Taker. Personable. Humble. Modest. Generous. Grateful. Patient. And, amazingly creative. The Super 8 filmmakers that I know who are the most successful with their super 8 filmmaking possess a majority of these qualities. And it is these qualities that really put these filmmakers in a league of their own when it comes to getting the shots that are romantic, playful, emotional, personal, intimate, and heartfelt.

Filmmaker George Manzanilla who shoots his spots for Billabong on Super 8 film says what he likes is that it is the emotional connection you are able to make with the subject when you shoot them on Super 8 film. It’ s a personal format. You get images you can’t get from a digital camera. The way he shoots changes the relationship the models. http://youtu.be/V4YyFSlP7aQ

Feature filmmaker Kurt Markus and son Ian were the entire crew for the super 8 documentary “It’s About You – John Mellencamp”. His narration in the film speaks about how having another person along to do the sound would have changed the dynamic. Then they would not be just father and son messing around in America with their Super 8 cameras. http://vimeo.com/16177978

Look at music videos such as “Two is Better Than One” (Boys Like Girls) The performance piece is shot on the Red Camera. http://youtu.be/cUMfdoIXv4U The love story is shot on super 8. It feels so real and touches emotions deep with in your soul. Or singer Harper Simons “Berkley Girl” (shot by Ben Kutsko from The Masses)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfXv6RBPEdI&feature=player_embedded

Nowhere do we see this hankering for super 8-lifestyle filmmaking so prevalent as we do in weddings. While brides of the 80’s and 90’s were all about being shot on video, the past 10 years have shown a huge resurgence toward creating montage wedding footage on Super 8 film. Intimate. Personal. Playful. From simple low-budget weddings to Hollywood Celebrity Extravaganza Weddings, brides, grooms, and even the guests want to get in on the act. Check out the work of some of these amazing Wedding Filmmakers (and we have dozens more with just as awesome footage!) These are folks who have made a HUGE commitment to their craft, taking a risk (without video assist) at someone’s wedding that the footage being captured on 30-year-old cameras will do the job they were hired to do. This is not for the weak of heart. These wedding filmmakers personify the Super 8 lifestyle and personify the craft! Check out some of them and their amazing work.

Kate Headley http://www.kateheadleyphotography.com/

Braden Lower http://www.abryanphoto.com

Megan Hill http://hellosuper8.com/

Steve Moses http://vppvideo.com/

Michelle Walker http://layercakefilms.com/

The filmmakers themselves rave about the vintage charm.

Michelle Walker of Layer Cake Films on her website explains that as a super 8mm wedding film company, we create films that are original, offbeat, fun, and exciting. We strive to make custom stylized films that combine our generation’s style and sensibility with yesterday’s vintage film and retro feel. No melodramatic forced emotion! We are all about having fun and capturing the joy of your wedding day. We embrace offbeat couples.

Super 8 Film was invented as a home movie format to record the lifestyle of everyday living 50 feet at a time. Each roll is like a play list of 3 ½ minutes or less. A shot of life in “reel” time. Today we see a trend toward recapturing more simplistic, intimate story telling people are gravitating to simple stories. The cameras were designed for the average consumer, so that anyone could use it. I think we will see more and more filmmakers using Super 8 to capture this feeling of intimate lifestyle. The number of super 8 shots in commercials and in TV shows continues to grow with each passing. Full circle. Lifestyle filmmaking on super 8. Your own reality TV show.

How do you define the “Super 8 Lifestyle? Please post your responses here!

By Rhonda Vigeant. Director of Marketing, Pro8mm www.pro8mm.com

You can also register for our FREE, teleseminar on Super 8 Lifestyle Filmmaking, Wednesday, May 11 at 4:30pm pacific (7:30pm eastern). Click here to read about the teleseminar and register: http://tinyurl.com/3sj6rhe

DO A SHOT WITH Pro8mm – Options for Life Style Super 8 Filmmaking

2011-04-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love most about being director of marketing at Pro8mm is that I get a chance to come up with and implement new ideas that I hope will resonate with filmmakers. I try to think of things that are way outside the box – fun, cheap, interactive and have great content.

I came up with the idea for “Do A Shot With Pro8mm” which was introduced at Cine Gear Expo 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNsG7TJYtZs&feature=player_embedded Held on the Paramount Studios back lot, I thought, instead of just having super 8 cameras on tripods like we always do at trade shows, what if we brought a bunch of cameras and let people go around the expo and shoot a roll of film, for free? Participants would get a 15-minute hands on training with one of our team members, and then get to check out a camera for an hour to shoot on their own. Oh yeah- and they also got some cool swag – A “DO A SHOT” t-shirt that they could keep as a souvenir! Over the day and a half expo we put through about 60 shooters. We brought all the film back to our lab in Burbank, processed it, scanned it in native 1080 to Pro Res 422 HQ, and then edited the content together on a reel. People who wanted to own what they shot could get it back on a data DVD disk for a small fee.

The results were amazing! Many of the people who participated in “DO A SHOT” had never shot super 8 film – or any film at all for that matter – and to get this kind of result blew me away. And needless to say, the crowd just loved the idea. We had many more people sign up than we had cameras and film available.
We had hit a home run for sure, and I knew that I wanted to go further with it. I had to bring this event to South by Southwest Film, Music, and Interactive Festival in Austin, but how could I cover the cost of doing this for a 4 day event and still do it free of charge? I approached Kodak about doing a co-branded event where they would provide the film and we would provide the cameras, processing and scanning. I even had T-Shirts made (in Kodak colors) that said Do A Shot With Pro8mm and Kodak. Once again, people were lined up at the booth eyeing for an opportunity to shoot on the streets of Austin, in the convention center or their favorite band. It didn’t take long for the interactive crowd to start tweeting about the opportunity. I think Harry McCracken’s blog Techland says it best “Austin’s South by Southwest conference has a relentless emphasis on the new – new tech startups, new movies, new music,…but one of the things I was the happiest to come across was old, really old http://techland.time.com/2011/03/16/super-8-isnt-dead-its-just-been-resting/

As you watch the footage from these novice shooters, it is quite apparent that just like when Super 8 was used for home movies, the POV is so intimate, personal and distinct. This is something I see from our clients who shoot Super 8 for commercials and weddings. I think this type of shooting represents a whole movement toward personal story telling, more aligned with community, connectivity, and intimacy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkLZ1R7ulK8

The potential for this idea of showing up at an event with multiple cameras and letting participants shoot events has endless potential. Years ago, the NBA pioneered this idea with a program they called “HOOP IT UP” where some of the most loved players would show up at local inner city basketball courts and let kids in the park shoot film of other kids playing basketball. From the wedding filmmaker who wants to shoot not just the big day, but the bridesmaids picking out their dresses, or put a super 8 camera on every table, or the major brand such as a clothing or cosmetic line that is sponsoring a community event - this is the creative way to have your client market their brand. It is the interactive nature between shooter and participant that can capture shots in this intimate way.

Super 8 Wedding and Lifestyle Filmmaker Branden Lower of A Bryan Photo http://www.abryanphoto.com says that you have to come from the place of being the uncle to get the shots. Check out his website to see the amazing Super 8 footage that defines this concept of lifestyle filmmaking.

Pro8mm is making available all inclusive multi-camera packages with film, processing, scanning, hard drives, and DVD viewing copies so that any Super 8 lover can get the supplies need to capture their own event with amazing shots of products, places and people that represent brand awarness and lifestyle filmmaking.

The Honeymoon Package: $1,188.00. Send the bride and groom off with a super 8 camera and you do the editing when they return! A perfect add on. 8-Day 1 camera Pro814 rental, 4 Rolls of Film, Processing & HD Scanning. G-Tech 320 Gig Usb2 Hard Drive & DVD viewing copy.

The Wedding Package: $1,288.00. One for you, one for back up or to pass off to guests to shoot each other! 2 Day 2 Camera Pro814 rental, 8 Rolls of Film, Processing & HD Scanning. G-Tech 320 Gig USB 2 Hard Drive & DVD viewing copy.

The Product Launch Package: $2,088.00. Have participants and attendees shoot the event throughout the day to get that amazing personal pov. 1-Day 4 camera Pro814 Camera Rental, 20 Rolls of Film, Processing & HD Scanning, 500 Gig Firewire 800 G-Tech Hard Drive.

The 1-Day Event Package $3,888.00. Perfect for larger events! Get amazing footage of your brand and let participants help tell the story! 1 Day 8 Cameras Pro814 Camera Rental, 48 Rolls of Film, Processing & HD Scanning, 500 gig Firewire 800 Gtech Hard Drive
Do A Shot Packages comes with suggestions on how to keep track of the cameras, organize the film and sample release forms. *Pro814 Camera Rental $125.00 with minimum 4 roll package*No Security Deposit required. * 85 Filter Rental, *Transfer based on unsupervised 24 fps rate.

Super 8 Isn't Dead. It's Just Been Resting

2011-03-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

Super 8 Isn't Dead. It's Just Been Resting

The Power of Super 8 FIlm - Events, Events, Events

2011-03-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

The Power of Super 8 FIlm - Events, Events, Events

With “The Power of Super 8 Film, Insider Secrets Every Filmmaker Should Know” taking the country by storm, Pro8mm has kicked off 2011 with a series of seminars, teleseminars, and boot camps to continue the education process on Super 8 filmmaking.

Over the past few weeks Pro8mm has been traveling the country – visiting cities such as Philadelphia, New York City, Tampa, Austin, and of course Hollywood!

The Power of Super 8 Film seminars teach filmmakers (and potential filmmakers!) that if you want a real film look you have to use real film; but you don’t have to use large expensive film equipment and stock to get these looks. With the right advice and guidance, film can be used very inexpensively and add aesthetic value to any video or digital production project. Guest speakers in the industry frequently appear at these events – showcasing their work and experiences.

The Power of Super 8 Film seminars lead up to one big event that takes place semi-annually , called “The Power of Super 8 Film Boot Camp!” The boot camp is a 3 day all-intensive event that emerges those interested in learning film into every aspect of the process. Phil presents 90 minute in-depth sessions on all components of the Super 8 workflow – including cameras, film, processing and scanning. 6 to 7 guest speakers join Phil on stage – including filmmakers in the wedding, fashion, commercial and music video industries. The 3 days includes a hands-on workshop (giving each participant a chance to shoot a roll of film), tours of the Pro8mm facility with face-time in the lab, scanning room, and tech rooms, 2 full days of sessions, take-home materials, networking opportunites and more. The next boot camp will take place in just a few weeks, March 25, 26 & 27 at the Beverly Garland Hotel in North Hollywood. Check out The Power of Super 8 Film website for more information. http://thepowerofsuper8film.com/events.php

In addition to Pro8mm’s own events, they are participating in SXSW in Austin, TX next week, presenting a panel on the making of “It’s About You” with filmmakers Kurt and Ian Markus. “It’s About You” is a feature documentary on John Mellencamp, premiering at SXSW. This film was shot on Kodak film and scanned at Pro8mm. Pro8mm will also be collaborating with Kodak for a few hands-on workshops called “Do A Shot with Pro8mm and Kodak.” Sign ups will take place at the Kodak Booth, #530 and will take place twice a day, Monday – Thursday. More info about “Do A Shot With Pro8mm and Kodak” is available here.

http://motion.kodak.com/US/en/motion/About/SXSW/index.htm

Pro8mm Launches Super 8 Teleseminar Series!

2010-12-16T12:30:00.000-08:00

Pro8mm is proud to announce the launch of our teleseminar series! Listen and learn from Super 8 expert Phil Vigeant every month from the comfort of your own home!

Our series will take place on the 3rd Wednesday of every month from 4:30pm to 5:30pm Pacific time (7:30pm to 8:30pm Eastern Time.)

The next teleseminar will be on Wednesday, January 12th on The Super 8 Camera.

Click Here for more information and to register for The Super 8 Camera Teleseminar

Remember! Even if you can not attend the seminar live register to receive the replay!

Missed our first teleseminar on The Power of Super 8 Film? You can still watch the replay!

To listen to the replay, click this link:
http://InstantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=16047894

Thank you in advance for participating in Pro8mm's Teleseminar Series!

Have a suggestion for a teleseminar topic? EmailJaclyn@pro8mm.com

Super 8 Film Event in Hollywood

2010-08-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

Sunday Night - The Power of Super 8 Film Hollywood

Please join us Sunday Night for a two hour seminar on The Power of Super 8 Film, 6PM, The Neon Venus Theater , 3023 Melrose Ave.

Don't Miss Out Super 8 Film Boot Camp

2010-07-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

Pro8mm's Kiss Ass Super 8 Boot Camp

Clips From Our Free Seminar on The Power of Super 8 Film

2010-06-16T14:04:00.000-07:00

Phil Vigeant at his Power of Super 8 Film Seminar in Burbank click link to play video

Huge Success For Do A Shot With Pro8mm Event!

2010-06-15T16:41:00.000-07:00

Our Do A Shot With Pro8mm - Huge, I mean Enormous Success!

CLick Link to read the news!

Cine Gear Interview - Do A Shot With Pro8mmm

2010-06-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

CHECK OUT OUR INTERVIEW WITH JAG MAGAZINE!

We had an amazing event at CineGear Expo! Over 50 people did "A SHOT WITH PRO8MM' -
Free film, processing, scanning and training with our camera or their! What a GREAT event!

DO A SHOT WITH PRO8MM HUGE SUCCESS @CineGear Expo

2010-06-08T15:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30826779&id=1120218623

Pro8mm brought The Power of Super 8 Film To CineGear Expo on June 4 & 5th, Paramount Studios.

We put Super 8 camera in the hands of over 50 people over the two days! Participants got a free roll of Pro8mm Super 8 film (and a free T Shirt) and the chance to borrow one of our cameras if they did not bring their own. After a little hands on instruction, they went around the expo and shot their roll. This week we are processing all the film and scanning it in native 1080 HD to Pro Res 422 and giving it back to the on a data DVD to edit. We will put an edited piece of all the film shot together for you to see! A $110 value for free - just to have the shooting experience!

Check out my @constantcontact newsletter archive

2010-05-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

Check out my @constantcontact newsletter archive

Boston - Sign Up Here For The Power of Super 8 Film

2010-05-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

Click Here To Register For The Boston Event!

Bostonians - Register for The Power of Super 8 Film

The Power of Super 8 Film Comes To Boston

2010-05-24T14:35:00.000-07:00

Bostonians! Click here to register for The Power of Super 8 Film

THE POWER OF SUPER 8 Film - New York

2010-05-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

New Yorkers! Sign Up For Our Free Event!

2010-04-30T12:55:00.000-07:00

Film Cast Live Blogs About The Power of Super 8 Film Seminar

Click on the link above to read the review

DO A SHOT WITH PRO8MM AT CINEGEAR EXPO

2010-04-28T15:59:00.000-07:00

DO A SHOT WITH PRO8MM

CINEGEAR EXPO, JUNE 4 & 5, Paramount Studios Backlot

Hollywood......................

The Shots are on Pro8mm at Cinegear Expo for the first 40 filmmakers who sign up at the show. Super 8 is the OG of guerilla filmmaking. Find out how you can make this beautiful, classic film gauge work in an HD world.

Pro8mm is hosting free hands on Super 8 film shooting sessions at Cinegear. The one hour time slots begin at 4:15 on Friday and 10:15 on Saturday. Included is some basic hands on training, one roll of Super 8 film, processing, scanning to HD, delivered on a data DVD in Pro Res 422, and a free t shirt to all participants!

Filmmakers will start at the Pro8mm booth in groups of 5 with Super 8 film expert Phil Vigeant, (Pro8mm President and Author of The Power of Super 8 Film) and will begin with some basic hands on training. People can bring their own Super 8 camera, or use one of ours. They will then have 45 minutes to go around the expo on their own and shoot their super 8 roll.

At the end of the session, return the exposed film, and the camera if you checked one out to their booth. Pro8mm will process the film the following week at their Burbank lab, and scan the footage to native 1080 HD on their Millennium 2 scanner. Filmmakers can pick up their disk at Pro8mm. The best footage will be edited and appear as a demo on the Pro8mm YouTube Channel.

To sign up, go to their booth, #86 (near the food court) or look for Pro8mm staff roaming around in bright yellow shirts, that say DO A SHOT WITH PRO8MM. All participants must have a valid ID and a credit card for a damage deposit to check out a camera. Participants will be required to sign a release allowing Pro8mm to use the footage.

From cameras to film stock and encoding, all-inclusive workflows that save time and money, shooting tips and more, Pro8mm's Phil Vigeant shares his secrets and tips that Hollywood insiders have used for years in his new book , The Power of Super 8 Film – Insider Secrets Every Filmmaker Should Know. Autographed copies are available for purchase at the Pro8mm booth. Check out all the updated gear, including the Max 8 1014 with Crystal Sync, and the launch of their new series of Super 8 Filmmaker Boot Camps and Seminars.

Pro8mm – 2805 W. Magnolia Blvd. – Burbank, CA 91505

818-848-5522 www.pro8mm.com email: info@pro8mm.com

A Great Night At Our Free Seminar - The Power of Super 8 Film

2010-04-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

It was a great event in Burbank last night for our first free seminar on The Power of Super 8 Film. We packed the small Missing Piece Theater, two doors down from Pro8mm as Phil gave a power point presentation on the evolution of Super 8 film, from his earliest days at Super 8 Sound in Cambridge, until today, explaining why he is about to upgrade his M2 HD 4K scanner to Pro Res 444. There was a great showing of classic super 8 music videos from the early days, including Madonna's "Erotica" to Boys Like Girls "Two is Better Than One", shot with Super 8 and the red. Filmmakers Geroge Manzanilla and Craig Kief joined the stage with Phil, talking to filmmakers about their commercial work for the fashion and music industry. Great questions, great audience, great food, great fun. Pro8mm announced their 2 Day Boot Camp September 11 & 12 2010, and those in attendance were allowed to pregerister at a huge discount and bring a friend for free. Watch for details on more free Super 8 seminars and events. Call 818-848-5522 or log onto our website!

Hollywood News Writes About The Power of Super 8 Film

2010-04-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

Hollywood News Writes About The Power of Super 8 Film

Cine journalist Bob Fisher writes about Phil Vigeant's book, The Power of Super 8 Film. To purchase the book, or find out about one of our workshops or seminars go to www.thepowerofsuper8film.com

Super 8 Film is The Power Connection

2010-04-20T15:56:00.000-07:00

Filmmaking is a collaborative process. Just look at the end of any motion picture and you’ll notice that the list of individuals and companies involved in the making of a single movie runs into the thousands. And these credits show only the individuals who have a contract specifying that they be named. There are additionally thousands of other people who contributed their talent toward the project who are not listed in the credits.

Before you can collaborate with anyone, you have to connect with them. Connecting requires one of two things to happen; either you have something that someone needs for their project, in which case they seek you out, or the other option is that you are simply there at the right place at the right time, and you can impress upon them that they need you as part of their team to do this thing.

Experience in Super 8 film provides you with the great power of being connected to the filmmaking process. By its nature, just using Super 8 allows you to grasp the technical issues involved in filmmaking and be able to express yourself with the lingo that makes film work, particularly when you use Super 8 in the same way professional people use 35mm film. Your acuity with the process makes you one with the elite group of people who do the majority of motion picture work.

Let me give you an example. Say you shot some Super 8 and you used the new Fuji Vivid 47 stock in your project. You shoot, you scan to HD, you edit. It really doesn’t even matter what you’re shooting, even if it’s just shooting a friend in your own back yard.

Now you’re at a gathering, say a film screening or a festival where you meet a celebrity film person who works in the industry. Because they are in the industry, they know about the new Fuji stock but they can’t just grab a $600 roll of this stock and spend another $1,000 to test it out, so they haven’t tried it yet. So you start a conversation about your experience with the stock; how you like the blacks in Vivid 47 and how much more punchy the color was compared to when you shot with the older stocks, etc. You are instantly part of the group.
You are connected.

Compare this to what it would be like if you knew nothing about film and were just doing the gaga over the fact that you just brushed elbows with a celebrity and told them how much you loved their work…just like everyone else on the outside looking to get in.

Practically everyone over the age of 30 began their careers in the film industry using 8mm films. The community of people in the film industry that has fond memories of their beginning in this business, whether at school or just making movies with their friends, is a staggering collection of some of the most influential individuals and organizations in the film world. Most of the top filmmakers of our time trace their roots to 8mm beginnings. Because they started in 8mm, when they learn that you are also shooting in 8mm, there is the bond. It’s impossible for them to resist taking you in under their wing and telling you stories about their first experiences, about how A led to B and how it was their first Super 8 project that got them connected to the world of film.
Again, compare this to you meeting one of the greats and talking about digital and how film is dead, and you claiming you have no use for learning the craft that is the life blood of these peoples’ existence.

I have seen this connectivity through 8mm film happen so many times over my career that I rate the experience up there with love at first sight and other mythical relationships. I was once working on a film for Neil Young called Year of the Horse and during a break, director Jim Jarmusch and I were in the front office when Oscar-Winning Actor Forest Whitaker came into the shop to get his Super 8 camera repaired. Jim asked me to introduce him to Forest and the two got straight into their Super 8 experiences. They were both so engrossed in each other’s experiences, they decided to take off and go get some lunch together. Jim didn’t return until the next day’s session. Their connection through Super 8 created an instant bond leading to their collaboration on the film Ghost Dog.

We are all connected in this world through different things, whether it is religion, nationalities, language, etc. For film people, we are connected through our film experiences. Ever notice how you will see a group of famous people who all worked on the same beginning film project? How did all these people come together to make a film like American Graffiti and then all go on have enormously successful careers? The only explanation is connectivity.

I always bring along my Super 8 camera whenever I travel. I use it to document my family and do tests on the various technical things I have going on at the shop. Everywhere I go, filmmakers stop me to talk about their Super 8 experiences. A Super 8 camera is like a lightning rod for fellow filmmakers.

Like the filmmaking process itself, there is nothing that I have done in Super 8 that I have done by myself. Even some of my proudest accomplishments were really just massive collaborative efforts between many people. One great thing the process of filmmaking has taught me is that great things are most often the sum of these collaborations.

Take, for example, my introduction of Super 8 color negative film. It was filmmakers that wanted it and encouraged me to work out the issues to do it. It was filmmakers using it that made it possible to perfect it. Then there were the dozens of people whose technical skills helped me accomplish it. Even companies like Kodak helped me and provided technical support to make this product a reality.
I take credit for it like a Producer or Director does with a film because it was my house that had to be mortgaged in order to raise the money to get it done and my direction that got it accomplished, but I would also have a credit list as long as that of a major motion picture if I were to credit everyone who contributed to the project.

To be a filmmaker, you have to learn to reach out to the film world, connect and collaborate. If you’re a person in China who wants to be a filmmaker, is it insane for you to use film and to send it across the globe to California for processing and scanning? I say, “No.” In fact, it is the most powerful thing you could do, because you are reaching out to the film world. You are connecting yourself to over 100 years of motion picture making. If your career progresses, you may, like those who came before you, one day trace your roots to a tiny little 8mm wide film format.
That’s the Power of Super 8 Film.

Free Seminar on The Power of Super 8 Film

2010-04-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

FREE EVENT! Tuesday, April 26th 7-9 PM
2811 Magnolia Blvd (2 doors down from Pro8mm)
at the Missing Piece Theater

Pro8mm will be kicking off a new series of seminars and bootcamps on The Power of Super 8 Film. On the heels of a very successful panel and large turnout at SXSW in March, we will continue offering filmmakers interested in Super 8 a chance to learn first hand from Phil Vigeant about Super 8 workflows, as well as filmmkaers who have used the format with great success.

Super 8 is the OG of guerilla filmmaking. Find out how you can make this beautiful, classic film gauge work in an HD world. From cameras to film stock and encoding, all-inclusive workflows that save time and money, shooting tips and more, Pro8mm's Phil Vigeant shares his secrets and tips about The Power of Super 8 Film that Hollywood insiders have used for years.

BONUS OFFER:
Phil's new book, The Power of Super 8 Film will be available at this event for only $5.00 where he will personally autograph it for you.

Limited to 60 attendees. Click on the link below to register now!
You won't want to miss this exclusive free filmmaker event! Tons of great information for filmmakers at all levels from newbie to pro. Get a glimpse at some exclusive Super 8 footage that will inspire you !

MISSING PIECE THEATRE
2811 West Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91505

2 Doors down from
Pro8mm

SEE THE VIDEO FROM OUR RECENT POWER OF SUPER 8 FILM PANEL at SXSW

The Power of Super 8 Film - A New Book by Phil Vigeant

2010-03-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

The Power Of Super 8 Film
-Insider Secrets Every Filmmaker Should Know
by Phil Vigeant, President, Pro8mm, Burbank, CA

Many emerging filmmakers spend a fortune on equipment, expensive university film programs, private filmmaking boot camps, or over priced post-production, that often renders mediocre quality, and they still feel as if something is missing. They look at their progress as marginal compared to their financial investment, time commitment and ability to work the craft. That is the purpose of this book. Filmmakers will get the expertise I can offer from running my company, Pro8mm that has worked with industry insiders who have shot Super 8mm film for over 30 years. The Power of Super 8 Film illustrates why I invented products that changed the way filmmakers and the entertainment industry have used Super 8 film, emerging from a format used to shoot home movies in the 1950's-1970's to a professional production medium. Pro8mm workflows have been used in hundreds of commercials for national brands, dozens of 35mm theatrical releases, and award winning music videos and television shows. The Power of Super 8 Film will guide filmmakers through the steps they should take to immediately get the experience of shooting film on film, the way all the greats did.

The book is written in a non-technical style that will be easy for any newcomer to film to understand, while providing fantastic tips for filmmakers at any level on finding cameras, shooting different film stocks, choices in processing techniques and integrating Super 8 film into digital workflows and new media applications. I explain how to get a huge bang for your filmmaking buck by using an inexpensive Super 8 camera, a 50 foot cartridge of film, chemistry and the very best in digital scanning.

This book fills a much needed void among other books written on cinematography as it encapsulates the use of Super 8 film as a professional production medium giving real examples of work done in the format. It is not a technical manual on focus, lighting or other technical nuances of the craft, (of which there are plenty of existing references) but rather a guerilla guide that gets down to the nuts and bolts of Super 8 today. Nothing else like this currently exists.

The book is 104 pages, paperback and is available for $14.95 at www.pro8mm.com

The Power of Super 8 Film,a book by Phil Vigeant

2010-03-03T12:42:00.000-08:00

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs080/1100774979935/archive/1103031136424.html

2010-02-12T16:02:00.000-08:00

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs080/1100774979935/archive/1103031136424.html

2010-02-07T19:42:00.001-08:00

Just signed up for Ping. Isn't technology grand?

The Super 8 Revolution

2010-01-14T15:07:00.000-08:00

Tip 3 and 4 for shooting Modern Super 8 Film

2009-11-12T16:05:00.001-08:00

#3 Correct Exposure:

Having the correct exposure is one of the most critical aspects of getting the best-looking super8 pictures. There are books written on this subject where you can learn the nuances of lighting and exposure reading. The fundamental issue for super8 filmmakers today is that too many filmmakers are relying on their aging super8 cameras internal exposure system to make this critical setting. Some of these systems were not even that good when they where new, let alone 30 to 40 years down the road. Photography is after all, painting with light. To get your best results, you have to learn about light, how it relates to different film stocks, and how to choose the best exposure setting. My super8 images improved dramatically when I bought an inexpensive light meter (About $75.00) and started taking some readings and doing some experimentation. I found that even the factory settings prescribe by the manufacture of both the film and cameras were not always optimum to make the best-looking Super8 pictures. So many factors affect your exposure. Did you know that your best exposure would be different based on if you are in wide or telephoto on your zoom? For your camera’s internal system to work, it has to be able to recognize the notch system in the super8 cartridge and be calibrated for it to work well. The ASA notches were designed to cover a wide range of ASA original films from 10 to 640 ASA measure in 2/3 stop increments. Some Super8 cameras can only recognize a single setting where others can read all six. None of this means much if the system has not been calibrated in 15years. Once you own a light meter it is possible the do some comparisons if only to understand how your system is working. I use my cameras internal system all the time but I always have my light meter to check and compare settings.

#4 Focus

Focusing a lens was such a standard fundamental procedure to taking photos or shooting movies that it is difficult for those of us that grew up with this tradition to understand that today many filmmakers do not need or know how to focus. Good super8 filmmaking depends on good manual focus because there are no auto focus systems. Filmmakers need to spend some quality time understanding it, practicing it and learning when it is the most critical and when they could let their guard down. In the “good old days “a lot of photography was restricted to outdoors because of the slow ASA. Today you can have Super8 with 500 ASA so you can film in some pretty low light. This makes seeing focus more difficult. The original design of super8 cameras did not consider this. If you are going to get good super8 footage, you need to understand focus and depth of field, and practice.

To focus a camera with your eye, the system starts with the correct setting of the cameras internal diopter. Everyone’s’ vision is slightly different so the diopter in a camera calibrates your eye to what the camera is seeing. There are many methods prescribed for setting the diopter. I learned using the infinity approach. You set the focus ring of the lens on infinity and then looking at something far away, you focus the diopter to your eye. There are numbers on every super8 lens that should correlate to the focus distance between the camera and the subject. These make great reference points to check if you are really getting the correct focus by “eyeing” it.

Most super8 cameras (except for Beaulieu) use a range focus systems. (Range Finder) This is not the easiest system to use and without the diopter, set correctly there is little chance of getting correct focus. The difficulty for modern super8 users is that when you look through the super8 camera you do not see all the information for easy focus. In particular, the F-stop or aperture and 85 filters are after where the focus optic is, so you do not see the effect of this on focus.

The other way to approach focus is to understand when it is critical and when its not. When you shoot at full telephoto, (the most zoomed in) and at full aperture (F the smallest number) on a big 10 to 1 super8 zoom the focus depth is less then an inch. This mean if your focus setting is wrong by even the slightest, or you move the camera as little as a few inches, you are out of focus. On the other extreme if your at full wide on the zoom and the smallest aperture (F the largest number) the focus depth is huge, maybe 50 feet or greater. In this situation it doesn’t’ matter where you set the focus you will be in focus.

Since most super8 film is shot in available light, you cannot change that. If you back off a little on that gorgeous lens to a wider setting and use slightly higher ASA film you will find focus to be much easier. At minimum, always make sure to vary your shoots so even if you are wrong you have a chance of having some focused material.

(c) Pro8mm 2009 www.pro8mm.com

8 Tips For Shooting Modern Super8, by Philip Vigeant

2009-11-09T12:56:00.000-08:00

A Few tips can go a long way

Parts of my job as senior colorist at Pro8mm, is that I get to scan about a million feet of super8 film each year. In doing so I get to see what is happening in the super8 world with some vantage point based on volume. I look at my work as a two-part job. One, as a creative colorist, trying to get the most information off of the frames for our customers, and second, as an inspector looking for bugs in the over all super 8 process. When I see something that needs improving, I try to see what I can do with the technology at hand to facilitate a positive change. Internally, I can talk to my employees who are the people most responsible for each area and together we try to attack the issue. Externally, it is much more difficult. You have competitive concerns to address, and some companies just do not see these problems as issues the way I might. In addition, there are things that are totally beyond my control that can play a major roll in great looking super8 footage. These things are up to the filmmaker. Each year the technology for scanning film to digital seems to improve, resulting in more things that I can fix. Native 1080 HD film scanning now provides me with tremendous processing power to do many things that were impossible just a year ago. There are new things on the horizon as well, which will give us even greater ability to improve an imperfect image. However, there are a few things that if the filmmaker does not get right, there is very little that can be done to remedy the problem, no matter how much technology you have at hand.

As the years progress the problems seem to change and evolve with each new generation. For those who grew up with film as the main picture-taking medium some things were learned at every juncture of the photographic process. Things such as focus were so common knowledge of that generation that we often forget that this is knowledge that you have to learn. A colleague of mine who teaches filmmaking here in California said that he has to spend days of the semester going over some of this basic stuff. Therefore, here is my short list 2009 of the 8 most common areas of concern I see every day in transferring film. I hope that a few quick tips and expatiation can help you create better images with your super8 camera.

# 1 Hair in the Gate:

Because of the nature of film and the way it travels through a camera and exposes each frame, the system will build up debris in the gate that if it is allowed to accumulate, and this will block some of the image. The metal gate frames the film with what should be a smooth black border. Because you are running film over metal, it tends to leaves tiny deposits on the gate as the film passes over it. This emulsion residue is a gummy substance that is barely visible to the naked eye. If this is not cleaned, from your camera, from time to time you can have several problems. First, the gummy glue can trap foreign

Substances like hair, lint, and dust and hold it firmly, often where the image is taken in a camera. The result are these ugly black globs which start around the boarder that blocks some of your image usually on the edges but sometimes big enough to block a lot of picture. Depending on the size of these foreign obstacles, a hair in the gate can ruin a shot. In addition, the build up of emulsion can get so bad that your camera can physically scratch the film. The fix for these problems are very simple. Go to the store and purchase a child’s toothbrush. Gently brush a few strokes between every cartridge. Every, single cartridge! It is amazingly simple but incredibly effective. Do not use compressed air as all that will do is blow dirt around and it might blow debris into somewhere you cannot get it out. In addition, compressed air does not often have the force to move the object because remember, it is stuck in place. Do not use a Q-tip, as the chance of leaving a fiber of cotton is greater then the good you will do by performing the cleaning.

If your camera has never been cleaned, you might need to do some more extensive work. Once it is clean, the brush trick is all that should be need to keep you hair free.

#2 the 85 Filter Situation

In the beginning, all super8 film was Tungsten Balance, which means that the film will produce true colors under tungsten light. If you wanted to get correct colors in daylight, you had to use an orange filter called an 85 (sometimes called 85A). For convenience, every Super 8 camera was built with an internal 85 filter. The filter was usually ??? in place because most filming was done outside in daylight. There were some clever ways to take out the filter when you were filming in Tungsten (Interior Light). The filter removal system could be activated by the super8 cartridges notch system, or by a switch, or by sticking something into a place in the camera to take it out or some combination of these things.

Every super8 camera manufacturer had their own idea as to how this should be done. Today, you have dozens of super8 film stocks that can be either daylight or tungsten color balanced. When you film in daylight with daylight film, you do not want to use an 85 filter. At Pro8mm we. have been taking the internal filters out of super8 cameras for many years now. When this is done correctly, it can greatly improve the optical performance of a camera. Today because you can buy daylight film, it is actually inconvenient to have the internal 85 filter. Some film manufacturing companies prescribe to the cartridge notch for 85-filter removal and some do not. The standard for dealing with this 85 thing are a mess, so it is up to you the filmmaker to understand what how you camera handles this and that film you are using the correct film for your filming environment, daylight or tungsten to get this correct. Although you can do some amazing color, correction in post if you do not get this right you will never achieve the brilliance in color your images can have. In addition, all this correcting takes time, which cost money.

(insert photo EXAMPLE: Pro8-85 shot correctly Daylight no filter Shot on New Pro814 Wide. Pro8-80 shot incorrectly attempted fix in post)

What make this a little challenging is in most super8 cameras the 85 was placed behind where it can be seen with the viewfinder optics. If your camera has a switch or you toggle between the two setting for filter in and out you will not be able to see the effect of having the filter in by looking in the viewfinder. The major exception to this would be Beaulieu cameras that have a reflex viewfinder where the entire image path is viable in the viewfinder.

If you do not own a Beaulieu you must open up the camera door where you insert the film and look through the camera body. Put your eye in line with what the film will see. You must run the camera to see through. It also will help if you point the camera at something dark so the exposure system is open, or manually set the camera to exposure wide open. Once you find a position where you can see light through the camera body flip the switch that goes between the 85 filters in and out. You should see the light turn a darker orange when the filter is in. However, you are not done. Take the super8 cartridge you are about to use and put it in the camera. While doing so, look to see if it is flipping and if there is a type of lever in the camera. Now go back to check your camera and make sure that the position the cartridge has not effected the switching. The other approach is to make sure all your settings are correct and the cartridge has the correct notch for the 85 filters. A cartridge with a notch for the 85 filters will not remove the filter. A cartridge without a notch will automatically remove the filter. In some cameras, an external switch can override this, but in others, if the notch removes the 85 filter it cannot be returned with the switch.

Pro8mm Tip of the Day: How to Pick a Place to Scan Your Super 8 Film

2009-10-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

As I was working on updating my own VIMEO and You Tube Channels this weekend, I lost myself in the many great Super 8 films that people have posted. I found that I can spend endless hours just watching everyone’s stuff, and of course, since this is my profession, I am always curious about the cameras, film, processing and scanning workflow. Some of the DIY folks have produced some really good stuff. Great in fact. Filmmakers who enjoy the power of one, and have the time to maticulate over moving their super 8 film to digital can achieve a decent result, providing they understand how to minimize the dirt, and the film was lit correctly to begin with.

What I found somewhat interesting however was how many scans done at facilities are producing results that look so bad. In many cases, worse than the DIY telecine that filmmakers have done.

So here is a tip I hope you will use. Before you choose a place to scan your super 8 film, go to YouTube and Vimeo to see what kind of quality a scanning facility can offer. Most companies now have samples of their stuff up there, or their clients have tagged what facility did the scan. Check out as many as you can find. You will be amazed at the range of what you see.

As I looked at all of my competitors stuff, as is human nature to do, it validated for me the differential between the quality of the scans that we provide far exceeds the differential in the price. One more thing…don’t be fooled by “fake” HD. HD is a native 1080 scan that comes directly off the scanner, not an SD telecine scan that is up rezzed in a computer.

Check it out for yourself.

www.pro8mm.com © Phil Vigeant, Pro8mm 2009

Why You Should Not Transfer Your Home Movies To DVD

2009-10-16T14:27:00.001-07:00

WHY YOU SHOULD NOT TRANSFER YOUR HOME MOVIES TO DVD

As hundreds of people around the world prepare to attend Home Movie Day this Saturday, October 17th, I started thinking about how much misleading information there is on the internet from transfer houses about preservation and archiving your home movies. First and foremost is that a DVD does NOT preserve your film. A DVD is only a copy of your original film master by which you can watch your home movies. You cannot even edit a DVD transfer. As more and more people begin to think about putting their super 8, regular 8 or 16mm home movies into their Mac or some other edit program, so they can “do something” with them, I think it is important to think about why having your home movies scanned to DVD might not be the best choice. Most importantly, you never ever want to throw your original home movies away. This is your master that you will return to time and time again as scanning technology and applications change, and it needs to be cared for and protected.

The Center for Home Movies is a 501-C-3 not for profit organization that has done a tremendous job in raising the collective conscious of the public by having this annual Home Movie Day event worldwide. Home movies are our legacy, and offer a unique “you are here” view of decades past. They are an important part of personal, community, and cultural history. Go to their website www.homemovieday.com to find a Home Movie Day event near you. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed! The event is this Saturday at numerous locations around the world. Participation is simple: Bring one or more reels of your 8mm, Super8, or 16mm home movies to the event. They will inspect, and project them on a first-come, first-served basis. Damaged films will not be screened, but preservation specialists will offer expert advice on caring for at-risk materials. No films of your own? Just come and watch the show! It is free!

So as people begin to think about their archive, and perhaps select a reel or two to bring to Home Movie Day, this leaves the question, what should I do with MY home movies? You may no longer have access to a working projector, and more importantly, you would like to share your home movies with other family members. You may want to find out who else in my family has films. Maybe aunts, uncles and first cousins have films that show a different perspective or event than what your dad shot.

Pro8mm has scanned millions of hours of regular 8 , super 8 and 16mm film for the worlds most famous faces AND the general public. We feel so strongly about home movie preservation and that it should be done by a reputable company who will handle your one and only archive with integrity. Your home movies are just as import to you as the Hewlett/Packard’s, The Coppola’s. The Eagles, Van Halen, Bette Midler, Evan Picone, Estee Lauder (I could go on and on) are to them. Do you think that Richard Nixon would have sent his home movies to be transferred at Costco? To me this is like needing an organ transplant and finding a place that will do it at www.hearttransplants.com or the Kidney Depot. It is the same with your home movies. You only have one set of originals. So why not take the time to find out who is transferring them, what kind of experience they have, what kind of equipment they use and is the equipment safe for your film given its age and condition. Trust me, I have heard all the horror stories and many transfer facilities use primitive homemade equipment, some of which I have actually seen at trade shows. You could not pay me to put my film on anything that looked like it would scratch it, tear the perfs or chew the film!

Some places offer home movie transfers to DVD’s very cheap on equipment that only cost a few hundred dollars. We scan home movies on a one million dollar piece of equipment that was originally bought to do production work and documentary work of super 8 and regular 8 film. Your home movies are treated the way any professional production would be treated. Nothing drives me crazier than people who have the attitude why go to all that trouble .. “well it is just some old home movies” . I think people feel this way because your typical cheap transfer looks so bad compared to the original film which looks so incredibly good projected on a big screen. Well, here is a clip that I put up on FACEBOOK of “just some old home movies” from the 1940’s that were my grandfathers. www.vimeo.com/6974965 I had no idea that he was on the Board of Directors at The Blue Hill Credit Union, or that my great grandmother Rachel was so shy when the camera was on her. I never “got that” from the stills I had seen of her. My relatives went absolutely CRAZY! They loved it. Now I am getting my family to help me tag who these people were. Just think…The Power of Home Movies and the power of the internet. In order to do this though, your film has to be encoded to a file format not DVD. Films that are scanned as files can be used in an edit program on a Mac or PC, and, you can create stills from you film clips.

If you think having your home movies scanned by a professional motion picture company, here is what I suggest.

Set a budget. even as small as $100 -$200 dollars
Scan to file format only what you budgeted for. I would go for best quality , not quantity.
Share this high quality scan with your relatives to see if family members would like to share the cost and pool their films together to create a family archive. I think you will be surprised how many people might be interested in contributing
Do not feel that you have to scan everything at once. For my family, we scan an hour a year. You can also edit little clips and put them up for special occasions; For example, for my daughters 25th birthday, I put on FACEBOOK her 3rd birthday shot on Super 8 film. It was the greatest gift!
No matter where you scan, please take the time to find out the following by asking the facility these questions:

Find out what kind of equipment the facility has. Is it a film chain where they video tape your images as it goes through a projector. If it is, it will never render the quality that is on your original film. Or is it a flying spot scanner that is sprocketless. These render superior quality to film chain or single image capture telecines, and allow you to color correct the film. Many Ranks have a daVinci color correction system. This is like photoshop for your movies . Flying Spot Scanners are especially ideal for shrunken or badly damaged film.
2. If it is a flying scanner, what kind is it and how old is it? Transfer technology has been progressing rapidly since the 1980. The newer equipment can make substantially better images form your film.

3. Who is doing the transfer? Is it a real company or a home based business? Is it a trained film handler or archivist, or is it a minimum wage employee without professional training that is paying more attention to the internet or cell phone then your transfe

4. Do you have a choice of one light (single pass) or full scene-to-scene color correction? One light is best economy. Full color correction offers best quality and is done at a 3-1 ratio.

5. Is the film cleaned first and how? Dirty film will render a dirty transfer. Do they have technology to minimize the appearance of dirt and scratches on your transfer, such as Y Front technology?

6. Do you have a choice of standard definition or high definition? Is the high definition a “native 1080” HD scan, or is it “up rezzed’’ in a computer. Many places will call your scan an HD scan but it is film that has been video taped with an HD camcorder.

7. What do you want to do with your home movies? Do you want to edit clips to put up on Facebook, YouTube or on your iphone? Do you want to generate stills? Do you want to over-lay audio to take oral histories from family members? If so, then you do not want to transfer to DVD. You want to put them in a file format on a hard drive.

Whatever you decide, take the time to do the research. Think about how you want to share the movies. The internet now makes this so easy and so much more fun. You only have one archive. Preserve it for yourself, and for the future! And remember. Never throw away you original film! (c) RhondaVigeant, owner Pro8mm, October 2009 www.pro8mm.com

8 Tips For Shooting Modern Super 8 #2 - 85 Filter

2009-08-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

8 Tips For Shooting Modern Super 8 #2.... The 85 Filter Situation

Now here is a topic of controversy and conversation…the good old 85 filter. There are many differences of opinion about the 85 filter. This is ours at Pro8mm. – Rhonda

In the beginning, all super8 film was Tungsten Balanced, which means that the film will produce true colors under tungsten light. If you wanted to get correct colors in daylight, you had to use an orange filter called an 85 (sometimes called 85A). For convenience, every Super 8 camera was built with an internal 85 filter. The filter was usually in place because most filming was done outside in daylight. There were some clever ways to take out the filter when you were filming in Tungsten (Interior) light. The filter removal system could be activated by the super8 cartridges notch system, or by a switch, or by sticking something into a place in the camera to take it out or some combination of these things.
Every super 8 camera manufacturer had their own idea as to how this should be done. Today, you have dozens of super8 film stocks that can be either daylight or tungsten color balanced. When you film in daylight with daylight film, you do not want to use an 85 filter. At Pro8mm we have been taking the internal filters out of super8 cameras for many years now. When this is done correctly, it can greatly improve the optical performance of a camera. These inernal filters are often made of plastic which deteriorate over time and can greatly interfere with the quality of the image. They are also dirt magnets! Today because you can buy daylight film, it is actually inconvenient to have the internal 85 filter. Some film manufacturing companies prescribe to the cartridge notch for 85-filter removal and some do not. The standards for dealing with this 85 thing are a mess, so it is up to you, the filmmaker to understand what the 85 filter is and how your camera handles this. You need to make sure that you are using the correct film for your filming environment, daylight or tungsten. Although you can do some amazing color, correction in post, if you do not get this right you will never achieve the brilliance in color your images can have. In addition, all this correcting takes time, which cost money. What make this a little challenging is in most super8 cameras the 85 was placed behind the viewfinder optic where it can not be seen. If your camera has a switch or you can toggle between the two settings for filter in and out , you will not be able to see the effect of having the filter in by looking in the viewfinder.
You must open up the camera door where you insert the film and look through the camera body. Put your eye in line with what the film will see. You must run the camera in order to see through it. It also will help if you point the camera at something darker so the exposure system is open, or manually set the camera to keep the exposure wide open. Once you find a position where you can see light through the camera body, flip the switch that goes between the 85 filters in and out. You should see the light turn a darker orange when the filter is in. However, you are not done. Take the super8 cartridge you are about to use and put it in the camera. While doing so, look to see if it is flipping a lever in the camera. Now go back to check your camera and make sure that the position of the cartridge has not effected the switching. The other approach is to make sure all your settings are correct and the cartridge has the correct notch for the 85 filters. A cartridge with a notch for the 85 filters will not remove the filter automaticly. A cartridge without a notch will automatically remove the filter. In some cameras, an external switch can override this, but in others, if the notch removes the 85 filter it cannot be returned with the switch.

(c) Pro8mm ™ , by Phil Vigeant, 2009

Cartridge on left is 7219 without 85 filter notch. On right, the notch added by Pro8mm
One thing you may find interesting in that we repackage the Kodak Vision 3 7219 which we call Pro8/19 ASA 500T with our prepaid processing and add the correct notch for the 85 filter. ($30 stock and processing…add a scan to Pro Ress that inclues prep and clean for one stop work flows with progressive discount, a yummy deal!) www.pro8mm.com

8 Tips for Shooting modern Super 8

2009-08-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

I read allot about Super 8 in chat rooms and forums and I am always amazed how much misinformation there is. There seems to always be an on going battle between people trying to jockey themselves as the most informed expert. This wrong information and half truths hurts filmmakers. I checked on AMAZON.com and there is nothing on MODERN SUPER 8. The last book I found was written in 1981. So I though it would be helpful to have some tips for shooting modern Super 8.

Instead of giving you all 8 tips at once, I'll give them to you one at a time so that hopefully you will keep coming back and read my Super 8 blog! While some of the tips I am going to give you are “old school” common sense that any film maker working with super 8 or 16mm film should do/should have done at any time in their shooting career , some have to do directly with the new modern negative film stocks, our Max 8, 16 x 9 super 8 cameras and native 1080 HD scanning.

A Few tips can go a long way, by Phil Vigeant, owner and senior colorist at Pro8mm

“Parts of my job as senior colorist at Pro8mm, is that I get to scan about a million feet of super8 film each year. In doing so I get to see what is happening in the super8 world with some vantage point based on volume. I look at my work as a two-part job. One, as a creative colorist, trying to get the most information off of the frames for our customers, and second, as an inspector looking for bugs in the over all super8 process. When I see something that needs improving, I try to see what I can do with the technology at hand to facilitate a positive change. Internally, I can talk to my employees who are the people most responsible for each area and together we try to attack the issue. Externally, it is much more difficult. You have competitive concerns to address, and some companies just do not see these problems as issues the way I might. In addition, there are things that are totally beyond my control that can play a major roll in great looking super8 footage. These things are up to the filmmaker. Each year the technology for scanning film to digital seems to improve, resulting in more things that I can fix. Native 1080 HD film scanning now provides me with tremendous processing power to do many things that were impossible just a year ago. There are new things on the horizon as well, which will give us even greater ability to improve an imperfect image. However, there are a few things that if the filmmaker does not get right, there is very little that can be done to remedy the problem, no matter how much technology you have at hand.

As the years progress the problems seem to change and evolve with each new generation. For those who grew up with film as the main picture-taking medium some things were learned at every juncture of the photographic process. Things such as focus were so common knowledge of that generation that we often forget that this is knowledge that you have to learn. A colleague of mine who teaches film making here in California said that he has to spend days of the semester going over some of this basic stuff. Therefore, here is my short list 2009 of the 8 most common areas of concern I see every day in transferring film. I hope that a few quick tips and expatiation can help you create better images with your super8 camera.” – Phil Vigeant(c) 2009

TIP #1 HAIR IN THE GATE

Nothing is more aggravating for us and to you when we get absolutely gorgeous footage up on the scanner and there is a big yucky piece of dirt or hair in the frame. Just a small effort on your part will make your footage sparkle! BRUSH YOUR CAMERA GATE!

“Because of the nature of film and the way it travels through a camera and exposes each frame, the system will build up debris in the gate. If it is allowed to accumulate, this will block some of the image. The metal gate frames the film with what should be a smooth black border. Because you are running film over metal, it tends to leaves tiny deposits on the gate as the film passes over it. This emulsion residue is a gummy substance that is barely visible to the naked eye. If this is not cleaned from your camera, from time to time you can have several problems. First, the gummy glue can trap foreign substances like hair, lint, and dust and hold it firmly, often where the image is taken in a camera. This results in these ugly black globs which start around the boarder that blocks some of your image usually on the edges, but sometimes big enough to block a lot of picture. Depending on the size of these foreign obstacles, a hair in the gate can ruin a shot. In addition, the build up of emulsion can get so bad that your camera can physically scratch the film. The fix for these problems is very simple. Go to the store and purchase a child’s toothbrush. Gently brush a few strokes between every cartridge. Every, single, cartridge! It is amazingly simple but incredibly effective. Do not use compressed air as all that will do is blow dirt around, and it might blow debris into somewhere you cannot get it out. In addition, compressed air does not often have the force to move the object because remember, it is stuck in place. Do not use a Q-tip, as the chance of leaving a fiber of cotton is greater then the good you will do by performing the cleaning. If your camera has never been cleaned, you might need to do some more extensive work. Once it is clean, the brush trick is all that should be need to keep you hair free.

Pro8mm includes a free camera gate brush with every rental or purchase. They are also available for sale on our website for $5.00 at www.pro8mm.com. A nifty little tool that folds up small and has an attached cover, so you don’t have to worry about loosing it. Once you use it on your camera, we do not advise using it as a substitute for gum or mints when you have been on the set all day, or for that matter, the other way around! www.pro8mm.com

Grand Opening Of Our On Line Store

2009-08-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

Customize your own package with multi format options, buy film and processing, a camera package, or just "play" with a quote. We have re-launched our on-line store. Look for products and specials in the days to come. Email us with feedback on what you would like to see, info@pro8mm.com.

Shop till you drop at Pro8mm!818-848-5522 2805 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA 91505

www.pro8mm.com

Amazing New Super 8 Film Stock, Pro8/47 500T

2009-07-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

Pro8mm Announces Super 8 Fuji Eterna Vivid 500T Film

It's here! The amazing new Pro8/47 500T!
From night sky fireworks to sun reflecting on the open ocean, we absolutely LOVE the versatility of this amazing new Fuji filmstock. Available in Super8 exclusively from Pro8mm, Fuji states "ETERNA Vivid 500 expands the expressive range of high-speed film, producing sharp, color-intensive images under various challenging shooting conditions, including night scenes. New ETERNA Vivid 500 inherits its saturated color, high contrast and superior sharpness from the acclaimed ETERNA Vivid 160. Offering excellent matching with Vivid 160, this E.I. 500 color negative film expands the parameters for shooting sharp, intense color into the realm of night scenes, producing distinctive images under a range of shooting conditions.Exceptional image quality is maintained even during telecine transfer for TV work or digital processing of motion picture footage.Exhibiting superior high-speed performance, ETERNA Vivid 500 ushers in a new era in cinematic expression."

8 stops of latitude, extremely versatile in daylight or night sky, use outdoors or indoors. Add an 85 and neutraul density filter to your camera for best outdoor results. Seeing is believing.
Order at www.pro8mm.com $30 stock and processing. All inclusive packages with HD scanning to Pro Res starting at $108.00. Cut and past into your browser http://www.vimeo.com/5823843

Home Movie Collection Event For Jewish Homegrown History

2009-07-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

For Immediate Release: July 13, 2009

The Labyrinth Project, with support from Pro8mm invite you to participate in a screening and collection event of home movies shot on regular 8, super 8 and 16mm film for a new project, JEWISH HOMEGROWN HISTORY.

What is Jewish Homegrown History?
Jewish Homegrown History is the latest multimedia project from USC’s pioneering research initiative, The Labyrinth Project, which has been producing award-winning installations, websites and DVDs for the past ten years.

What is the screening event?
Home Movie Collection Day for Jewish Homegrown History
is a community celebration of amateur cinema. Selected works will be considered for inclusion in Jewish Homegrown History, an exhibition opening at the Skirball Cultural Center in September 2010.

Where is the screening/collection event?
DATE: Sunday, July 19, 2009
TIME: 11:00AM - 5:00PM (drop in any time)
LOCATION: USC School of Cinematic Arts, SCA110

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What are we looking for?

Jewish Homegrown History creates an interactive narrative of the American Jewish experience on a global and local scale. Starting with California, the team at Labyrinth has been collecting images, text and video to build a historical foundation for our online database and upcoming museum installation. There are three central themes we hope to explore: Immigration, Identity, and Intermarriage. Although archival material and published histories have been key in our research, what we really want are the personal accounts and homegrown details that bring these themes to life. We are interested in your home movies to help us tell these stories.

Your footage will be screened alongside passages from relevant literature, photos from digital archives, and interviews we have conducted with scholars, entrepreneurs and historians across California. The goal of this project is to create a productive dialogue between official history and personal narrative. We want to see how events publicized in traditional sources relate to the people who actually lived through them. We want to see the faces of the men and women who worked so hard and fought so bravely when the country went to war. We want to see the houses with picket fences and big backyards when families moved to the suburbs. We want to see the bride and groom together in love when larger forces conspired to keep them apart. Ordinary people doing ordinary things.

At the Home Movie Screening and Collection event, we will be looking for these kinds of images that enrich and contextualize the broader stories we are telling with our research. However, we also welcome divergent points of view. We expect what we see to both reinforce and challenge our own experiences and theories. We are less concerned with telling you how history happened, but rather how you can share your perspective with us. At Labyrinth, we believe that there are many paths to a destination, so for this story we encourage contributions from as many voices as possible.

We are currently focused on representing Jewish life in California, with special emphasis on Jewish neighborhoods like Boyle Heights, the Fairfax District, the Pico-Robertson Area, Hancock Park, and the Valley. We are also featuring Riverside County resorts like Murietta Hot Springs, Lake Elsinore, and Highland Hot Springs. We are especially interested in older films or videos but will look at anything up through the1980s. Additionally, we are seeking almost anything that represents Jewish life in California including:

• Worship at synagogues
• Holiday celebrations
• Dinner parties
• Recreational activities
• Places of business
• Portraits of neighborhoods and people
• Interfaith and interethnic relationships
• Political and social events

For additional information, contact:
By email: mkinder@usc.edu
By telephone, call: 213-740-5112
By postcard or letter, write:
The Labyrinth Project
School of Cinematic Arts, LPB 118,
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2211
Attention: Marsha Kinder

Feel free to visit our website at http://college.usc.edu/labyrinth/

FIVE GREAT REASONS TO PARTICIPATE:

1. Come and screen your old films.
In case you do not have a working projector for your 8mm/Super8/16mm films, we’ve got you covered. If you have been curious to see what is on those old reels, this is your chance!

2. Rediscover memories of your favorite people and places.
-Want to remind your husband how stunning you looked in your wedding dress?
-Want to go back to the house you grew up in?
-Want to honor the memory of a relative no longer with us?
Come share your significant moments with an audience of family and friends. Show us the things you care about.

3. Be part of history!
Participate in a nationally recognized historical research project! Your home movies could become part of our traveling museum installation, Jewish Homegrown History, which is scheduled for the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, the New Americans Museum in San Diego, and the Judah Magnes Museum in Berkeley.

4. Transfer your home movies to HD digital video with Pro8mm and get a significant discount off their list price for broadcast quality archiving. Representatives from Pro8mm will be on hand to examine your films and give advice on how best to care for the original reels. Pro8mm has been archiving the world’s most famous faces and events for over 30 years.

5. Learn how to post your home movies to social networking sites such as Facebook, put them on your iphone, or email clips. Sharing your favorite memories with your loved ones is easy when your digitize your footage.

*BONUS*

6. Get a tax write-off!
Contribute your digitized footage to the installation or to the USC Digital Archive and get a tax write-off for the cost of the transfer.

Above all, we want to encourage people to come out and have fun. Come anytime between 11:00 AM and 5:00 PM. Bring your films, no matter the format, and we will screen them. Bring friends and family too. Cinema is a shared experience and we would love for you to share yours with us. See you July 19th!

Kurt Markus Sets Mellencamp Documentary Project

2009-06-29T16:10:00.001-07:00

We just got the official Press Release and can't wait to share the news! Kurt Markus will film John Mellancamp on tour this summer armed with two Max 8 Classic Pro Cameras with crystal sync and tons of Pro8mm film. The project will be scanned in native 1080 on our M2 scanner. The test footage we have seen so far looks amazing! We have worked with Markus on Music Videos for Jewel (Goodbye Alice) and we love his camera work and up close and personal technique.

NEWS from Bob Merlis/M.f.h.
606 N. Larchmont Blvd. #102
Los Angeles, CA 90004
323.962.6887
bobmerlis@bobmerlis.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KURT MARKUS SETS MELLENCAMP DOCUMENTARY PROJECT

Kurt Markus, whose still work has put him in the front ranks of contemporary American photographers is about to embark on a film project that will document a journey he?ll be taking this summer with John Mellencamp. Markus? extraordinary vision and focus on the American West has earned him critical accolades over the course of his 35 year long career in photography that has seen his work published in Vanity Fair, GQ, Rolling Stone, Travel and Leisure, New York Times Magazine, Outside, Esquire, Texas Monthly, Entertainment Weekly, Vogue and Best Life as well as overseas outlets. He was recipient of Life Magazine?s Alfred Eisenstaedt Photography Award for his Rolling Stone ?Sports Hall of Fame? shots of triathelete Peter Kotland.

This summer he will accompany Mellencamp with a classic Super 8 camera, capturing him on tour and as he records an album of new songs. Ian Markus, his son, is his assisting cameraman and will film digitally and capture sound. The expectation is that Markus? approach to production will capture the unrefined truth of his experience with Mellencamp over the course of July and August.

Mellencamp will record the album at a variety of historic locations during days off from his forthcoming summer tour with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. Sessions will take place at the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, GA, Sun Studios in Memphis and San Antonio?s Gunter Hotel. Much of the album will be recorded on location using AMPEX 601 tape recorder made in 1951 and an RCA microphone from 1949. At Sun, Mellencamp and a rhythm section will use equipment similar to that which Sam Phillips used when he first recorded Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and the other legendary Sun Records artists. T Bone Burnett, who produced last years critically acclaimed Life Death Love and Freedom is producing No Better Than This as well.

Markus, who was born in Montana and still lives in that state, made his mark in landscape, figure study, celebrity, fashion and travel. Exhibitions of his work have been mounted by the Cowboy Hall of Fame, Hills Gallery, Halsted Gallery, Staley-Wise Gallery, Gallery for Contemporary Photography and Galleria Photology. Markus published several monographs, including After Barbed Wire, Buckaroo, Dreaming Georgia, Boxers, Cowpuncher, and Dune. He has undertaken commercial assignments for Armani, BMW, Sony, Levis, Calvin Klein and Nike.

Staley-Wise Gallery in New York, The Rose Gallery in Los Angelse and Photology in Milan represent Kurt Markus? work.

# # #

Available now:

John Mellencamp on tour with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson
July 2 - Sauget, IL - GCS Ballpark

4 - South Bend, IN - Coveleski Stadium

8 - Louisville, KY - Louisville Slugger Field

10 - Dayton, OH - Fifth Third Field

11 - Eastlake, OH - Classic Park

13 - Washington, PA - CONSOL Energy Park

14 - Allentown, PA - Coca Cola Park

15 - New Britain, CT - New Britain Stadium

17 - Essex Junction, VT - Champlain Valley Exposition Center

18 - Bethel Woods, NY - Bethel Woods Center For The Arts

19 - Syracuse, NY - Alliance Bank Stadium

21 - Pawtucket, RI - McCoy Stadium

23 - Lakewood, NJ - First Energy Park

24 - Aberdeen, MD - Ripkin Stadium

25 - Norfolk, VA - Harbor Park

28 - Durham, NC - Durham Bulls Athletic Park

29 - Simpsonville, SC - Heritage Park Amphitheater

30 - Alpharetta, GA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater @ Encore Park

31 - Orange Beach, AL - The Amphitheater at the Wharf

Aug. 2 - Houston, TX - Cynthia Wood Mitchell Pavillion

4 - Round Rock, TX - The Dell Diamond

5 - Corpus Christi, TX - Whataburger Field

7 - Grand Prairie, TX - QuikTrip Park

9 - Albuquerque, NM - Journal Pavillion

11 - Glendale, AZ - Camelback Ranch

12 - Lake Elsinore, CA - The Diamond Park

14 - Fresno, CA - Chukchansi Park

15 - Stockton, CA - Banner Island Park

THINK BIG SHOOT SMALL ENTRY FORM

2009-05-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

The Pro8mm Challenge Entry Form

Name________________________________________________________________
Date__________________Phone__________________________________________
Email address__________________________________________________________
Shipping Address_______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Payment Information check______ credit card______
Billing Address of Card __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Visa___ MasterCard___ American Express___
Card Number____________________________________________
EXP Date_________________ CRV Code _____
Entry Fee $108.00 OPTIONAL
T SHIRT $18.00 each S M L XL XXL ___________
(9.25% tax added to all California residents) ___________

TOTAL $___________
After you enter, you will reveive a film stock list, frame set up form, submission form, and talent release form.
1. One roll of film per entry fee.
2. All projects must be made on a single roll of Pro8mm with in camera editing only.
3. Each entry will receive a Data DVD disk copy.
4. We will send you a submission form that must be sent in with the roll before we process it, along with your frame set up form and talent release form.
5. Deadline for submission is January 1, 2010. Late entries will not be accepted..
6. All film original becomes the property of Pro8mm and will not be returned, until after the competition with both parties signing a release.
7. Pro8mm has the right to include your project in part or whole on our demo reel, website, internet, Youtube, and any other marketing or promotional means. Credit will be given if your project is selected.
8. Your submission certifies that you have all rights associated with your project. Pro8mm will not be held liable and will be held harmless for damages resulting from your project, including, but not limited to talent or copyright violations.

I have read and agree to the guidelines stated above and authorize Pro8mm to charge my credit card for the entry fee of $108.00 plus any optional items that I designated.

Signed___________________________________________________________ date____________

Extended Deadline For Think Big Shoot Small

2009-05-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

Pro8mm Announces a Call for Entries for Our Second
THINK BIG, SHOOT SMALL FILM FESTIVAL CHALLENGE
NOW IN HD!
The Classic Super8mm Film Challenge

Call for Entries:
The Challenge is simple. Take Super 8 to the next level by shooting a project that will be viewed in HD with gorgeous 1080 resolution!!! Make a short film on a single roll, selecting from any of our 15 Pro8mm film stocks. All editing is done in the camera without splicing. Send the roll back to Pro8mm to be processed and scanned to HD in Pro Rez on our new Millennium II HD Scanner. You will get back your entry on a data disk DVD. Entries will be judged by our distinguished panel. It’s that easy! The top 25 entries will be screened at a dedicated screening and party in Los Angeles, January 2010 (exact date and location TBA.)

First Prize: Pro814 Super 8 Camera
Second Prize: 8 Roll HD Movie Film Package
Third Prize: 4 Roll HD Movie Film Package
Honorable Mention: Several Gift Certificates for HD scanning

Entry Fee: $108.00 which includes the film, processing, scanning and 6 tickets to the screening and party.

Log On to www.pro8mm.com for entry information

Pro8mm 2505 West Magnolia Blvd. Burbank, CA 91505 818-848-5522

Pro Rez Price List

2009-05-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

Save money when you go to Pro Res! The Pro Res HD prices are less than our standard HD package prices because there is no cost of tape! Plus, they are a dream to edit with in Final Cut Pro. Packages include your film, processing, scanning, prep and clean and full scene-to-scene color correction on the M2 scanner to hard drive.

Super8 Pro Res 422 HQ Prices

Tester (1) $108
Sampler (4) $336
Sampler (6) $454
Sampler (8) $558
Sampler (10) $672
Movie trailer (12) $767
Short film (24) $1420
You tube (36) $1985
Music video (48) $2595
Documentary (96) $5081
Feature film (192) $9965

16mm Pro Res 422 HQ Prices
Tester (1): $180
Sampler (4): $520
Sampler (8): $860
Movie Trailer (12): $1,185
Short Film (20): $1,910
Music Video (40): $3,635
Documentary (80): $6,880
Feature (160): $12,600

*No downloading fee if your hard drive is formatted MAC, and has a properly functioning ESATA or Fire Wire 800 Drive, or you purchase a drive from Pro8mm.

Pro Rez Now Available !

2009-04-07T11:17:00.000-07:00

WE ARE NOW OFFERING PRO REZ HD SCANS DIRECT TO
COMPRESED HD FORMATS!

TEST IT TODAY!
$108.00

Film, process and scan to Data DVD
Pro8mm is now offering direct encodings of Super8 and 16mm film images to compressed HD file format Apple's ProRez422 HQ. This new system is a highly efficient and versatile way to use small gauge film in High Definition. The files are recorded in real time using a compatible hard drive system directly from the scanner. This significantly reduces the wait time and cost for HD file based sessions. ProRez422 HQ files are ideal for editing & playing high definition on Mac Computers.

ProRez HD files are 1/6th the size of 10 bit uncompressed files. They are 1.33 gigs per minute in 23:98PSF compared to 8 gigs for uncompressed files. This makes them an easier and much faster way to store data. It also makes it easier to move the data from device to device, opening the way for more and less expensive storage options. Given their smaller bit rate, these files can also be played directly on a Mac computers' QuickTime Player. Additionally, they can be used with Final Cut Pro editing software without the need to do additional compression.

Our all inclusive film packages will be available for the new ProRez codec , along with new less expensive drive storage for more savings. With the smaller size, there will be additional saving on Hard Drive space with discounts exceeding 20%.

You can sample this new workflow for $108.00, which includes a single roll of our Pro8mm film, award winning same day processing, prepped, cleaned, scanned and encoded in High Definition using ProRez HQ 422 which we will put on Data DVD.

The price for using ProRez HQ422 Codec and eSata or Firewire 800 Mac formatted drive in a scan session is $80.00 per hour. There is no additional cost for downloading to a drive. The Prorez codec can be used in all 3 common HD Standards: 1080P 23:98 PSF, and 1080I (59.94.), 1080P 25PSF.

You can also test this new workflow for free by requesting the new Pro8mm Data Demo. The Data Demo has samples of all Pro8mm Data workflows. 10 Bit Uncompressed (SD/HD), DVCAM Compressed SD, and the new ProRez HD 422.

Modernizing a Classic Super8 Filming Tool: Introducing the Max8 Professional for the 6000 and 7000 Series Beaulieu

2009-02-17T14:33:00.000-08:00

Pro8mm is now offering a full Max8 conversion of our 7000 & 6000 series Professional Super 8 Cameras. Revered as the quintessential Professional Super8 camera in the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s, our valued clients who own these gorgeous cameras will now have the opportunity to upgrade them to take advantage of modern Super8 in widescreen for HD filming and scanning.

Conversions are being offered for the 7008 Pro II, the Beaulieu 7008 Pro, and the 7008 S. The 6008 Pro, and 6008S can be converted as well, but will require modifications to the viewfinder and ground glass focus element at an additional cost. The full Max8 conversion expands the camera gate to expose a wider negative. This improvement yields a 20 % increase in usable image when scanning on our M2 or Y Front systems, which have a custom Max8 gate. In addition to the gate widening of the camera, the lens optic is re-centered. A new viewfinder system has been added as well so that the filmmaker can see the 16x9 framing during production. The price of the modification is $995.00.

The Angenieux 8-64mm lens is the best choice to take full advantage of the Max8 modification. The small barrel size insures that there will be no vignette through the lens. In addition, a super wide adapter can be added, which will shift the focal length to 4-32mm, also without vignetting. The Angeneiex 8-64mm lens is an extremely sharp super8 optic, and in our opinion, one of the best ever designed. The lens is available with full collimation for $800.00

We have a limited supply of 7008 Pro Max8 Professional cameras available for purchase at a special introductory price of $3495.00. This includes the Max8 conversion, Angienieux 8-64mm lens, crystal sync modification, water tight Pelican Case, battery pack & charger.

If you want to give it a test drive, the camera is available for rent with Max8 and crystal sync for $300 a day or $250.00 a day with the purchase of any film and scanning package.

Actual MAX 8 Frames

The "New" Super8-85

2009-02-10T16:24:00.000-08:00

(Actual super 8 frame shot with this film stock)

We now have an excellent supply of the extremely popular Super8 85 – ASA 100 Daylight Reversal. Clients love this stock and many say it is the best replacement film for discontinued Kodachrome 40. Super 8 85 is now being made from double super 8-85, supplied by Kodak, slit and loaded at Pro8mm. It has 3 stops of latitude and very fine grain. This is a traditional reversal film stock, suitable for projection, or it can be cross-processed as a negative. Cartridges sell for $30 a roll which includes our award winning processing, You can also purchase a test package which includes a native 1080 scan on our Millennium 2 to HD on Blu Ray Disk for $108.00, or in SD to DVD for $88.88. Look for a sample of this stock on Vimeo shortly.

MOVIE MAKER MAGAZINE INTERVIEWS Pro8mm

2009-02-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

Pro8mm Asks You to Think Big, Shoot Small
by Douglas Polisin | Published February 4, 2009

It’s a problem that every novice moviemaker faces when he or she thinks of entering a film festival: With only a single, cruddy camera, no means of editing and the bare minimum when it comes to both talent and location, how can I shoot to get the look I want? More importantly, how do I have any chance of going up against other movies if a festival only accepts perfectly polished, finely edited, big-budget masterpieces? For many, that is where the festival process ends, leaving moviemakers with the taste of failure in their mouths and great ideas wasted. But this no longer has to be the case.

With Pro8mm’s second Think Big, Shoot Small Film Festival Challenge, those who enter the festival are asked to do just that, defying its participants to shoot on a single roll with editing only allowed to be done in-camera. The irony of this is that with these technical limitations, Pro8mm has opened up a world of possibilities for beginner moviemakers looking to tell a great story. The true challenge is in coming up with an interesting story and then being innovative enough to shoot it creatively with only the essentials: A camera and some film. While it is a difficult task—a task that many big-budget directors would not be able to accomplish if you asked them to try—it is one that can be taken up by even the least experienced moviemaker, proving that no matter your monetary restrictions, a good idea goes a long way.
MM caught up with Rhonda Vigeant, one of the people in charge of the challenge, and discussed the reason behind creating the festival, what its esteemed panel of judges is looking for in a winning movie and what it is that makes the festival stand out amongst others.
Douglas Polisin (MM): How did
Douglas Polisin (MM): How did the idea for Think Big, Shoot Small come about?
Rhonda Vigeant (RV): The idea for Think Big, Shoot Small grew out of wanting to find the least expensive and creative way for our clients to test various Pro8mm film stocks and Super8 cameras. We thought it would be much more fun to have a festival where you would shoot a creative project with one roll rather than shooting test charts on a wall. Not only does it establish the aesthetic of using film, but also defines the work flow of shooting on film and screening on digital. Now that HD is becoming the dominant display format, we have adapted the concept of the original Think Big, Shoot Small to include High Definition Display. By getting filmmakers to see the result of film on Blu-ray, they will get a chance to experience the next generation work flow.
The first Think Big, Shoot Small festival in 2007 was only offered in standard definition. There were about 30 entries spanning several generations, from college students to retirees, four countries and fantastic finished entries as diverse as the filmmakers themselves.
MM: What are the most important things the judges are looking for in the entries?

RV: Originality (score from one to 10). A high score would be given for a film that is truly original with lots of creative touches, including the use of special effects, costumes, the richness and originality of the story idea and/or other filmmaking techniques.
Technical Expertise (score from one to 10). A high score would be given to the film that has good composition and exposure with few technical errors. It should have good color quality, sharpness and titles at the beginning and ending of the film. If the film is animation or claymation, a high score needs to have the above as well as smooth transitions and timing. It should look like a movie not a slide show.
Artistic Merit (score from one to 10). A high score would be given for a film that is rich in complexity and dramatic impact. Does this film move you? Does the film elicit an emotional response whether it be tears or laughter? Does the film draw you in? Does the film appeal to you and touch you in ways that other films just don’t?
MM: What do you see as the advantages to shooting with 8mm compared with other kinds of film?
RV: Super8 is the most affordable of the film formats. Most people have access to cameras very cheaply from a relative’s closet, eBay, thrift stores or yard sales. For a very small investment of $108.00, you can try the same filmmaking principles used in Hollywood, and in the larger formats, on a tiny budget (that is, film stock, processing and scanning on a million dollar state-of-the-art industry scanning machine that does native HD transfers). The Super8 film is cartridge-loaded and easy to pop in the camera. Filmmaking doesn’t get much cheaper than that! By entering Think Big, Shoot Small in HD you can experience the workflow in creating a creative project, in High Definition, with minimal cost. We hope that once people see their work on Blu-ray it will inspire them to continue working this way for both production and archiving. There is still nothing comparable to the look and feel of film, and many filmmakers just assume that they cannot afford it, or that it is too difficult a craft. Many filmmakers see digital as inexpensive because you can shoot volumes of it for little cost, but you do not need volumes to tell a great story. In fact you can do so in two and a half minutes, the length of a Super8 roll. Since Super8 was originally designed as a consumer product, compared to 16mm or 35mm, you do not need formal film education to work with it. Super8 is much more about creative instinct rather than technical understanding of how to work film equipment. You could give a Super8 camera to a five year old and they could shoot something. The intriguing thing about Think Big, Shoot Small is to see where that creative ingenuity lies. Film should not be something to be feared or intimidated by based on cost or technical skills. Super8 opens up these paths to the craft of film beautifully.
MM: Why do you want editing only to be done in-camera?
RV: One of the fundamental differences between shooting film and digital is because the cost of the film material. With film, you must plan out or storyboard what you are going to shoot before you shoot it. With digital you tend to shoot everything and then try to figure out which shots you are going to use in editing. Since this festival is about film, we wanted it to be like a real film shoot. First of all, it puts all the entries on a level playing field. It’s about what you can create, not what computer programs can do. We want to strip away all the ancillaries and give people a chance to get back to the grassroots of just shooting film. When silent films ruled, they were great! There is a magic that happens between people in a screening when a film is silent and they are able to communicate with each other while watching it—commenting and participating in the screening, not just watching the films. Because of the sense of community we are trying to create among the filmmakers, the silent showing opens up dialogue across age, lifestyle and gender among the very diverse population of participants. A film festival done this way has to be aesthetically pleasing and captivating on its own before you add the window dressing of sound or special effects.
MM: You say that people are allowed to enter as many times as possible; this isn’t all too common for festivals to do. What do you hope to see from those contestants who submit multiple entries?

RV: There are two reasons for this. First, people have a lot of ideas regarding what they may think is a worthy project. Since this festival is “all inclusive” in terms of the materials and the entry fee, every contestant makes the same investment to participate. We thought, why should we limit a person from entering twice (though no one in the 2007 festival actually did this) if they have more than one idea? It increases their chance of winning one of the prizes. Secondly, they may get back their Blu-ray disc and decide that they can do better, or discover that their camera had technical problems that they were not aware of. This allows them to give it another try before the deadline. If they think they can do better, why not let a contestant try again if it will help them to improve their skills as a filmmaker?

MM: In addition to a Blu-ray copy of their movie and a chance to be on Pro8mm’s
promotional DVD, what else do you hope that contestants walk away with?
RV: There is a huge sense of camaraderie among the Super8 community. Each contestant in 2007 brought their friends, family or crew with them to the screening and party. It was wonderful to see gray-haired men engaged in technical conversation with tattooed, pierced, pink-haired generation X’ers. You can’t put a price tag on that. The feedback we got was fantastic. Not only is the festival a really great opportunity to try something new in film but a chance to be part of something bigger than a 50-foot roll. It is common for independent filmmakers to feel isolated in a little bubble. Because the “assignment,” if you will, was the same for every filmmaker, and there is a fixed cost, there is an immediate connectivity in the group. We hope contestants will gain insight about the creative process. The prizes are great too! Even the raffle winners can (and have) produce their next project on what they may win as a contestant.
For more information, visit www.pro8mm.com.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=34191808

James Barfield won Think Big, Shoot Small for his claymation entry, Clay Date. His prize was a Max 8 Classic Professional Camera.

Courtesy of Movie Maker Magazine. Check out their on-line version of this post

ISN'T IT TIME YOU GOT INTO SYNC?

2009-02-04T15:19:00.000-08:00

Pro8mm Announces HD Scanning for 8mm Film with Sound

GOT SOUND ON REG 8 or SUPER 8 FILM?
Isn’t it time you got into sync?
Getting Back To Our Roots with Super8 Sound™

Pro8mm has just completed the set up of a new sync sound system for the Millennium 2 HD Scanner. The new system can accommodate various sound and film configurations. The system was designed at Pro8mm, which has almost 40 years of dedicated Super8 Sound experience. We are thrilled to be able to offer this service for regular 8/super 8 production and archiving when doing a native HD scan in 1080 with the original audio track on film or magnetic fullcoat in proper sync.

The new sync sound system will be of particular benefit to our long time customers who have been with us through the evolution of single and double system sound, crystal sync fullcoat recorders, and dat audio. Pro8mm was originally called Super8 Sound ™ and was founded in the early 1970’s by a group of entrepreneurs in Cambridge, Massachusetts who invented sound for super 8. We changed the name and direction of the company in 1992 when we ceased making fullcoat recorders and introduced Super 8 negative film.

Price: There is a one time set up charge for the sync audio services when scanning on the M2.

Super8 single system (single track) $225
Super8 Stereo projects (dual track) $325.00
Regular 8 with sound $325.00
Super8 Mag Fullcoat $325.00

This creates an opportunity to take those film school projects home movies and footage you want to use in your documentary shot on regular 8 or super 8 with sound on film or mag stock and scan it to HD to create a new master with sync audio!

For more information, call Pro8mm, 818-848-5522 email info@pro8mm.com

2009-02-02T14:06:00.000-08:00

This article appeared in todays issue of A/V Concepts. The editor is Tony Schapps, former owner of THE WIDESCREEN CENTRE in London who asked me if one of his writers could use my recent press release on the PRo814 Wide Modification.

They said:"Who wants WIDESCREEN?""Well, now we all know - 'everyone', says Jack. So, now read on..

"Many years ago, in my early days with The Widescreen Centre, the boss (yes THE Mr Widescreen himself, as I heard him called recently) tried to persuade manufacturers to offer the non-professional movie maker the advantages of widescreen, but without success. Yes, he continually hit a blank wall epitomised by the headline on this article".
"In desperation he followed his own ideas and turned himself into a manufacturer of anamorphic lenses which were modelled on the pro-cinema's versions but simplified to bring the cost down to an average cine enthusiasts level. Then came the widescreen TV revolution and suddenly EVERYBODY was trying to get in on the act.".
"Tony, being Tony, immediately re-worked his formulas to produce a 16:9 format anamorphic lens (the one that squeezes that extra information on to a standard frame, and then de-squeezes it on projection or on to a widescreen TV). This immediately allowed anyone with a camcorder to 'go widescreen'"
ENTER PRO-8 - all singing and dancing!
"Now things have gone a stage further and I can bring you news from Pro-8 in the States who have just introduced a NEW WIDE GATE modification to their already extremely popular, updated and modified version of the famous Canon Super-8 movie camera now called the Pro814".
"The advantage of this new modification gives 20% better resolution when scanning in HD because it allows for an expanded image on the
negative. Introduced just over a year ago, the Pro814 is an affordable rebuilt, recalibrated super 8 camera, modified to optimize the results of modern super8 film stocks. The modification is priced at $300.0 0 (around a couple of hundred pounds sterling) and provides you with an inexpensive way to achieve that essential widescreen capability for your Pro814 camera".
"The modification is made to the gate and block only, and does not include 16 x 9 viewfinder or any optical centring. The Pro814 is priced in U.S. dollars at $795 (about GBP 500), which includes a water tight Pelican Case and 85 filter. The intro price for their new Pro814-Widegate version is $995.00 (or roughly GBP 700.00)".
That's it for this week
JACK GROSSMANp.s. For Canon 814 Autozoom owners who want to upgrade their camera to a Pro814 the cost is $495. This removes the 85 filter, increases the pick up torque, has a recalibration so that modern film stocks can be read. Then if you want the widescreen mod, they will take off $100 and do it for $200 if it is done at the same time as the Pro814 mod since the camera is already apart. . p.p.s. You'll find Pro-8 at :http://http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102429665379&e=0019YjuiKihgoRDz1Eh170cvK33Yd-HwiiK-24SNc5cLHu0jgKHwf1nvGxR945TVOIoX1sLyARjOA-tnMeqnDunr5xpPB5p18LGFRM45d38p1dBI8I05AZPHw==
Number 98 astronomy, 3D, virtual reality, super-8, panoramics, antique replicas, audiovisual, flight simulation, andmuch, much, more!
Hi Phil and Rhonda,welcome to issue 98 dated 3rd February 2009 - enjoy!

They said:"Who wants WIDESCREEN?""Well, now we all know - 'everyone', says Jack. So, now read on..
"Many years ago, in my early days with The Widescreen Centre, the boss (yes THE Mr Widescreen himself, as I heard him called recently) tried to persuade manufacturers to offer the non-professional movie maker the advantages of widescreen, but without success. Yes, he continually hit a blank wall epitomised by the headline on this article".
"In desperation he followed his own ideas and turned himself into a manufacturer of anamorphic lenses which were modelled on the pro-cinema's versions but simplified to bring the cost down to an average cine enthusiasts level. Then came the widescreen TV revolution and suddenly EVERYBODY was trying to get in on the act.".
"Tony, being Tony, immediately re-worked his formulas to produce a 16:9 format anamorphic lens (the one that squeezes that extra information on to a standard frame, and then de-squeezes it on projection or on to a widescreen TV). This immediately allowed anyone with a camcorder to 'go widescreen'"
ENTER PRO-8 - all singing and dancing!
"Now things have gone a stage further and I can bring you news from Pro-8 in the States who have just introduced a NEW WIDE GATE modification to their already extremely popular, updated and modified version of the famous Canon Super-8 movie camera now called the Pro814".
"The advantage of this new modification gives 20% better resolution when scanning in HD because it allows for an expanded image on the
negative. Introduced just over a year ago, the Pro814 is an affordable rebuilt, recalibrated super 8 camera, modified to optimize the results of modern super8 film stocks. The modification is priced at $300.0 0 (around a couple of hundred pounds sterling) and provides you with an inexpensive way to achieve that essential widescreen capability for your Pro814 camera".
"The modification is made to the gate and block only, and does not include 16 x 9 viewfinder or any optical centring. The Pro814 is priced in U.S. dollars at $795 (about GBP 500), which includes a water tight Pelican Case and 85 filter. The intro price for their new Pro814-Widegate version is $995.00 (or roughly GBP 700.00)".
That's it for this week
JACK GROSSMANp.s. For Canon 814 Autozoom owners who want to upgrade their camera to a Pro814 the cost is $495. This removes the 85 filter, increases the pick up torque, has a recalibration so that modern film stocks can be read. Then if you want the widescreen mod, they will take off $100 and do it for $200 if it is done at the same time as the Pro814 mod since the camera is already apart. . p.p.s. You'll find Pro-8 at :http://http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102429665379&e=0019YjuiKihgoRDz1Eh170cvK33Yd-HwiiK-24SNc5cLHu0jgKHwf1nvGxR945TVOIoX1sLyARjOA-tnMeqnDunr5xpPB5p18LGFRM45d38p1dBI8I05AZPHw==

Sweet Leaf Party

2009-01-29T14:12:00.000-08:00

This is the best Super 8 example we have seen so far from a client who has used our work flow for Pro8mm film, processing and scanning to HD on our M2 Scanner to put up work on the internet. We love how the material looks on VIMEO compared to YouTube. Vimeo allows you to put up to 1 gig of data!!! Pro8mm does native film scans of super 8, regular 8 and 16mm to 1080. The difference is remarkable compared to scans that are up-rezed or line doubled. We also LOVE how HD looks on Vimeo compared to YouTube and we encourage filmmakers to try this site!!! We hope this work inspires filmmakers to scan to native HD! We had a blast working with Trigger Studios!

Watch the video "Sweet Leaf Party" by Break Beat!

http://www.vimeo.com/1043748

ENCODING SUPER 8

2009-01-29T12:02:00.000-08:00

Encoding Super 8, by Philip Vigeant

Encoding is the process of converting motion picture images into something that can be played in a computer. Computers handle film images differently than it does analogue video or digital video. Because this is a new way to look at pictures there are many changes to the traditional ways we look at them. As with all new things there a lots of choices and big companies are trying their hardest to make themselves the new standard. Things are changing so rapidly that I fear even this article might have some outdated notions before it gets published. But since so many super8 users are exploring these options I thought it would be good to try and explain some of the exciting opportunities for Super8 users in the encoded world.
There are two areas where the computer has proven itself in moving images beyond any argument. First in its ability to edit and manage and second as a way to deliver content cheaply and quickly to an audience. Although these both run through a computer the objectives and the strengths and weakness are completely at opposite sides of the image universe. On the one side you have 35mm features being edited digitally at 2K and now even 4K resolution. On the other you have You-Tube the lowest quality images imaginable that is revolutionizing the film business. The maximum and the minimum resolution have included Super8 film, and being a part of both extremes for what is clearly completely different reasons.
Let’s start with the Max. To max out what you have on Super8 in a computer you have to understand the working parameter of modern computer and storage. Even though Super8 is the smallest form of motion picture film it takes enormous amounts of data to describe each frame. A 10 bit uncompressed minute of Super8 stored at 4:2:2 1920 X 1080 High Definition resolution is 8 Gigabytes of raw data at 23:98PSF. In short hand, this is what most people call 1080p, favored by most people that originate in film. If you work in 1080i which is 29.97 interlaced images, recorded at 59.94i, it would be 10 Gig per minute. In short hand 1080i is preferred by most people who originate in video. In standard definition the same minute of 10 bit uncompressed would be approximately 2 Gigabytes per minute.
Unless you’re in the professional post production world you will probably not have the capacity to play such large data files in real time on your home computer system. This will change as computers and storage devices get faster and cheaper but for now you’re out of luck. For this reason most information is compressed in some way so that lesser systems can handle this amount of data traveling at the speed necessary to play it. The good news is even though you can’t play these files in real time you should be able to access them and convert them to something you can play. One of the advantages of computer digital is that you don’t have to have an expensive tape machine to have a very high resolution version of your images that you can directly access. To do the top quality in Standard Definition in digital video tape you need a Digital Beta deck which costs about $40,000.00. With a 10 bit file you can have the same quality on a hard drive that you can axis from your laptop, so you can get axis to high quality without the expense of high end video decks. This will become even more important as you investigate High Definition. Unlike SD that is dominated by Digital Beta, HD has many competing tape formats that can run over $100,000.00 per deck. With the ever dropping cost of Hard Drives and computing speed this workflow is much more practical for independent filmmakers.
Regardless of how you compress the files it is helpful to start with data put into a form that is most compatible with your system. In Mac World the folder form is .mov which is usually played with a QuickTime Player. In PC world the folder is .avi and the player is most often Windows Media Player. You can play some .mov folders in Windows and some .avi files in Mac but this can get sticky at times. There are also many other players and formats…more about that later.

Once your raw data is put in a folder you have 100 different options on how to compress your motion picture images. This type of compressing is called a Codec. Compressing can be done with a software program or it can be done with a hardware based compressor. Hardware based compressing is often very fast and can usually work the data in real time. Software based encoders will often have to crunch on the data for some time to deliver the new file compressed. Some Codec’s’ are very universal like mpeg2, the one used for all DVD’s. Some are exclusive to particular programs like Macs’ new Pro-Res 422 designed for their new Final Cut Studio 2. You can think of a codec like a tape digital format such as DV Compressed, which is supposed is to be roughly the equivalent to Mini DV in the computer world. On thing that is very different about computer digital is that you can dictate to the program that is doing the encoding what quality level you desire. The program that controls the encoding can adjust parameters including the over all quality, the size and even the number of frames stored per second.
(Optibase Encoder Board)

At Pro8mm we use a hardware based encoder for doing DV compression files. A DV compressed file at its best resolution setting is storing 30 (29.97 exactly) frames per second. This is approximately 1 gigabyte for 4 minutes of Super8 film, (250 Meg per minute). This would be 8 times as compressed as a 10 bit uncompressed file of standard definition raw data. When we compress to the Mpeg2 codec we use an Optibase Hardware Encoder which also has a variable quality setting. In this situation we want the best quality but we need it to play on the average DVD player. Through experience of making thousands of DVD’s of Super8 film we have found the optimum to be a compression that works out to be about 40 megabytes per minute.
One of the more confusing parts of computer based images is to know all the parameters that are needed to get an image to play on your system. For example why will your computer play a commercial DVD and not a 10 bit .mov file? Most computers, having the programs to do so can play a 10 bit file, but they can not play it fast enough to watch it in real time. There is simply not enough speed between it’s’ storage form which is the DVD drive, the computer, and the display. For example my home laptop will not play even a DV compressed folder from a DVD, but it will play a DVD with MPeg2 recording. But if I drag the folder of DV compressed files from the DVD to the desktop it will play. The speed from my DVD player is sufficient to run Mpeg2 but not Dv compressed. The speed from my internal hard drive is fast enough to run DV compressed. If I try to run a 10 bit HD file of 23:98PSF in my computer with Windows Media Player it will play, but it will skip frames and often chokes on the process. If I play the same file in QuickTime it will not work at all. Once you have some of the parameters down you can do incredible things but you need to be prepared when entering this workflow on how to put it all together.
DVD’s can be used in a multitude of ways as both a vehicle to play images in a home player and to store computer files. The DVD is defined not only as a medium but by what is recorded on the medium. The DVD that is designed to play in a DVD home player has files encoded with the codec Mpeg2. In addition these DVD’s have header information so the player can recognize it and the information that can be organized with chapter stops and menus. The DVD’s we use to record on are DVD-R which is the most universal next to the commercial DVD. Some older home DVD players will not play a DVD-R even though the correct data is recorded on them. This is due to the reading systems of the first home DVD players. You can also use a DVD-R as data storage for computers. In this form of DVD, files can but place on the DVD for retrieval by computer systems. In addition to DVD single sided recording you can also use DL dual layer DVD to expand the capacity to 8.5 Gig on a single DVD. To play what is on a DVD you have to have the right hardware and software to do the job. For example if you have home DVD player you can look at the spec page to see what format DVD this player will play. Will it play DVD-R or DVD+R? Most computers are designed to play the different formats of DVD but you have to have the correct software on you computer to play the program. For example you could have a DVD+R DL that have a DV compressed .mov file. So if you computer has DL DVD capacity and a QuickTime Player you should be able to play this file provided your computer has the speed to handle it.
Once you start playing with movie files you quickly see how limited 4.7 Gig of space of is. The solution to this problem is an external Hard Drive. Portable hard drives are the perfect way to transport large data files. Hard Drives range from a low number gigabyte to terabytes. They can have 4 different types of connection and many have some combination of these 4: USB2, Fire wire 400, Fire wire 800 and E-sata. USB2 preferred by PC and Fire wire 400 preferred by Mac can handle the same speed of transfer between your computer and the hard drive. Fire wire 800 about doubles that and E-sata about doubles Fire wire 800. The transfer rate between your computer is important for two reasons. If you are just taking files from your drive and loading it into your computer it takes about 1 GIG a minute at USB2 speed to transfer the data. 40 gigs of data take 40 minutes. If you want to play the data from your drive on your computer without transferring it to your computer then the connection speed must support the data rate needed to play the data. This is critical for all computer devices both external and internal. Since 1 minute of Super8 stored at 10 Bit uncompressed HD in 23:98 PSF is about 8 Gigabytes per minute. You need some killer speed to play this file in real time. But no matter how slow your computer is you can transfer the data to your computer or just access the data from the drive, compress it and you can play it.
Some Basic Rough Super8 Numbers: Super8 @ (Mpeg2 DVD) 40 Megabytes per minuteSuper8@ (Dv compressed) 250 Megabytes per minuteSuper8@ (10Bit SD) 2 Gigabytes Per minuteSuper8 @ (10Bit HD @ 23:98PSF) 8 Gigabytes per minute To get the best encoding you have to start with the best digital version of Super8. We usually go directly from Super8 to SDI video (Serial Digital 4:2:2) into the encoder We can also go to digital tape then from tape to the encoder with the same quality provided we are always encoding from a higher quality source. For Mpeg2 we could first go to Mini DV. (Serial Digital 4:1:1) with the same quality as 4:2:2 but we would not make a 10 bit file from taking this path. We would have to go to Digital Beta. If you transfer Super8 to VHS and then encode to DVD verse Super8 to SDI 4:2:2 to DVD. The quality difference will be amazing. You never want to transfer from a high quality medium to a low quality and then back to a high quality. This is true with all image forms including the new world of images on computer. A big mistake would be to put Super8 directly on Mpeg2 DVD if you want to edit it with a program that uses DV compression. You will see a significant loss of quality when transcoding from MPEG2 to Dv compressed. If you transfer Super8 to Dv Compressed then edit and make a DVD with the same system you will see a significant improvement in quality. Within the computer world as with all images you can always transfer between one form and another and can even get this encoder for free on the internet. But there are different quality levels of encoders and you never want to go from low to high quality when you have a higher quality to begin with.

The best quality computer file of Super 8 in standard definition would be a 10 bit uncompressed file. These files are big so prepare to keep this on a large storage device like an external hard drive. Calculate your need at approximately 2 Gig per minute for Standard Def and 8 Gig in High Def. You will probably not be able to play this large file on you current computer system. But you can bring this file into your world then using your edit program to compress them down to a size your present system can handle.
At this time at Pro8mm we are already working with many customers that get their Super8 scanned to HD and we deliver 10 bit uncompressed files on portable hard drives. These companies then transfer the files into there computer as needed and with their edit software compress the data to there desired project working standard. If a project is for the internet it has to be compressed down to the standard required to travel at internet speeds. A project on You Tube has to be 100Mb or less. Since that is just over 1 minute of DVD quality how do they do it? On a computer, the size of the image can be changed along with the number of frames per second. By making images smaller you can compact them much more than if they have to stay the standard size for television. You Tube, like so many of the internet world players have their own compression technology that will take what you send them and compress it to fit in their space. As you will no doubt experience the way this data gets compressed on the output makes a huge difference as to how it looks. You can take a look at a 1 minute sample of the 2006 Pro8mm demo up on You Tube I did several years ago (Search Pro8mm and look at A Super8 Sample) and you will see how badly the compressor handles my file. I uploaded from a 1 minute Mpeg4 .mov file that looks fantastic on my laptop. Compare this to a 6 minute version of the 2008 Pro8mm Demo we recently compressed to play on Flash on the Pro8mm new web site and you can see how important compression and the players are to the final quality of your work. Both of these come from the same standard def Digi Beta original transfer of Super8.
Compressing Super8 for small screen applications has some exciting possibilities for Super8. Because of the way compacting acts on an image the difference between originating on larger film such as Super16 and something shot on Super8 is much less apparent. Simply put the smaller you make an image the more difficult you will find judging what format it was produced on. The first time I viewed and internet music video I worked on I had to go back to my notes and check what format the job was originated on. Since I look at this type of material every day I was more than a little shocked that I could not tell weather it was Super8 or Super16. I completely enjoy the unique look of super8…. a uniqueness that is more apparent the larger you make it. It is also exciting to know that the smaller you make it, the easier it is to fool an audience into believing a production was produced at a much higher level.
When working toward an internet release or even DVD it is also possible to work with much smaller much more compressed files. You don’t need to start with a 10 bit version of your Super8 if your objective is the internet. You could have your film encoded with compression so you can work with much smaller files. In DV compressed, about 18 minutes of Super8 would fit on a DATA DVD. Since the file is small most computers will easily play the file and you don’t need a large storage device. Everything you do in editing will run much faster with smaller data. Big files require a lot of time to move. A terabyte of data traveling over a USB 2 connection between a computer and hard drive will take over 16 hours. This kind of slow movement is not a lot of fun when you’re up against a deadline. So although 10 bit is the best in terms of information, it may not be the most practical if you want to rapidly get out a project for DVD or the Internet . . . The world of images is ever changing and you will no doubt discover new and interesting ways to work with Super8. Every day I see a project that pushes the way we understand the limits and the possibilities of Super8 film. New technology is often an incredible way to enhance what we already enjoy. What I find so interesting about Super8 is how adaptable and enjoyable the look is not only on Super8, but on video, on a computer, in a theater, in High Definition, or even downloaded on the internet.Encoding Super 8, by Philip Vigeant

Encoding is the process of converting motion picture images into something that can be played in a computer. Computers handle film images differently than it does analogue video or digital video. Because this is a new way to look at pictures there are many changes to the traditional ways we look at them. As with all new things there a lots of choices and big companies are trying their hardest to make themselves the new standard. Things are changing so rapidly that I fear even this article might have some outdated notions before it gets published. But since so many super8 users are exploring these options I thought it would be good to try and explain some of the exciting opportunities for Super8 users in the encoded world.
There are two areas where the computer has proven itself in moving images beyond any argument. First in its ability to edit and manage and second as a way to deliver content cheaply and quickly to an audience. Although these both run through a computer the objectives and the strengths and weakness are completely at opposite sides of the image universe. On the one side you have 35mm features being edited digitally at 2K and now even 4K resolution. On the other you have You-Tube the lowest quality images imaginable that is revolutionizing the film business. The maximum and the minimum resolution have included Super8 film, and being a part of both extremes for what is clearly completely different reasons.
Let’s start with the Max. To max out what you have on Super8 in a computer you have to understand the working parameter of modern computer and storage. Even though Super8 is the smallest form of motion picture film it takes enormous amounts of data to describe each frame. A 10 bit uncompressed minute of Super8 stored at 4:2:2 1920 X 1080 High Definition resolution is 8 Gigabytes of raw data at 23:98PSF. In short hand, this is what most people call 1080p, favored by most people that originate in film. If you work in 1080i which is 29.97 interlaced images, recorded at 59.94i, it would be 10 Gig per minute. In short hand 1080i is preferred by most people who originate in video. In standard definition the same minute of 10 bit uncompressed would be approximately 2 Gigabytes per minute.
Unless you’re in the professional post production world you will probably not have the capacity to play such large data files in real time on your home computer system. This will change as computers and storage devices get faster and cheaper but for now you’re out of luck. For this reason most information is compressed in some way so that lesser systems can handle this amount of data traveling at the speed necessary to play it. The good news is even though you can’t play these files in real time you should be able to access them and convert them to something you can play. One of the advantages of computer digital is that you don’t have to have an expensive tape machine to have a very high resolution version of your images that you can directly access. To do the top quality in Standard Definition in digital video tape you need a Digital Beta deck which costs about $40,000.00. With a 10 bit file you can have the same quality on a hard drive that you can axis from your laptop, so you can get axis to high quality without the expense of high end video decks. This will become even more important as you investigate High Definition. Unlike SD that is dominated by Digital Beta, HD has many competing tape formats that can run over $100,000.00 per deck. With the ever dropping cost of Hard Drives and computing speed this workflow is much more practical for independent filmmakers.
Regardless of how you compress the files it is helpful to start with data put into a form that is most compatible with your system. In Mac World the folder form is .mov which is usually played with a QuickTime Player. In PC world the folder is .avi and the player is most often Windows Media Player. You can play some .mov folders in Windows and some .avi files in Mac but this can get sticky at times. There are also many other players and formats…more about that later.

Once your raw data is put in a folder you have 100 different options on how to compress your motion picture images. This type of compressing is called a Codec. Compressing can be done with a software program or it can be done with a hardware based compressor. Hardware based compressing is often very fast and can usually work the data in real time. Software based encoders will often have to crunch on the data for some time to deliver the new file compressed. Some Codec’s’ are very universal like mpeg2, the one used for all DVD’s. Some are exclusive to particular programs like Macs’ new Pro-Res 422 designed for their new Final Cut Studio 2. You can think of a codec like a tape digital format such as DV Compressed, which is supposed is to be roughly the equivalent to Mini DV in the computer world. On thing that is very different about computer digital is that you can dictate to the program that is doing the encoding what quality level you desire. The program that controls the encoding can adjust parameters including the over all quality, the size and even the number of frames stored per second.
(Optibase Encoder Board)

At Pro8mm we use a hardware based encoder for doing DV compression files. A DV compressed file at its best resolution setting is storing 30 (29.97 exactly) frames per second. This is approximately 1 gigabyte for 4 minutes of Super8 film, (250 Meg per minute). This would be 8 times as compressed as a 10 bit uncompressed file of standard definition raw data. When we compress to the Mpeg2 codec we use an Optibase Hardware Encoder which also has a variable quality setting. In this situation we want the best quality but we need it to play on the average DVD player. Through experience of making thousands of DVD’s of Super8 film we have found the optimum to be a compression that works out to be about 40 megabytes per minute.
One of the more confusing parts of computer based images is to know all the parameters that are needed to get an image to play on your system. For example why will your computer play a commercial DVD and not a 10 bit .mov file? Most computers, having the programs to do so can play a 10 bit file, but they can not play it fast enough to watch it in real time. There is simply not enough speed between it’s’ storage form which is the DVD drive, the computer, and the display. For example my home laptop will not play even a DV compressed folder from a DVD, but it will play a DVD with MPeg2 recording. But if I drag the folder of DV compressed files from the DVD to the desktop it will play. The speed from my DVD player is sufficient to run Mpeg2 but not Dv compressed. The speed from my internal hard drive is fast enough to run DV compressed. If I try to run a 10 bit HD file of 23:98PSF in my computer with Windows Media Player it will play, but it will skip frames and often chokes on the process. If I play the same file in QuickTime it will not work at all. Once you have some of the parameters down you can do incredible things but you need to be prepared when entering this workflow on how to put it all together.
DVD’s can be used in a multitude of ways as both a vehicle to play images in a home player and to store computer files. The DVD is defined not only as a medium but by what is recorded on the medium. The DVD that is designed to play in a DVD home player has files encoded with the codec Mpeg2. In addition these DVD’s have header information so the player can recognize it and the information that can be organized with chapter stops and menus. The DVD’s we use to record on are DVD-R which is the most universal next to the commercial DVD. Some older home DVD players will not play a DVD-R even though the correct data is recorded on them. This is due to the reading systems of the first home DVD players. You can also use a DVD-R as data storage for computers. In this form of DVD, files can but place on the DVD for retrieval by computer systems. In addition to DVD single sided recording you can also use DL dual layer DVD to expand the capacity to 8.5 Gig on a single DVD. To play what is on a DVD you have to have the right hardware and software to do the job. For example if you have home DVD player you can look at the spec page to see what format DVD this player will play. Will it play DVD-R or DVD+R? Most computers are designed to play the different formats of DVD but you have to have the correct software on you computer to play the program. For example you could have a DVD+R DL that have a DV compressed .mov file. So if you computer has DL DVD capacity and a QuickTime Player you should be able to play this file provided your computer has the speed to handle it.
Once you start playing with movie files you quickly see how limited 4.7 Gig of space of is. The solution to this problem is an external Hard Drive. Portable hard drives are the perfect way to transport large data files. Hard Drives range from a low number gigabyte to terabytes. They can have 4 different types of connection and many have some combination of these 4: USB2, Fire wire 400, Fire wire 800 and E-sata. USB2 preferred by PC and Fire wire 400 preferred by Mac can handle the same speed of transfer between your computer and the hard drive. Fire wire 800 about doubles that and E-sata about doubles Fire wire 800. The transfer rate between your computer is important for two reasons. If you are just taking files from your drive and loading it into your computer it takes about 1 GIG a minute at USB2 speed to transfer the data. 40 gigs of data take 40 minutes. If you want to play the data from your drive on your computer without transferring it to your computer then the connection speed must support the data rate needed to play the data. This is critical for all computer devices both external and internal. Since 1 minute of Super8 stored at 10 Bit uncompressed HD in 23:98 PSF is about 8 Gigabytes per minute. You need some killer speed to play this file in real time. But no matter how slow your computer is you can transfer the data to your computer or just access the data from the drive, compress it and you can play it.
Some Basic Rough Super8 Numbers: Super8 @ (Mpeg2 DVD) 40 Megabytes per minuteSuper8@ (Dv compressed) 250 Megabytes per minuteSuper8@ (10Bit SD) 2 Gigabytes Per minuteSuper8 @ (10Bit HD @ 23:98PSF) 8 Gigabytes per minute To get the best encoding you have to start with the best digital version of Super8. We usually go directly from Super8 to SDI video (Serial Digital 4:2:2) into the encoder We can also go to digital tape then from tape to the encoder with the same quality provided we are always encoding from a higher quality source. For Mpeg2 we could first go to Mini DV. (Serial Digital 4:1:1) with the same quality as 4:2:2 but we would not make a 10 bit file from taking this path. We would have to go to Digital Beta. If you transfer Super8 to VHS and then encode to DVD verse Super8 to SDI 4:2:2 to DVD. The quality difference will be amazing. You never want to transfer from a high quality medium to a low quality and then back to a high quality. This is true with all image forms including the new world of images on computer. A big mistake would be to put Super8 directly on Mpeg2 DVD if you want to edit it with a program that uses DV compression. You will see a significant loss of quality when transcoding from MPEG2 to Dv compressed. If you transfer Super8 to Dv Compressed then edit and make a DVD with the same system you will see a significant improvement in quality. Within the computer world as with all images you can always transfer between one form and another and can even get this encoder for free on the internet. But there are different quality levels of encoders and you never want to go from low to high quality when you have a higher quality to begin with.

The best quality computer file of Super 8 in standard definition would be a 10 bit uncompressed file. These files are big so prepare to keep this on a large storage device like an external hard drive. Calculate your need at approximately 2 Gig per minute for Standard Def and 8 Gig in High Def. You will probably not be able to play this large file on you current computer system. But you can bring this file into your world then using your edit program to compress them down to a size your present system can handle.
At this time at Pro8mm we are already working with many customers that get their Super8 scanned to HD and we deliver 10 bit uncompressed files on portable hard drives. These companies then transfer the files into there computer as needed and with their edit software compress the data to there desired project working standard. If a project is for the internet it has to be compressed down to the standard required to travel at internet speeds. A project on You Tube has to be 100Mb or less. Since that is just over 1 minute of DVD quality how do they do it? On a computer, the size of the image can be changed along with the number of frames per second. By making images smaller you can compact them much more than if they have to stay the standard size for television. You Tube, like so many of the internet world players have their own compression technology that will take what you send them and compress it to fit in their space. As you will no doubt experience the way this data gets compressed on the output makes a huge difference as to how it looks. You can take a look at a 1 minute sample of the 2006 Pro8mm demo up on You Tube I did several years ago (Search Pro8mm and look at A Super8 Sample) and you will see how badly the compressor handles my file. I uploaded from a 1 minute Mpeg4 .mov file that looks fantastic on my laptop. Compare this to a 6 minute version of the 2008 Pro8mm Demo we recently compressed to play on Flash on the Pro8mm new web site and you can see how important compression and the players are to the final quality of your work. Both of these come from the same standard def Digi Beta original transfer of Super8.
Compressing Super8 for small screen applications has some exciting possibilities for Super8. Because of the way compacting acts on an image the difference between originating on larger film such as Super16 and something shot on Super8 is much less apparent. Simply put the smaller you make an image the more difficult you will find judging what format it was produced on. The first time I viewed and internet music video I worked on I had to go back to my notes and check what format the job was originated on. Since I look at this type of material every day I was more than a little shocked that I could not tell weather it was Super8 or Super16. I completely enjoy the unique look of super8…. a uniqueness that is more apparent the larger you make it. It is also exciting to know that the smaller you make it, the easier it is to fool an audience into believing a production was produced at a much higher level.
When working toward an internet release or even DVD it is also possible to work with much smaller much more compressed files. You don’t need to start with a 10 bit version of your Super8 if your objective is the internet. You could have your film encoded with compression so you can work with much smaller files. In DV compressed, about 18 minutes of Super8 would fit on a DATA DVD. Since the file is small most computers will easily play the file and you don’t need a large storage device. Everything you do in editing will run much faster with smaller data. Big files require a lot of time to move. A terabyte of data traveling over a USB 2 connection between a computer and hard drive will take over 16 hours. This kind of slow movement is not a lot of fun when you’re up against a deadline. So although 10 bit is the best in terms of information, it may not be the most practical if you want to rapidly get out a project for DVD or the Internet . . . The world of images is ever changing and you will no doubt discover new and interesting ways to work with Super8. Every day I see a project that pushes the way we understand the limits and the possibilities of Super8 film. New technology is often an incredible way to enhance what we already enjoy. What I find so interesting about Super8 is how adaptable and enjoyable the look is not only on Super8, but on video, on a computer, in a theater, in High Definition, or even downloaded on the internet.

FRAME GRAB FROM NEW Pro814 Widegate Camera

2009-01-27T15:54:00.001-08:00

Pro8mm has a new wide gate modification to its popular Pro814 camera. Below are actual film grabs of frames of film shot with the Pro814 widegate and scanned to HD on our M2 HD scanner. You can see the actual footage by ordering a blu ray disk from us . Just e-mail info@pro8mm.com

New Eye Cup Available For Pro814

2009-01-27T15:48:00.000-08:00

Pro8mm now has available a new eyecup for the Pro814 camera. The new price for the eye piece is $125.00 This is softer on the eye and blocks out more ambient light. Call Pro8mm at 818-848-5522 or email info@pro8mm.com

2009-01-27T15:42:00.000-08:00

For Immediate Release From Pro8mm

WIDE GATE MODIFICATION NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRO 814 Camera

Pro8mm introduces a NEW wide gate modification to the extremely popular Pro814. The new modification gives 20% better resolution when scanning in HD because it allows for expanded image on the negative. Introduced just over a year ago, the Pro814 is an affordable rebuilt, recalibrated super 8 camera, modified to optimize the results of modern super8 film stocks. The modification is priced at $300.00; This is an inexpensive way to achieve widescreen capability for your Pro814 camera. This is a modification to the gate and block only, and does not include
16 x 9 viewfinder or optical centering. The Pro814 is priced at $795, which includes a water tight Pelican Case and 85 filter. The intro price for the Pro814-Widegate is $995.00, a savings of $100.00.

Pro8 HD 3 Ways to Check it Out!

2009-01-23T12:19:00.000-08:00

3 ways to experience it!

If you are like most filmmakers, you are considering what is best way to move into High Definition. Skeptical or not, the format war on disk is over, and blu ray paves the way. Super 8 in 1080i or 1080p resolution looks so phenomenal from our M2 Scanner, that we know once you see it for yourself, you'll see the potential for your market. At Pro8mm, HD scanning is not "up-rezed" in a computer the way some places do it, using "line doubling" to get to 1080, but a true native HD scan off the original film. A client recently described Pro8mm HD this way.... "it is like getting a new pair of glasses! Everything is just so incredibly vivid! You really do have to see it to believe it! " We have 3 different ways for you to experience just how incredible Super8 looks on Blu Ray.

Test it for $108.00! We will give you a roll of Pro8mm film and processing for free, or send in one unedited roll you have already shot. We will prep and clean it and scan it to blu ray. A sweet deal!

New for 2009, our Pro8 HD Demo on Blu-Ray Disk has representative samples of many of the Pro8mm film stocks, shot on all of our different Super 8 cameras. The demo includes Max 8 footage, archival scans of regular 8 and super 8 reformatted from 4x3 to 16x9 in 1080i or 1080p. A $20 deposit will be taken on the disk, refunded when returned.

Enter our Think Big Shoot Small Film Festival Challenge, now in HD! We are currently accepting entries now through May 1st 2009. This is a great way for you to test for yourself how Super8 looks on HD. Make a short film on a single roll, selecting from any of our 15 Pro8mm film stocks. All editing is done in the camera without splicing. Send the roll back to Pro8mm to be processed and scanned to Blu Ray Disk on our new Millennium II HD Scanner. Entries will be judged by our distinguished panel. The highlight of the festival is the screening and party at an LA venue (TBD) on us in June 2009. Don't miss this opportunity to network with other contestants and have a great time on our dime!!! Entry fee $108.00. Great prizes! We will raffle off a camera! Forms available at http://www.pro8mm.com/

First Prize: 12 Roll HD Movie Trailer Package Second Prize: 8 Roll HD Movie Film Package

Third Prize: 4 Roll HD Movie Film Package

Honorable Mention: Several Gift Certificates for HD scanning.

By most estimates, there were roughly three million standalone Blu Ray players sold in the USA in 2008. ( A standalone player is one that just plays Blu Ray and standard-def DVD's, as opposed to a Play Station 3, which is a gaming console and Blu Ray player.) But thanks to lower prices and positive word of mouth, Blu Ray player sales will really start to boom this year. Combining Play Station 3 and standalone Blu Ray players, more than 25 million U.S. homes will have Blu-ray capability by the end of 2009. Be ahead of the curve and get your material on blu ray. You can't afford not to make your work really stand out !!

THINK BIG SHOOT SMALL HD FILM FESTIVAL

2008-12-29T13:42:00.001-08:00

Pro8mm Announces A Call For Entries For Our Second
THINK BIG, SHOOT SMALL FILM FESTIVAL CHALLENGE
NOW IN HD!

The Classic Super8mm Film Challenge

Call for Entries:
The Challenge is simple. Take Super 8 to the next level by shooting a project that will be viewed in HD with gorgeous 1080 resolution!!! Make a short film on a single roll, selecting from any of our 15 Pro8mm film stocks. All editing is done in the camera without splicing. Send the roll back to Pro8mm to be processed and scanned to Blu Ray Disk on our new Millennium II HD Scanner. Entries will be judged by our distinguished panel. It’s that easy! The top 25 entries will be screened at a dedicated screening and party in Los Angeles, June, 2009 (exact date and location TBA.) Select footage of these films will be chosen for the new Pro8mm DVD Demo which is sent to production companies worldwide.

First Prize: 12 Roll HD Movie Trailer Package
Second Prize: 8 Roll HD Movie Film Package
Third Prize: 4 Roll HD Movie Film Package
Honorable Mention: Several Gift Certificates for HD scanning

What you need to do:

- Fill out an Entry Form. You can download the PDF Entry at http://www.pro8mm.com/

-Select your roll of film from any of the 18 super 8 stocks Pro8mm makes.

-Include your Entry Fee of $108.00. We accept Visa, Mastercard , American Express or check.

-Be sure to read the Guidelines and sign the entry form at the bottom

-After you shoot your roll, send it back to us for Processing and scanning to Blu Ray before May 1, 2009 along with the Submission Form and Release Form sent to you with your roll.

That’s it! Wait for the Blu Ray to arrive. Think you can do better? Enter as many times as you like.

What Pro8mm will do:
-Once we receive your entry form we will ship you your roll of film along with a Numbered Submission form. We will process, prep and clean and scan your roll of film.

-A full scene to scene color corrected scan will be done on our new Millennium II HD Scanner.

-Each entry will receive a personal Blu Ray copy of their work to keep.

-Parts of your project may make it on our Promotional DVD which is sent out to production companies worldwide.

http://www.pro8mm.com/ 818-848-5522 2805 West Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA 91505

super 8 and small film news blog | onsuper8.org: Widescreen Canon from Pro8mm

2008-05-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

super 8 and small film news blog onsuper8.org: Widescreen Canon from Pro8mm

Announcing the Canon 1014-XLS MAX 8 Camera Modification: Give your Canon 1014-XLS a giant leap forward by having us convert it to MAX 8, a 16 x 9 widescreen format. This is the second super 8 camera we have introduced with a widened gate (Classic Professional MAX 8 in 2005) so that filmmakers can be HD ready. Widescreen images are essential for remaining competitive in a HD world, and shooting super8 in the modern 16 x 9 aspect ratio allows you to edit your super 8 images with other widescreen formats. The exposed film is then transferred on our custom modified widescreen gate, available on our M2 Scanner or Y Front Ursa Diamond Scanner, giving you 20% more image on the super8 frame.

The Max 8 1014-XLS conversion includes gate modification, the adding of 16 x 9 framing lines to the viewfinder, removing the internal 85 filter which causes image degradation, increasing the take up torque so that the modern, thicker film stocks are less likely to jam, as well as recalibration of the exposure system so that all Pro8mm film stocks will accurately read the exposure from 50-500 ASA. This complete modernization package is available for $995.00. We currently have some MAX8 1014 XLS' in rental only for $300 a day, or $250 with any all inclusive film package.

super 8 and small film news blog | onsuper8.org: Widescreen Canon from Pro8mm

2008-05-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

super 8 and small film news blog onsuper8.org: Widescreen Canon from Pro8mm

Announcing the Canon 1014-XLS MAX 8 Camera Modification: Give your Canon 1014-XLS a giant leap forward by having us convert it to MAX 8, a 16 x 9 widescreen format. This is the second super 8 camera we have introduced with a widened gate (Classic Professional MAX 8 in 2005) so that filmmakers can be HD ready. Widescreen images are essential for remaining competitive in a HD world, and shooting super8 in the modern 16 x 9 aspect ratio allows you to edit your super 8 images with other widescreen formats. The exposed film is then transferred on our custom modified widescreen gate, available on our M2 Scanner or Y Front Ursa Diamond Scanner, giving you 20% more image on the super8 frame.
The Max 8 1014-XLS conversion includes gate modification, the adding of 16 x 9 framing lines to the viewfinder, removing the internal 85 filter which causes image degradation, increasing the take up torque so that the modern, thicker film stocks are less likely to jam, as well as recalibration of the exposure system so that all Pro8mm film stocks will accurately read the exposure from 50-500 ASA. This complete modernization package is available for $995.00. We currently have some MAX8 1014 XLS' in rental only for $300 a day, or $250 with any all inclusive film package.

Pro8mm Completes First Scans on M2

2008-04-02T12:46:00.000-07:00

The movement to HD has been taking place at electric speed at Pro8mm and many systems are now up and fully functional. The M2 scanner is working beautifully with scan capacity to 3 high definition standards, 1080i, 108Op and 720p along with putting out the most amazing quality standard definition 525/625 (NTSC & Pal) we have ever seen from small gauge film. Scan's can be done from Regular8, Super8, Max8, 16mm and Super 16mm to HD Cam, Hard Drive or Disc.

AMAZING 1920 x 1080 SINGLE FRAME GRAB FROM THE M2 :

The M2 can grab single frames at 1920 x 1080, which gives filmmakers and archivists exciting creative options to create high quality stills from their super 8 and 16mm film. AND IF YOU THINK THIS LOOKS GOOD, WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THE SCANS IN SUPER 16! Theimages above were shot on Pro8/43 film stock, the New Fuji Vivid film with our prototype Max1014 camera, then scanned on the M2 to 1080 Hard Drive. The MAX 8 modified Canon 1014 XLS produced amazing results! The Max1014 modification is now available at a price of $950.00 for the gate, viewfinder and 85 filter . This is a fantastic opportunity to get Canon 1014 XLS owners into Max8 and Hi Def compatibility. Remember , Max8 is compatible with all Super8 cartridges, and after modification the camera is still compatible with traditional Super8 framing.Pro8mm Scanning on the M2 with daVinci 2K color corrector has surpassed all expectations on many levels as we start our journey to better scanning and the HD world. As the staff watches the images up on the BIG screen, you can't help but be in awe that so much image can be captured on such a tiny frame! This is particularly true when combined with modern film stocks, Max 8 cameras and our award winning processing! You've got to try it to believe it! Our Pro8mm all inclusive discount packages on the M2 start at just $360 for 4 rolls of film (about 10 minutes), processing, prep and clean and scanning to either SD or HD compressed to hard drive. Upgrades are available to uncompressed computer files, HD Cam, Dual Sync, Blu Ray or Pal. Our M2 16mm packages start at just $550 to Hard Drive. Hard drive and disc recording of both compressed and uncompressed files are up and running with the help of our new Raid 0 1.6 Terabyte server and additional back-up memory of 3 Terabytes. All Jobs will be saved for a minimum of 2 weeks for in house back-up. We have not yet finished with the Blu Ray set up , which should follow shortly. CALL FOR PRICING AS WE ARE STILL ADDING NEW SERVICES FOR THE M2 WEELKY! 818-848-5522.

PRO8mm Now Offers 3 Distinct Scanning Systems

2008-03-17T17:02:00.002-07:00

Pro8mm Offers 3 Distinctly Different Scanning Systems
* Millennium 2 (HD)
* Y-Front
*Rank

Beginning in March 2008 Pro8mm will begin offering 3 distinctly different Scan Systems. This will allow customers to choose between maximizing the Quality or the Economy of their transfers of 8 and 16mm film. Clients can custom build their transfers from the base price of each of our three systems by choosing which scanning system is best for them, Rank, Y-Front, or Millennium II HD. Then they can select options such as one light vs. full scene to scene color correction, scheduled vs. unscheduled, and from a variety of mastering formats, including hard drive. Each of these elements determine the per hour price. Additionally, options such as simul master, sync interlock, time code, a frame, and power windows are also part of the menu of choices.

For Maximum value, quality and efficiency, our extremely popular “ALL INCLUSIVE DISCOUNT PACKAGES” bundle together film, processing, prep and clean and transfer at one discounted price. These packages will be offered on The Y-Front and MM II. Purchased this way, scans on our new MM II scanner start at just $82 more for a 4 roll package than from under the old pricing ($278 for SD vs. $360 for HD) an unbelievable value for the quality and technology!

Our three scanning systems represent the progress in scanning technology over the past 30 years. Pro8mm has always been committed to offering state-of-the art products and services for our clients. Each scanning system we offer shows our alignment to the progression of scanning technology. Maintaining these older systems allows us to offer the widest selection of choices amongst all small format scanning companies so that we can accommodate the greatest number of client needs and budgets.

Rank Scan: This system uses a Digital Rank and daVinci Color Correction (4:2:2: Work Platform). This was our main system just 2 years ago and produces great images from Regular 8mm and Super8 mm reversal Film. The discounted base rate for unscheduled and unsupervised transfers will be $150.00 per hour.

Y-Front Scan: This system uses an Ursa Diamond with Y-Front technology and daVinci Color Correction (4:4:4 Work Platform). The Y-Front’s dirt and scratch concealment will improve the look of any film, especially modern negative film stocks that have expanded latitude. The Diamond has expanded gamma color space that is critical for achieving an optimum result with negative film. All present Pro8mm/Pro16mm Packages are done on this system. Base rate $255.00 an hour.

MILLIENNIUM II Scan: Using our Brand New Millennium 2 Scanner and daVinci 2K color corrector (1920 x 1080 HD Work Platform), this new system produces the most premium scan possible. It includes Y-Front technology for dirt and scratch concealment. By working in HD we can more precisely manipulate the information in the scan process even for SD transfer. Base rate $450.00 an hour

*All Systems can handle all film types:
All Systems offer Unscheduled Discounts and the option of doing scene to scene or one light.
Call one of our project coordinators for your custom quote.

PRO8mm NOw Offers 3 Distinct Scanning Systems.

2008-03-17T17:02:00.001-07:00

2008-03-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

PRO8 HD HAS ARRIVED!

Pro8mm Announces Their Purchase of a MMII HD SCANNER

After years of research and negotiations with several vendors, Pro8mm has just taken delivery on a High Definition Film Scanner. The brand new MILLENNIUM II was manufactured by Cintel International Ltd, in England, and arrived at Pro8mm in Burbank on December 22, 2007. We will be spending the next few weeks waiting for the custom gates to arrive, training the colorists, and doing a variety of tests so that we can optimize our end results. The MMII will scan Super 8, Regular 8, MAX 8, 16mm and Super 16mm. The first jobs are anticipated to be scheduled sometime in March, with several eager clients already in the wings working on notable commercial jobs.
One of the reasons we chose the MMII was that Cintel International was willing to build a custom MAX 8 gate for us. Since introducing the MAX 8 format in 2004, we have seen a tremendous growth in the number of clients who are shooting it to be HD READY. MAX 8 is the perfect Super 8 format for High Definition because it is widescreen. The format was designed to create 16 x 9 images from 8mm film. We will soon be introducing more models of MAX 8 cameras along with inexpensive gate only modifications. This will make shooting in 16 x 9 super8 more affordable to more people.

Another reason we chose the MMII is that a custom Regular 8 gate could be ordered. This option was not available from other HD vendors. Since such a significant amount of important historical and archival 8mm material is Regular 8 (from 1932 to late 1960's) we felt it was critical to have the capability to scan this material to High Definition. The MMII machine has a unique servo system which can be adjusted for individual film reels. This will allow us to scan film that has shrank, been damaged or is in general poor condition.

The MMII uses a tube referred to as CRT (high white) which produces a Classic Film look. Filmmakers who are searching for an aesthetic twist in Super 16mm commercial production will find that edge by scanning on the MMII as opposed to the CCD technology widely used by a majority of post houses.

In addition to the MMII, we have purchased a daVinci 2K color corrector. We can color correct in HD even if you want to have a standard definition output. A variety of outputs will be offered, including HD Cam (NTSC and PAL), various HD formats transferred to hard drive, and dual sync transfers to both standard definition and high definition simultaneously.

The Emmy Award winning 2K is a real-time, multi-standard, multi-resolution image processor, used by top video post production facilities worldwide. It can color enhance in standard definition, HDTV, and data up to 4000 x 4000 (data images greater than 2k are processed providing the colorist with real-time interactivity). Designed for the television and motion picture industries, and is perfect for film-to-tape, tape-to-tape and disk-to-disk.

Our investment in the preservation of shooting on small format film, and the crucial archiving of historical material will set the standard once again in keeping film viable in the HD digital domain. We continue to strive to create a hybrid of products and services in super 8 and 16mm, as we did with the introduction of Super 8 negative film in 1992. Our goal is to set a new standard for shooting super 8 in widescreen and scanning to high definition in order to move the technology forward, as we have for the past 35 years.

Everyone is welcome join us here in Burbank for our big MMII debut party this spring. Details coming soon!