Letter to a new filmmaker after shooting his 1st roll...
Congratulations! You are now a filmmaker!
WHAT IS THE 20 SECONDS OF
BLACK?
The 20 seconds of black is a leader (unused film) that is wound onto the reel before shooting. There will always be some 'lost' film as 'black' from winding onto the reels. This is typical. Some developers may add a white colored leader to the beginning of the finished film.
LEADER
This allows threading of the film through the
projector from the supply reel to the take-up reel without using any 'good'
film footage. In your case, the developer has glued both ends of the two pieces
of double run film together after processing.
FLATBED OR EDITOR
What you would do next is to edit the film on a
"flatbed or editor" to remove the black areas of film and to edit for
content and then add a white leader to the beginning. Leader material:
The editor or flatbed looks like this:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=8mm+editor&_sacat=0&_from=R40
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=8mm+editor&_sacat=0&_from=R40
SPLICING
Typically one would run the film up to the black portions and cut out the black
to make an seamless edit from one section to the next. The editor usually has a
device to hold the film so it can be cut with a single-edge razor blade.
After
cutting the two ends to be joined are roughened up a bit, overlapped one
frame, and then cemented together using film cement:
HOW TO SPLICE
Here's a PDF on how its done. The PDF talks about Super 8, but all film is essentially
done in the same fashion.
https://www.sctxca.org/suncity/clubs-groups/sites/computer/media-proj/MovieToDigital/CleaningandSplicing.pdf
https://www.sctxca.org/suncity/clubs-groups/sites/computer/media-proj/MovieToDigital/CleaningandSplicing.pdf
The PDF also speaks of "Kodak Presstapes".
These are double sided tape used in place of film to splice two pieces of film
together. Cementing the two pieces is also common. Some people prefer splices;
some prefer glue. I like glue, as I learned it that way. if you decide to do
your own editing, practice first on some old footage. You can find exposed reels
of film on eBay.
As the footage with be 3 minutes or less, you can mark
the box the reel came in with the subject and date, etc. You may want to edit
and the collect like footage for inclusion on a larger reel. 7" reels are
common and fit most home 8mm projectors.
You can find the reels on eBay. Make a
printed sheet of title indicating which subjects are on that particular reel
and tape it to or put it inside the reels box. You should also gives dates,
times, places, etc. 20 years down the road you be glad you did :)
EXPOSURE
Re: Exposure. I recommend keeping a log of
f-stops settings were used. And then afterwards, some notes saying what worked,
and what didn't. Too light? Too dark, etc. You'll get a feel for how the film
works and what adjustment to make when shooting.
PROJECTOR BULB
Be sure the projector bulb is the correct size for the
projector. Some people will use a smaller (or larger) bulb. Start with the
correct wattage bulb for you projector. Since you'll be showing footage you
shot (compensating the light with the cameras f-stop settings), both what you
shoot and what you project are interactive.
Also note that some 8mm
projectors have a light control. Sometimes its a 2 position switch and
sometimes it's a knob. With it, you can increase the brightness of the
projected footage.
TRANSFER TO VIDEO
Finally, you can have the film transferred to video. Transfer houses can adjust
light or dark footage during transfer. The adjustment will be small. Typically
they cannot correct footage shot several stops too dark or light.
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