American Cinematographer - May 2021 - 55

AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER ASCMAG.COM

James Chressanthis, ASC, GSC (center) angles in on singer Zoe Scott with his
Rhonda Cam Super 8 unit while shooting the music video " Quiet Nights. "

female leads " hiding within their own lives,
concealing themselves. Their desire is hidden
from view, and the grain contributed to that
feeling. Some stories need that illusion, just as
some paintings are affected by the texture of
their brush stroke - pointillism, Impressionism, German Expressionism and even Modernism. I want to use that as well. "
Danny Plotnick, director of film studies at
the University of San Francisco, has worked
in Super 8 since the 1980s, when he shot his
no-budget underground classic short Skate
Witches. " Two of the biggest advantages of
Super 8 were always its mobility and low price
of admission, " he says. " That changed in the
1990s as compact video systems became better
and cheaper, so I went away from using analog

" QUIET NIGHTS " PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMES CHRESSANTHIS, ASC, GSC.

" People are so used to seeing
images that are, in a way, too
clean and glossy, that they are
drawn in by something more
textured and personal. "
for a time. But then I taught a 16mm production class at USF in 2013. I questioned why we
were teaching it, as it's a small program and
we don't have a lot of resources, but that class
made me rethink everything. These kids grew
up with digital, so film is something palpably
different - a whole new color in their palette.
The grain, the image detail, the contrast - it's
all different from what their eye is used to, and
they were very responsive to that. But since we
were using reversal stocks - so we could project dailies - there is an unforgiving quality to
the work. What you see in the viewfinder is not
what you necessarily get on the screen, [and
this] requires a deeper understanding of lighting and exposure; it's a far more nuanced relationship with the image-making process. Many
thought the class greatly improved their digital
cinematography, as the attention to detail and
understanding of the camera transitioned over
to that. "
Plotnick recently authored the book Super
8: An Illustrated History - a loving ode to the
format, which notes that such filmmakers as

Small-Format History in Short
Double-perf 16mm was popularized in the
1920s as a compact alternative to 35mm,
and later offered in a single-perf version
to allow space for a soundtrack. This
single-perf format was later enhanced
as " Super 16 " in the 1960s by Swedish
cinematographer Rune Ericson, FSF, who
reclaimed the soundtrack space and
enlarged the camera's gate and exposed
imaging area to maximize quality.
Color and black-and-white negative
and reversal stocks were standard, offered
by Eastman, Fujifilm, Ansco, Agfa and others. Cameras were produced by companies
including Kodak, Bell & Howell, Mitchell,
Aaton, Éclair, Cinema Products, Arri, Bolex,
Beaulieu, Canon and Panavision.
After Kodak discontinued double-perf
16mm film decades ago, many high-quality
cameras were rendered obsolete. Pro8mm
recently convinced the company to
reissue the stock, making those cameras
viable once more. Alternative sources for
the stock include the Film Photography
Project.
Eastman Kodak introduced the 8mm
format during the 1930s as an inexpensive
alternative to 16mm. In the 1960s, Eastman
upgraded 8mm to " Super 8, " employing an
enlarged gate to enhance image quality, as

well as a plastic film cartridge to simplify operation - and the motion-picture
camera became a mass-market consumer
product. Cameras were offered by many
companies, including Kodak, Beaulieu,
Bell & Howell, Canon, Zeiss, Nikon, Braun,
Elmo and Leica. Projection-ready color and
black-and-white reversal stocks, primarily
from Eastman, Ansco and Agfa, were the
norm into the 1990s, when Pro8mm pioneered remanufacturing 35mm emulsions
into Super 8. Eastman Kodak and Spectra
Film & Video, among other companies,
followed suit.
Partnered with Danish company Logmar
Camera Solutions, Kodak recently explored
the market for a new Super 8 camera that
combines pin-registered film imaging with
digital audio and operation. On Pro8mm's
part, the company has long been enhancing existing cameras with enlarged
gates - offering Max8 in 2005 (featuring a
wider aperture that can be employed with
anamorphic lenses) and Ultra-DS8 in 2020
(offering a panoramic image by modifying
Double Super 8 units).
The 8mm format was also the basis of
the alternative Fujifilm Single-8 and Polaroid Polavision systems.
- David E. Williams

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4/5/21 11:30 PM

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American Cinematographer - May 2021

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