“It’s a feeling, Super 8 film is,” what a viewer told me about film footage

It’s just that, a feeling.  I was screening some footage and someone said it feels like it’s from the 1950s except for the modern cars. 

BUT IT LOOKS LIKE MODERN CARS IN 1950!

The medium of film transports the event to another place, another time.  It’s like a cinematic time machine.

That’s what the comments were.  And I agree entirely.

I believe filmmakers who shoot film never stop shooting film.  Once you see how beautiful the images are in this format, the more you want to create with it.

It’s a revolution in filmmaking.  And it’s mid-20th century technology driving the revolution.

Viva la Super 8!

The More I See Film Next to Video…

…the more I realize that film has a subjective quality unlike video.  It’s not cold and literal.   It’s not so crisp and clean.  HD is getting to be too much so.

No, instead, it’s expressionistic.  It’s the opposite of literal.  It’s almost ethereal. 

It takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary.  I like that.  I like creating with a medium that has that ability to create imagery slightly unlike it was there. 

You really have to see it to believe it.   Playing the DVD is magical.  Playing it thru a projector in a darkened room on a 8′ screen, now there you have a cinematic event!

The magic (of Super 8 Film) happened again!!!

The magic happened again.  I was at a parade and saw a glimpse of Americana and realized that that is what film captures–that feeling of a time past, a sense of nostalgia at something so silly as a parade!

I like to shoot in black and white film because it’s not so literal, but again, an interpretation of something, an impression.  I like the painterly quality of film as the grain dances across the images.

We celebrate Independence Day (I like to use this moniker instead of “the 4th of July” to keep the meaning in the holiday, even though it really meant freedom and equality for all WHITE MEN (blacks were not free, they were slaves and women weren’t given the right to vote until after blacks–you can look it up) and it’s a wonderful holiday for imagery for Super 8 film.

We can truly appreciate our veterans and their service to our country.  And film makes the moment truly last forever!

The magic continues!

Emotions tell the story, not fancy cinematography!

It’s all about the emotional moments.  Not the cinematography.  I just had a talk with a wedding shooter who talked about his new crane that he wants to incorporate into his shoots.

A crane!

Like those you see swooping in over people’s heads in concerts.

Sure, that will make for fancy footage, but it takes time to execute a good crane shot.  Are you able to grab the “moment” with this large apparatus, or do you have to plan all the shots and “create” those special moments.

I look back at the old Life photographers and how good they were at capturing the moments of life in their photographs.  Take a look at some of the pics by Alfred Eisenstadt.

This is from a puppet theater the kids are watching.  This is not a created moment.  This is real life.

In all my years as a photojournalist, that is always what I strived for.  Realism.  I figured if the shot looked too perfect, it probably wasn’t real.  The true moments are not always so orderly.

Armed with a small film camera and an eye on the lookout for the “moments” of your day, I aim to capture a bit of history on film for your family to enjoy for generations.

Emotional moments.   That cannot be captured in HD with a crane!

Take a look at some of the wedding video samples out there and count how many shots are “real” (actual moments caught during the wedding with no chance to redo vs. how many are set up for the shot.   Most of the swirling camerawork shots are set up.  They sure look cool.

It’s like the family photo album of the kids where they are all smiling at the camera, but never where they are actually living.  Playing.  Jumping.  Dancing.  Whatever.  Being kids.  (That takes more work to capture.  And it’s not always ready when we are.)

I see some amazing cinematography in wedding demo reels–but they’re like loud Hollywood action films for me: lots of style and no substance.   Not much of a story to tell.  All technically very well executed.  Beautiful.  Amazing!

But nothing inside.  No heart.  No emotion.

I want to tell small stories featuring strong characters engaged in life. 

Not spectacular empty ones.

Timeless is the Word!

A friend looked at some Super 8 footage recently and said, “It looks timeless”.  And that is exactly what it has that video doesn’t. 

Video, even HD, has an immediate look, a look that says, “Now.  Live.”  Like a surveillance camera.  Present tense. 

Film has a look that says past tense, a look that says, “History.  Then.”  It’s worlds apart from video, really.  We were lured into video technology that allowed cheap, long productions, and what we got was a lot of cheap, long productions. 

Super 8 film cameras were coming into high-tech options just as they went out of style in the early 80’s.  Shame we couldn’t have kept both around, but the market wouldn’t support film.

Thankfully, we still have it today, and it’s better than ever!

Kodachrome, They Give Us Those Nice Bright Colors…

Okay, so I picked up a few rolls of Kodachrome film at a sale the other day and it’s been refrigerated since it was bought, so I am going to use it on a very special wedding soon. 

For those of you who know the song by Simon and Garfunkle, Kodachrome is a kind of film that is super rich in colors and is such a joy to have some to shoot.  Kodak stopped making it a few years ago, so we have to scrounge it up wherever we can.

But it is so, so beautiful.

I just picked up a new Super 8 camera, a Beaulieu S2008, which is a hand-built, precision piece of machinery unlike so many things made today.  You can just feel the workmanship that is built into it.

Here’s an old still from a photo on the cover of their instruction manual:

 

I love quality tools with which to “paint” a scene on film.  And this camera is definitely a quality tool.

Paired with Kodachrome, and we have a winning combination and a timeless wedding for one lucky couple.

The Magical Sound of a Movie in a Projector

Maybe it’s just me, (let me know), but there’s something magical about the darkened room, the light of the projector flickering on and the sound of the chattering projector as it sends the dancing picture out onto the screen.

There’s a kind of magic as the image of two people, in love, move across the screen, happier than any other day of their life, the real moments of their day recorded on celluloid.  Those are images that no video camera can capture quite like this. 

The soft interplay of light as it falls across the face of the bride, the nervous tapping of the groom’s foot, the tears of Mom and Dad, they all come to life.

There are no “created” moments where the cinematographer set up the shot.  There is nothing fake about this art film.  It is just real emotion captured in small moments on film.

Of course the delivery system is the same these days.  We don’t really want to have to set up the projector and screen, but what a feeling to see actual movie film bringing the day to life in a way that isn’t too literal but rather, impressionistic.

That is the beauty of Super 8 film for weddings. 

That is medium that captures the magic!

 

High-def Wedding Videos, Steadicam Shots and Rapid-fire Editing – Just No Emotion!

I was watching an old wedding film from the 1940s and it’s remarkable how it still stands the test of time. This was the heyday of this home-movie boom, and people were documenting every important event, and the footage lasts in remarkably great shape still today, 60 years later!

There’s something that is so different about this kind of historical document and the wedding videos most companies are producing today. It is like night and day. There weren’t any spinning steadicam shots and rapid-fire editing styles.

All those fancy camera moves and cutting styles mean nothing without the content–the emotional moments that make up the day. That play in the interior of the scenes.

I have seen more HD wedding videos of steadicam shots flying through empty reception halls and churches and every time I wonder, why not wait until the people are there? I know the technology is cool and the moving camera is fancy, but there’s no emotion in front of the lens.

It’s all style, without substance.

Or it’s a series of set-up shots of kissing and walking together for the camera–it feels very orchestrated, and not very real.  Posed love.  Hollywood directed.  (How many takes were made?)

I like creating real stories using the tender moments of the day. The small elements that tell the big story.

Cheesy Wedding Videos

I love the word “Cheesy”. I see it in print everywhere. It’s such a great word because it represents something so specific, something embarrassingly bad!

I’ve never shot a wedding on video because there is such a stigma present about wedding videos. Boring. Tedious. Time to go, honey. Bad special effects. Too long. Sappy music. Endless dancing. The list goes on.

But a wedding film, shot on actual film, has texture, depth. It doesn’t look so real, but more “representational” or “impressionistic”. It looks vintage, timeless, beautiful.

Have you seen one? The final wedding film is still delivered on DVD for viewing convenience, but the look is night and day from digital video or HD. In fact, HD is so clear and sharp, I think it lacks all magic whatsoever.

Super 8 film has that look that says “past tense”, not reality TV. It says quality, not cheap.

On the right is my Super 8 camera, a Canon 1014XLS, one of the highest quality movie cameras ever designed. I also use a Canon 814XLS and a Beaulieu 2008 (a vintage French camera).

Being a Storyteller

I don’t know why it is, but I love to shoot motion pictures. I think it’s more because I am a storyteller than anything else. I love to sit around the fire and socialize.  I love a good conversation and the sharing of stories.

Wedding films give me the chance to tell the story of the day. Since a wedding film averages only 10-15 minutes long, it is not a full documentation of every minute of the day.

It is more like a collection of special moments, emotional moments, that end up in the final edit. (I think my years working as a photojournalist for a major daily newspaper really honed my skills for finding the storytelling elements!)

And isn’t that what you want to remember, some of the details? Not the whole day shot as a surveillance video or reality tv show. I don’t want to create a documentation of your day with which you replace all your memories with my footage.

But I want to tell your story. With a tight shot of your face before you head up the altar. With the last minute check of your bouquet by your maid of honor. By the small moments that tell the big story.

In black and white. And color. Film!

A Wedding Archive…

I shoot video for a living for commercial clients and I love video for what it can do, but I believe it is not suitable for the majesty of a wedding, where I need to create with a form that creates a more lasting image.

And “lasting” is a literal term. Many people do not know this but a wedding DVD is not an archival format. In fact, a wedding DVD is a compressed file to fit on that disc. A DVD is not guaranteed to have a shelf life for decades.

Whereas film, the old movie films of your parents and grandparents day, are still fine and quite playable. That medium has a shelf life (stored properly of course) of at least 100 years–we have the history to prove it, film has been around for over 100 years!

So, when I shoot a wedding, the bride and groom receive a copy on DVD, but they also have the original filmstock to archive, so that they truly will have something to show their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Seeing the Difference…

I think the best example to see the difference between what film looks like and what video looks like would be if you were switching channels and saw a scene from THE NATURAL and then clicked to ESPN to see an actual live baseball game.

THE NATURAL was shot on film. The ESPN sports shows are shot on video. THE NATURAL looks like “past tense”, and the ESPN game looks like “present tense”. Once you see what I mean, you will see it all the time.

One looks timeless (film) and one looks disposable (video). It’s how we perceive motion images.

Try it and see.

Something Magical about a Cinematic Image…

I don’t know what it is, but I feel it. Everytime I watch a movie screened, I get a feeling that the film has somehow organically captured a moment in history. Unlike video, which has such a sharp definition–it almost feels like watching surveillance video–a piece of film feels more like an expression than a literal depiction of the event. It feels lyrical as the light dances across the grain to create the image.

Have you noticed how on TV, they use video for things like the news and soap operas and reality shows, things that don’t really have any lasting value?

But film is used to shoot major motion pictures and the more “important” TV shows like 24 and CSI. Why do they still use it? Because, I think, it has a perceived feeling of something richer, something that can last. It looks “bigger budget” and thus, more valuable.

Film vs. video, it’s a feeling and I will try to show it to you in examples throughout this blog! It’s why I shoot weddings in film only!

Good ol’ Film! (Super 8 Film, that is.)

Welcome to my blog for Old Timey Wedding Films. This is a blog to celebrate and share the retro look of shooting today’s weddings on the timeless medium of super 8 film–you know that old film stock that your parents and your grandparents shot their wedding movies on and showed on the family projector!

More info can be found at OldTimeyWeddingFilms.com