No Spitting !

We were filming a short scene meant to be outside an Edwardian pub. The character drinking down the road did a very convincing drunken look, and he also spits down beside him. A man and young lady passes, and the composition and timing all seemed to look pretty good in the Bolex viewfinder, though it would have been nice to have had a video-assist.

Unfortunately, when I viewed the rushes it looks as if the drunk is spitting into the lady's basket ! She was actually some distance from him.

It's the old mistake of objects in the backgound lining up wrongly with the foreground (like trees growing out of folks' heads etc.) Silly me. Would I have noticed it if I'd found the camcorder in time, attaching it to the Bolex ? Probably not, on that small monitor screen.
I supppose this must be one problem you don't get with 3D filming !

So later, alone in the cutting room, what to do ? Well, on these sort of occasions I always try to shoot as many takes as Time and Talent allow. And luckily one of these other takes saved the day. No spitting though.

Moral of this story: Don't ignore the bleeding obvious !

Bolex projector runs Bolex camera !

And here it is ! This is how I convert 16mm footage to more 16mm stuff in the camera, usually altering it a bit along the way.

That old Bolex S.321 projector has been with me for about 40 years now. At one time I used it for compiling sound tracks. The great thing about this classic machine is that it's very kind to the film and extremely steady. The film can be laced as a silent projector without going round the sound-drum etc. And the motor is strong enough to drive the camera and probably more as well. The Bolex H16 reflex camera is attached to the inching knob-shaft, which as you see is on the side of the Bolex projector, just to be different. The flexible shaft, an old speedo cable, drives the 1:1 shaft on the camera. The cable is supported both ends by sturdy brackets. You're maybe thinking this gadget looks like a set for the latest Wallace and Gromit epic. However, I can assure you it does all actually work !

With the S.321 projector you have the option of a 2 or 3 bladed shutter. I wanted more light so I simply snipped off one of the blades on the '2' shutter. The resulting flicker from a single blade doesn't get recorded. I still use the traditional bulb and condenser lenses, maybe not as bright as a more modern machine but it gives nice and even illumination which is the important thing. There is a variable speed control and I usually opt for something like a stately 14 fps. But the motor takes a short while to get to speed so you have to allow for this when lacing up. Everything is all locked in sync. If something horrible should happen like a film jam (it hasn't yet, touch wood) the drive at the camera is set to give way and fail, and if I'm dozing off that red light will flash. You may feel all this is unnecessary if it all sounds smooth. The screen can be a piece of card, or a decent quality back-projection screen via a front-silvered mirror as you see in this set-up.

Setting up a special-effects shot can be tricky. One way is to run an out-take loop of film prior to connecting the camera, until you're sure the image is as you want it. But I often use this alternative:
I wanted to project just one frame and work on the colour filtration etc in a more leisurely fashion, so I tried various things to achieve a cool gate for long periods. Finally I settled on shining another projector into the S.321's gate via a small mirror. This is planted behind a tiny opening that Bolex have thankfully provided. That Elf projector had seen better days, only the fan runs now, and I even sawed off Elf's front to make more room ! Using the standard f1.2 Elf lens I can get a reasonably bright image if it's kept small. The Bolex lens is the 50mm f1.3 Hi-fi, really crisp. I'd be interested to hear from readers who have tried less cumbersome methods for single-frame projection.
The camera can be put in any position near the projector and is connected when needed. I often make use of the Bolex matte box.

Although stop-frame is marvellous for many effects, running a camera and projector in real time or thereabouts does give some very natural-looking possibilities. It also means there is less time for your effects shot to go wrong !

16mm Does the Splits

Faces of Sixteen Mil, part 3: HALF-SIXTEEN



Here's one to beat the credit crunch.... IF...

Half-Sixteen can be adapted to ANY 16mm movie camera that takes spools of film. Conversion is straightforward: you mask the gate vertically, do the same with the viewfinder, and then tip the camera on its side and start filming. When the film runs out, turn the take-up spool over, plonk it on the feed spindle and re-thread. Now expose the second half, in the same way as you would standard 8mm. Process the film, then split the 16mm film using maybe one of those cheap Russian splitters. You now have Double the length of film. The image is quite big, about 1.66 : 1 ratio, considerably better quality than super-8, at less cost. On the face of it, Half-Sixteen seems the ideal format and it's a wonder that camera and projector manufacturers haven't embraced it. It was the brainchild of UK solicitor David Jones, and he and Tony Shapps worked on the system.

The 16mm projector conversion is more involved. Film rollers need to be replaced with 8mm ones, the sprockets need slight modification, and the gate-channel also has to be 8mm wide. The claw movement stays the same of course. Projectors catering for both 16mm and standard 8mm are the easiest to modify... such as the Specto. The machine must also be capable of tipping onto its side, as the camera was. The film is loaded on 8mm spools. This horizontal format is like a mini version of VistaVision !

OK now for the big IF. You will of course need Double-perforated film. If you can find it there's no problem. But in recent years film manufacturers have gone over pretty exclusively to Single-perf stock. This is a great shame because double-perf is also very useful for doing special effects in 16mm. Anyway, the fact remains that you may have to search on Ebay for out-dated Double-perf. Look for 2R on the label, meaning: two rows of perforations. An alternative is to use standard 8mm film which is identical to 16mm 2R, although having twice the number of holes. These extra holes don't matter, but then it will likely cost more than 16mm.

So there you have it. Rock steady, high quality widescreen pictures with Half-Sixteen. Once you get going it may be worth shifting the camera lens over to centralise the image, though not essential. By the way, it's quite easy to mask the Bolex reflex finder for any format, as the prism swings out nicely, revealing the ground glass.

Standard 8mm film, should you wish to try it, is available from
www.widescreen-centre.co.uk
or
Photoworld, Llandudno, Wales.phone 01492 871818

Going Anamorphic

Before we examine the third face of Sixteen Mil, perhaps I should tidy up one or two points about SCOPE filming.

When you put an anamorphic lens onto the front of your camera lens, you hope to double the width of the image. (Nothing happens to the height, it's not like a fisheye converter.) The type of lens on your camera, though, is crucial. For one thing, the front element should be smaller than the rear element of the anamorphic. As you zoom back to the wider settings, you'll very likely start seeing the inside of the anamorphic unit... vignetting at the corners of the frame. To lessen this effect the anamorphic should be as physically short as possible. And the zoom lens should be small, like the little Switar or Pan-Cinor Compact lenses, or the smaller TV lenses.

Or use fixed focal length prime lenses with their front elements as non-recessed as possible. I've found that 35mm still SLR lenses can work well on a 16mm movie camera. Also they are easy to join to the anamorphic because their front doesn't rotate during focusing. It is of course essential that the anamorphic stays vertical at all times, unless you're looking for drunken effects.


For 16mm filming the widest possible focal length is about 16mm, depending on all the above factors. That's effectively like 8mm of course in the horizontal plane. Pretty wide. You won't get as wide coverage though with a zoom lens. But don't forget, even long-focus tele images can look very effective in widescreen Scope. The 50mm SLR lens shown on the Bolex below is good for 2-shots of your actors talking, blurring the background. Also effective for distant landscapes such as mountains. Many of the great shots we remember from the widescreen movies have been taken with long focus lenses. Omar Sharif's debut emerging from the mirage in 'Lawrence'... and so on.



Whichever way you fix the anamorphic it must be really rigid and square with the backing lens. The Bolex is fairly easy to adapt using the turret holes for supporting posts. Or a simple bracket from the base of the camera will work. It's also important to have as little air space as possible between the two lenses... it helps stop vignetting and improves definition. Also the gap should be light-tight, maybe use an old rubber lens cap or something. On the set-up shown, it is not strictly necessary to use turret posts or a bracket, as I've made a separate adaptor to hold the anamorphic onto the non-rotating SLR lens. But it needs to be really firm.

For focusing I usually estimate the distance and set both lenses accordingly. Then check the image in the reflex finder. I am constantly amazed at the image sharpness obtained with the Kowa. If there is a difference in quality when using it I can only discern a slight lessening of contrast. Otherwise it looks like a normal sharp unsqueezed image. However, it does tend to reduce the depth of field. So correct focus is a must. Exposure: I normally allow about a third of a stop for light absorption within the anamorphic. A large lens shade is good to avoid flare. The Bolex matte box is ideal.

You will of course see a squeezed image through the reflex finder. Usually, composing the picture is not harder than normal. But it's handy to have another "director's finder" to decide the composition before filming. This can be masked for Scope.

Projection can be done using longer anamorphics, as the backing lens is usually not that wide an angle. A simple bracket can hold the anamorphic precisely in position. Set the anamorphic's scale to the screen-distance. Then focus the projector normally. Make slight adjustments if necessary. A good projector lens is essential as any defects are magnified.

Bolex Survives Afghan Waterfall

I will never forget an incident that happened to me in Afghanistan, way back in 1969 when the King was still in power....

In the central hills there is a series of stunning blue lakes, and the minerals in the water have created a dam, called Band-i-Amir. The water cascades over. This must be one of the relatively unknown wonders of the natural world.

At the top of one of the waterfalls I was about to set up my trusty Bolex H-16RX, with a Som Berthiot zoom lens fitted with anamorphic, in an attempt to take in the breathtaking view. It was slippery...
Before I could get the camera onto the tripod, I stumbled, and the camera somehow escaped my grasp... and joined the waterfall. I couldn't see it, and I scrambled down the 30 feet or so, then jumped into the pool below. My frantic efforts darting around to locate the object made two local chaps laugh uncontrollably !

I wasn't so amused. When I fished it out, it was obvious that the water had got everywhere, into the mechanism and between the lens elements. The RX Fader, bashing against the rocks, was twisted into a strange shape, though the body and lenses didn't look bad. I returned to the Land Rover and shut myself into the dark, hot trailer to try and save the film. Luckily, not too much water was between the leaves of film, and it dried quickly in the Afghan atmosphere. But the sodden camera was going to be a job for Messrs. Bolex.

After my return to UK, I sent the camera to them and it arrived back a few weeks later. Incredibly, those perfectionists had made everything look like new. And Kodak as usual did a great job with the film, and all my movie material was fine. (No, the camera wasn't running as it went down, unfortunately !) That Bolex certainly was a sturdy beast. And it joined me on many more outings... including back to Afghanistan a year later !
Some of the footage I shot at Band-i-Amir went into my 16mm documentary The Giant Buddhas of Bamiyan.
I see there are some more pics of this place which maybe show the natural dam better, at www.greatgametravel.com

I took these Kodachrome slides with a Kodak Retinette that I was given as a boy. They say this lake could be 1000 feet deep. The water is amazingly clear.

This landscape reminds me of Planet of the Apes ! Talking of feature films, do you remember The Horsemen with Omar Sharif and Jack Palance ? Some of it was filmed around here.

Very few people live in the area, at least when I was there in 69 / 70.

This photo shows one of the Land Rovers driven by life-long friend Martin, somewhere in Afghanistan, I can't remember exactly where. It was taken by my brother Rex... with a 35mm Contarex, that huge SLR with interchangeable backs, if I remember rightly... I wonder what was to happen to this proud and independent Afghan family in less peaceful times....