These days, video formats are pretty much the standard for making your own motion pictures, but before the 80's, 8mm, and super 8 film formats were the standard.  Movie is largely a mechanical format, whereas video formats are mostly electronic.   Because of this, the two are vastly differrent in their editing, shooting, and viewing methods.  For those photography nuts out there who really spend time and effort composing their shots, movie film still offers some advantages. for those who are shooting priceless moments, like weddings, and your children's milestones, you might be suprised by the poor picture quality when you place that video in the deck 20 years from now

Pro's
Movie formats have a higher resolution than video formats
Its easy to project movies for several people to see
Movie equipment is very inexpensive compared to video equipment
Movie equipment can be repaired easily by someone with mechanical knowledge.
It's easier to transfer movies to other formats (HDTV, etc)
movie can be edited easily with no degradation in quality
movies last much longer in storage than magnetic media (VHS tape)
Some movie cameras require no batteries, and the ones that do use batteries
are very good on batteries
Most people think movie equipment is worthless & it isn't stolen as frequently
Movie film can take heavy playing much better
movie film can't be erased accidently after being developed by the equipment
The charistics (light sensitivity, color temp) can be changed with the film
In video formats, you are "stuck" with the charistics of your camera
VHS may not be around 10 years from now!
still frames are easily made into pictures
frame by frame shooting makes animation possible
time-exposure settings are found on almost all super 8 cameras

Con's
Movie media is very expensive compared to video media
Some video formats can store 2 hours on tape compared to 5min movie reels.
Film must be sent off for developing
film is hard to find nowadays.
video can be played right back after shooting
video can be erased and re-recorded many times
not all film formats have sound (sound film is hard to find nowadays too)
Honeywell/elmo super 8 camera

What to use and when
I didn't make this page up to blast video formats, and say they are all bad, nor did I make this page to say that all film formats are perfect.  I just simply set up this page to create an un-biased look at the many ways you can capture motion pictures, and display them for friends, family, or anybody else to view.  Each format has it's own advantages, and they can be combined to create a very well made presentation.  I don't have a dislike for camcorders, but because they are so easy and inexpensive to use, it leads to their abuse!  I have had to hone my cinematography skills myself since buying a camcorder, and watching my friends fall asleep while watching my tapes.  This site was prodced to help you hone your picture-taking skills no matter what format your are using!

Video is good for:
Continuous taping of a concert or other stage production, especially because the sound systems on many of the new camcorders can produce some quite amazing results.  If you tried to capture a 2 hour stage production on super 8, it would probably cost you well over $300 in film!!! (not including the breaks to change cartridges!) Video is also good for low-light scenes.  There are currently no super 8 film manufacturers making film with a higher ASA than 200.  Many video cameras are sensitive to light down to .3 lux.  This is only about as much light as you get on a suburban street at night!
    Camcorders do quite well for "just playing around" because you can erase what you recorded.  I recommend getting good with a camcorder before moving to movies, because film is inforgiving...once you pull that trigger, it's there for keeps!
Just remember when you fill up a 2 hour tape,  if you are going to force your audience to sit through the entire 2 hours of boring, uneventful footage, to see maybe 3 minutes of intresting pictures!

Film is good for:
Film makes it's strong points known when you point it into the sunset and take a few frames.  It will capture all the color and brilliance you see before your eyes.  Most CCD camcorders have limited lattitude (the differrences between light and dark) and will either wash out to white, or will adjust down, and make the darker scenes blacked out.  Film is excellent for catching time-exposures.  A good subject would be a marina, with the shutter set a 15 second intervals (240 frames an hour , compressing an hour into 13 seconds!).  Film is easy to edit, try and cut your video tape with a pair of sissors, and tape it together!  For this reason, film is good for capturing small moments and highlights, like a good plays at your son's ball games, and then splicing them together for a big presentation for several people to watch.  Nothing beats a good movie projector for entertaining many people at a time.  When was the last time you sat in the back row of an auditorium squinting to see a 20 inch screen 50 feet away (and said you'd never do it again!)

Don't think either format is cheap!  A good camcorder outfit will cost you $1000 for a camera, $20 for a 4 pack of tapes, $50 for a spare battery, and much more, depending on the accessories you want.  A super 8 outfit will cost you about $10-50 for a camera on E-bay, a thrift store, or yard sale,  $9-12 per 3 1/2 minute cartridge, $6.00 for developing (it adds up quick!), about 30 for a splicer, and between $20-75 for a projector.  These prices don't include accessores, like tripods, additional lenses, film reels, projector lamps, spare VCR for editing, RF hookups, TV set (most people have these already!)

Tricks of the trade

There are a few tricks that you can work around the limitations of the movie format.  Since editing movies is much easier, it opens up a world of possibalities in making really good multi-media presentations. How many times have you sat through hours of boring, un-edited camcorder footage that a friend taped of their vacation,  only to see a few good moments?

Breaking the 3.3 minute barrier:

     The simple fact that you have paid $10 or so dollars for that 3 minutes of film in your super 8 gives you a differrent perspective on what you will be taking pictures of.  You won't just set the cam up on the dashboard of the car, and just film going down the highway.  Take your camera with you everywhere!  But don't pick it up, unless you see something really worth filming.  You just never know when you will see a "kodak moment" worth filming.  It's better to have, and not need than vice versa.

Minimize camera movments & don't get too close!

I was watching some footage the other day a friend of mine took with my camcorder.  The two biggest problems with his taping is that he didn't hold the camera steady, ( i got seasick!)  and he stayed zoomed way too far into his subjects (and disoriented!). Using telephoto settings will amplify your movment, so if you don't have a steady hand, keep the lens on wide.  Fill the screen with the subject, but don't exceed the boundaries of your frame.  Keep at least some background showing at least so your audience has some perspective of where the scene was taken, etc,   Pan and zoom slowly, and only when the subject is moving.  I perfer to start a scene zoomed in to show detail, THEN zoom OUT to give a perspective on what it is I am shooting.

Record only motion!

Watch the cinematography methods in your favorite TV shows.  You will notice a few things.  First, there is rarely a take any longer than about 10 seconds or so.  The second thing you will notice is there is always motion in the scene, such as the actors walking around while speaking, or performing a task.  The trick is to think with your eyes, what do you turn your head to SEE happen.  If you want to film people, have the subjects doing something, instead of just staring into the camera.

Keep the "talking heads" to a minimum

I have a real animosity toward talk shows for the simple fact that  I can't see why someone wants to consume videotape and valuable air time recording someone TALKING!   To me, I have no reason to sit in front of a screen or TV and watch somebody's mouth move for an hour or so.  Talking is recieved by the ears, not the eyes, and a super 8 camera doesn't even record sound!  Limit your "talk taping" to especially intriguing subjects that will hold the audience's attention, don't just record footage of you and your buddies shooting the breese in the living room, no matter what the subject is, it leaves the viewer feeling like he/she is isolated from the conversation. Besides, this is BORING!  If you are recording someone speaking about a subject, add pictures, and other visual cues to further enhance what he/she is speaking of...you're using a visual format, make use of it.  An example of this is a typical news broadcast.

Don't show the same thing twice, or too long

This is what makes all that camcorder footage so boring!  After someone has seen what it looks like out in the Arizona desert from a car for 10 seconds or so, they have gotten the point!...cut the camera off!!!! When you go out on the road again, don't film more of the same footage, you just got some a few days( minutes) ago!  Say to yourself "do I have pictures of this subject yet" If the answer is yes, put the camera away!

Use your still camera for still subjects

 When shooting with 8mm movie film, you don't want to take footage of insignificant things because there is no way to erase it.  Because of this, it's best to only film subjects with action or motion.  A slide projector, and some slide film in your 35mm camera can save you a lot in movie costs.  The trick is to make your titles and still shots on 35mm slide film.  Show the slides along with the movie.  You can either alternate between the slides by starting and stopping the movie projector, and showing the slide, or if screen real-estate is not limited, show your slide titles alongside the movie pictures.  Cross-fading between the movie projector, and the slide machine is a good idea too.   This isn't so much of a factor with video as it is with movie, but if you are one of the fortunate few to be graced with a video projector,  slides can really add to your presentation!

Dealing with no sound

     Although super 8 movie does not have sound, that does not mean your presentations need to go silent.  The trick is to accompany your presentation with music, and don't try to have word for word dialouge. This applies for both video, and move.  A little music always enhances any presentation.  Only if you have one of the rare super 8 cameras that records sound , then you CAN mix dialouge into your films.  I would not depend on the projector's sound system 100% for the audio portion though mainly because the sound off of the film can be rather poor.  Instead, copy the sound down to a high-performance cassette or Mini-Disc, and mix in the background music there.  If you want to have speech, or sound effects, use the effects in such a way that they are not dependant on being exactly lined up with the action on the film, such as the sound of a motor running in a car, or the sound of the surf during an ocean scene.  Speech is VERY hard to line up, and will almost always stir up laughing an giggling from the audience when the sound is even milliseconds off from the person't lips on the screen!  If you are handy with a mixing board, the possibalities for a good sound presentation are endless!
     Sound film is currently unavaliable from any film maker in the world, BUT you can get silent film "sound striped".  This means that a small strip of magnetic tape is added to the edge of the film, that you can record audio on for your presentation. This can make it much easier to sync up dialogue
 
 

Example of a good super 8 presentation

    A good example of these practices is if a church youth group leader, or a scout leader wants to show pictures of a student through the years as a member at an award ceremony, or graduation.  The leader could take shots of the student throughout the years with still camera slides, and with a movie camera.  During a youth function, the leader would be filming many differrent students, but the clips would all be cut and spliced together for each individual student.  Arranged perhaps cronologically as each student grows up too.
     For the presentation, a title slide can be placed up on the screen naming the student, followed by some still pictures throughout the years.  Alongside the still slides can be the motion pictures from a super 8 projector.  For sound, the student can be intervied about their future, thoughts on life, etc.  Mix the student's voice with some music, maybe the student's favorite song, or some other song that fits the whole student body.
     The best part of this presenation is that you can show this to a couple hundred attendees at an awards banquet or such at your local church or auditorium without worrying about anybody in the back not being able to hear or see the screen.  Yes, a presentation like this DOES take a little more effort, and coordination between the individual machines, but it's not out of the realm of an ordinary person to frame-advance a slide machine, or start a tape player.  (or even record the advancement cues onto the sound media to make the slides automatic)
     A presentation like this is certain to get all kinds of complements an kudos from the attendees!
 

the truth is, if you apply good cinematography methods to your camcorder shooting, just like you would for your super 8, your tapes will be much more intresting to watch, and your friends won't be finding other things to do when you bring out your home movie tapes!
     I taped about 45 minutes
good cinematography applies for ALL motion picture formats, not just film!
 
 

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